Someone help me cut down on clothes washing.

[2MumsAreBetterThan1]

I am SICK to death of all the clothes washing I have to do, it's driving me mad and no matter how hard I work I am always drowing under a mountain of clothes.

I do AT LEAST 2 washes every single day, sometimes even more and spend hours washing clothes, hanging them to dry, ironing, sorting and putting them away.

It means I get very little else done as every day is washing day.

I would love to be one of these people that has a wash day once a week, or even twice a week actually would be great.

How on earth do you all manage it?

I have a 6 week old baby who has severe reflux and so is sick a lot, this means I end up doing a 'baby clothes' wash every other day. She also has reusable nappies which are washed every day.

I have a 5 year old who is a mud magnet so needs fresh school uniform every weekday and changes when she gets home so that's 2 outfits a day in the wash.

I have an 8 year old with severe special needs, he also uses reusable nappies that are washed every day. Sometimes in the same wash as the babies nappies but if there is too many I do 2 seperate washes. He has a habit of taking his nappy off at bedtime meaning that 3-4 times a week I also have to wash a full load of bedding as well. He is also a VERY messy eater and food is never contained to just his bib so he ends up having his t-shirt changed a few times a day.

I have a DP who works a manual dirty job and so comes home and changes immediately adding one full set of clothes to the wash, she also showers every evening after work meaning there is a towel each day.

I wear clothes, pj's etc. until they are dirty to not add more to the washing.

I change the bedding weekly, towels are washed as and when they are used, baby being sickly often means I have pram covers, moses basket bedding, bouncer cover etc. to wash several times a week.

I also have a dog whose blankets are washed weekly in there own boil wash.

Sometimes I put the clean washing upstairs to put away when I get chance and the fucking bastard cat will come along and piss on the lot meaning I have to rewash everything I have done :( Thankfully this is happening less and less now that the children are remembering to close the doors.

Short of becoming a family of nudists or leaving my children in filthy beds and clothes, how can I reduce my wash load??

Also I wash sofa covers once a yearish. Curtains can't remember when I last did them. Coats as they get dirty maybe twice a year for winter coats.

Ok I do a wash every other day roughly,
this is what we do
bedding once a fortnight unless soiled, kids beds one week ours the next.
towels weekly and hang over the banister to dry properly inbetween use, as long as they dry properly they are fine.
If the kids get changed when they get in from school these clothes last a couple of days.
dog beds - when they smell seems to be about every 4 months.
coats - annually IE I have just done all the winter coats now they are not being worn.
curtains - never

I would chick all the nappies in together.

8year old can you not get some sort of coverall for meal times?

2mums we got our bed pads from the HV Continence Service - they can't provide pull-ups and the nappies they gave us leaked loads, but give us 2 washable pads a year. They're very much like this and are great because if she does leak, I'm only washing a pad instead of mattress cover and sheets too.

Coats I wash when obviously dirty, or before packing away in the loft for the next child down!

PE kit gets washed each half term for DDs 2 and 3 (they only do non-sweaty PE 1-2 times a week) whereas DD1 is in seniors and does proper sport, so gets dirty - I wash her kit weekly.

Sofa covers - about every few months only because they're cream - otherwise I spot-clean them (Vanish foam is your friend!)

Curtains - only when soiled (I run the hoover over them occasionally)

Can you plumb your tumble dryer in? Ours is a condenser which the guy who fitted the kitchen plumbed in so that you don't have to empty the doofer. You say yours isn't correctly vented and you are getting hot and stuffy, if it's not a condenser can you dangle the hose out of the window?
Don't bother washing towels every day. Surely you are clean when you get out of the shower.
oh and get rid of the cat :)

Ha - when I'm stressed and busy, I even cut down on washing by wearing dirty clothes to do the housework and only change for the period of time I'm out of the house! Lazy and a bit grim, but needs must.

Towels weekly. Definitely. They are heavy and take longer to dry, fold etc etc - just trying saving yourself time on this one area for 2 weeks and see if you really feel enough difference to make it worth returning to daily washes.

Oh god i'm doing WAY too much!

