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

[just5morepeas]

I have a laundry basket in everyone's bedroom for dirty clothes and one on the landing for towels/bedding as I thought it was pointless to try and stop us dumping stuff there.

I also have a foldaway basket in each of the kids room for clean clothes, the idea being they will eventually put it away themselves.

I try and do some laundry everyday to keep on top of it.

And I iron as little as possible, only school uniform and work clothes!

[mrsglowglow]

2 baskets, one upstairs the other down near the machine. Everyone must put dirty washing in the basket and i take it down and sort every few days.

I hang up straight out if machine and then when dry ask everyone to put their stuff away. Works kind of, but i end up doing it all sometimes as fed up nagging

[del2929]

we have 1 basket and it is washed when it gets full- unless something is required urgently.

[CheeseEMouse]

Pretty much a daily wash just to keep on top of it all. Having not previously had a proper tumble drier and now having one has made a real difference to things no longer piling up to dry around the house

[PaddingtonBearHardStare]

I don't work Thursdays so that's my housework and laundry day and we try to arrange any deliveries for that day as I only leave the house for the school run.

We have three laundry baskets, lights colours and darks. Everyone is responsible for putting their own laundry in. I usually put coloured load on first whilst I strip beds (fitted sheets are purposely cream to bulk out lights wash), change towels etc. Then lights and then darks. In winter anything that can be tumble dried is, everything else on heated airier.

On Friday morning I iron anything which is dry (except DHs work shirts which he irons on a Sunday along with anything that wasn't dry to iron on Friday).

Every other week I do a bedding wash. I also do a towel wash on a Saturday morning with DSs swimming stuff after his lesson.

It sounds complicated but it frees up our weekends together so we are not doing housework and laundry

[peronel]

At least one load each day. My tip is the Lakeland heated airer - a godsend. Socks and pants are dried in no time. Kids blouses and shirts are hung straight out of the machine, so no ironing. I have also found that having a tumble drier with a sensor saves time (no need to check if clothes are dry; they just are. This is after years of managing with damp clothes draped over radiators all round the house. Oh, and don't bother to hang clothes outside (it inevitably rains!) unless babies nappies etc. need bleaching.

[Randomlywondering]

It used to be using fairy tablets but since they've been done away with I tried one box of the liquitabs and they smell so vile I'm having to find a new detergent

[MrsFrTedCrilly]

I tend to do a whites and darks wash every other day and I always try to line dry my clothes if at all possible ironing gets done once a week and then I need to eat rather a lot of biscuits to reward myself. I fecking hate ironing

[Youvegotafriendinme]

We have one laundry basket for all three of us and washing gets done on a Sunday as we have free electric with British Gas. We will do washing through the week if there’s loads though. Every week we do 4 loads - adults dark, bedding, baby’s coloured and an adults coloureds. Then every 2 weeks we wash all the towels and the baby’s lights.
We tumble dry towels, bedding, DH work clothes, pants/socks and muslins. Everything else is put on the airer. We use comfort on our clothes and baby pure comfort for our son and we use Persil non bio powder for all of us. Son has eczema so this is the only one he can use

[TheKnackeredChef]

I think calling it a routine would be an overstatement. I try to keep on top of it as best I can. I have a thing on the landing with lots of different baskets in it, which I try to encourage the DCs to put their laundry into, using a separate one for whites. It sort of works. Sometimes. When the baskets won't fit in the slots any more, I take that as my cue to do some washing. It takes me a long time to get round to putting stuff away when it's dry. I do not iron except for emergencies. I loathe laundry to a point where it's actually quite irrational. I fantasise about being rich enough that I'd never have to think about it again.

[Greymalkin]

In Grey Towers we only have the one laundry basket and I try to do a wash every day.

I separate into:

• whites and lights, colours, darks. All done on 40 degrees, usually tumble dried.
  
• woollens. Done with specialist detergent and only dried on an airer.
  
• bedding, towels, tea towels and cleaning cloths. Done on 60 degrees minimum and often tumble dried.
  
• DH has to wash his own sports gear I do enough bloody laundry already, thank you very much I get him to add some antibacterial detergent.
  

For delicate items like knitwear, tights, bras and frillies, I wash them in the machine but in zipped mesh laundry bags and dry on an airer.

I always run a monthly cleaning cycle on 90 degrees, and try to clean the rubber seal. The detergent drawer gets put in the dishwasher when I run the dishwasher's monthly cleaning cycle.

I buy the super size boxes of laundry powder from wholesalers rather than supermarkets as it is more economical. I use powder rather than tablets/liquid etc for the same reason.

I inherited from my mum an old fashioned block of vanish prewash soap that does wonders for stubborn stains.

DH has recently admitted to a mortal fear of the washing machine stemming from his days at public school when he tried to wash his cricket whites - put them on the wrong cycle and they came out so big both him and one of his team mates could get inside the jumper at the same time! He has asked me for a 'cheat sheet' / 'Laundry Guide for Dummies' to help him get reacquainted with our machine.

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Dark and light basket upstairs. Dark and light basket in downstairs cloakroom. Each one is small enough that they hold only one load of washing. It used to be the rule that if you put the last thing in, you brought it down but that doesn’t really happen. I just wash as and when.

