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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Huge pile of laundry

17 replies

livvyanddaisymummy · 06/04/2009 08:55

Morning all!

Wondered if anyone had any tips on how to get my laundry in order?

My pile of laundry is massive, and i mean HUGE. I wash about 3 - 4 loads a day but never seem to get anywhere with it. Hubby shoves everything in the airing cupboard, which will probably take me about 3 hours to sort!!!

Anyone have any tips on how i can get everything washed, dried and put away?

It's hard to dry step son's clothes, he's a very tall lad of 18 who's jackets etc seem huge and i have no where to dry them! They seem to take days on the washing line.

I have a tumble dryer where all the towels, bed sheets etc go.

Any tips on how i can reduce this huge load of washing?

xxxx

OP posts:
Furball · 06/04/2009 09:00

does everything in the actually need washing or are people being lazy by just slinging it in the wash instead of putting it away?

Original poster
livvyanddaisymummy · 06/04/2009 09:14

Embarassingly, it all needs washing.

I have 4 large tubs in my passage way full of laundry.it all must have been there for weeks now.

I make a priority to wash DC's clothes and things we need e.g. school uniforms, underwear etc.

I think we do have too much, i mean who needs 20 huge bath towels and 9 duvet covers each. (hubby is the buyer of all these, half of which we don't use!! )

I guess part of the problem is i don't have anywhere to store so much once it's clean and dry, i would love to get rid of some but hubby would be sad if i threw away one of his many towels!

OP posts:
TrillianEAstraEgg · 06/04/2009 09:15

Get DH to help, rather than hinder?

How many of you are there to do 3 loads a day? Or is this going to turn into a 'we change bedsheets every day' thread?

ReallyReally · 06/04/2009 09:19

how often do you change sheets?

how often do you wash towels

if more than once a week you need to rethink

4 loads a day?

put extra towels in loft. Quietly, when dh is out. Don't tell anyone.

Original poster
livvyanddaisymummy · 06/04/2009 09:29

There's only 5 of us and i only change the sheets once a week!

I have a policy to never change the sheets in DSS room. He is 18 and is big enough to do it himself ( no idea when his were last changed!! )

I don't suppose charity shops will take anything like towels will they?

I'll have to bag them up (without washing! and take to the tip!! )

OP posts:
WinkyWinkola · 06/04/2009 09:32

You only change the sheets once a week? Blimey.

I do ours every two weeks. And towels. Grubby? Well, both DH and I have a shower in the evening and the DCs aren't that dirty.

Could you bear to change to doing them every ten days until your current washing backload is clear?

Give yourself a bit of a break!

Buda · 06/04/2009 09:33

I think animal refuges will take towels.

Tell your DH that you are having a sort out and that in future if he buys a towel then a towel needs to go. Same with bedding.

i would have a concerted week of getting through it all and at the same time bagging up lots for charity.

silverfrog · 06/04/2009 09:41

I am at the same point as you. I have had stuff piled up for ages, it seems, and of course, it is neverending.

I am in the process of clearing it - my washing machine and tumble dryer are running almost non stop to catch up - could you put more in the dryer while you clear the backlog?

I have come to the conclusion that it is my washing routine that needs tweaking, as I always semm to manage to do the things we need (use washable nappies, and never run out of those, we always have clean underwear/sheets/towels) it's the rest that sits around - delicates, extra t shirts etc.

nannyL · 06/04/2009 10:26

ok...

so if your pile is HUGE... why not go to the laundrette and get it all sorted there...

with bigger machines etc, you could probably get it all in a dark / light / white load, and i expect most stuff (exceprt delicate stuff) could be tumble dried....

then once your mountain of laundry has dissapeard get into a routine.

towels 1 day
beds another day
then 2 coloured loads a weeks
a white and a light load a week

and a day off!

Original poster
livvyanddaisymummy · 06/04/2009 13:31

thank you for all the advice. The machine is on non stop today, i am going to power through and get it all done this week.

thank you for the laundrette tip NannyL, i may do that later this week, especially all my bulky stuff! :D

I am going to bag up things too, we all have too many clothes, especially the kids. Am going to give old bits to the charity shop and will try the local pet shelter for my towels.

Silverfrog - i am like that too! Always the same things that get washed and the same ones that stay in the pile!

OP posts:
MmeLindt · 06/04/2009 13:38

I always had this problem and have now got myself into the habit of doing a load a day. In and out of the machine before the school run, into dryer or hung up on line.

I change the beds every 2 weeks. One week ours, one week the DC.

LadyOfScoffleTheEasterEggs · 06/04/2009 13:51

I suddenly get as huge pile if I leave it a few days. I generally sort into 4 ways - darks, white, light coloureds and darker/multi coloureds. When there is none for the forst day or so there is so little it's not worth a load, but if you do 1 type per day it should generally build up to a load . So by day 4 instead of one white shirt, there is 4 and maybe the odd baby grow etc. I put them in the coloured piles as I sort, then you can see when you have got about a load easily. I have no room though and it lines the corridor !

silverfrog · 06/04/2009 14:22

that's exactly what I've started doing, LoW..

I used to have 2xlaundry baskets, always overflowing.

i now have the baskets used for large items like sheets/towels), and a line of laundry bags in the corridor. I sort into 5 basic groups: whites, light colours, medium colours, dark colours and delicates.

It seems a lot more manageable, as it is easy to see when a wash needs doing, so it doesn't pile up as much. And it's all sorted into groups already, so i just need to brab a bag each time I pass and chuck itinto the machine.

Only time will tell how effetive this is...

Original poster
livvyanddaisymummy · 06/04/2009 15:47

I have done four loads of washing today so far and am hoping to do another 5 before i go to bed!

OP posts:
mulranno · 10/04/2009 15:58

Its the putting away bit that I hate...what I found useful was to wash all girls clothes together...so that one bundle would then get dried together and same bundle would go to the same room...Now children are older...I am bring a massive pile of clean washing onto dining table ask them to claim and take their own bits...job done in seconds

GossipMonger · 10/04/2009 16:04

If you have too much stuff then you will have more stuff to wash!

You really only need 2-3 duvets each. One on the bed and one in the cupboard and at a push one in the wash! Bag up the older ones and put in the loft for a while and if you dont miss them then get rid! Same with towels.

I now have a radiator hanger in my airing cupboard and get lots of stuff on there to dry. I also put to big drier things in the bath to dry clothes. This saves water as we cant use the bath and can only use the shower!!

Get on top of it as soon as you can and then you can be like me and have an empty wash basket!! >and

DuffyFluckling · 10/04/2009 16:11

You definitely have too much stuff and that is your problem. If you only have 2 sets of bedding, you can't get behind. Par down clothes, bedding, linen etc. As someone said, put in in loft if you don't want to get rid.

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