What do you wash daily (clothing etc wise)

[Deleted User]

My machine goes on when it's full and not before .I live alone and have sufficient clothes that I don't have to wash them every other day. I always think that if you can go on holiday for a fortnight and not see a washing machine then why keep using one everyday. My DD has five children aged from 2-14 so her machine is on twice a day 365 days of the year .Her washing basket is like the forth bridge getting painted ,never ending. I sometimes bring a load home with me as I feel sorry that she has so much to do. I washed her sitting room curtains for her last week, it all helps a bit .Plus I have a very long washing line so they can get a good blow and be ironed and back on the windows the same day .She is not rich enough to own two sets of curtains ,she lives in a Town house with umpteen windows .
When the family and my husband was at home obviously there was a lot more to do but now I wait until I have a load for the machine and then do it .
P.S. I like ironing and iron everything ,another bonus for my DD as she loves her Mum's ironed pile of clean washing .Good job we live in the same village .

Mrs_Sparkle

I have to agree with Justamum. Waiting till your clothes look/smell dirty may not seem that bad to you but trust me, other people can smell unwashed clothes and it's disgusting. I have to sit next to people on the train whose clothes are on their 3rd or 4th day and believe me the smell is revolting! I too have been to poor parts of Africa and have cuddled children in the poorest South African townships and these children are immaculate and sweet-smelling. The adults are just the same, even though they live in unimaginably small places they are clean. Puts some UK residents to shame, I can tell you.

There are 3 of us here and I do a wash most days- babies create a lot of washing. Tea towels get washed after one day's use, bed linen after a week. The baby has a clean vest and sleepsuit every night and a clean vest and outfit every morning, plus nappies, muslins, bibs etc. I can't bear the smell or sight of unwashed clothes.

MoaningMyrtle

We wash underwear, school dresses, shirts, blouses, t-shirts ans sports wear every day.

Jeans, trousers, skirts, every two or three wears.

Towels every two days, bedding once a week, we have at least one shower bath and hairwash a day, I do it twice a day. We don't go on public transport and smell fresh. I can smell stale grease/sweat a mile off on unwashed clothes. It is not nice is it?

My washing machine is a pain as it takes an hour to do the shortest wash. I'll get a short-wash one next time.

filigree_2

I wash all undies every day. If I have a shower and go out in the evening, I'll put on fresh undies because I don't like putting dirty undies on a clean body! The only other thing I'm strict about is flannels - I hate the smell of stale flannels in the bathroom. Every time I do a wash any flannels get thrown in, I don't wait for a "hot wash" load.

We get through lots of shirts and blouses which get worn once only, the collars and cuffs are too grimy to face a second day. DS PE kit gets washed every time because it is all muddy and stinky. I had to give in and buy him two of everything because he does lots of sports and I couldn't get his kit clean between fixtures.

Skirts, trousers, sweatshirts etc would probably go 2-3 wears unless something gets spilled on them. Pyjamas and nighties go 2-3 days as well.

In the interests of science I went and sniffed all my bath towels. They smell fine to me, they've been in use about a week and they'll last a bit longer. I'm very careful to hang them up to air between uses so they don't get fusty.

For a long time I lived in cramped quarters with little money and I got used to doing one trip to the launderette per week and I had to learn to make clothes last. I'm better off now but we don't have a garden or a tumble drier and consequently there is a constant procession of damp clothes on the clothes rack and the radiators. If I do more than 3-4 washes per week it would simply be impossible to get them all dry, so I have to be pragmatic and not wash everything daily.

RacyRed

There is just me and I get through about 4 loads a week, though my washing machine is quite small so I sort clothes into 2 piles, light and dark, then have a weekly hot wash for bedding/towels.

Clothes tend to get washed after each wear as I work in an environment which is warmer than I am comfortable with (and I'm of "that" sort of age of woman :rolleyes: ) "round the house" clothes I change into before and after work go a couple of days or so, depending on how much time I've spent in them and what I was doing while wearing them.

I'm currently trying to cut back and change my bedding once every 10 days instead of weekly, I've a a large bed and I air it daily and turn the bedding a couple of times a week to even out the wear and keep it comfortable. I love fresh bedding and can't sleep in stale stuff, but am finding that this works for me. It stops me feeling bad about the number of hot washes I was doing (cotton sheets).

Drawback for me is that, no matter what I try, my skin always reacts to detergent unless I do a second short cold detergent-free wash for any load that contains items which will be close to my skin. It bugs me having to do this but the alternative is to be constantly scratchy.

lightisfading

Good god no wonder the environment's in such a mess, if so many people have their washing machines running near constantly (followed no doubt by their tumble driers). And PJs every day.. sorry but that's just ridiculous for something you sleep in!

We don't have a tumble drier (by choice) so are restricted by how much we can get dry, however we don't have a problem with that!

Underwear every day, work shirts/trousers/weekend wear every other day, casual clothes worn just in the evening at home maybe up to 4 days. Bed linen every 2 weeks, towels when needed (if all they're drying is clean bodies, I don't see why that's a problem!). Altogether 2, maybe 3 washes a week for the 2 of us.

lightisfading

RacyRed wrote: »

Drawback for me is that, no matter what I try, my skin always reacts to detergent unless I do a second short cold detergent-free wash for any load that contains items which will be close to my skin. It bugs me having to do this but the alternative is to be constantly scratchy.

Have you tried ecover detergent, or 'eco balls' (which do work!)

maryb

I probably end up doing more washing than I suspect I need to because the girls think that it's easier to put things that they may only have worn for a couple of hours in the laundry basket rather than folding it up and putting it away. Good old laundry fairy!

I have never managed to make blouses, tops etc last for more than one day - my collar and cuffs are always grubby after a day in London. Also I change teatowels as soon as they are damp because I don't want them sitting around breeding germs - I don't wash them specially they just go in with whatever wash is going on overnight on off peak electricity.

But bed linen and towels are fine being washed once a week. I find I do a wash each night (one night dark things the next night white/lights) then an extra wash on the day I change the towels also on the day I change the sheets - and that's for five of us. Oh and an occasional wool wash.

Rachie_B

fizzel81 wrote: »

I always seem to have a huge amount of washing on my line when the weather is like this compared to neighbours (next door for example has 2 people more in there house)

what do you wash after one wear if this makes sense, i wash everything that has been worn, all my microfibres, teatowels and hand towels, bath towels are washed every second bath time.

Cot sheets and blankets are done every other day and oldest son and my bedding is done every 3 daysi then have my nappy wash nightly (2 in nappies)

i would love to cut my washing as it seems im forever washing, ironing folding and putting the stuff away

why?!!! even in summer i should imagine that once a week is sufficient !

unless like said baby / child has a leaky nappy / accident etc

LilMissEmmylou

ok i am going to sound like a pig to some of you lot.

I do 2 nappy washes a week.
I do a load of baby washing (my whites chucked in too) a week
A towel wash a week
A colour wash a week
Bedding gets done about every 2 weeks, with baby bedding being done when i spot dirt on it or if she is sick/wees on it, this is only about once a week to 10 days.

so lets say for 3 people i do 5 washes a week which would only be 3 - 4 if i didnt use reuseable nappies.

It honestly drives me nuts to think what some people are doing to the environment. As for these people who say " they can smell sweat a mile of" i dont doubt u can smell people that stink of B.O. ..... I can too, despite wearing most of my tops for 2 days (unless its a sticky day then it will only last once). I can assure you after one wear i do not stink, i believe that would be my deo doing its job