I wash PE kit after each use (twice a week) and do the couch covers and curtains every 2 weeks. Kids coats get washed every weekend as well.

Will be cutting that down!

There not 'dirty' as such when I wash them, I worry about smell though.

My own mother was a bit of a slattern and as such I was the scruffy child at school and bullied for smelling, having a dirty house etc. I suppose I am so worried about my own children enduring this that i'm a bit over the top when it comes to washing.

sidge Will speak to the continence nurse, thank you!

freshwest Yes I do get free nappies for DS but they will only provide 4 per 24 hour period in this area, he goes through them just at school and we use reusable one's at home. Also they will not provide pull up's which means changing him can be a pain so was easier to use our own.

DP does help out with the washing yes, she works long days so I tend to do it all in the week but she puts her own things away and will pop on the odd wash / put the kids clothes away at the weekend and if I havn't managed to get it done by the time she is home.

Plus she does the majority of the cleaning once the children are in bed so I tend to see the washing as more my job.

If you can't put up hooks or rails for the towels, get some of these hooks that fit over the top of the door.

I can't plumb the dryer in no.

It's not a condensor and has a hose but it's built it to the kitchen in an area no where near any doors and windows. God knows who thought that stupid idea up.

It looks like there used to a hole venting the dryer to the outside but this has been filled in from the outside so when the dryer is on it blows all the hot air back into the room.

I tend to close the doors to the kitchen when it's on and open the window but it's still bloody horrible to have it on for long periods. I will have to get on to the landlord about it actually.

fluff I suspect if I get rid of the cat DP will soon follow :)
It's her cat, I don't like it one bit but then I have a dog and DP walks the dog etc. even though he is 'my' dog so I can't moad too much. And to be fair DP does all the cat care. I just have to make sure the kids keep doors closed to keep the bloody thing out of bedrooms. Sounds very cruel but I keep thinking it can't be around much longer, it's 15 years old already.

I'm a real Monica but even I think you're overdoing it!

I can understand why you do it based on your childhood experience, but honestly primary children are unlikely to need their PE kits washing twice weekly. They rarely do enough to get sweaty! And unless you go romping in the woods each weekend and get muddy the coats don't need doing that often.

Our PCT won't provide pull-ups and we were only allowed 3 nappies per day, which we often got through by lunchtime . I now buy pyjama pants, either the Pampers Underjams or Huggies DryNites when they're on offer. Often Asda will have 2 packs of 9 for £9 so not cheap but luckily we need less now. Also they rarely leak so I'm not washing her bed daily thank goodness! I also ask a friend to pick them up for me when she goes to Makro which can work out cheaper.

I cannot believe you wash curtains every two weeks. The are a nightmare to take up and down!!! Twice a year at most!!!

We got an extension tube (from B&Q or suchlike) for our tumble dryer when it wasn't long enough to reach the door. Just ducktaped to the existing hose. Would that be possible?

Oh these threads always make me realise what a slattern I am!

You are washing way too much, by my standards anyway...

Nooooo, curtains every two weeks? That's crackers. I have never washed my curtains! Do people even do that?

I remember my mum washed our curtains occasionally but that was in a house with coal fires. And I've known smokers who needed to wash theirs. But if there's no smoke... how does a curtain get dirty? We've been in our house 17 years and I've washed one pair once, when we moved them to DDs playroom - they really didn't need it just it was all nice and freshly painted.

I wash the sofa cushion covers as and when needed - quite often when DD was 'training', even now she sometimes gets food on them - but the main part of the sofa doesn't have removable covers, it has been steam cleaned twice in 25 years. It looks (and smells!) fine.

My FIL has one of these for his vented drier so he doesn't have to have the hose out of the window, might help?

For towels, we have this it goes over the door and towels are dry again within hours

Curtains and sofa covers every two weeks.

Way too much. Our pe kit comes home once per half term. Little kids don't get sweaty.

Towels - Give each child and adult a big towel each on a Sunday bathtime. Launder it the following weekend ready for Sunday night again (unless they are really dirty, I mean after all, a towel is used to dry a CLEAN body)

PE kits - at the start of term, send DC into school with their PE kit. At Half term, bring it home and wash / replace anything theyve outgrown ready to send back next half term. If they have to wear specific sports socks (eg hockey. fottball etc) just change the socks each week.

