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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

How do you all keep on top of washing!??

30 replies

lisad123 · 29/09/2011 16:58

My house is fairly ok, but the thing that drives me crazy is washing??!
I have piles all over the place! Im the only one that does the washing, will admit I don't do ironing!!
How does everyone else deal with it?
Even if I fold an put into piles they get messed up before I can get upsatirs to put away!!

OP posts:

thestringcheeseincident · 29/09/2011 17:02

I wash every morning. At least one load per day. DH and I share a laundry basket as do DD1 & DD2.
And whilst children getting ready for bath I fold and put everything away. Every night. Boring betty!
I'm slatternly with the iron and tend to iron as I want something.

pocketfullofposies · 29/09/2011 17:05

Little and often so it doesn't mount up and is easy to dry.

As for putting it away (I dopn't iron either) it all gets dumped on the bed in the spare room and we wear it from there! I only put it away when e have guests coming

cazboldy · 29/09/2011 17:10

i do a minimum of 3 loads a day (me,dh - who works on a farm so gets very mucky!- and 5 dc)

and more with bedding etc so I do our bed one day, the girls beds one day and the boys beds another, and change these once a week.

Think you just have to have a routine. I put a load on and delay it with a time switch so a load is washed when I get up, first think i do is put the next load on, and then that is done when i get back from the school run, then put the next load in and so on etc.....

ironing is my bugbear - i love the fact that my dh does not need a shirt for work everyday!

hotmum · 29/09/2011 17:11

The best advice my mum gave me was don't wash more than you are willing to put away as soon as it is done.
For me this means only one load a day regardless that i put in first thing and i put it away once i've put the baby in bed. That way i don't end up with piles and piles of clean washing.

cazboldy · 29/09/2011 17:16

thats ok as long as you don't need to wash more than 1 load...... we would run out of clothes and I would drown in scuzzy undies!

Melindaaa · 29/09/2011 17:19

I do all laundry every day so never have a back log.

We have a utility room so it gets washed and tumble dried and folded immediately. I put everything away once or twice a day, or whenever we have a viewing on the house.

Dipsyistipsy · 29/09/2011 17:22

I have two bins in the bathroom,one for coloureds ,one for whites,when they are full,I do a wash.

when it is dry I have three wash baskets,fold it as it comes off the line or out of the drier and then empty them daily.

Waltraut · 29/09/2011 17:22

I just accept that there will be piles of laundry everywhere. I am to get the clean stuff folded and into baskets, to be put away. Does any bugger put it away? No. It's bigger than a one-person task, so I do my own and if nobody can find enough socks, I have a rant.

It's an imperfect system

headfairy · 29/09/2011 17:26

I binge wash on my days off... I did five loads over the past two days. First wash on Tuesday morning at 7.30am, up on the line when I got back from the school run and second wash on. I squeezed in the third wash at the end of the afternoon, hung it up on a dryer and left it to dry overnight in the kitchen. Same again yesterday. Luckily it was warm and everything dried v quickly. I spent about an hour last night after the kids were in bed putting it all away (luckily they're both deep sleepers, I usually put all their clothes away in their rooms while they're asleep in there) Dh's stuff was still sitting on the end of our bed this morning - I wonder how long this stand off will last before I give in and put it away for him

Original poster

lisad123 · 29/09/2011 18:45

So unless I'm able to pop on one loads a day to wash and dry I'm going to have to live with it
I don't understand how you can physically have a load a day?? Or do you just do colours and whites?? I do colours, darks and whites.

OP posts:

Becaroooo · 29/09/2011 18:48

Coloureds and whites and delicates.

Thats it.

Wash every day - if I miss a day (unavoidable sometimes) it takes me ages to catch up again.

