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Original poster

HELP!!! Clothes overtaking the house

30 replies

wallawallabingbang · 23/10/2004 20:19

I am a very messy person but recently have managed to really improve as far as tidiness of "stuff" goes and manage to keep on top of things - I have even started menu planning!

The thing that still gets me every time is clothes.

For example

Right now I have a load in the dryer ready to fold, a load of wet washing infront of the dryer ready to put in, dirty stuff in the washer ready to wash, 3 piles at the bottom of the stairs ready to take up and put away, a bedroom FULL of a mix of dirty and clean clothes - very little hung up in wardrobes or drawers.

DS's clothes are fine - I have them organised. Ditto with DD although hers are a bit messy too. DP deals with most of his own so he takes from the piles and puts away. Mine are just horrendous, I leave stuff where I take them off, dump piles of clean clothes and dont put them away and I just never ever get on top of the washing.

Does anyone have any tips? Systems?

Where do I start from the mess Im in now!?

Honestly, if you removed the clothes from my house it would be perfect!

One thing to note - we dont have much hanging storage for our clothes, DPs are already taking up about 80% of space available - I have some drawers but they are a bit knackered (cheap Ikea ones that are past their best) so dont really have that much space to actually sort them.

Help MUCH appreciate

Oh.....sorry for the boring topic on a saturday night!

OP posts:
popsycal · 23/10/2004 20:23

Haha
one day i will take a photo of my bedroom and you will see what mess with clothes is!
lol

no advice
i need some myself!

jamiesam · 23/10/2004 20:26

walla (great name - showaddywaddy or nz?) I'm not quite in your league, but my small tip is to buy 5 or 10 stacking crates and keep dirty or clean folded clothes in them. Don't take up a lot of floor room and remind you of the need to wash or put away without taking up room all over the house. Will have to defer to somebody else vis hanging space etc. Query do you need all the clothes? I know my ds's have far too many clothes but would OBVIOUSLY never get rid of any of theirs. I on the other hand have got range of clothes in my wardrobe that cover pre, during and post pregnancy (Just the pre and post now covers 4 clothes sizes) Most never get worn, but I think, well I could wear that if everything else was dirty so...

Original poster
wallawallabingbang · 23/10/2004 20:38

The mix of me loving clothes and buying far too many of them and never putting any away is not good

OP posts:
popsycal · 23/10/2004 20:42

with me it is pure procrastination

Original poster
wallawallabingbang · 23/10/2004 20:43

'tis me too Popsy

Also I dont know where to START getting to an even keel the way it is now

would you believe 3 months ago i had NO washing pile and everything put away

OP posts:
popsycal · 23/10/2004 20:44

I will send you a photo of my bedroom to make you feel better!

jenthehen · 23/10/2004 20:54

I also fit into the catagory of clothes chaos, the piles seem to duplicate themselves overnight. I have a washer dryer but am too busy washing to think about drying and then of course there is the hand washing and ironing all made worse by this dreadful wet weather. What do all you organised people do to prvent this build up? ps do you actually tumble dry clothes that say DO NOT TUMBLE DRY thse seem to make up the bulk of my wshing!!!

jenthehen · 23/10/2004 20:56

Wallawallabing bang and Popsycal I think I have just found the answer. We should all be doing laundry now rather than, as I am, drinking wine and reading Mums Net!!

unicorn · 23/10/2004 20:56

sorry popsyc.. I believe our front room (spare room)Just HAS to be the worst of all... and I will make you BOTH feel much better.

It got to the stage where I 'threw' out some of the washing that needed doing!

skerriesmum · 23/10/2004 21:00

Echoing Jamiesam, apparently most of us wear 20% of our wardrobes 80% of the time. So do a big clear-out... anything not worn for a year, get rid of it! Or do a swap with some friends (who are similar sizes of course...) sometimes things are in good nick but you're just really sick of them. They are annoying and I don't watch their show anymore, but Trinny and Susannah do have some good books about sorting out your wardrobe.

skerriesmum · 23/10/2004 21:01

I must add that since having ds who is now 20 months I do one load a day. Just do one but do ALL the steps, sort, wash, dry, fold, put away.

zaphod · 23/10/2004 21:08

The problem with that is you have to be VERY efficient with the washing and ironing, and cannot let it slide for a couple of days or you have nothing clean to wear.

I was sick for a couple of days this week, and the backlog of laundry was unbelievable. Happily, I never throw anything out so we all still had clothes to wear, until I caught up.

WestCountryLass · 23/10/2004 21:11

What sort of bed have you got? I bought some cheap plastic drawers with wheels on them and put my jumpers and jeans under the bed - can you do that? Another suggestion is to sort out a winter and summer wardrobe and put away the season you are not wearing. Have you seen on QVC they sell bags that you pack with clothes etc and then use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air and it shrinks the bags to less than half the size which you can then put in the wash.

If I were in your position, i'd put a laundry basket in the bathroom or your room and all dirty washing sould be in that basket after bath/bed. I don't have much drying space so I never put a load on until i've got room to put the wet washing out to dry otherwise it can go all skanky hanging around. Then the dry stuff should be put away at the end of the day as well.

If you get things organised and keep on top of it you should be fine. My washing is a nightmare too, once a week my house is like a chinese laundry when I do the bedding...

captainCOD · 23/10/2004 21:28
fold clothes I dont use wardrobes for the kids and they all have one chest of drawers outr fitted wasrdrobes house toys. 2. have a rack sytem have oyu an integral garage? put all your washing there. 3. iron every other night or use a lto of fabric conditioner
captainCOD · 23/10/2004 21:29

also remove any CHAIR ou have from your bedroom
it serves no purpose
we lost ours and you have to put clothes awayt hen

captainCOD · 23/10/2004 21:35

oi

Original poster
wallawallabingbang · 23/10/2004 21:37

sorry

no garage is detached at bottom of garden

i dont have chair in bedroom it is all on the floor

OP posts:
captainCOD · 23/10/2004 21:37

shite br
that is crap
pul yer finger out

captainCOD · 23/10/2004 21:37

get a rack to sort out your washing

Original poster
wallawallabingbang · 23/10/2004 21:38

what would i do with a rack

OP posts:
captainCOD · 23/10/2004 21:40

you put dry washing on it
some for ironing and some for folding

Original poster
wallawallabingbang · 23/10/2004 21:41

ah the elusive ikea ones? I had some and left at old house grrrr

OP posts:
jamiesam · 23/10/2004 21:42

WestCountryLass - that was a typo about putting your clothes in a bag, vacuumming out all the air AND THEN PUTTING IT IN THE WASH?!?! Sorry, lol etc

yurtgirl · 23/10/2004 22:11

Message withdrawn

WestCountryLass · 23/10/2004 22:34

Ooooo, yeah, not so much a typo as a complete headfuck!

It should read "suck the air out and put the bags away in storage" or words to that effect - doh!

Hmmmm, utting those bags in the wash is probably not a good idea!!!!!

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