Laundry getting out of hand!

[Goodiegumdrops]

I need some help!

We moved into our house two weeks before my second son was born 14 weeks ago. I don't feel we have ever really moved in. There seems to be clutter everywhere.
And most of all a never ending supply of dirty/clean/ready to iron clothes.

I have another son who is 23 months and a husband who doesn't see mess . He doesn't understand why I am getting stressed about clothes.

We have a small three bed house and zero storage. We are currently using ds2 bedroom as the spare room whilst he is still in with us. We have a conservatory which is freezing and is currently storing the double buggy, a kitchen table and other bits. The kitchen has little room too.

So please. Any ideas for laundry solutions or how to run household with two under two!

Thanks xxc

Don't iron anything unless absolutelyneccessary

I agree with ironing the bare minimum. I only iron dh shirts and school wear, the rest is put away/hung up when dry

We moved in our house 2 days before ds number 2 was born and we had an 18 month old son too. In all honesty now eldest is at school and youngest going nursery a few hours in a morning were finally getting sorted doing what we want done and how we want it but it's took 2 years get there. We're now in a position where we can decorate room by room thankfully haha. The washing never seems to end but luckily my oh comes in and if I've only managed do one load or not managed pull the second out he does it and weekends he likes having a clean around. Eventually everything will fall into place and you will get there but it does take a while anyway moving in a house with no kids :)

Go through the dirty laundry and see if it all still fits and is needed. Babies of that age have likely outgrown some of those clothes already.

Do you use colour catcher sheets? They are a god send. No need to separate laundry at all. I also got a second clothes horse so I could do three washes a day. We had a laundry cupboard!! It was out of hand and I sorted it in October and now just need to throw in one wash a day with a colour catcher.

I don't iron anything unless it needs it upon wearing as it just gets creased up in the drawers again.

Deal with things as and when they are outgrown/stained or hardly worn.

Iron only when absolutely necessary. I’m only just ironing regularly again and my youngest are 3 and 4.

First bit of advice, don’t listen to the People on here who will tell you that everything needs washing each time you touch it. Towels can be used more than once and clothes can be worn again if they aren’t dirty. This massively helps. Also, give up on the ironing. I used to iron everything but had a revelation and now only iron stuff that needs it, which in all honesty, isn’t all that much. (If it looks creased, or has collars that need ironing flat I iron, but maybe only 10 things a week for a family of 5).
Do you have a tumble dryer? I find it invaluable this time of year, in the washer, into the dryer and put away within the day, I don’t know how I lived without it.

Iron the bare minimum, a lot of stuff is fine especially if you smooth and fold it as soon as the dryer stops. Get an ironing basket if you haven't already and tackle what you can when you can. Can you order any storage online or keep a lookout on Facebook selling pages for something that would tide you over until you can buy exactly what you want? In the meantime have a think about what storage would work for you and at least you can start browsing the options. You'll get there!

I had two under two (18 months between them), a 3 bed with little storage and can totally relate to your situation!

Things that massively saved me was no ironing and for the first year at least I had a very small amount of clothes to throw on consisting of a few pairs of jeans, vest tops for layering and some jumpers I could throw on, no messing around when you have a minute and a half to get ready whilst juggling a toddler and stopping a baby rolling off the bed. Kids honestly don't need their clothes ironed unless it's a fancy shirt for an event or school uniform. Let dh do his own ironing.

When washing laundry we had a washer/dryer which was a nightmare, so in winter I'd throw them on the clothes horse and turn on dehumidifier in the bathroom whilst I did a load of towels or bedding that I'd dry in the dryer.

Yes to wearing clothes more than once if they don't need a clean, although with two under two I rarely, if ever, got away with not washing the kids clothes after every change!

Get some pop up laundry baskets for the kids clothes, once clothes are dry sort into piles and throw them in their own basket and pop in their room until you have time to put away. and don't stress if that becomes a temporary wardrobe

The most important thing that I never listened to but is so true is try not to let it get to you too much, you'll find a groove and as the kids get older it'll get so much easier so be kind to yourself in the meantime and don't waste too much energy stressing over the house. If you have to box some things up and put in the loft or conservatory just get it out of the way.

It's not the easiest phase but it does pass!

I had similar before Christmas (though only one toddler, I had stonking tonsilitis and felt like death on a stick and knew that the house would be full of people for a week in the near future). I paid the good people of www.laundryheap.com £28 to take away 12kg of washing and return it 24 hours later, clean, dry and folded. Just getting the existing washing under control allowed me to take control of future washing.

If you have the money and a similar service in your area, I'd highly recommend it.

Wow! You guys are stars! [Star]. You're all making me laugh with the no ironing! That is totally acceptable to me!

We do have a washer/dryer in one and majority of kids stuff can be tumbled. @scattymcscatty - I swear I wear/own the least amount of clothes. I often wear the same lot two days in a row as I just don't have the time in the morning to find clothes. We haven't started weaning yet so that reduces washing and ds2 is growing so quickly!

