I have revolutionised my laundry system - ironing pile begone!

[Scootergrrrl]

Bored with the traditional ideal of keeping up with the washing and drying of the clothes - and there's a lot of washing, thanks to muck magnet children - but allowing the ironing pile to teeter until it resembles a landfill, I have come up with a revolutionary new system.
I've bought five different coloured plastic trugs and everyone's clothes go straight from the line (or tumble drier in winter) into their own coloured basket. If (and it's a big IF) there's ever time, I do fully intend to transfer the clothes from the trugs to the actual drawers and wardrobes. But until then I have cut down on the bother of the whole laundry thing and morning stresses where no one can find anything. Obviously, it's not one for the housesproud but I'm VERY far from that!

Sounds great, I'd have to tidy up to make space for the tubs! Where do you keep 5?!

ooh, ooh I love that. Do it half heartedly in that I separate DS's clothes into his own towering pile... now all I need is two more kids and a utility room.

I have coloured collapsible crates - one for each child plus me. DSs are responsible for transferring the contents from their crate to their floor wardrobes. I do still do DDs as she's only 6.

We keep them on the landing or in their rooms. It gets a bit murky at the bottom of the baskets but it's a small price to pay!

I don't have an ironing pile. Stuff comes out of the tumble, into the basket and into the drawers while it is still warm. Then I get the school uniform out of the drawers and iron it on a Sunday.

The price I pay for neglecting this routine is having to iron.

If the stuff were in a trug then it would be flung all over the rooms by people DH looking for stuff.

don't iron unless its essential

my only essentials are mens work shirts

just fold everything else nicely

(mind you...every one else thinks I'm a slattern!)

Genius. What size trugs do you have? I want to buy some now because although I don't iron, I'm sick of the piles waiting to go upstairs. I just had a look on Amazon, these are too small aren't they?

www.amazon.co.uk/Pack-litre-Flexi-Bucket-Gorilla/dp/B002GCRQH0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1327355427&sr=8-3

I have bigger ones that I got from Boyes, but they have them in Wilkos and in garden centres. I suppose the size depends on how much ironing you want to avoid - small ones might mean they do have to be emptied occasionally

Why don't you just get your clothes out the night before?

I used to have a massive utility room and I did this. Crates with everyone's name on it and another crate for all the socks. All lined up on the worksurface.

6 people living in the house though so there was A LOT of washing. And 3 big men all with black socks and shirts every day - shirts were put straight on hangers, dried on hangers and hangers hung on end of crate once dry. (they kind of dangled down in front of the cupboards)

I never did ironing unless I had to.

I miss that utility room much much more than I miss my exH.

ooh I have been doing this for years. I managed to convert a couple of friends too.

Wash, tumble, fold straight out of machine into appropriate basket, get children to carry them upstairs and leave on appropriate beds, my end of the job is over!

I have this - Antonius from Ikea though as it stacks.
Empty washing machine: things that will go on hangers go on hangers then (i.e. not in tumbler) and hung up. Everything else (socks, pants, PJs, jeans) goes in tumbler. Empty tumbler into named crate, add anything that was hanging up and is now dry. Carry upstairs when done

Great idea. I have a table on the landing, onto which I sort the tumble dried clothes. A pile per person. No ironing.