What age to do own washing?

[crappyday]

Inspired by another thread. I was never expected to do my own washing until I left home at 18. I had to put it into the washing basket, and collect it from the airing cupboard and put it away. But I never had to actually work the machines.
I could- my mum showed me, but never actually had to do it.
The other thread asked about 9 year olds doing their own washing- I have a 9yr old and wouldn't have dreamed of asking him to do his own washing.

So what age do you expect your children to do their own washing?

I think if you're separating laundry by colour/type (I have whites, colours, dark stuff, red/pink, towels, bedding) it seems a bit pointless to expect each person in the house to do their own washing (and wasteful). I have two DSs, who are 11 and 14. I do most of the laundry, but expect them to put out relevant coloured items when I ask (they each have a laundry basket in their own rooms) and put their own stuff away when it's ironed. If I ask them to put on a wash (usually sports kit, etc), then I expect them to do it.

My kids don't do their own washing, as this would end up with several small random washes a day . It's just not practical.

However, I do see the washing as a bit of a team effort. Everyone makes sure their dirty stuff is in the baskets, not on the floor. They will help me sort dirty/clean washing, switch the machine on, hang stuff on the line, bring it in, fold, sort and put it away (when asked). If you want something ironed, you have to do it yourself.

They're 9, 11 and 44

I think I started looking after my own clothes when I was about 16. It happened quite naturally, I just started to take a bit more responsibility but equally my mum would often ask me if I had any washing if she was putting a load on.

I think my mum still took care of towels/bedding etc.

My sis never did her own washing. Don't think it was a big deal, but I left home 2 years before her so maybe I'm not party to any arguments that happened!

I don't really see the point of each person in the house doing individual wash loads - seems wasteful to me. However, from the age of about 12 I could sort the family wash basket into the different loads (delicates, colours, etc) and use the washing machine. It wasn't my specific job but whenever mum asked then I could do it. I think I'd expect the same of my children.
I'd probably teach them earlier if there was a good reason too (e.g. if they regularly go swimming/football etc then I'd teach them how to put their own kit in the wash when they got home) - probably from the age of about 9 or 10 but that's still a fair few years off here .

Also to add, around the same age I'd be expected to strip my own bedding and remake the bed on "sheets wash" day.

My eldest is 14, and she doesn't do hers yet. Perhaps she should. My brother aged 44 still doesn't do his and takes it to DM .

sorry, that should read "good reason to" - my spelling is better than that!

dD 16 does her washing, of her own volition, she just started doing it.

Dd 21 still doesn't do it without much nudging.

Mine are 8 and 10 and once a week or so are expected to get all of the x out of the wash baskets and stick it in the machine, but that's about it really. More like 'mucking in' than being independent iyswim.

I also think it's a bit pointless & wasteful to have multiple small loads (there are 6 of us & we already do - bedding, towels, whites, darks, everything else & delicates). But dd1 (14) has been able to put a load on & hang it out for a couple of years - she usually does the white load since it is mostly her stuff & we only do one a week.

I never (even when I go home now) 'do my own washing' ... if a load needed to go on mum would ask me or my brother to do it (from secondary school age I guess) & later if I wanted something washing I'd put a full load on from everyone elses' stuff.

I don't iron ever - so if someone wants something ironed they (dd1 or dh) do it themselves & I expect all of the kids to put their clean clothes away.

Shedding yes that's the difference between 'doing the washing' which I expect the dc to do & 'going your own washing' which I don't!

Never really understood the concept of people in a family doing their own washing. All ours goes in together and gets colour sorted.

Kids help as they help with other chores (dishwasher, clear table, occasional hoover etc), so I might ask one of them to go and get a load. We have 3 dirty laundry baskets in a row, for darks, colour and whites, so they all sort their washing as they chuck it in. I expect them to put clothes in there, not leave them in their rooms, and I expect things not screwed up.

They could stick a load on, or hang it up, if I asked but I don't, I think it is quite a hard job to hang washing up properly and we have a high rack they couldn't reach.

I am trying to get them to put away their own pile of clean washing and I am reasonably successful (with loads of nagging) for the 9 and 12 year old and failing miserably with 7 yo.

When I was 13 (2 older brothers) in the summer holidays my mum put a note in the laundry basket
OI! BEFORE YOU PUT ANYTHING ELSE IN HERE, STICK A LOAD IN THE MACHINE!
From then on we were expected to help! She gave up ironing at the same time. I don't iron though, so that is easy!

Another one who doesn't understand why all the people in a house would all do their own washing.

Here, we have 2 baskets, one in each bathroom. If washing is not in the basket, it doesn't get washed. I put the loads on and hang it out. I put piles of clean clothes in the DCs' (they are 10 and 8) bedrooms and they put it away.

