Clean laundry help!

[feistychicken]

We are a busy family of 5 with three DC 11months, 3years and 6years. Like most families we have a busy week of the usual activities, school, preschool, swimming, sports etc.

The washing mountain is huge! I manage to keep on top of the actual washing and drying of it all, but the putting away seems to get stuck, and we end up with baskets of clean washing cluttering the place up.

I’d love it if you would share your “putting away” routine for me? Or your general laundry regime that doesn’t result in a clean washing mountain waiting to be put away!! Thanks in advance!

Following! Due my 3rd any time now (older ones aged 5 and 2) and I’m struggling with washing as it is!

Hi, we're a family of 5. My children are 8, nearly 6 and nearly 2. I don't have a dryer but I have a heated airer in my bedroom. As soon as everything is dry I make a few different piles - one pile of ironing, then another pile for each person (things like vests, pjs and underwear that don't need ironing). Things then get put away straight away. The ironing is usually done in the evening and I put it all away when I go up to bed.

I'm a bit of a routine freak/neat freak and can't bear anything left lying around.

It’s the sorting/separating and putting away that i struggle with too! Do you have a spare room or area you can confine it all too? I don’t mind if it’s all in one room either drying/waiting to be ironed or put away, it’s when there’s piles in every room it stresses me out!!

I'll qualify this by saying I only have 2DC who are 8 & 5. As a second DC seemed to double the washing rather than just increase it by 25%, I'm not sure what happens when you have three!
There's a double washing basket upstairs, one for lights (anything from white to pale pink or blue) & one for colours. The DC are finally - after nagging for years - quite good about taking clothes off & putting them in the laundry basket.
I work Mon - Fri. Weds has ended up being the night I do mid-week laundry. One load in as soon as I get home (6pm) and another straight after that. All washed & tumble dried by about 9pm. As I shake it out of the tumble dryer, it gets sorted into who it belongs to or the ironing pile.
Friday nights I change the beds & wash the bedding I'm a real wild child. Saturday mornings I do the towels, bath mats etc between activities and the rest of the laundry (usually at least another load of darks & one of lights). Again, shake & sort.
Whenever anything is sorted, it gets taken up to the spare room & put on the spare bed until someone puts it away. Officially, that's DH's job but the DC are getting ever more capable of doing it themselves or I'll do it while they're in the bath or something.
Sunday night is ironing night.
It usually works well but the pipes to the outhouse are frozen so I can't do any washing at the moment. I'm getting a bit twitchy!

We have 4DC aged 6-12. Washing never ends. We have a ceiling pulley in the small utility room that things dry on overnight. It hangs above/in front of the coat hooks. I have 2 of those hanger things with 20 hooks and hang off cupboard handles overnight for underwear and socks.
When dry whave 3 smaller plastic boxes that sit on the bench in the utility room for stuff needing ironed. One for adult clothes, one for kid clothes and one for kit/uniform. Works well as it means you can just grab all uniforms and iron at once. Also means if a kid wants a specific thing they don’t upend everything searching...
Towels are washed twice a week. One kid allocated to bring down as part of their weekly chore.
Somehow I do most of putting away. Eldest 2 do their own but I put pile in their room. Younger two can if prompted but often I do it whilst they are putting on Pj’s/picking a story.

I do a load every day.
When that's washed it goes in the dryer or on airer/outside. When it's dry the stuff to be ironed goes in a basket in a cupboard and everything else goes back into the carrying basket to be out away.
I need to keep on top of it and iron twice a week.
Family of four.

A couple of things that help me.

Washing by person where feasible even if this means a small load. Washing like things together, say everyone’s underwear.

I put the washing on the clothes horse and finish off for 20 mind in the dryer which reduces ironing.

I got an over radiator drying rack which has 5 rungs on it and this is great for putting socks on.

I use those foldable crates for all movement of laundry. I have about 4 and they’re not as big and cumbersome as traditional laundry baskets and store easily. There is a wicker type laundry basket in each bedroom. I put one of the crates on the landing and ask everyone to eg, put their dark clothes in there.

I have 4 kids so there's a lot!! I have washing machine and tumble drier next to each other.
Dirty laundry bags outside kids room and in our rooms ...all ones that can be easily carried up and down stairs.
I have about 6 collapsible boxes ...few quid each in B&Q.... teen and youngest child's stuff goes into one box once dry...teens job is to put both his and her stuff away.
Middle 2 boys share a room and their clothes go in another box .
Their job to put their clothes away.
Husband does his washing himself and puts it away as soon as it's dry.
My stuff and towels etc goes in another box.
The boxes stack on top of each other when full and also are collapsible when not in use.
I also have lots of over door hooks and put stuff straight onto hangers once it comes out of dryer....it then gets taken up when the hooks are full!

2 x washer dryer is my solution. Put 2 loads on at once and it's double the putting away, but half as often. If you follow me. I prefer it to be less often!

I only tumble dry underwear, bedding and towels. Tops, trousers etc I hang on a portable clothes rail to dry, on hangers, then they go into wardrobes. OH irons daily in the morning.

Thank you for all the great replies so far - they are all really helpful. We have quite a good system for sorting lights and darks, and we have those collapsible crates to use for each person’s stuff plus a tumble dryer, ceiling airer and clothes horse.

Just realised i’m basically all the gear no idea!

I think I need to change my thinking to see putting away as part of the process rather than just thinking “the washing is done!” just because it’s washed and dry!

We don’t have a spare room at the moment but I do have a utility/boot room. The downside is it is open to the halfway where we enter the house and therefore it’s “on show” so not really somewhere I can leave stuff piled up.

I’m going to jot down all these ideas you are passing on and see if I can conquer the washing beast!

Hello, do any of you find the quick programmes are as good as the long (3 hr) cycle? I am sure I could deal with washing better if I could move it more quickly through the system - eg. 1 hr wash not 3 hr.

Many thanks, Katy

I wash by person
We have separate washing baskets
Since doing this I find the washing so so much easier!
No sorting into piles and going between the bedrooms

A little thing but its made a massive difference to me :)