Curtains - well, I can;t imagine this would need doing more than once a year (but then I just have venetians)

Sofa Covers - once every 4-6 months if you have pets?

Kids on a school day - if 'playing out' just take off their jumper and put on a fleece if cold out and send them out in their uniform, especially if you are putting fresh uniform on them tomorrow. If not playing out, leave them in their uniform til bed. In the morning, get them to take off their pjs and fold them on the pillow ready for that night. If you notice that they are dirty / starting to smell, replace onto the pillow a fresh set.

Beds - strip once a fortnight and re-make. Buy plastic sheet if anyone is a spill hazard and keep a stash of spare bottom sheets in rooms where accidents are likely as its mainly the bottom sheet that gets wet so no need to strip entire bed.

Your DP - well, she may not be happy to wear the same 'after work' clothes each day, BUT she may be conducive to shower as soon as in and put on a pair of pjs. Or, you could wash her work clothes on the agreement she washes her casual stuff?

My 'trick' with towels is to only have white ones, it makes it a lot easier to tell/see if they need to be washed so nobody is using a dirty towel but you're not doing any more washing than necessary.

My trick with towels is to NEVER use white ones then you can't tell if they need washing . I hate these threads, I always end up feeling grubby. I now put vinegar in my washing machine as a result of one of these threads. I bet you I wash my curtains within the next month as a result of this one!

Coach covers and curtains every 2 weeks ! Coats once a week!

I think you're never going to have a small amount of washing, with the nappies etc., but here are some of the things we do, for comparison:

Towels: maybe once a week

Bedding: try to do it every two weeks but slips into three if I'm not careful

Curtains: never. I'm worried about shrinking them. I took our bedroom curtains down recently to mend some holes and the lining had mould spots on, so I washed that - first time in 10 years!

After-school clothes: I agree with the others, if she already has dirty uniform she can keep that on. If you want her to change, and she gets dirty, keep the same dirty stuff for playing out for the next couple of days. I'm a slattern

PE kit - weekly now they are at secondary and sweat, but at primary it was more like once every half term.

Coats - once a year max, unless they are muddy

Watch the cat and/or put washing away immediately. It doesn't have to be just you that does this, if there are others in the house at the time they can help.

Have you conclusively linked dd's eczema to washing powder/softener and tried across brands (some brands I never use but others for us are fine)? It would make your life a lot easier/cheaper if you didn't have to wash her clothes separately.

If you did duct out your tumbledrier and put clothes immediately on to hangers it would reduce your ironing load.

Towels and bedding weekly. Get some bibs with sleeves (ikea blue and red set are the best). Coats once per season. Curtains once every few years, ditto couch covers. Tell DP she must start wearing her evening clothes more than just once or she can do her own washing. Definitely DD can stay in uniform if being washed anyway.

None of this would make you a slattern. You would be normal! I have an image of you sweating away with a mangle and you hair in a scarf. It's just not necessary to make work for yourself where there is none. Relax.

I would consider subbing out the washing - its expensive but until baby is better this will free up your time. collect, wash, iron, return.

Agree about the tumble dryer.

I love muddy puddles suits - these are waterproof and washable suits in one piece or two piece - my boys live in them in the garden. They can then wear their clothes again. www.muddypuddles.com/girls/clothes/all-in-ones/originals_all-in-one.htm you can also find them 2nd hand on e-bay.

I have two young (mad) boys and a husband in manual job on farm too. He has a seperate washing basket and I wash all his stuff in one load. He will re-wear them but wouldnt dream of instantly washing them - get another basket!

You seem to be adding to an un-necessary workload. No rules with bedding, when and can, towels again when needed. Baby clothes just soak but would consider reasons for reflux and perhaps so if you can get any help on this.

I do wash all my clothes over 2 days, hang and tumble dry - all put away by day 2-3. I couldnt handle having washing machine on all the time.
I have re-organised my life so I can get out more and exercise so this is definately helping with my workload.

Think your going to have to cut your standards and make your partner change their ways.