Laundry nightmare help please

[Whereismymind21]

Oh wise mumsnetters please talk to me about your laundry solutions. Need to make change before I drown in clothes😫 Sorry for the boring thread!!
We have 2 laundry baskets, a washing machine (lucky that!) and a tumble dryer. What usually happens is the kids and DH -ok sometimes me too-discard their dirty clothes in the kitchen and they go straight into the machine. Everyone tends to run out of everything because I never make it to the bottom of the baskets. Clothes once washed go on clothes rack/tumble dryer then get piled somewhere when I need room for more clothes. When I have time to sit down and fold clothes, the pile is usually enormous and sometimes has got mixed with dirty stuff while people go hunting in it 🙈
When I’ve folded them, I put them in piles by person that then wait for “someone” to take them upstairs. Inevitably it’s me, I dump in rooms and they don’t get put away and again, sometimes get mixed in with dirty clothes. Kids are 9, 7 and 2. I know I should get the older two and DH to put away their own clothes-and I’ll work on that!-but please please tell me how you manage the whole wash-dry-fold-put away cycle without drowning in clothes and complaints!! Thanks all 😘

We have one laundry basket upstairs where all dirty clothes go. I usually do a wash everyday or every other day. Once it's washed, I bring upstairs and put on racks. anything which needs ironed sometimes goes straight on a hanger, then rack.

I try to empty the racks by making each persons folded pile before I put the next load on the rack.

If it needs ironed then it just lies on the ironing board. I only iron bare minimum and do it maybe once a week

Sounds like you have too many clothes?

Once the individuals piles have started, I try to keep up with putting away straight away. The piles are small though from
One load so sometimes wait for the second load. Then they go straight into the persons drawer. My children are 4&2 and we wash clothes everyday , they help me to take off the rack and seperate into piles and will put their own clothes into their drawer too

Hope that helps

Wash little and often (as soon as you have a full load) - and when you do it, finish the job properly (ie doing laundry includes the folding and putting away).

Everyday I do one load, from beginning to end. Wash, dry, fold and put away.
On Saturday I do school uniform, towels, sheets.
You just have to be strict with yourself and your family. When it comes out of the tumble dryer it is folded and put away, not dumped.

I do the whole lot in one day and get it over and done with. Sort into piles. Put on in order of quickness so quickest wash first and just plod on with it. When it's done it's lovely to forget about it for 6 whole days.

I bit like wash day in the Olden days except it's wash dry iron put away.

I find the " little and often " technique just constant laundry.

I looked and tried a bit of the organised mum method- every day, you wash, dry and put away one load. It does help. So I fold the load that's on the airer into piles, load the pile from the washer onto the airer/ set the dryer going, and prep the next wash ready to go on whenever it suits (but that day). Then put away or delegate the piles to go away ASAP.

I also helped my eldest have a big sort out of her drawers, as there was so much in there not being worn that she couldnt fit the every day stuff in.

It's slipped over Christmas, but I will try again.

I just listened to the podcast A slob comes clean - on this.
She recommends laundry day. Just do back to back loads til everything is dry and put away. Will take a few days the first time.

Then have 1 day a week of laundry day, back to back loads and put away.

Give it a go!

I will tell what I do and it works, I have chronic fatigue so I worked a system that meant I wasn't always sorting clothes every day folding wise. However, I only have 2 children.

I have several laundry baskets which are hidden away inside a wardrobe in the spare room. They are blacks/reds, darks, lights, whites. So uniform which you will have for your eldest two go into those too. Mine had a clean uniform every day no rewearing jumpers etc because primary schools are just full of nose picking 9 year olds and the hand washing leaves a lot to be desired.

Then there are beds to be stripped and washed. Your eldest two are more than capable of stripping their beds and the 9 year old can easily remake their bed unless it is a high sleeper. They could work as a team together.

I then alternate a wash that will need sorting and folding with a wash that doesn't ie bedding or bathroom towels. Each person has their own colour towel so we know who has not folded their towel and put it back on the heated towel rail.

Re the children not putting stuff away this then becomes something you insist on and stand over them whilst they do it. It will become natural in the end, I did this with mine when they were little, now as teenagers they have tidy rooms. Always.

I have a laundry schedule which is Mon-Fri so none on the weekend however I am a SAHM so no work to work around. You need to delegate, make it more of a team effort. A 9 year old can certainly put a washing machine on, mine had written instructions with pictures so the last bed stripper to put their load into the machine before school put the machine on.

I also don't iron uniform, straight out of the tumble drier onto hangers.

Do you have space downstairs to keep school uniforms? In a box or a hook? Guessing most of the week is just uniforms? Once dry can you put trousers school t shirt and jumper all on one hanger so it goes straight in the wardrobe and less likely end up in piles all over floor then back in as dirty washing.

Are you running out clothes because you have so little or you wash once a week?

It worth looking at what you are washing, if the older kids wear hoodies after school for few hours and it gets thrown on floor and ends up in washing dig them out! A hoodie should last them all week if have clean top
Under neath and it’s not visible dirty.

How do you have a day of laundry if you work full time or even have small children (that can't be left unattended but are too big to carry from room to room whilst you put away the clean stuff?

We also have the same problem as OP, children are 3 and 1 and often fill up the washing machine with their stuff discarded downstairs before tackling the actual laundry baskets! And then seem to be constantly surrounded by piles of clothes.

We don't have a tumble drier either so it's either in piles or on the radiators/airer. I hate it!

I work full time and do the laundry on my day off. I accept it won't work for everyone but putting away each load only takes five minutes. What do you do with the kids when your on the toilet or cooking dinner?

For starters everyone, including you, needs to stop dumping clothes in the kitchen. If you only ever deal with that, you'll never get to the bits and bobs upstairs.

