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

Keep on top of it, get it washed, dried and put away.

Don't just throw your clothes in the washing machine, straighten out sleeves & legs, do up zips & buttons & untangle towels & sheets. Your clothes will be easier to iron. Also when hanging coloureds on the line put them in partial shade or hang them late afternoon to avoid fading

Laundry basket in every room. Three loads a week - one towels/bedding, one for kids stuff (non-bio) and one for our clothes (bio).

Split fairly evenly across the week, although day varies depending on weather. We have a heated airer for indoors in an attempt to avoid wet laundry everywhere, and excess tumble drying.

Wash everyday to stop it building up and becoming overwhelming.
Fairy liquid rubbed into stains or a soap bar.
Hang outside as much as possible.

Washing up liquid on baby poo.

Colour catchers. Doesn't have to be the branded ones but saves my life. Especially with a 6 month old. I still do a Dark and white wash for mine and DPs clothes but all of DDs go in together to be washed and dried once a week.

I also load the washing machine of an evening and put on in the morning. Our washer dryer is too loud for overnight washes living in a flat.

For whites, add a small amount (half of your average cap size) of bicarbonate of soda directly into the drum when you do a whites wash. Works a treat at keeping them the colour they were when you bought them and all my kids have white polo shirts while their mates have grey ones.

For ink stains, spray with hairspray before washing, blot as much of the ink as you can with kitchen paper then chuck in the wash as normal and it all comes out. I couldn't believe that one the first time I found it. DS's purple school top was covered in blue ink as his pen had leaked and replacements are nearly twenty quid, so I googled how to remove ink stains and hairspray was one solution that I had in the house already. When the wash was finished I went over and over the top, convinced there must be some evidence of the stain but there was nothing.

I have been using Fairy for ages and now I have a baby grandson I know it is a product I can trust. I find if I have a stain I put on some fairy and give it a rub in before washing.

Keep on top of it, as soon as there is a full load get it washed, dryed and ironed, nothing worse than having to do several loads on one day.

i always us fairy as its so gentle on the skin and fabrics. i use 60 wash on all bedding and towels use the sun to help fade stains. I keep socks and pants in a pillow slip to keep them together.

Try to avoid stains to begin with - wear an apron when cooking and encourage the kids to wear one too when cooking or crafting. Dry whites on a line in the sun to help keep them bleached by the sun.

Hot empty wash with washing soda every two weeks keeps the washing machine clean

Sunlight is amazing. It may take a while but it fades or removes stains like poo and tomato.

From an organisational point of view, get a different coloured crate for each family member and sort clean clothes into them. Then get the family member to put their own clothes away.

Tumble Dryers shrink things so line dry as much as you can.

Wool needs a special wash (wool wash doesn't do it) as I once made 6ft DH's jumper a perfect size for DD's teddy bear.

60 degrees gets rid of teenaged fusty smell, plus fragranced detergent. Any lower temperature and stink is not conquered.

However much you ask, children will only bring / take away laundry when they are actually about to wear it.

Get a indoor drier and lidl non-bio fabric liquids pretty good value

washing up liquid on tough stains (a tip from my sister) - rub in gently anf then wash as normal. It really works...most of the time!

Laundry effects my clothes choices! I tend to buy things that are quick and easy to wash and dry, or things that don't need washing very often! Long term those choices pay off! As for things that need ironing...forget it!

Get each family member a multipack of the same socks, different colour or design for each person. It's either easier for pairing socks, or just put them in drawer unpaired as you can just reach in and take 2 out

I picked this tip up on here, relegated all socks to be dusters and bought new sets for everyone

Teach the children and husband to sort and put laundry in the baskets (not beside )

Colours and whites must go separately after the pink baby vest incident of 2016 (we have a boy it wasn't the best look for him, tie dye pink poor kid.)

Also everything goes on the line if it is even the slightest bit warm/breezy (basically any weather that's not wet or below freezing) because my tumble dryer is about as effective as waving a hairdryer somewhere near my clothes would be.

Normal wash - Astonish Laundry Liquid. Some stains - add Astonish Acive Stain Remover powder to wash. Severe stains - spray and rub with Astonish Stain Remover Target Spray.

All Astonish products are vegan and cruelty-free. You don't need to contribute to animal suffering to get your clothes clean.

I just bung it all in one wash, and it does the trick! Only once have I experienced colour transfer, but we blamed it on a new deodorant as it only occurred at the armpits. I do love to add scent boosters to the wash though.

Net lingerie bags for school socks. Put the strait in once they are taken off. You can only have washed pairs then (in theory) and no rogue ones.

Having three boys I have a massive amount of laundry every week. I try to do it all in one go and just pile all of the washing in front of the machine until it's done. Unfortunately, by the time I'm finished my washing basket is usually full again! I'm not very good at stain removal, particularly tomato based sauces, as I have yet to find a product that eliminates them all.

I'm not very good at stain removal, particularly tomato based sauces, as I have yet to find a product that eliminates them all.

@mamof3boys Sunlight! It's particularly good at tomato based stains, even plastic that has been "tomatoed" in the dishwasher.