Washing for a large family

MadelinesMum

Hi, we are a family of 6 and I'm struggling to keep on top of the washing. 3 children are at school and my other half has a work uniform and also we have a toddler. There seems to be piles of dirty washing everywhere and I think I've mastered it and all it takes is an illness etc.. and I'm back to piles again.

I do a load or two every day but where I'm sooo behind I hardly dent it

How do you guys cope and also, I'm thinking we just might have too many clothes - how many sets of clothes do you have per person?

mummyroysof3

there is 5 of us and ive been more strict just recently about the kids wearing stuff more than once if they can..its working as i am definatly doing less loads of washing than i used to

tessie_bear

i havent got an answer but am in a similar situation myself...it never ends does it ? my ideas
get an airer we have one from ikea and a range of sock type hangers we have round the front room...we are thinking of getting a heated airer from lakeland but havent been there yet

be firmer with the kids about what they can wear a few times eg a hoodie

keep on washing...im on the 3rd load today i prefer having wet washing around the place than piles of dirty

i have cracked in the last few days and used the tumble but really try and keep that to a minimum

i feel your pain..tess

Molly41

I have 4 adult children and 2 other adults to wash for.It gets worse as the clothes get bigger. I have to be organised and have 4 washing baskets and clothes get sorted as they are put into the baskets. My kids have been doing this since tots - colours, whites, dark and denim and towels. I then put full loads on whenever the basket fills up. I do 4 washes somedays and others two.
Perhaps you need to have a splurge and get rid of all the excess and then implement a new regime.

Broomstick

When I need to get through a lot of washing alongside being busy and distracted with other things, I set a timer to the length of the wash cycle. When the washing is done it beeps to remind me to take it out and hang it up immediately. If I don't do this I get distracted and there's the danger that one load sits in the machine all day and I've missed the outside drying weather. (One day, a sensible washing machine manufacturer will think to put an alarm on the machine itself.)

We run a sports club which is kit heavy in term-time and, every week, I have anything up to ten additional loads of washing and drying to do in addition to us managing to fit in our (me and two adult sons) own stuff. I know this sounds OTT but I have resorted to timetabling it, mostly because of trying to get it all dry in the colder weather. What gets washed and when is written on our wall calendar. The club kit washing is prioritised on the evenings/mornings following the sessions because it's needed for the next. Fitted around this, each of us has a day for clothes with an additional space for bedding, towels and personal sports kit. My sons are responsible for getting their own stuff done on the days allocated and that includes getting it dried and ironed if necessary.

Kind of works for us.

B x

bagpuss38

There are 6 of us.
I do mine and oh's washing as well as the 6yr old and the 3year old.
OH and i share a wash bin and so do the little 'uns.

The older 2 (17yrs,20yrs) do their own washing.

I do uniforms on a friday night washing and hung up on hangers ready for monday.
I also do pe kits and swimming gear at the same time.

Beds are changed on a sunday.

I do about 2 loads a day, usually a dark and a light pile.

I too feel your pain especially in this weather when i cant really afford to run the tumble and its too cold to peg out:(

Nicki

There are 5 in our house (one also a toddler). I do 1-2 loads per day and I am afraid over use the tumble drier, but then try to take them out and fold them whilst still warm so there is not much ironing to do.

If it has backed up to an alarming extent, I either spend a whole day catching up (my regular machine cycle is 1hr 30mins which is more than enough to also tumble dry the previous load, or very occasionally have been known to bag the lot up and take it to the laundrette for a service wash, which around here costs about £15 for a black sack full of clothes to be washed and tumbledried.

bagpuss38

Oh and i meant to say, due the kids being at school during the week,
they have their uniform.
Then during the hols they have a outfit for each day of week. so 7 sets of clothes each.
They have a special outfit for church and parties etc and loads of underwear but that's about it really.

Islandmaid

5 of us too, 2 adults and 3 smelly teenagers.

I run a load each night, then hang on the dryer in the morning, most stuff is dry for the next days load.

Most of the clothes only get washed on a 30 min cycle, as the teens barely wear anything for more than 5 minutes, but heavier soiled stuff gets the full cycle as do towels and bedding

Weekends are for ironing and putting away. Really should get the kids trained to do their own.

Good luck x

guruchelles

Nicki wrote: »

There are 5 in our house (one also a toddler). I do 1-2 loads per day and I am afraid over use the tumble drier, but then try to take them out and fold them whilst still warm so there is not much ironing to do.

If it has backed up to an alarming extent, I either spend a whole day catching up (my regular machine cycle is 1hr 30mins which is more than enough to also tumble dry the previous load, or very occasionally have been known to bag the lot up and take it to the laundrette for a service wash, which around here costs about £15 for a black sack full of clothes to be washed and tumbledried.

Sounds identical to me (apart from the laundrette). Five of us, one toddler, about 10 loads per week. It's not very MSE or green, but I couldn't function without a tumble drier. We have a condensing one.

I have a basket upstairs that divides lights and darks. I find if I bring a load down in the morning then I can get it washed, dried, folded and sent back upstairs by the evening and that it actually works better if I leave it there rather than try to do another load in the afternoon because then I'll 'hold up' the first lot at the folding stage to wait for the second lot before I take it up and invariably I get a whole heap of folded stuff sat there for days as I'm trying to catch up with myself.

That probably makes no sense. I am crap at housewifery.

evie451

I have cut down my washing a lot since 1) removing the washing basket from the bathroom 2) insisting on a process of taking clothes off in bedrooms before going to the bathroom for a shower, then the clothes are checked to see if they can be worn again and not just dumped in the laundry bag in the bathroom regardless of condition!