I'd suggest one or two laundry baskets kept upstairs and everything goes in them, and you will need at least two or three sets of uniforms and work clothes.

Carry on with daily washes, completing the cycle right through to putting away - and unless DC are too young to help, everyone is responsible for putting their own clothes away. (Kids washing can be taken up and put away when they go up for bath or bed.)

Nominate two people per day who are responsible for folding as it will go faster.

Make sure you got through all the dirty laundry and pull out the largest load first (whites, lights or darks).

Some days you might need to do a second load. If you do, it can be washed and then put in the tumble dryer the next morning, ready to be folded and put away with the next day's washing. (The advantage to this is that the second load can be something you are getting short of e.g. school shirts.)

We have 1 laundry basket - all dirty laundry goes in there. When full, I take downstairs and wash, then tumble dry. Fold, take upstairs and make piles, then put it away straightaway. Nothing gets left sitting about, I deal with it all straightaway on the same day.

I probably should get the kids in the habit of putting their own clothes away....

I don’t do ‘little and often’. I’m out of the house most days so I would be spending every evening doing bits of laundry.

On a Friday evening I sort all the laundry into colours/types:

• WHITES (shirts, bedding)
• Colours that can be washed at 60 and tumble dried (underwear, towels, socks, T-shirts etc.)
• Colours that can be washed at 30 and hung up to dry (jeans, sweatshirts, tops)
• Delicates (wool for example)

I put the white wash on overnight and work through each of the other piles the next day.

I always have one day at the weekend pottering around the house so I keep going back to the washing in between other things we are doing.

We each have a clean laundry basket thing (one of this sort of thing) and I fold each persons stuff into theirs as it's done. Then take upstairs and put away once a week or so. Would be much harder without a utility room though

sideswiped has hit the nail on the head. Stop dumping laundry in the kitchen! You need a system in place for sorting clothes. I use bags for dark, light, delicates. Full bag = put in washing machine.

DH and I have one basket, dts have one in their room.

I tend to do washing on Thursday and Friday maybe four loads on each day. I don't tumble much of my stuff it gets hung up to dry otherwise it's just a routine of wash dry fold. When the dry basket is full it gets distributed and everyone puts their own away.

Towels and bedding go to the launderette for a service wash and iron.

I don't iron anything, I don't think we even have an iron anymore.

You need to have a purge and get the backlog cleared and then have just one laundry basket. Everything goes in that. Then wash as often as you have a full load. I wash daily, and put it away as soon as it is dry. Don't leave it to pile up and up. Little and often is the best way.

You definitely need to have a day or so and clear the backlog so you can start afresh . We are a family of 3 adults , one wash basket and I do a couple of washes every other day and beds once a week . My laundry sorting is towels , clothes that tumble dry , clothes that don’t tumble dry . Once washed and dryer it goes upstairs and is out away the same day . The clothes that don’t tumble are hung and out away when dry usually the next day .

I'd strip the beds, any throws for the sofa etc and take all of that along with your laundry pile to a laundrette to clear the backlog.

I've got laundry 'bins' that each hold a washing machine load. We're lucky because we've got a washer/drier so I'll sort stuff that can be washed and dried together and set the cycle to go.

Each bedroom has baskets in cupboards for me to just throw socks, underwear, leggings, pjs in so they don't need sorting. Stuff that can't be tumble dried goes straight on hangers when wet and hung over doors etc to dry overnight.

I did try using a system where everyone had their own clothes bin and I'd wash people's clothes on different days so that it was easier to put away.

Our washing machine is in our bathroom which is downstairs so I tend to do laundry when kids are in the bath and need to be supervised. Or I'll load/unload when going for a wee. If it was in the kitchen I'd do some every time I went to make a tea etc

@ThisIsStartingToBoreMe

I do the whole lot in one day and get it over and done with. Sort into piles. Put on in order of quickness so quickest wash first and just plod on with it. When it's done it's lovely to forget about it for 6 whole days.

I bit like wash day in the Olden days except it's wash dry iron put away.

I find the " little and often " technique just constant laundry.

Agree with this. I couldnt stand piles of washing everywhere. I would put uniforms straighttowashFriday evening, hang up and place together on hangers Sat morning. One wash on timer so ready to hang Sat morning, then sheets , towels etc. Finish everything if damp on the drier early sat evening. Done Unless its very wet or muddy then everything was forgotten until next wash day.

Four of us here. Dd's share a room so we have a washing basket for dp and I and one for dd's. We have a loose schedule of one wash each basket at the weekend with an extra whites wash and one each basket midweek (dds usually a Wednesday to help with uniforms) other days will be towels/sheets on rotation.

We have fold up baskets once dry for each room as we wash in rooms there is less sorting (for whoever is doing the laundry). Once dry it's all goes in the basket and upto the right bedroom. We all put away our own washing dd's do their own (get some pocket money) they just have to sort through their own basket. Dp usually puts his away first but either way I just have to pick out my bits and put it away.

Thanks so much everyone for all the tips- really really useful. I already don’t iron anything and I’m a fan of the sensible hanging so trousers etc look ironed! I do have boxes for uniforms in the kitchen so I think the changes I need to make are to stop letting people (and me) dump clothes in kitchen, get the kids involved in putting away and stripping beds, throw out some clothes, sort laundry by load so that I can put everything in the tumble dryer rather than another sorting when it’s done, and finally to try to get through a full run, from sorting, washing, drying to putting away in a day. I’ll stick with little and often as don’t have the option of spending a whole day doing laundry.

Really appreciate all the replies 🙏. Here’s to not drowning in clothes in 2022!! Happy new year all 😊

My DS have a laundry bag each in their bedrooms for dirty clothes, only items put in them get washed, when items are washed, dried/ironed, folded & put away immediately I don’t like it hanging around as it looks so messy.