1 washload per week per person- doable?

[BeingBooyhoo]

admittedly i have a huge backlog of washing so it will be as many washes as i can dry a day until it's cleared but is it unrealistic to aim for doing just 1 wash per person per week once i have the backlog cleared? there is me, ds1 (7) and ds2 (3). they both wear uniforms everyday, ds1 has 3 sweaters, about 10 pairs of trousers (my mum went a bit mad!) and 6 poloshirts. ds2 has 1 jumper, 2 poloshirts and 4 pairs of trousers (but gets covered in paint and needs washed almost daily). ds2 is also not 100% reliable on telling me when he needs a poo so there can be accidents some days. add into that, my clothes ( i try to wear outer layers a few times before washing) and bedlinen and towels. i have a 8kg washing machine. am i being unrealistic?

Oh & you asked about towels. I'd love a fresh towel every shower and I sometimes do that, especially in summer when it's not a faff to get them dry, but mostly I use one for 3 showers (I usually shower both morning and night, so it's a day and a half) - but no towel sharing - each to their own and they dry between showers, if they don't I get a fresh one out. I cannot be done with damp towels - grim.

One of my friends just has 'a towel or two' in the bathroom and they all just use whatever one is the least wet... I think they get washed annually whether they need it or not. Grim. She thinks I'm anal, I think she's skanky Good job I luffs her :)

i remember staying with my uncle's (by marriage) brother once and when i showered there were no clean towels. they were all damp hanging in the rail on top of each other and i was the first to shower that morning. yuck. i spent ages trying to shake all the water off myself but had to admit defeat and put my clothes on while stil wet.

I guess not enough people used it or they didn't give it long enough to get known :)

I have no idea how the one down the road survives TBH - it's not like we're in an area where people can't afford to have their own washer and dryer?!

Mind you... thinking about it...

• They do service washes often men in there handing over their weekly wash! and people bringing in 'wet' bedding.

• They let people use one of the BIG machines to wash horse blankets & the like.

• They wash the overalls from the local garage.

• There's often someone in there with an entire football teams kit exactly what I'd do on my turn if I had to wash muddy football kits!!

• They are huge machines so people take duvets/sleeping bags etc in.

So I suppose there's always someone in there .... and it's not always staffed either, it's often 'minding itself' :) & they come back later to lock up.

Been there, done that too!! I've also got dried on the t-shirt I've taken off when it has been an improvement on the towels that were available. I always take my own towel when I plan to stay somewhere - but it's not always planned.

yes, this was an unplanned stay. i was expecting to stay with my aunt and uncle but due to their other nieces deciding to stay there i was sent to his brothers. i was an adult so understandable they didn't send 3 young girls to stay with a man tehy didn't know.

yes i think because we dont have launderettes here everyone has got their own machine and means of drying. we dont have any factories here and aren't a student town so mustn't have been enough need for teh laundrette.

no joyful you aren't being thick. i jsut grew up always using a fresh towel each time. it never entered my head to question it until i joined MN and saw that others didn't do this.

PuddleJumper - no, you're not being thick. As kids we had our own towels (no sharing) and they got washed once a week. Pretty standard I think?! I just like fresh towels :) but try to balance that with the impact on the environment & electricity bills

I don't see how with 2 adults, a Muddy 3yo, a smeary 10mth old, towels, bedding etc you can only do 4 washes a week without seriously overloading the machine... - unless I suppose you are a lot less anal than I am about how often things are washed?!

BBH - no factories here either or students... I think they probably didn't stick with it for long enough for people to get to know about it and start using it - if one can survive here it can survive anywhere I'm sure!

Changed the bedding monthly

I wonder how many kids know how often the towels are washed? LOL - could be an interesting thread?!

If you were anywhere near me I'd off to dry some stuff for a couple of quid towards the leccie meter

offer not off

I'm also bemused about the towels Puddle! We use ours for a week, then swap for another set (have 2 sets).

The laundry habits of some MNers is bizarre imo! I think the plan you have op is perfectly doable. In our house, there's dh, me, dd1 (2.7) and dd2 (3 months). I do a dark and a light wash for dh and I per week (2 loads in total), then a load for each of the dds as necessary. I have a laundry basket in each of their rooms, (obviously dd2 still sleeps in our room) so just wash when there's enough for a load, which is often less than once a week. This has the advantage of not having to sort their laundry.

In addition to the above, I do one load of bedding (dd2 wears Grobags, so just a sheet for her).

Dd2 is also in cloth nappies, so they go in every 2-3 days.

Hahahahahaha!

There's 4 of us and I get behind on 2 per person per week.

When all 5 of us are at home (DS1 is at uni), I do probably 6 or 7 washes week.

When it's just 4 of us it's probably only about 4 or poss 5 times a week.

So, yes, not much more than 1 load per person a week.

(Towels washed once a week)

Bath towels for us get washed every 4-5 uses, so long as they get to dry properly in between and don't get anything yucky on them.

Hand towels are replaced daily, more if someone has a tummy bug. I've seen how DS1 washes his hands, even with me breathing down his neck. [boak]

The only time I've ever had clean towels every day is in a hotel. Even then it feels somehow wasteful.
We have one each and they get washed about once a week. Kitchen hand towel every day because it gets soggy and dirty.
Four here, two adults and two teens who are bigger than us. I reckon I do 10 to 12 washes a week.
I agree it's the drying and putting away that takes the time.
I do it all first job in the morning before anything else. Put washer on. Meanwhile sort and put away any dry stuff.
Hang wet washing outside if possible otherwise hang on large airers and bannister.
I rarely iron anything and only use a dryer to finish off stuff that's slightly damp.

10-12 washes a week and that's without clean towels everyday?? how?

I used to have the washer on 2 to 3 times a day!! Not sure how it was done as one dc is at school full time and the other is at school in the mornings!

Much more manageable now I stick to the routine I mentioned above.

oh yes, thanks for the offer knickers!

i do 2/3 washers per day.

PuddleJumper - back in the drawer? Really? If it's not been on long, I might put something over the chair for the next day, but anything worn doesn't go back in the drawers or wardrobes. Each to their own hey! Lovely little clothes do take up less space that's for sure :)

Nuzzle/Puddle - don't you find that things stain more though when they're not washed for a while? Like stuff babies have got their food all over?

4 of us. But only a 5kg drum. Will trade up to a bigger drum as and when this goes kaput but stuck with it for now. Think it's 2 coloured, 2 darks, 1 whites, 1 DH shirts and then a cloths/tea towel load. We don't use baby wipes, hence lots of grubby face flannels from my mucky 2yo.

Sheets and towels are on top of that. Done fortnightly - towels only used on clean bodies, hung on heated towel rails to dry so not particularly grim to go a fortnight under those circs I think.

Meant to say - with 8kg drum reckon we'd be on 4 loads plus linens so think your plan is more or less doable.