What’s the laundry routine in your household? Share with Fairy Non Bio - chance to win £300 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[JustineBMumsnet]

Doing the laundry is one of those chores that can seem never ending; every time you think you’ve completed the load, the cycle begins all over again. Cue the laundry routine. With that in mind, Fairy Non Bio want to know what the laundry routine is in your household.

Here’s what Fairy Non Bio have to say: “We know how laundry piles up, especially with little ones running around, spilling food and playing outside. At Fairy Non Bio, we design our products so that you can keep washing simple, easy and quick; making sure your clothes are beautifully clean and gentle on skin with our fabric conditioner designed to enhance their snuggly softness. We would love to know what you do to get your washing under control and give it that extra boost!”

Do you have a laundry bag/basket for each member of your family? Perhaps you do all the whites on one day and colours on another? Do you iron as and when or all at the same time? Or maybe you pride yourself on not having a set routine?

However you organise the laundry routine in your household, share it on the thread below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck.

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[juddyrockingcloggs]

Really really simple!

My husband is a builder and so his clothes require very little care - wash dry on a Saturday and job done

My son has 5 x school uniform and it all goes in one eco wash, tumbled waiting to be ironed!

My work clothes/other clothes, pjs, pants, go in on Saturday night, put on clothes horse Sunday morning in front of dehumidifier and then everything gets ironed on Sunday night in front of the telly!

Towels and bedding get done on Monday waiting to be ironed the following Sunday!

[Butterfly1975]

I'm quite routined about my laundry and do a wash most days as it gets a bit out of control if not. I do get a bit frustrated that its only me that does any laundry in our house but on the odd occasions DH has done it we've had a minor disaster involving dyeing or shrinkage

I always separate out whites, darks and clothes that need a cooler/delicate wash.

Find somewhere to dry/hang clothes (bane of my life during the winter as no spare room or utility in our house!)

I do my ironing every Sunday with Countryfile and a glass of wine

[Snotato]

We don’t have a routine.
We don’t even use a laundry basket for dirty laundry. We just put dirty washing straight into the washing machine. Then when it’s full, I separate the lights from darks and wash them. I normally get through a light load and a dark load in a day.
I also wash all the bedding once a week,and I also wash the dogs bedding twice a week.
I seem to have a never ending pile of laundry.

[CMOTDibbler]

We're slatterns and don't have a routine. One central laundry basket, and someone puts on a wash as and when - usually one a day. Whites, darks, sportswear and sheets/towels are the general categories.
We dry over a dehumidifier with anything that can go on a hanger on one, and that reduces ironing to dh's work shirts which he irons as he needs one

[CLB1234]

My DD and DS both have their own washing baskets which hold enough for a full load so I do their washing on Sunday/Monday and iron it first thing Monday morning. Mine and DH's darks are washed and ironed on Tuesday while the whites/lights (including bedding) are done on Thursday. Towels as and when they need doing. Works for us as although I end up ironing 3 times a week it's only for 20/30 mins at a time.

[theAntsareMyFriends]

Threads like this always make me feel so lazy.

One basket for all in the utility room or straight into the washing machine. Everything washed together at 40degrees apart from nappies which I wash separately. We just avoid wearing whites or delicate.

I try to get DS1 (nearly 4) to help hang everything out with me. We tend to do washing every 3 days but I will do a few loads in a day if we get a really good drying day or if we are having a fire. I find the best thing is to avoid it mounting up or it feels like more of a chore.

[PugwallsSummer]

I do a towel wash when I clean the house on a Thursday - every towel / bathrobe / hand towel / flannel / bath mat that has been used that week goes in - usually 2 loads.

Clothes get washed & dried on a Saturday, ready to be ironed on Monday. Three loads: darks, coloured and lights. Pretty standard, really.

[slithytove]

All washing in big basket in master bed room
Gets taken down each day
Sorted into hand, darks, lights, reds, mixed
One wash done a day in the am
Home from work and it gets hung out/ tumbled

Once or twice a week I’ll do a mammoth putting away, until then it clogs up the dining room

[ButterflyOfFreedom]

One laundry basket for us all.

Wash goes on roughly every other day.

I don't bother sorting the loads out, everything just gets shoved in the machine on a 30° wash (unless it is towels / bedding / particularly dirty then it's a 40° wash).

We don't have a tumble dryer so clothes are dried outside if weather permits or hung on airers indoors.

[honeyandginger48]

We have one shared laundry basket -although my kids seem to keep most of their dirty washing on their floor until nagged to deal with it. Most washing happens at the weekend - sorted into darks, lights and a gentle wash for knitted things. I refuse to iron anything as I hate it!

[Nurse15]

Two laundry baskets - one on middle floor and one on top floor (our house is three storey!) random bibs from any good times are thrown into the washing machine awaiting next wash. Do washing most days using whatever liquid / powder is on offer in the supermarket

Hang up to dry in the spare room and in theory put away (usually we end up wearing them off the clothes horse!!) I never iron stuff - life is too short for ironing!!

[janney3]

I really don't have much of a routine as such although I'm very fussy about not mixing colours/ darks and whites.

I put a wash on whenever there's a full load of each colour type. Love hanging all the clean washing to dry on the line outside in the summer. During the winter a mixture of tumble drier, clothes horse and radiators
are used instead.
Iron only items that really need it.

[PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks]

Our laundry routine goes like this:

Take off clothes, put them in the washing machine. When the DC have done this, the machine goes on. I do this once a day.

[Thurlow]

See enough dirty clothes in the basket, wash them. When cycle has finished, hang them up to dry.