I need to get rid of all his outgrown clothes now.

I haven't heard of of colour catcher sheets but intend to google! I want to take a trip to ikea just get some cheap storage. I've put all of ds1 pjs, socks and bodysuits in one of those behind the door shoe pocket hangers ( I hope that makes sense).

And you are all right about it taking time to get a house looking right. I just want to know what the secrets are to having a tidy house!? How do people do it?

A friend of mine came to visit me and told me her other friend with two school aged children said she found it a compliment that people noticed her house smelt of bleach.

Have done precisely what you did, except wee one is 5 months now.

Don’t iron

Tumble dryer if you can afford one/have somewhere to put one (I don’t )

Occasionally I will take things like sheets, towels for a service wash at a laundrette. Effectively throwing money at the problem, but it’s very useful sometimes. Usually about a tenner.

Lower your standards and expectations. Sometimes what I aim to do in a day is ‘bring x in from the car’ and that on top of a load of laundry, a cooked dinner & the washing up counts as a day when I Acheived a Thing.

We’ve just moved house and I found that tackling one room at a time and giving things a “place” has helped. In the old house I was drowning in stuff and junk and it had all just got on top of me so I used the move as a do over.

Ha ha - just googled colour catcher sheets! I've just realised what they are and didn't know they were called that. For some reason, I imagined it to be coloured coded bags for your washing!

When mine were little, we had a rack at the bottom of the stairs with 4 big plastic boxes that fit it them (Ikea sort of thing) - one for each child and 1 that DH and I shared. I used to fold washing out of the dryer and place into the box for that person, then everytime I went upstairs, I'd take one and empty it into the their bedroom. It made life so much easier and seemed to solve the horrid thing of washing baskets on every surface. We still use them now ours are young adults, it's great for shoes/bags and stuff they leave lying around.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3107409-Your-mum-life-hacks

This is a good thread you'll find others by searching under life hacks. I think most who replied had kids older than yours though.

I agree about being realistic about what you can achieve. Also declutter - it really makes being tidy and hence organised so much easier.

Do you have a loft? If so you could rotate DC1 toys to reduce tidying up.

I think I unpacked our last box two years after moving in.

It's a process for sure.
I have 3 kids and no tumble dryer but it doesn't matter because I've got the mother of clothes airers:
Minky 3 tier airer

It's incredible how much you can fit on it!

Could you get one of those heated plug in airers if you don't have a tumble dryer?

Definitely getting into a routine helps. I stick a wash load on timer so it finishes once we are up, then while kids are eating breakfast i hang up/tumble dry.

Do a wash load every day and alternate bedding one week i do ours and the other week the kids so get change fournightly ish so then its not loads extra in one go.

I have a basket for each room and washing/crap gets put in each day to put away at bedtime/just before.

And defintely no ironing i dont even own one 😂😂

It has taken me till dds are now 9 and 5 to get into this 🤣

Oh and i have a dp who doesnt see mess so i give him jobs to do if hes home... even if it does seem like commonsense to me!

So daily i/we wash up, wipe down kitchen - usually when kids are eating dinner. wipe around bathroom and squirt bleach around loo when they are in bath or playing in their room. Then sweep floors, check cat litter and put away washing. Dp is in charge of hoovering every other day (we have cats its necessary)

Dds have to tidy rooms before bed i will help if its really bad or theyre tired. They have ikea kallax for all toys - different box per type and underbed boxes for clothes - one uniform and one outside school each. Plastic drawers for underwear/pjs.

Weekly usually a sunday - dust (kids like helping do this), deeper clean of bathroom/kitchen.

And i have a box of antibac wipes in both bathroom and kitchen - makes for easy cleaning. Baby wipes in lounge for sticky finger prints!

You moved house then went up from one kid to two in short order. First year in a new house = hell, new baby with toddler = nightmare. Let your standards slip, it will get better little by little. Even DHs work shirts don't get ironed now, just get them straight out of the wash and on a hanger. Tumble dryers actually leave clothes softer and less crumpled IMO, but get yourself on a renewables tariff.

yes to no/a lot ironing. if dh needs ironed shirts he can do that himself!

2 laundry baskets -one for lights one for darks. wash when full.
hang up as smooth as possible -> less creases -> less/no need to iron.

Too much washing....
Go through their laundry basket - half of it wont be dirty enough to wash

My "secret" is to have an empty laundry basket ready at all times. Are you going upstairs? Grab that basket and fill it with everything you see that needs to be upstairs. Once you get there put all the stuff in the right place or at least in the right room. Then don't go downstairs without looking around and yes! putting everything that needs to be downstairs in your basket. This can be laundry, but also an empty glass, toys, shoes etc. This may sound silly but it does make a huge difference!

I iron nothing. Got a dehumidifier and tumble drier. Recently also got a heated drier. Bills probably horrific but it all helps

I would clear my feet by taking everything dirty to the laundrette for service washes, pick it up the next day all clean and folded. Best £20 you'll spend.

Then keep on top of it, a load a day.