How do you have a life and do laundry?

[ShiftyLookingBadger]

Apologies in advance if this has been done to death but...

Am I missing a trick here?? I have a DH, DD(3) AND DS(1). We have anywhere between 5 and 8 loads of laundry to do (this includes separated colours, towel loads, bedding loads etc) DH and I both work full time so when I do all this at the weekend I don't leave the house and neither do my kids!! Bearing in mind dishwasher loads, nappy changes, breastfeeding, trying to clean bathrooms (although I confess this can get dropped to once a fortnight... Don't judge me ). DH contributes in other ways - walking dogs, poo picking the back garden, sharing nappy duties, cooking the majority of weekend meals...

How do you all get your laundry done and still make sure your family has a life?

Generally we need to do at least a load of washing a day to keep on top of the washing.

I tend to put the washing on when we get home in the afternoon.

once I don't put LOADS in otherwise the steam inside builds up and shrinkage increases.

I put on a load first thing every morning (while waiting for kettle to boil) so it's finished before I leave the house (I worry about fire risk if it's unattended). It sits in the machine all day, then I move to either dryer or airer when I get home and refill the basket with dirty stuff ready for the next morning. H will be cooking while I do this. If I'm cooking, H sorts laundry.

5 of us here. My 9kg machine and my 8kg tumble drier are an absolute godsend

Thanks so much housekeeping experts. I was literally lying awake stressing about laundry for tomorrow and have now for the very first time put a load on using timer - this may change my life

Wash overnight (economy 7) then hang up in the morning- rarely need drier but it's there for bedding or towels when needed. Prob 3 loads/wk got me & dc4

Thanks for all the responses!

Sorry I should clarify, by separating colours I just mean lights, darks and mixed. But there are always 2-3 baskets of mixed alone! It doesn't help that my DH Where's XXL clothes which include ginormous hoodies

Those who wash in the week, do you just put all colours/shades in together?

I think back to our grandmothers era where they had to wash by hand, use a mangle etc and think how bloody lucky we are to have a machine that does it all for us

Me too! I think this everytime the weekend comes around!

I only put stuff that says tumble dryer friendly in the tumble dryer, which is about half of all our washing... Should I be putting it all in??

Onceuponatimethen Glad this thread has helped you!

Do everything on 41 min quick wash. Put it on whilst I am having my brekkie and gang out just before I leave for work. Or do on a weekend. I check the forecast and pick a good drying day so don't have to dry indoors. We are family of 4 and do about 3 loads a week. Don't iron anything. Hang out straight away and go straight from line to hangers. I like doing the laundry!

Onceuponatimethen Also, I have a similar problem with the pre-washing, pre-soaking, pre-scrubbing or whatever else needs doing to get god-only-knows-what out of the kids clothes. The littlest tears off his bib straight away at meal times

I always separate. Normally one white wash and 1 or 2 colour washes a week. Towels/bedding general fit in with those.

I have discovered colour catcher sheets which mean I don't worry about colours/darks together or the odd light thing.
Each teen child has a basket which gets washed weekly
Mine and DH's gets done twice a week, I have started wearing tight fit t shirts under my dresses so the t shirts get washed and not the dresses - saves a lot of time and keeps the dresses nice.
Towels once a week ( 2_loads)
Bedding fortnightly
I basket of whites a week ( school shirts, flannels + white t shirts mainly, with the odd white knicker!)
I always use delay for a long was for whites & bedding, quick hour wash when I get home from work for mine & DH

In summer i wash on a timer to hang out first thing

In winter when drying on airers I wash on an evening and put out before bed. It’s dry by following evening. And repeat

Much easier in the week I think as I am not “living” with it as much as I am at work and it doesn’t take over my weekend

OP if you don’t already use colour catchers they are the answer to mixed loads. I wouldn’t put in a fully dark wash with whites but they are good for everything in between

I wash and dry a load every day and iron twice a week if I can.

I put a wash on every day, I think if I saved it to the weekend I would weep. Washes whilst I am at work, then in the dryer when I get back. I would really stop saving it for the weekend that must be so depressing.

I never leave the washing machine on overnight or whilst out as I'm worried it will catch fire or explode ( maybe a bit paranoid)

When it's cold or raining I do little loads and tumble dry.
I try and put it out on the line to air as much as I can.

I do agree though it's very time consuming.

I try to wear things for longer so they don't have to be washed after every wear and sponge small stains off the kids' clothes.

I don't separate colours and have never had anything run and we don't do any ironing - DH has easy iron shirts which hang on hangers to dry!

Do you sit at home waiting for the washing cycle to finish?
I normally do 6 loads a week including bedding and towels (2 adults, 2 messy pre schoolers). I do a couple mid week and the rest at the weekend. I’ve never felt like I’ve had to hang around at home waiting for it though, I just sort the washing around our other activities.

Do it on an evening not just at weekends? Even when I’m working a 12 hour shift, I can still manage to get a load of washing on.

I vaguely seperate lights and darks and bung in a colour catcher sheet to take care of any dye run issues. Towels once a week, sheets once a fortnight.

How often do you change towels and bedding?

Hope the XXL hoodies are not going in the wash after one wear! Presumably there is a layer underneath so the thinker outer layers should be good for a few wears.

And are you doing a full load each time?

Wash during night hang on rail for the day and into dryer when l get home to finish off. No ironing. A basket for each person. Sort out of dryer and put away when going to bed. No effort.
Also clean bathroom when dc are in bath as in there anyway. Always find the easy way. Life is too short for housework to take over.

Feel your pain on the XXL clothes too... DH’s hoodies are huge and 3 of them can fill a wash! He doesn’t put them in the wash after every wear though.