Seriously, I hope they're going off to somewhere like Football365 to ask this question on a predominantly male. Or is laundry just a woman's task?

[LittleMe03]

We have one laundry basket in mine and Dp's room and a smaller one in DS's room.

No particular 'routine' when there is a full load of a certain wash e.g whites then they all get washed.

Occasionally will do smaller loads if particular items are needed.

Any stains are treated with pre wash stain remover and washed asap.

No ironing until an item is going to be worn so that I'm not having to do it twice after it's been chucked in the wardrobe or drawer clean

[abitoflight]

No system. No laundry baskets.
Each put dirty stuff in a particular corner in room. I round it up each day then put in a cupboard in utility. Each day I put on a load of whatever is there - whites, stuff I know won't run, lights etc. Wash bedclothes towels etc on days off. Done 5 loads today. May not do more until Sunday. Tumble dry everything, fold, hang. I do zero ironing

[TracyBeakerSoYeah]

Mainly a wash on every other day.
Have 2 laundry baskets, one for family clothes & white towel/bedding & the other for dark towels/bedding (if I haven't a full load to wash it goes in there till I have.)
Always use powder & fabric softener. DH's sports gear gets Zoflora added to it (if we haven't got any Halo Sports Wash in.)
All whites are done on 60c•
Dark clothing is done on 40c•
Dark bedding/towels done on 60c•
Colours (clothing) sorted into brights & lights & sometimes use a colour catcher sheet) done on 40c•
Tea towels done on 95c• (blame Mumsnet )
Sports gear either 40c• or 60c•

Clothes out on washing line in good weather. If bad weather or things need to be dried in the evening then it's a mix of tumble drier & heated airer.
Hardly ever iron as most clothes don't crease if hung up to dry or taken out tumble dryer straightaway.

Thank you for reading my essay

[MumOfTwoMasterOfNone]

I do 3 loads a day every day, sometimes more and it's whatever's needed most/is the biggest pile at the time. We have one laundry basket but I'm the only one to use it I think.
I have a dark load everyday. A white and a light every other day. All go on a 40. Towels every other day. Kids bedding twice a week on average (leaks, sickness), our bedding once a week (sometimes more, sometimes a bit less). All go on a 60 wash. DPs work clothes separately (dirty job) so full bubble wash, pre wash and heavy soil function. Bath mats once a week, door mats ad hoc and coats etc. when needed. We also use reusable nappies, reusable hand and face wipes and I'm trialling cloth sanitary pads. My washer never stops yet somehow I manage a full time job, I'm just not sure how!
I'm currently on my third load of kids bedding this eve as I'm sat up with poor DD1 with a tummy bug .
I've never understood how families can do a few loads a week, but it sounds like heaven

[c75kp0r]

It isn't a complex operation that requires massive organisation in this house - there are only 4 of us and most stuff goes in the automatic so stick em in, press the button and off it goes.

I tend to do a wash every other day - alternating white and dark washes - towels just go in with everything else usually.

Delicate things like woollens are hand washed in the bath and then spin dried. Same for things like bath mats. Bulky things like coats and duvets in the bath too. I tried washing a pillow once. Never again - buy new ones when needed.

I do bedding at the weekends.

Soda crystals in every wash as the water is so hard and one tiny drop of fabric softener - just the merest hint. I reckon the stuff is a con. DH thinks it is vital. I use liquid detergent as you can target it on collars of shirts or other areas that need it - so far I haven't burned the colour out of anything doing this.

[ifigoup]

I do bedding less often than I should. Everything else: colours go on 40 as soon as there's a load. Whites get saved up often for a fortnight or so (no school uniforms here, and our bed linens and towels are all coloured), then go on 60 or 90. I hang out to dry; DH folds; we both put away.

[TellMeItsNotTrue]

We have one big washing basket on the landing, saves going hunting round various baskets to make up a washload and you can see instantly how much there is

I don't have set days or anything like that I'm far too disorganised for that I just keep an eye on how much there is and do whatever washing pile is biggest or prioritise if there is something that needs washing so that it can be worn (school uniform etc)

I don't iron much because I struggle due to pain condition, it's normally just shirts and our outfits if we are going out for a special occasion

[defineme]

I put on a load everyday before work and then hang it out when I get in on my heated clothes airer overnight , but I change it round in summer and put on a load in the evening and hang out on the line before work.

[wonkylegs]

We have 3 washing baskets
Kids - which lives just outside the bathroom and I'm just amazed when washing gets in it without nagging. Everything goes in and I split when I do the washing.
We then have a mixed and a whites basket in our room and a cotton bag for special wash items which hangs off the white basket
I do a whites load on a weekend, a mixed load after swimming on a Monday night + one or two other loads a week - also depends if I need to do a load of scrubs for DH for work
Use same non-bio powder for everyone as DH is allergic to anything else, use stain remover on kids closes when necessary. All washes have a colour catcher sheet in the them. Tend to wash at 40
Split drying between dryer & dolly maid in the kitchen.
Get the kids / DH to help occasionally so they realise how much work it is.

[scrivette]

I do a was whenever a basket is full or the eldest DC is running out of clean uniform.

We have a basket for whites, a basket for light colours and everyone also has their own basket (which tends to be dark clothes apart from the newborns which is all white/pale pink).

I enjoy washing and sorting clothes but dislike having clothes drying all over the house. In the summer it goes outside to dry.

[Oddbutnotodd]

Do a wash whenever I feel like enough clothes to do one! Go and gather towels from teen bedrooms etc. Whites done separately.

Dry on line or round house! Use tumble drier if necessary. No fixed routine but don't let washing pile up so do a wash most days. Not good at putting it away. Iron only when necessary.