Drying is the problem as we have no tumble dryer. I have 2 Airers and s heated airer on our landing. Everything just goes straight into bedrooms once dried. I bring downstairs 5 x pants and socks and 5 vests and socks for the two Ds for the week every Sunday night which we keep in a cupboard in our lounge (weird but works for us)

Once I week I collect up towels, bath mats, etc and do a wash for those, plus beds

[gemsi]

I wouldn't say I have a set laundry routine to be honest. I tend to do laundry pretty much every day or every other day and just work on the pile that has the most in until it is done. I do my daughter's clothes more often as she goes through more stuff and I like to make sure her stuff is always done. Me and the hubby have more clothes so we can wait a little longer but I wash things we regularly wear more often.
I just iron as and when to be honest. I couldn't imagine doing the washing, waiting for it to dry and then having to iron it all before putting it away. As and when works better for me.
Me and my husband have one washing basket and then we have another little one for our 2 year old.

[kateandme]

washing basket on the landing.the ironing pile gets to overwhelming before a big blitz is had.allthough I always say ill do it moe often to keep on top of it it never does happen.
I do ltry to keep on top of irnoning sheets as and when they are done so they don't take up room.therefore fooling myself the pile isn't that big ha!
there will be a colour wash or whites and itl be shouted round that this is whats going on so everyone gather bits they want doing in ithis wash.and its up to everone to appear with it to get it done.
always try to put it in the cheaper band of electric cost throughout the nigtht and sometimes get two cycles in.

[ncullinane]

I'm pretty relaxed about it and do a white load and a dark/colour load, I always use Fairy non-bio because we all have sensitive skin and it works well for us. I probably do at least one load of washing a day, then have about 5 minutes of joy with an empty basket. Having 3 boys under the age of four creates a lot of washing!

[bettyboop54]

my daughter and i have a wash basket each,i use Ariel 3 in 1 pods i love the smell of the clothes when they are drying and when they come out of the tumble dryer they smell FAB even when your wearing your clothes you can smell a beautiful fresh smell of your clothes.i would love to test them for Procter and Gamble.the feedback i would leave would be 10 outta 10.cause it,s so good it also removes dirt and stains.

[giggly]

Routine here for myself and 2dd. Light and dark wash on a Friday night , That's my (nurse) and kids school uniforms washed. Hang out to dry overnight most dry by morning.
Sheets every other weekend all 3 on the Saturday sometimes tumble dry if I don't want the house to resemble a laundry.
Towels and tea towels done on a Wednesday night.
Only iron girls uniforms I sport the "body heat iron"look🤣
One laundry basket for everyonè/thing because apparently I am the only one who knows how to use it.
Hate hate hate putting it all away.

[bettyboop54]

i would so love to win the Fairy Bio as i do my Grandsons washing nearly every day and i know how soft it makes his clothes and the smell is a beautiful fresh kinda like baby smell, as my young daughter and her baby lives with me,

[piraterach]

I do the washing about twice a week. I wash everything together and don't separate darks and whites (maybe I should start ). We have a washer dryer so chuck it all in and take it all out when done. No ironing either. Gosh I sound proper lazy

[Toadsrevisited]

I put the machine on as soon as there is one load in the basket, whatever day or time it is.

[soupmaker]

We've one big laundry basket in our room. DDs have a small basket in their room. If it's not in the baskets it doesn't get washed is the rule here.

I work full time so washing gets put on every other evening. We have dark wash, light wash, colours wash and with two DDs the inevitable pink wash.

This time of year it's hung on airers upstairs in the spare room or wee stuff put in the pulley in the kitchen. When the weather is decent it goes out on the line. No dryer here.

All gets folded and put in piles on the spare bed for putting away. Which I refuse to do as I've done everything else so far.

Ironing done on a Sunday night watching telly.

I'd love a housekeeper so I did need to do laundry. Next best thing will be teaching the DDs to do it. Rule in our house will be if you can work an iPad you can work the washing machine.

[voyager50]

Mine is sorted into whites, lights, darks, towels, bed linen and muddies!

No particular day or time just ever when there's a big enough load.

[Sleepysausage]

We make laundry a daily task. It helps to stop the pole becoming massive. We tend to do a load of laundry everyday. If there isn't enough for a full load we leave it in a basket near the machine.

[yikesanotherbooboo]

We have one central washing basket.
Only 2 adults and 1 teenager left.
On Saturday morning I sort clothes into whites/ pales/ darks / delicates.
I wash whites on 40 with Lidl bio powder
Pales and darks on 30 mixed fabrics with the purple liquid from Lidl
Delicates on delicate wash or woollen v low spin
I never use softener
I dry on line in summer Aires's in kitchen all the rest of time
I iron as I go along
After all that done I wash towels on60 with above powder
Mondays I do sheets beds changed 1-2 weekly depending on drying situation! Usually on 40 .
Once a week I wash dish and cleaning cloths on 90
I soak dirty or smelly clothes eg cricket whites

[Bananasandwicheseveryday]

Although dcs are now grown up, my laundry routine hasn't changed much since they were little.
I wash a load most days - whether that's darks/lights/delicates depends upon what I've got most of. Most ofthose are washed at 40° with powder, softener and occasionally scented eco discs. Delicate get a shorter wash with liquid. On days when I don't have enough clothes to warrant putting machine on, I do towels, kitchen linen or bedding. Bedding gets a 40° wash with powder, softener and napisan or a cap of Zoflora to disinfect. Towels and kitchen laundry get a 60° wash, powder, napisan or Zoflora, no softener.
In the winter, all except delicate are tumbled. Delicate are hung on hangers above the radiators. In warmer/dryer weather, they go on the washing line.
I load the machine and start it before I leave for work each day. Dh is at home, so it's his job to dry it and iron it. Some days he goes mad and irons everything, others, he just does what be knows dc and I will need for work next day.