Have so much ironing to do tomorrow I could weep

An0therName · 29/09/2011 18:50

I do a load every day, then one apporx white load, and every so often delicates. Alway put it one first thing in the morning, depends what on when it get hung up...

madmomma · 29/09/2011 18:52

I used to be constantly drowning in laundry and dealt with it by binge washing. The only way I've found to keep on top of it is to wash every day and a couple of times a week do two loads a day - like add on a whites wash or a delicates wash or a hot towels/bedding wash. I really resent doing it and I am constantly aghast at how much I have. Washing just sucks. Face it head on every morning!

posey · 29/09/2011 18:59

I do about 5 loads a week. Get it out on the line in the morning if set fair. Bring in at teatime. If not dry bung on clothes horse overnight. When dry take off clothes horse and sort according to where it needs to go (ironing pile or whose bedroom). Put away non iron items. Leave ironing in ironing pile til Sunday morning when I set to while everyone doing homework and other sundry Sunday chores.

cat64 · 29/09/2011 19:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

moondog · 29/09/2011 19:14

People wash far too often.
It ruins clothes too.
Do a bit more sponging and folding.
I do a load a week-maybe 2.
That's for 3 of us.

Moomoomie · 29/09/2011 19:17

I have three laundry baskets on the landing. Whites, colours and darks.
Each basket takes a load of washing, so once full, straight in the wash. Will often wash overnight so i can hang out on line first thing in morning. Or in utility room if wet out.
I iron things as soon as they come of the line, or fold and put straight away.
Day after day after day after day.

AutumnHues · 29/09/2011 19:20

I am trying to do at least one load a day. I like to make sure that one load is dry (or near to getting dry) before I do the next lot. I do have a back log partly caused by a bit of depression I had a while ago but I have turned a corner and I am trying to do better.
I do it like this: Wash clothes, if weather good, hang it out, get it in when nearly dry(have a shady back yard) hang on indoor airers, then when dry put away. Don't iron unless absolutely necessary.

booyhoo · 29/09/2011 19:21

i have a real back log at the minute and need to b doing2 washes a day to get backup to date but i have no line and am struggling to get it al dry. even if i did have the line, the weather here has been shite.

madmomma · 29/09/2011 19:25

I think maybe my family are just sweatier and stinkier and messier than those who can get away with one or two loads a week!

Ragwort · 29/09/2011 19:31

Agree with Moondog - unless you are really, really sweaty and dirty you do not need to wash clothes (apart from underwear ) daily - my DSIL puts her kids in clean clothes at least twice a day - they are not mucky kids - not babies either - she just has a 'thing' about it. My DS has the same 'out of school' clothes for the week - two or three school shirts and a couple of pairs of school trousers. I can happily wear the same shirt for a few couple of days - no one tells me I smell .

booyhoo · 29/09/2011 19:45

agree moondog and ragwort. when i take clothes off in the evening i hang them in the bathroom overnight with the window open and they always smell really fresh in the morning. i usually wear trousers 3 times before i wash them and tops about the same unless i have beenparticularly warm that day.

FlumpsRule · 29/09/2011 20:05

Always have pile of clean laundry waiting to be put away & an underwear basket (that kids are meant to sort) with loads of obligatory odd socks .

Am fine at sticking washing in the machine & getting it dried on airers (no tumble dryer) and folded but then rebel at thought of lugging it upstairs..

Thus my piles are clean & all my dirty washing baskets and wardrobes are empty

PastaLaVista · 29/09/2011 20:06

lisa, if you have enough overall to do one load a day, then you can just accumulate enough (e.g.) colours until you have a load. Next day you do whites, next day you do darks. Once you get started on it it will work out. In summer you will probably do more whites, in winter more darks.

Try to take everything out of the machine as soon as it finishes because it reduces creasing and smooth stuff out before hanging it to dry as well - it all cuts down on ironing. The same goes for things out of the drier.

Who is messing up the piles of clean stuff before you get to put it away? You need to head them off at the pass! But with only one load a day, it takes a couple of minutes to put it away before the marauders descend from the hills.

ThePrincessRoyalFiggyrolls · 29/09/2011 20:20

I wish I didn't have to wash every day and do my best to re wear but have sticky baby situation so get covered in goo regardless, so does the baby and dh work shirts seem to add to the pile, also I find if I load too much in then the washing doesn't come out clean which I think is something to do with my washing machine being a bit old and me being in denial , also have a back log due to having some a bastard of a period this month and having to change the duvet, sheet and matress protecter 3 times and having had to wash each one more than once to try and get clean. Otherwise I would be on top of it which is really annoying!

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