Share your top tips for making laundry less of a chore with Ecover. £300 John Lewis voucher AND Ecover cleaning products to be won. NOW CLOSED!

[ZaneMumsnet]

The dreaded “L” word, we can all relate to it (no, not that one...laundry). Tons of towels, stacks of sheets and clusters of clothes make for one of the most stressful of house chores. Ecover would like to find out Mumsnetters’ top tips for making laundry less of a chore.

Here’s what they say, “Here at Ecover, we love our super-effective, natural laundry range but we certainly don’t share the same passion for carrying out the laundry routine - and we don’t expect you to either! Whilst we can’t free you from your laundry duties forever, we’d like you to help each other by sharing some simple ways to take the drudgery out of the laundry and make the load faster, smarter and more environmentally friendly. Here’s one of our tips to get you thinking: If your whites have turned grey over time, simply add ½ a cup of lemon juice to your wash with your detergent to give them an instant brighten up and a new lease of life.”

So how do you make laundry less of a chore? Maybe you add some colour catchers to the load to combat separating whites and colours? Do you wait until the weekend and do a mega wash rather than multiple midweek ones? Perhaps you chuck it all in the dry cleaners while you pop out for lunch with your friends. Or maybe you get your children to pull up their socks (literally) and chip in by putting their clothes away.

Whatever your top tips for making laundry less of a hassle, Ecover would love to hear them.

Everyone who posts on this thread with their tips will be entered into a prize draw where two Mumsnetters will win a prize. One will win a £300 John Lewis voucher and one will win a bundle of Ecover products worth £50.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

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Ooh, I'm going to try the lemon juice one now, I have lots left over from pancake day!

My tip is to check all pockets before washing! It sounds obvious but there's nothing worse than a tissue in with your black cardis and leggings.

Perhaps you chuck it all in the dry cleaners while you pop out for lunch with your friends. Ahhahahahahahahahaha .

1. The quicker you fold it and put it away, the less your house looks like a washing bomb has gone off in it.

2. Unless you're washing disgusting sports kit or really stained stuff you can generally get away with up half the amount of detergent it recommends.

When we got a new washing machine about 5 years ago and it hada timer on it. Means I can load the machine the night before, and it is finishing as I walk in the door. My previous machine was ancient so it was a revelation!

top time saving tip: don't iron
buy fabrics that don't crinkle as much (jersey rather that woven, cotton rather than linon)

and let the clothes owners fold and put away their own clothes.

I love ecover products, lovely smell and they work brilliantly though can't find bio washing powder in the shops anymore, that was the bees-knees

My amazing tip is to buy a load of one colour sock. Eg loads of plain black socks for dc, and loads of plain white socks for school. So no more pairing up socks, just a pile of matching white ones, and a pile of matching black ones that they share.

Then bigger socks for me. All the same.

The boys generate enough laundry for it to be threatening to take over the house.

Every few days, I go through the hamper and sort it by colour/wash intensity into translucent bin bags, so when I next need to put a load on, it's all there, ready, with just a few stray bits to pick up.

I peg nappies, socks and underwear onto sock hangers and then hook them onto the washing line. Then it is quick to bring them inside if it starts to rain.

Washing baskets in the kids' bedrooms means far less stuff ends up on the floor and they all have a couple of washing nets to put socks, bras and tights into. Makes sorting and drying a whole lot easier.

Agree with no ironing, or as little as possible! DH irons his work shirts but very thing else is taken out of the machine as soon as it's finished, hung out to dry then folded and put away.

I'm told a cup of white vinegar in with your detergent can help eliminate musty sweat smells from clothes but I've not been brave enough to try it!

I only separate into dark and light washes so black and dark clothes go together and the white and pale clothes go together.

I also do the ironing sitting down in front of the telly. Watching a good drama or comedy while ironing makes it go quicker.

I'm definitely going to try the lemon juice trick!

Oh god, yes, socks. Clothes shops will try to sell you a pack of seven pairs of socks that all have slightly different colour trims, or in extreme cases are labelled Monday, Tuesday etc.

Do not let them get away with it! Rummage until you find the bumper pack of identical black/white ones.

I agree with PP about time delay on washing machines - it's amazing!

I put a load on before I go to bed and when I come down in the morning it is ready to be slung in the dryer or hung up. No waiting around for a wash to finish, or worse, having damp washing waiting for hours to be taken out of the machine...

I do a wash load at least daily and that seems to keep on top of it. Also I try and remember washing is a process and not ever anything that is ever completed.... Finally, unless it's particularly delicate I turn things the right way round before putting it in the machine - makes the putting away bit easier.

Little and often. I try to put on a wash every day- just as I am making the dinner. (I seperate into darks and lights and then a hot wash for the white towels and bedding once a week.)
Then I can hang it up before I go to bed. I have two airers, one for the kids and one for us.
In the summer I put the timer on so it finishes at 8am ready to be hung outside.
I try to iron as soon as the basket is full so probably 20 items and then it's not such a massive chore.

I do two big laundry sessions a week, so I don't contantly have wet stuff draped about, but can fold/put away one lot before I start the next lot.

When I fold the dry clothes I set out a basket for each member of the family, so the clothes go straight to the correct bedroom.

Those collapsible crates you can buy in DIY stores make great laundry baskets because they fold flat for putting away.

And I don't iron!

I don't separate colours/whites, I just chuck it all in together. I do at least 1 load a day. Dry stuff is folded and put on my bed in piles of who it belongs to and the owners are responsible for putting away. I find it quite easy if I keep on top of it each day, it is just little and often - also means we don't need as much clothes. :)

I don't separate my washing, I just do everything together. I usually leave it until Friday when I am working at home , or do it at the weekend. The important thing is to fold it as soon as the tumble dryer finishes and then put it away, or else it will sit crumpled in baskets until I need something to wear!

I don't separate colours and I do a load a day to keep up with it. One ironing session a week on Sunday nights whilst watching TV. My ironing is not total quality!

Colour catchers are really useful, and on a warm, windy day I wash as many loads as I can and dry them outside - good for the environment and makes the laundry smell fantastic!

I dry tshirts and shirts on the hanger and then hang on the airer or clothes line - if you give them a good shake they're crease-free and don't get a line in the middle from being folded over the washing line. Also means when you come to out the clothes away half of them are already on hangers etc so makes the most boring part of washing seem shorter.

No ironing here either.

Teenagers have laundry basket in room and clothes get washed when they are brought downstairs. Clean clothes get put in their rooms for them to put away.

Dark wash and light wash alternately.

Finally don't wash anything that doesn't really need it - I keep clothes for dog walking and gardening and they only get washed once a week!

Only have one washing basket and get nag the kids to put dirty things straight into the basket after taking them off, saves trawling the house for different piles of washing. Of course, with a toddler it always seems to be full of clean things as well!

I love history - but I also know how hard wash 'day' was in historical periods - even up to the 70's/80's for some households. I lived without a washing machine for a few days (had to hand wash essentials) until my new washing machine arrived.
It definitely made me appreciate how easy washing is today with technology and I'm completely IN LOVE with my new washer (honestly, best tip ever if you're buying a new washing machine make sure you see it in the showroom and purchase the best you can). Even my DC love 'R2D2' as we call the new washing machine because it has a series of different beeps.

One load a day to keep on top of washing. I also have two containers. One for whitrs and one for colours. Makes it easier if I am trying to head out of the door and put a wash on.

Check labels of everything before buying - if it can't be washed and tumble dried, don't buy it. Life is too short to handwash.