The laundry mountain - would I be better off dumping everything and starting from scratch?

[yellowbottle]

The laundry is getting on top of me (literally, I could be buried under it!). I am wondering is it because I have too many cheap shitty items of clothing and would I be better off doing a huge declutter and starting from scratch?

If so, how many clothes does a person really need? A month's worth? A week's worth? What about underwear? Socks?

Why is your laundry turning into a mountain?

I do a load of washing, hang the clothes up on coat hangers once it's finished. I then hang them on a rail to dry, then hang straight in the wardrobe. I iron as I need to.

You need to revise your laundry methods. Never pile stuff up, just buy loads of coathangers and hang in the wardrobe. I even hang tee shirts and bedwear up. Underwear goes into plastic boxes - we have one each and I just pull out what I need each morning.

Don't throw away, that is a waste. Plus you have obviously worn the clothes otherwise they wouldn't be in the wash.

What I would do is just start getting it done. Don't worry about sorting loads out, just grab it and get it shoved in the washing machine. Only save important stuff like work clothes. EVerything else just get it shoved in! No sitting down til it is hung to dry once it is out of the machine. Another load in as soon as once has finished til you have no space left to dry. Hang stuff over doors, radiators, chair backs, anything and everything. Open windows cos there will be condensation but this one time shouldn't cause much damage. If it really is that bad then you need to just sacrifice a few things and get it done.

Where are you? I run my own ironing business & am always looking for new customers!

Always helps to be ruthless! :)

Yes, think about what you've got. If you haven't worn it for 6 months (aside from very special occasion wear or seasonal stuff), you're probably not going to wear it. Get that stuff on eBay or to a charity shop. If you eBay the good stuff you might get cash to buy new stuff and the charity shop donation will make you feel good.

GP some washing every day. I've been trying the last couple of weeks and it's made life a lot easier.

I have found sometimes its better to buy decent quality stuff that lasts rather than cheap stuff that doesn't fit. But have a look at what you really want to keep. Think about key pieces that might help you pull outfits together. That'll help you get sorted!

Go down to the laundrette with it all in the car on a quiet laundrette day. Put it all in machines. Wash then dry. Sort it out when it comes out into stuff to keep and stuff to throw.

When it gets on top of me (literally) I take it to the launderette for a service wash/iron. £20 and a couple of days later and equilibrium is restored.

This isn't every week, but if the DCs are sick or something and I fall behind.

Yeah, I don't mean just dump the clothes that are dirty and in the mountain. I just think I have too much clothes that I don't care that much about and as a result don't care for. There are only 3 of us, so realistically that should be 3 washes in the week surely? Blacks, whites and coloured? The monotony of all the washing and drying, and worst of all the putting away just gets to me big time. If I had less clothes I might tend to wear them more. I tend to wear things once and throw them in the laundry.

You should really read the book Overdressed - it was a revelation for me.

YY to fewer, better quality clothes - merino, for really doesn't need to be washes all that often, a good airing is often enough.

Are you thinking of dumping it all because you can't be arsed doing the ironing or because you feel you need a declutter?
I would sort it all out into 2 piles - stuff that you don't like/doesn't fit/is tatty and stuff that you do wear and want to keep. Then have a think about what you already have and what items you might need.
I guess how many clothes you need depends on lifestyle. For example, do you work? If so you may well need work clothes as well as casual weekend stuff.
I have had a big overhaul of my wardrobe over last 12 months, getting rid of stuff I never wore, stuff that was too big following weight loss and stuff I didn't like. Definitely think quality over quantity is the way forward.
My wardrobe currently consists of
4 coats
3 blazers
6 pairs of jeans
10 T-shirts / vests
2 leggings
3 shirts
2 blouses
2 cashmere sweaters
4 cardigans
3 scarves
2 skirts
3 trousers
6 dresses/tunics
15 pairs footwear

Fwiw, I do at least one load a day for a family of 4. By the time you've washed the linen, no way will 3 loads a week cut it.

I agree There's only two of us in our house but I do a load of something every day. With bedding, towels, tea towels, I can easily do one load a night. I wash clothes every other evening and generally get them dry and put away before bed. By the way I've only been doing this for about two weeks but it's liberated my weekends cos I'm spending the whole flipping weekend sorting out washing! Little and often is so much easier.

Declutter and laundry routine are two separate things.

I also do many loads often rather than wait for a full load. So more than 3 loads a week.

I tend to throw in a load before I go to bed or while I'm making breakfast.

With declutter -- I think the important thing is to stop buying. Yes you can throw things out but if you just go and repurchase you are back where you have started. "Shop your closet" and wear the things you like; figure out if you have items you need for your wardrobe and then toss what you don't wear.

id say a wash a day including towels and sheets

sort into spin speeds
do a load at night and hten one in the morning

fold and PUT AWAY then adn there

Only 3 of us: I do a load most days. The first chore of the day is to see if there's enough washing to put the machine on.

Getting rid of clothes won't stop you wearing a change every day, so it will still build up as fast. Just clear down the mountain with a laundrette or washing service and keep on top of it from now on.

4 of us. I wash every day- darks, lights, sheets, towels, repeat! Get dc to help sort and put away?

3 of us and I usually do a wash a day, but you don't need to wash clothes every time you wear them (underwear excepted ) - I do think there is a modern obsession with having to have clean clothes every day.

3 of you and only 3 washes a week? Ha ha ha ha ha ha, totally unrealistic imo. I usually do a wash a day at least and I am not a 'washer woman' by nature but throw towels and games kis=ts into the mix and it's easy to end up with a mountain. I never iron, EVER, just fold straight from the drier or hang things up on hanger on the washing line.

There are 3 of us and I do a wash almost every day. Didn't do one yesterday because didn't have a full load, generally once a week I have a 'day off' washing. DS is a cook, so thats one set of clothes for 5 days of the week. DS is 2, so thats one, sometimes two changes a day.

DH and DS swimming today - towels need washing, will do bedding today too because it actually dry out.

At the moment i'm in a routine of one load a day. Put a load on at night before I go to bed, hang it up in the morning. Put away yesterday's load when DS goes for a nap.

I just finished work and college two months ago and always had a mountain on the go before that, it did take me a week of constant washing and sorting to get through it, so it can be done!

OP you and I both need to get off MN and tackle our washing heaps.
Moaning about them won't help.

Them I agree, once washed don't put away anything you really won't wear again, get rid.