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?

That message was poor.

DD9 does her own
DS7 does his own bedding and coloureds
DD4 strips her own bed and puts her own washing away

Thanks all.
I should perhaps have said my Dcs have to put their washing in correct basket-light or dark. After I've washed & dried it, I sort unto piles and they have to put it away.
I strip beds & remake. I'm starting to get them to help around the house with more things like dishwasher etc just hasn't thought about washing before .
Oh, they're 9,7 & 4.

DD2's main household job is to load the washing machine with laundry and detergent very evening and press the start button in the morning. She is five. I hang it out because the DC can't reach the line. They are all capable of pulling out the un-tumblerables and pressing the tumbling button and will do it in school holidays or when we occassionally wash at weekends. DD1 (aged 10) folds dry laundry and sorts into piles after tea. Everyone puts their own dry clothes away apart from DH. I do any ironing (only school uniform and DH work polo shirts). We don't separate laundry out by person or colour. I strip and remake beds, and bedding has its own load because it is a natural full load. Everyone puts their washing in the communal laundry basket. The children are 5, 8 and 11 and all have household jobs.

18mo DS 'helps' fill / empty the washer and fill / empty the drying rack. Never too early to start

DDs (10 and 12) just started doing their own washing a few weeks ago.

Why? Because there were stressful mornings when I was getting blamed because they had no socks, no pants etc. Funny that, as they were under their beds. DDs were meant to put them in the washing basket but never did. And partly I was to blame - I work outside the house about an average of 32 hours a week, and sometimes the washing doesn`t get put on every day. In theory they had enough clothes to get them through the week, but in reality most disappeared under the bed.

So, now once a week, they do a wash. They are meant to put bedsheets and towels in there too but this is still something that doesn´t always happen. But, on the whole it is working for us. I am no longer responsible for their stuff, no more morning shouting, lots less work for me.

I always worked shifts so everyone pitched in with all tasks especially if I was on nights. No-one ever did their "own" washing except bedding but certainly on Friday night I would expect one of then to put in a mids wash (pretty much school uniforms plus the odd pair of grey socks or blue tee-shirt) and the other to load and put on the dish washer once I had gone to work from starting secondary school. Younger than that they would help me sort the washing into lights/mids/darks/towels/bedding so they knew what was what.

I can't remember a time when they didn't "help" me strip the beds - which often involved having to rescue them from inside a pillow case when they were really small. At 13 they had to completely change their own beds strip them/wash bedding and remake. DS is two years older than DD and whjen he hit his teens neither of us wanted me to handle his bedding so it became a "rule" that he did it. In the interests of fairness when DD hit 13 she had to do hers too.