this is not rocket science!

[IAmBooyhoo]

but i just cannot get the hang of washing, drying and putting away one load of washing a day. 1 load a day would probably be too often if i was up to date with it but i have a massive back log. apart from the fact that i hate, hate, hate hanging wet washing, either inside or out, i just never remember to do the wash. or when i do, i forget to hang it out. when i do remember it's usually about 4 o'clock and i never manage this 2 days in a row. my brain has a real block when it comes to the washing but it is so bad now i really need to conquer it. my spare room has a massive pile of washing in it that exists of stuff i probably dont even remember owning.

please help me. i need to get my head/body whatever into the routine of washing, drying and putting away 1 wash a day.(at least until the back log is cleared) i have in the past few months taken loads of bags to the launderers but it is so expensive and i have zero spare cash right now. it isn't a long term solution anyway. i need to get a handle on this.

where/how do i start?

erm if it were me then I would start by sorting it out into machine sized piles and then leavig 3/4 piles on the kitchen floor as this would drive me insane and make me put the damn stuff in the machine,would also be a constant reminder that the machine needs emptying.

Are you the only person in the house,any dh/dp/dc that could potentially help out.I am currently a sahm but I do request that dh helps out from time to time if I see a backlog developing.

Then develop a routine whereby you get up and when you make your tea/coffe in the am you have the pre prepared pile of washing organised the night before in the machine OR if you have a timer on your machine put the timer on so it's ready to be unloaded 1st thing.

This to be honest would drive me nuts but we all allow ourselves to let things get on top of us and for the record I hate hanging washing but as dh is so crap at hanging I try really hard to have it done before he arrives home.As for the folding/putting away,(again I hate it) I do this as soon as I take the washing in/down,if I leave it for even 10 minutes then there it will stay

Good luck and hope some more people give you suggestions to try :o

I put a wash on every night. After DD is in bed when I'm just pottering. I take it out of the machine on the next morning while DD is having breakfast. It either goes in the tumble drier then, or on to the washing line/airer. I leave it on the line/airer all day, and take it in/down at tea time.

I Don't iron. I put the clothes away while DD is getting ready for the bath (if I were to iron I would iron after she went to bed while I watched TV).

Then I collect up the next load of washing and take it down to go in the machine.

I tend to do a colour a day, so whites, then blacks, then DDs pinks, towels, sheets, mixed colours light, mixed colours dark. I get through most things that way.

Every now and then I do a hand wash during the day if I can be bothered - but I don't really wear hand wash clothes for this reason!!

I need to start by getting off MN, taking down the dry washing from my kitchen, putting up the wet washing that's in the machine and putting away the stuff off the line and putting another load on.

If I repeat this process several times I might find our bedroom floor.

yes just me that is washing competent (supposedly) i have ds1(6) and ds2(2). it doesn't help that ds2 is going through a phase of taking all the clothes out of their wardrobe several times a day and throwing them on the floor. not making excuses, just that it seems to add to the load as i find myself hanging the same stuff up again over and over the same day. it also makes me resent washing the frigging stuff in the first place because it gets all creased and covered in fluff and cat hair on the floor.

good idea about leaving piles on the kitchen floor. having it in the spare room puts it out of sight so easy to forget so i'll start doing that instead.

sorry, xposting. yes startail, i currently have a freshly washed load in the machine, a tumble dried but not folded load on the kitchen table, a load drying on the airer, and a load on top of the fridge that was cleaned but not dried and so will have to go back in the machine as i left it too long and it smells a bit fusty now. nevermind the gazzillion loads spread randomly about the house and spare room.

There are seven of us and if I don't keep on top of it gets depressing. Also lots of manky, muddy sports stuff and school uniforms.

1.My daily routine is sort out washing basket at breakfast time - whites, coloured and darks and whatever there is the most of gets done first. If lots of one type I'll divide it into what needs ironed and what doesn't. So washing machine goes on first thing.

1. Once washed, it's rare that I peg out on washing line as weather here is so crap. Pretty much everything goes into the tumble dryer except towels, jeans and heavy jumpers - they go on an airer in the airing/linen cupboard.

1. When the clothes are finished in the tumble dryer I take them out and fold the things to be ironed into one pile and everything else into another.

1. I have a little area where I put everyone's non-ironing into individual piles - such as socks, underwear etc so no one runs out and the ironing is in a pile of its own - they when they get in from school/work they put away themselves.

If I were you I'd be tackling the pile of washing 3 to 4 loads a day until done - would be thinking it cleaner and less stinky to have a pile of ironing than a pile of washing.

If I didn't have my tumble drier I would be lost!!!

Another thing I've started doing, as my DC wear lots of white tshirts under school shirts, is to fold them when still hot from tumble drier - in the way I would if just ironed - saves ironing 15 tshirts a week and they've not noticed they're not ironed.

