Three loads of laundry a week. How?

[PotatoPudding]

Lighthearted thread:

I seem to see so many people saying they only do 3 loads of laundry a week for their entire family. How is this possible?

We are two adults and DS 5. I do the following:

• 3-4 mixed/dark loads a week
• 1 load of towels
• 1 load of bedding in colder months (different bed each week) and 2-3 loads when it’s hot (we all have our own beds, ranging from double to super king
• 1 white wash every other week, which is just school polos and the odd other bit but rarely a full load
• 1 ad hoc load every couple of weeks for blankets, dressing gowns, indoor fleeces, etc.

I wear one pair of jeans and one pair of joggers all week. I wear 2-3 hoodies/jumpers a week plus a base layer every day. I wear two sets of old joggers and hoodies for bed each week, as well as thick socks. DH wears a clean top every day for work but same trousers all week. DS wears school uniform and sometimes changes when he gets home. School coat gets chucked in the wash once every week or two. We do no sports or activities that require additional clothing.

For me, the laundry seems never ending!

How does this compare to other households of a similar size?

I imagine one, maybe 2 adults who don’t go to the gym or swim.

2 children and 2 adults, the kids and I regularly swim and we do about 9 loads a week.

I live alone - I do about five loads a week!

1 bedding (whites)
1 towels and underwear
1 dark clothes
1 light clothes
1 delicate (work shirts etc).

sometimes I will do more than five! And some things need hand washed.

Maybe you need a bigger machine! I do a load every day but there are 2 adults, one potty training toddler with bad aim and a teenager who thinks you can only wear items for about an hour before washing (and an in the middle 9 year old who just has a normal amount 😂)
I get through the washing including beds each week, (two beds a time, so fortnightly) and towels done at least once in the week, hand towels probably twice. I tend to run out of things to wash by sunday so I do odd bits like washing cloths and oven gloves etc!

I assume it's just a single person or a couple doing so few washes a week. Or they're not too bothered about cleanliness. I'm in a 1 adult 3 children household and I'm forever washing.

I don't separate anything other than whites. And that's only term time or summer because the only white items we have are cricket whites or school tops.

Don't wash bedding or towels every week.

3 loads would be fine for us. Except.one DC wets the bed quite often so that's always an extra load. I chuck in anything else in the basket with it to make up a full load so there's rarely much in the basket.

We are a family of 5. I'll do between 10-12 washes at the weekend as it's the only time I do laundry.

Towels. 4 sets of bedding. 7 days of work clothes, non work clothes, school uniform, clothes for extra curricular stuff, pjs, then the usual ad-hoc like a blanket, or bathmat, dressing gowns etc. White's, darks, delicates, coloureds, this week a load of soft toys because DS spilt milkshake over the lot last night.

Our super king duvet cover, sheet, and 6 pillowcases is a wash in itself, irrelevant of any DC. I can't see how people can wash their bedding, then only claim the washing machine is on twice a week for all the uniform, clothes, towels and bedding and ad-hoc items for a family?! Maybe just different standards of how regularly something needs a wash?

I saw a good tip on here the other day about bedding - change sheets and pillowcases weekly, but duvet cover can be flipped over weekly (washed EOW). I tried it last week and seems to work well and save a lot of time and effort! Might be worth a try.

I know what you mean OP. So many people on here who reel in horror at the idea of not washing bedding every week, towels every use, bras every wear. They must have their machines on constantly.
It takes me six loads just to change four beds.

BTW OP I'm a LP in a two person household. We do a wash most days. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

My parents do light, dark, bedding/towels. They have a 9kg machine.

I do a load pretty much everyday. My machine is 7kg. Our bedding alone is one load (superking)

That would be one or two adults who don't do any activities.

Three of us and usually two loads a day.

2 adults, 1 three year old.

We do:

1 x dark/mixed load
1 x whites/lights (typically hand towels, sheets and DH gym stuff)
1 x bedding (SK size duvet cover, pillow cases and DS’ bedding)
1 x towels

Maybe we’ve got too many clothes, but stuff just doesn’t really get dirty/smells.

In the summer, I might do one extra dark/mixed load a week.

When I was washing for 2 adults and 2 under 10s, I'd probably do 2-3 washes a week.

I did buy the largest machine I could though.

I do 2 a week (sometimes 3) and I’m a single-person household.

Mixed colours
Towels & bedding (single bed so it all fits together)
Occasionally I’ll run a whites / delicates / bath mats / misc wash

I used to be able to fit it all in 1 load (minus the delicates) - when I used a 10kg machine at my old flat. I now have a 6kg machine so no way I can get it all done in 1 load. I assume people who do 3 loads a week for a family of 4, have bigger machines than I do.

Probably have a larger drum machine. I was looking online recently and saw you could get 12kg ones!

Probably don't wash towels and bed linen as often as you do.

Probably don't wear as many items of clothing a week as your family do.

Some people have large capacity machines which presumably makes a difference.

We are 3 adults and do on average about 7 loads a week, normal capacity machine.

Sporty households definitely generate more washing.

There are 4 of us (me DH and 2 teens) I do probably 4-5 loads a week.
I run 5 times a week and everyone else does sport at least 3 x a week. Kit gets washed after one wear.
I wash bedding fortnightly. Both kids have single beds.
Each person has their own towel. And there is a hand towel in the downstairs cloakroom. They all get washed once a week, but towels and bedding gets washed in a normal wash with appropriate colours

I don't know how I would dry everything in autumn/winter/rainy weather if I did any more loads of washing

In my house, there are 2 adults, 2 kids under 10 and 2 dogs. I do maybe 3 a week. No where near as many as you. If I was washing light bedding, I’d put the whites in with that, I put towels in with regular clothes. The kids swimming towels are bright colours but I’ve washed them so much, they won’t run so I stick them in with any wash. I wouldn’t do a separate wash for towels and bedding, I’d stick a lot of it together - I think my machine may be a bit bigger than standard.

I’m a single adult and typically do 3 washes a fortnight. One load a week of my clothes and then every other week I wash bedding and towels together. I don’t separate lights/ darks etc but I also avoid buying anything white for that reason.

Two adults and a preschooler at home.
1 uniform wash (long wash with Dettol stuff)
1 dark wash
2 brights wash
1 towel wash
1 bedding wash
Light wash/ coat wash/ random crap wash about once a month, so one of these each week

Works out to be a wash every day or thereabouts.
In winter I try to stick the washer on in the morning, hang it on heated airer after work with heat on, turn the heating off when I go to bed but leave covered til the next morning. Repeat cycle endlessly. In summer I switch and wash on an evening, hang out in the morning where possible.

There are 2 of us (retired).

I do 2 lots of bedding a week - our double, plus one single.
Towels, teatowels and dishcloths
our clothes (underwear, socks and tops changed every day, trousers about every 4 or 5 days)

Roughly 6 loads a week

I do 3 loads on towel day, and 3 on bedding day, and that’s before I start doing clothes.

3-4 colour loads is more than I do for 4 of us. Are you wearing your clothes more than once?

What capacity is your machine?

Towels I do every other week.

We do a load per day, family of 4. It (laundry) takes about 30 minutes per day. One medium sized washer/dryer. We only change bedsheets monthly as well, and don’t wash trousers / jumpers daily so it’s not like we are super fussy.

I live alone and do a load once every five days. I bung everything in together. I have a large machine!