The Mumsnet Laundry Rules - £300 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Fairy Non Bio is sponsoring the Mumsnet Talk app, so we’d like you to talk about your top laundry tips for families.

Do you have tips for removing the plethora of stains your DC somehow produce? Maybe you’re skilled in mixing wash loads with zero colour transfer? Or perhaps you’ve got a cast-iron system for laundry that keeps the job from overwhelming you (and your machine).

Whatever they are, share your laundry tips for families below. Everyone who posts on the thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

If you're an avid Mumsnet talk boards user, you should download the app for yourself. It's free, and allows you to be part of the conversation wherever you are!

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Another vote for the bleaching whitening power of sunshine when we get it

I'll even hang washing outside in winter if the forecast is dry/windy.

Took me until into my 40s to remember something my mum had told me in my 20s: hang things out carefully and take them down carefully reduces the amount of ironing (I am one of those that wears a lot of cotton/linen and likes freshly ironed clothes).

Do my whites (bed linen, towels and shirts mostly) separately to colours as they go on a hotter wash.

Use colour catchers with my coloured wash - also helps me to see if there is something that is still leaking colour in the wash.

I've found some great laundry tips from MN in the past! Top was finding how good white vinegar is for underarm stains and sweat smells. Also switched to using powder from laundry gel which was clogging up my machine. All great tips from the Good Housekeeping forum!

Mine is to train everyone in the family to actually check their clothes before chucking them in the washbasket, and to put them neatly somewhere if they are OK to wear again. The DCs would just throw everything in the basket otherwise to save themselves hassle, but I was ending up with lots of unnecessary washing and ironing of things like school trousers or cardis that weren't even dirty. So now I'm getting strict to cut down my workload - if it's been worn once, isn't sweaty or stained and isn't underwear they can wear it again!

Check young children's pockets for random objects - the number of things that come out when I empty the washing - toy cars, conkers, soggy trading cards and of course the dreaded disintegrated tissue!

This reminds me that I've trained ds that if he doesn't bring his washing down by 12 on a Saturday, there is no guarantee that I will get it into a wash that weekend. I refuse to be pressured into rushing a wash just because he didn't get round to giving it to me.

I have also shown him how to use the washing machine if he does miss the deadline

My only tip as a brand new mummy is not to forget about the poo-covered bag of clothes you took downstairs to rinse and wash asap, and instead forget about it and leave it in a corner for 3 days, by which point the stains were well and truly ingrained and the bag VERY smelly! Sadly that was one vest that just had to be binned!

Loving the tip about sunshine, thanks mummies!

Don't worry about separating, just bung it all in.

Except reds. Separate reds. And purples.

Socks in mesh bags saves a lot of time. Bras in mesh bags saves tangles and the dreaded damage to machine by loose underwire so. Tiger sell the bags in both black and white. I like browsing in Tyger!

Both washing up liquid and hand wash, applied with a small stiff nail brush, are great for stubborn stains. Even better if applied as soon as possible like I just did to the turmeric on my shirt!!

I do all clothes with non bio and baby softener, not just DCs ,as he's on all of us against our clothing.

I chuck it all in together and hang it out (often overnight to get darked on) and it's mostly fine. Only problem I have is getting pen stains out of white school polo shirts. Vanish stick and sunshine helps!

When it comes to putting it all away I sort it on the sofa. It saves dumping it out on to the bed, leaving the room and promptly forgetting about it til bedtime where it inevitably ends up being put back into the basket to do "in the morning."

Wash trainers and converse at 40deg with bio liquid and pad out the machine with a large bath towel to stop the clunking. They come out like new, even leather ones.

Sheets and towels on 90degree wash (sorry, environment) to get them really clean and fresh.

Don't wash anything which isn't white with white shirts!

I chuck pretty much everything in together. My special trick is to give items a bit of a ride in the tumble dryer before putting them out on hangers to finish off. Cuts down ironing by up to 100%, depending on the washing instructions on your current set of clothes. DH has has a cherished shirt and new trousers that aren't suitable for this regime, and it's very vexing.

I just buy cheap so when i inevitably stain/shrink etc clothes, it's not the end of the world! Or, follow washing labels? Mostly, i bung it all in and hope for the best UNLESS it's new and coloured!!!

My tip is keep the washing machine clean - 90deg wash with no load every month, with soda crystals/vinegar, and wipe round the seals with vinegar too. Stops the washer getting horribly smelly, which can transfer onto the clothes so they don't get properly clean.

A day on the washing line in bright sunshine seems to help with many not-too-stubborn stains.

White vinegar as softener and chuck in some zoflora!

Anyone who leaves a tissue in their pocket must be made to pick all tissue fluff off the whole wash.

I treat stubborn stains with fairy liquid before I wash them. They always come up a treat

Ditch the fabric conditioners - stick with non bio to avoid skin irritation

Teach your kids how to use the washing machine as early as possible, including how to read washing labels.

We do whites separately, jeans
Separately but then everything else is "mixed colours"!

The best thing we ever did was to buy a dehumidifier. We have
so much washing hanging on maidens in the kitchen and in those
months when it's not warm enough to dry but not cold enough to have the heating on, a dehumidifier is fantastic.

I also hang out washing on the rare days when it's not raining round here- it's always best line dried!

I don't let my washing get darked on! 😁

Am afraid mine is soaking for at least the night before the said item is going in the washing machine. The bain of my life is white socks...or should I now say black/grey/green socks!!! I really struggle keeping them clean & would appreciate any tips a mumsnetter could give me!

Make sure you keep an area clear to hang up a load of washing indoors and get a couple of decent airers. If the weather changes you'll always have somewhere to hang them to dry and it's easier with lots of baby clothes as you don't need to peg each item. If this area is in a bedroom you'll also get the added benefit of keeping the air a little moist - brilliant for dry summer nights.