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?

2 retired here. 3 dark washes every fortnight, towel wash weekly, one delicates weekly bedding, once a fortnight, light wash as needed, usually once every 10 days. Things like curtains as I need them. Same for bath mats and duster etc.

Two adults household, 1 load a week.
I don't separate stuff by colour, and don't own anything white.

Towels are used more than once and are left till there's enough for a load of them, to boil wash

Bedding is washed every two or three weeks and doesn't fill the machine.

I don't iron.

1 white wash - includes bedding.
3 dark washes - includes towels
1 jumpers and delicates

Anymore and we wouldn't get it dry as have no tumble dryer or outside space

I have to say when it was sub zero temps and everyone was wearing multiple layers for sport I did way more washing - it was awful! But tshirt/shorts/sports bra and socks generally don't take up a lot of space.
Apart from underwear I don't automatically wash clothes after 1 wear. I'd wear jeans 4 or 5 times before washing, DH does too. School shirts get washed after one wear trousers or skirts can be worn for 2 or 3 days.a hoodie we would all wear several times before washing unless it was obviously grubby or had something spilled.

Just 2 adults in our house. I do 2-3 mixed loads a week (we don’t really wear white clothes) and bedding/towels every 10-14 days. We rewear trousers, jumpers etc a couple of times before washing so it’s mainly underwear, socks, T-shirts and exercise gear in the regular wash.

Why are you and all other pps doing ALL the washing? Little children exempt, are dps and teens onwards incapable of using a machine and emptying it?

I only change bedding and towels every two weeks.
I do a bit of spot cleaning.
I wear jeans/combats multiple timeS

More than 3 a week get done because DS makes quite a bit of washing due to sport.

I am older and we didn’t get a twin tub till I was about 14 so all washing was done by hand or boiled in a thing called the copper, we also had a mangle. This was in the 1970’s and old fashioned for those times. Washing was a very big deal when I was young. Spot cleaning is the way forward. I always use the term dirt and dirt dirt as not all dirt is created equal, a splash of gravy is clean dirt :)

There are 3 of us, 2 adults and an older teen.
I do a dark, white, and coloured wash at the weekend. A dark during the week, usually but not always, and a sports wash once a week. Occasional delicate or wool.
So, 4 or 5 depending on the week.
I don't separate towels, kitchen cloths, bedding, etc. Only on colour or fabric.

I do at least four on my own as a 24 year old!

Bedding is one and then I somehow end up with about three clothes washes in the week between going to the gym, work and comfy clothes for study etc

We're a family of 7 & I do around 8-9 loads a week. Including bedding for x6 beds, which is 3 loads. 1 load of whites a week during term time. 1-2 light loads a week. The rest are mainly dark loads with maybe the odd brights. Although I have a large machine I try not to do huge loads over winter though as I'd rather fit it all on airers to dry then finish in the tumble dryer if necessary, than put it all in from wet.

Have a machine with a large drum
Rewear items( not underwear obvs)
Dont be neurotic about towels!
PJs can be worn more than once for continent adults.
Spot clean if possible
Most things can be washed together

People doing sports are responsible for their own kit....not my sport,not my job.

We are 2 adults and 3 teens/tweens. I have a 9kg washer and will do around 10 loads a week.

We don't wash towels or bedding every week. We mix loads- don't do anything separately except wool jumpers.

Genuine question, do you not notice the difference in your bedding by the end of the week? To me it just doesn't feel clean, and it smells different to the start of the week so I feel like I need to wash it

I do a wash a day. Bedding, clothes, swimming stuff, school uniform, sports gear, shower mats, etc. Just me and my 5yo.

3 of us. Huge capacity drum, don't separate colours unless have to. Adult son's grimy work wear washed altogether at end of week.
Still doing a wash most days. How are people leaving towels for ages?

Three adults here:

1 coloured wash
2 dark washes
1 towels and t towels
1 bedding

Sometimes there's an extra wash for dressing gowns, throws, cat blankets, etc.

Peak washing when DS was at home and had rugby/cricket matches twice a week and almost daily training it was about 12 loads weekly.

The kids have red school cardigans, white shirts and grey skirts - that's 3 loads before I've started separating out anything delicate.

I do red / white / dark standard and dark / light delicate washes. That's most of our clothes, although obviously most weeks it doesn't all fit nicely into 5 loads. Towels and bedding then on top of that.

I've always felt for parents whose dc have red in the uniform! My primary dc have a blue jumper white polo & the secondary is a blue shirt that can usefully be washed as either light or dark & a black jumper.

2 adults, two children in our house. I do two dark washes of clothes a week, two a week of mixed colours and one light/whites. I wash grown-ups bedding weekly, the kids beds get changed fortnightly. Towels and bathmats get washed weekly. Swimming kit gets a 15 min quick wash after use, then a proper wash every couple of weeks. I have a schedule to do certain loads certain days.

We have a 9kg machine, so I probably could condense it into fewer wash loads, but then when the weathers not nice I wouldn’t have space on the indoor airer to dry it. Airer space is also the reason for the schedule - I can’t do all the beds and towels on the same day of the week as there’d be no space to dry it all.

I think it would be faffy for each person in a family to do their own - I didn't realise it was a thing til I read MN.
Also I feel like you wouldn't accumulate a whole load of eg pale washing before you actually needed the items, and it would be not very eco to put the machine on for a couple of items.
DD wears lots of pale coloured clothing, DS only has white school shirts and sports socks....it makes sense to combine (with pale towels or bedding) otherwise he'd run out of shirts. I must be missing something though as it seems lots of people do do it that way.

2 adults and a 2 year old here.
I don't separate whites/colours which helps I guess but still do a load as often as I have space to dry it basically- in the summer that's probably every day, in the winter with radiators on every other day- spring and autumn drive me mad as it's much more difficult to dry stuff so probably every 3rd day.

• we do bedding about every other week
• towels about every 10 days
• little one occasionally needs 2 outfits a day and pjs only last 1 or 2 nights
• DP wears jeans and hoodies for several days but t-shirts changed everyday (and obviously underwear!), pjs a couple of times a week at most
• I wear jeans and hoodies for 2 days, bras sometimes 2 days (other underwear changed everyday!), t-shirts changed everyday, pjs a couple of times a week.
• except my 2 work days where I come back filthy and need a complete change immediately.
• none of us do sport or gym

One adult, 2 DC's and 2 dogs. I do at least one load of washing a day.

Two retired adults here plus a dog so:
-one load for throws/dog towels
-one load bedding and towels
-one load darks
-one load whites probably every 2 weeks
9kg washing machine.

They don't separate.

Even when I lived alone I did:

1x whites
1x darks
1x brights
1x towels
1x bedding