If they come back filthy from sport, I ask them to stick their clothes straight in the machine when they come through the back door.

Once a fortnight, I also get them to strip their beds so that their sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers get washed.

here as well,
I wouldn't get them to do their own washing till they move out
BUT I do expect them to sort their washing now (aged 8&10)
and in the next couple of years will expect them to be able to put a washing load on in the same way as the older one currently does with the dishwasher.

it is about sharing the housework here, hoovering, washing, cleaning up, not everyone doing their own little bit

I did my own from about 12, but we didn't have a machine in those days. DD is resonsible-with a nudge- for getting her stuff in the basket. I'd like her to do her own ironing though(13).

When mine were young teens they took responsibility for doing 'some of the washing' rather than their 'own' washing. They did however do their own ironing and that of their little brother. Much to the horror of my. MiL I might add.

I think I started doing my own around 11 or 12. But that was in self defence - I needed clean school shirts and Mum was getting pretty slack about the laundry by then, so I had to do my own to make sure I had them. She must have taught me about checking labels and putting in powder and softener before then though - because I always did - but she didn't always do it herself! In fact, when prewash stuff became readily available, she did everything on "wash 5" (remember the numbered washes? that was easy care at 40 degrees, iirc) because it did a prewash - she shrank many a woolly jumper that way, including Dad's university cricket jumper :(

By then I did all my own laundry though, mostly out of self-preservation!

continued...
I'm now a bit Monica-ish about laundry, so do all of it - DH would do some but he just bungs everything in together, so that's no good to me. Ds1 is only 7, he's good at putting his laundry into his basket, or the one in the bathroom, but he hasn't been initiated into the Art of Laundry Separation or How To Work The Machine yet. He does help with hanging wet washing up though.
(and he empties the bottom half of the dishwasher, as he can't reach the top cupboards that hold the glasses and mugs)

Mine are only 10 and 6....I make them hang up clothes which aren't dirty enough for a wash and deliver dirty ones to the laundry. That's it! I should make them put them away when theyr'e clean shouldn't I?

you can try Mrs Tawdry - but it is a battle you will fight til they are 18!

Threads like this always puzzle me, along with those in which posters talk about their OH doing his own washing of course! I do the laundry in our house or it wouldn't get done until it was actually growing legs and walking to the machine itself.

When I was young and lived at home, everyone just put their laundry in the basket and then someone would do it. Naturally it was either my mother, me or sister (as we got older) . My dad was completely hopeless and couldn't even work the damn thing unless he sat down with the instructions, though strangely enough he did all the ironing. My brother had to be pinned down and all but stripped naked before offering up any clothes to be washed .

Surely a situation in which everyone is doing their own laundry is completely inefficient and wasteful?

Well DS doesn't do his own but he is only 18m old.

But I remember taking on responsibility for my washing when I was a teenager. In our house growing up each person's washing did actually get done separately and I don't remember it ever being an issue. I put a load on for myself when I had a full load etc. It wasn't a strict 'do your own' set-up though. Usually what happened is that someone would put theirs on to wash, and leave it there for the next person to hang out. There were 5 of us so there was washing going on most days. Mum sorted the towels etc but we did our own beds.

Agree that in principle though its the 'mucking in' that's important. I don't want to bring up a lazy person who thinks that chores get done by the housework fairy and expects others to always pick up after them. I want DS to have an understanding of what needs to be done and when, and how to do those things, i.e. work the washing machine/dishwasher, understand about separating laundry, emptying the hoover, food shopping/meal planning, as well as having good basic cooking skills.

Never to young to start though I guess, with a bit of tidy-up time to understand that you put your own toys away, put dirty clothes in the wash basket at bed time, hang up your coat type stuff.

Realise ive gone a bit off topic!

Both my married sons do the laundry and ironing in their homes.

That was my thread which I keep forgetting to reply to

My DC 9 do their own washing (except uniform which gets done in one big load)

They each have a washing basket, DC9 empties hers on a Friday and does two loads (lights and coloureds), puts in drier and puts away.

If I do their waging it gets folded into piles and they are responsible for putting it away. Even DD who is 4

We have communal laundry baskets that are labelled (blacks, whites, lights, darks, hand towels etc) and I have a washing rota. My sons are almost 12 and almost 9. I don't like the idea of them putting my knickers in a wash, so they can put a load on that doesn't require emptying my pants out of the laundry and into the machine

They strip their beds and ds1 puts the machine on ie he knows the setting and I deliberately cut the washing powder scoop down to the correct level, no squinting at numbers to see how much powder they need, it is one level scoop.

Ds2 has started to help, so he has also loaded the machine and put it on. They can also do a bath towel wash and whites (no pants in that mainly their uniform tops)

For me it is them knowing how to do it. Ds1 will be taught ironing this summer. He already knows how to fold stuff.