bloody washing!!!

[julezboo]

We always have loads!!! Its getting on my nerves and no matter how hard I try I cannot keep up with it. They way Im talking you'd think there was 5 or 6 people living here wouldnt you?!!

Well there is me, DP and DS and come Feb will have an extra little boy to cloth as well!

I honestly dont know where its comes from. Ive taught DS to put his clothes in the basket which lives in the bathroom - so good he tells us off if we dont do it (Specially DP) it just feels like I always have a mountain of washing to get through and just as I get on top of it we go and start getting them bloody dirty again!

So other than the idea that we dont wear clothes for a week whislt i get through it all and then do my best to keep on top of it any ideas??

DP doesnt use the washing machine, DS is only 4 so cant very well train him to do it, 6 months pregnant and still exhausted please give me some motivation!!!!

get dp to lend a hand.

is there a day you can set aside for trying to get it all done? how do you dry?
can you get 1-2 loads washed and dried a day til you have caught up? thn a load every day/every other day to keep up with it?

I dry towels, underwear, socks, ds's jeans, some of my clothes in the dryer, I have 2 clothes maidens (one of which is permantly up) impossible to get into the garden (would get lost, or clothes would lol) usually put trousers and jeans on the radiators (inc pjs ones too) tops go onto maidens and DP's shirts get hung on coat hangers and onto a clothes rail int he spare room (soon to be babys room lol)

just seems to be washing everywhere!

I know I have the same problem it's not the lack of help it's the faciliities to dry and hang and air.. I have clothes hanging everywhere atm and even things on the line, but when i come home from work its dark and they're still there in the morning. Answers:

1. buy more clothes
2. re-use and wear least dirty ones
3. have 2 tumble driers
4. take to laundrette (i'm considering this one atm - it's finding time to drop off and pick up)

My dd has house clothes ... i.e least dirty

Taking to the laundrette as a one-off catch up definitely works if you are seriously behind. The machines are way bigger, you can get everything dry and folded so minimal ironing, or splash out on a service wash if you can't wait (probable with your ds)

Get home and then put away lovely clean washing IMMEDIATELY

Doesn't help if the problem is the amount of dirty washing you're producing on a regular basis though, but I found this great for just getting back to square 1 when I'd been ill & my flat was crammed full of dirty washing to the extent that it was getting mixed up with the clean stuff waiting to be ironed & put away.... My dh is also washing machine-phobic so was no help at all.

After cleaning upstairs this morning (throwing all the dirty washing onto the stairs lol) my wash basket is empty, I have 5 piles of washing to do, then drying, then ironing, then putting it away, Im dreaming if I can think im gonna get it all done today arent i? Even with a 7kg drum!!!

Try colourcoding it all so you're only doing 1 load a day. The colourcoding is purely for organisation, colours don't really bleed at 40degrees unless they are brand new.

Monday: Reds/pinks (& handtowels if you don't have much pink)
Tues: Blues
Wed: Green/yellow/brown/grey
Thurs: Blacks
Fri: Whites
Sat: Bedlinen/towels/misc
Sun: ironing in front of the telly in the evening

And have a really good think about what actually needs to be ironed (ie none of the kids' clothes.) Get you DH to pull down the dry washing and file it when the kids are in bed. You can then go round drawers on a Sunday and pull out anything you think needs ironing.

christ that's really efficient I'm impressed!

"have two tumble dryers" How can that be necessary?

Your DP is being slack. How difficult is it really to load a washing machine? No reason why your 4yo can't help you. Hang the items on the lower racks of the maiden so you don't have to bend so much.

two tumble driers was a bit of a joke..

not a green option... it's not the loading of the machine that's the problem it's drying space and time..

LOL but my system only works if you're prepared to leave your bedlinen and towels a fortnight so you can alternate. Otherwise you get your DP to do a load on a Sunday.

Have you got any more good housekeeping tips bucketsofbloody dinosaurs? You're wasted on washing

LOL It's the only housework I can be bothered with! I'm trying to work out some sort of maths puzzle to motivate me to finish cleaning the chessboard tiles on my kitchen floor (I did 1/3 of it 2wks ago and got bored .)

i like the colour catorgries!

I just did alot today actually, my piles went like this

• underwear (in one load, now all in the dryer)
• towels
• tops/tshirts/shirts
• trousers/jeans/pj bottoms
• bedding

seem to be getting there faster and as they are coming out of the dryer Im making an effort to put it away.

Hmmm will give DP a talking to again, i have said to him before, if we try and do one load a day we should keep on top of it, so if i forget then will he do it, didnt work then tbh!

My 4yo helped too, he transferred the clothes from the washing machine to the dryer today!

Guess its up to me to dry, Ive seen DP's efforts of loading up the maiden HA it would take years to dry the way he does it! Thats what i get i suppose he is a mummys boy!

I still giggle at the way MIL use to dry things (we was living with her for 6 weeks and it drove me mad!) she had stuck nails in the walls everywhere you look! Clothes on coat hangers and hang them up on the nails, which then became rusty! Same for in the airing cupboard, rusty old nails often turned nice plain whites into white with brown spots on, drove me up the wall!!!!!

bucketsofbloodydinosaurs how many laundry baskets do you have for that many colour categories?! I would love to give your way a try but unfortunately I would never have enough for a full load using your categories.

You could play chess on your floor I bet you'd be a whizz

You can get those plastic bucket bins from b&q and label them

ah ha even better by the matching colour to washing pile

I'm going to do that! and label the day its too be washed too

It's a war against washing

I've just got a normal-sized linen bin but I empty it on the floor each time to sort it. I chuck that day's colour into my plastic basket as that carries about a full machine load.
If the plastic basket isn't full I'll add something that doesn't get washed much, like a dressing gown. If it's too full, I'll do 2 loads that day, topping up the 2nd with more long-forgotten things (like my favourite bra.)
My other tip is put stuff away at night, don't leave clean stuff in your transport basket or it's hard to motivate yourself to the next sort and load. the basket must always be empty and inviting (like a clean kitchen sink next to a pile of dirty dishes.)

Thing is it's pure displacement activity. While I'm being smug about my laundry bin never overflowing I can forget all about the rank bathroom and crunchy kitchen floor.