I probably come across as quite anal but I'm not really :) Managed to do this when working full time but started it at dinner time:(

Maybe writing down a daily routine and putting somewhere obvious would help?

and you are not the only on who is washing competent,my ds 6 likes to help me.I don't use a tumble dryer (too tight fisted and these waste money) so I have a couple of airers on the landing upstairs,it's a wide landing,and ds likes to hand me the washing from the basket to hang on the airer.Might work for you,he will like helping mummy out,mummy will like being able to see the spare rooms floor again.

And like most things in life routine is just a habit we develop when we do something enough times.So the more you do it for a couple of weeks the more a part of your daily routine it will become especially as you will then have a 6yr old nagging to do the washing so they can help :o

IamBooyhoo please look for my thread about my DD who put the entire contents of her "floordrobe" back in the washing basket.

And then imagine what my house looks like (I don't have a tumbler)

It's the putting it away

I'm crap at it too! Seems like whenever I clear the backlog a whole other one appears.

hathor I have a dd12 who has a floordrobe too,I told her this word the other day and she leapt in glee that her messy habits had a real name

ds1 is a great helper. he will do anything i ask him, it's just that with the washing, i feel so over whelmed by it that i would feel awful asking him to share the load. it is my fault it has gotten so bad and he knows it's bad because there are times where he cant find clean things. i dont want him to feel how i feel about it. he has a reward chart and one of his ticks is for bringing his washing down to the machine in the morning (same for ds2- my intentions are good ) but i dont feel i can ask more of him yet until i have got a handle on it myself.

Have a clearout of all your unused, excess clothes. We have 4 people living in 1 bedroom (me and dh sleep in living room) so we only own about 4 outfits each. That way I am forced to keep ontop of the washing or we have nothing to wear

I do a load a day, take it down with me when i'm straight out of the shower, can be white/dark/mixed depending on what there is more of.
Put washing on, do school run, get back, hang washing on line / airer / tumble as applicable. All dry washing is put on the bed and then put away at bathtime.
This time of year bits that can be tumbled are and others are left of airer until they are dry (normally not until the next day in this house as we don't have much heating on).
Sheets / towels etc are extra loads and I do two loads those days. I never have any hanging about this way although I will say I never ever iron!! I work evenings too so it can be done (and have three children and a dirty husband (gardener) :)

Totally agree about getting rid of excess clothes - be ruthless! I found stuff in our huge laundry pile that I'd forgotten existed, and stuff that no longer fits us.

Getting together a big pile of charity stuff ATM - if anyone's interested, British Heart Foundation (and probably other charities too, I'm not sure!) recycle rags, so if an item is too manky to sell they will still get some money for it. Just bag/label it separately if possible when donating. :o

My one exception for ruthlessness is school uniform - we got enough for a fresh set every day as that keeps ironing to once a week.

Putting away is my worst bit - it just stays there until you've used so much of it that it's barely worth putting the rest away. Same with washing up.

oh yes, getting rif is something i really need to do. like you fuzz, there is stuff in both mine and the dcss wardrobe that doesn't fit or just isn't worn. really need to get my finger out and do it. i know it's not difficult, it's just getting myself into the routine of remembering to do it everyday. i have managed 3 loads a day for the past 3 days which has cleared a huge amount of the back log. just going to plough on til it's done and then hopefully the habit will already be sticking.

I've managed to get through a mini mountain of washing this week, partly thanks to the few warmer dry days we've had.

-i load the machine at night, but turn it on after showers in the morning.
-when i take them out i shake them flat (helps get rid of creases) and sort them in to top/trousers/socks. i find it less faff to then hang them up.
-put them on the line/airer.
-bring in before dark, or they get damp again.
-sometimes finish drying off on the radiator. Or with a hot iron.
-Only iron uniform/work clothes.
-fold into in separate laundry bags i.e a bag for DH/Dcs/Towels&sheets/Me.
-when the bag is full put clothes away, roll up empty bags and stash (for about a day).

putting them in bags makes it easier to find something you need quickly.
and to hide under the stairs i someone comes over.

there was a thread a while ago, where some MNers hang clothes out over night.
Anyway - hope that helps a little.

thanks nomorecake. at the minute i am just folding as soon as dry and setting all folded stuff in my room. dcs go to their nanny's for a few hours tomorrow and i will be able to get it all put away in one go then. i am down now to 2 coloured washes and a white wash left to do. but i also have quite a bit of bigger stuff, duvets, mattress protectors, pillows, cushions and the like that needs doing. i think some of it might have to go to launderette as it wont fit in machine but that will have to wait til i have a bit more money.

or if you really can't keep ontop get a washer drier, put the clothes in dirty, get them out dry and clean and put them away :)

If you have a huge backlog, you need to deal with it by invading your local launderette at opening time one morning, hogging all the machines and doing absolutely all your washing. Then dry it, fold it etc.

oh i wish we had launderettes!! we dont have any here. there probably are some in the city but that's over an hour away, just at the minute i couldn't afford the petrol to get there, never mind the laundrette costs.

i am down to 3 washes eft now and those, along with what we accumulate over the weekend will all be done by sunday evening. the bigger stuff will just have to wait in the spare room until i have money to take to dry cleaners.