Getting through the washing...

dingdongavoncalling

This is what my life has become...getting advice on washing haha!

We are a very busy household and I'm struggling to keep on top of things, not just the washing itself...in fact that's the easy bit, but the drying/putting away/organising/actually getting though it.

Do you have several wash baskets? Do you have 'laundry day?' Any tips to share?

Thanks in advance to all you organised people!

CathA

There's only me and hubby here, and the washing machine goes on every day! He wears a uniform for work, I have a uniform but only work 2 days a week and the rest of the time I'm in jeans and jumpers, so where does it come from? Admittedly I'm doing my grandson's washing to help my daughter, but if you add his washing up, collectively it's one load.
I have a timer on my machine so that it's done by the time I come downstairs in the morning, you can buy a timer plug if your machine doesn't have this. I peg it on an airer and put it outside whatever the weather. We have a greenhouse or it goes in our shelter (a plastic tomato house from poundstretcher) bit of air through it works wonders.
I get it in when it's dark, leave it in the kitchen overnight and it only needs a bit of a whizz in the tumble drier the following day. Sometimes it doesn't even need that, the trick is to get some air through it. Any help?
Oh and I've got 5 wash baskets, could do with another one!

jk0

I have a routine to try to take advantage of E7 electricity & sunny days:

Usually I can only do one load overnight if sun is forecast. I put my wool items on to wash at 2350, as these will be done by 0030. Then I unload these, and put a cotton wash on overnight. Next day both loads go on the line.

Serendipitious

Depends how many are in the household, the capacity of the machine and whether you use a tumble drier.

But assuming there's a drier, I would suggest different washloads for different days eg:

Sunday - Change the beds in the morning and wash bedding that evening
Mon eve - Dry bedding, fold and put away; wash towels and teatowels
Tues eve - Dry towels and teatowels;
Weds eve - Wash whites inc school shirts/blouses
Thurs eve - Dry whites (put shirts on hangers);
Fri eve- Wash darks inc socks
Sat morning - Dry darks, fold and put away; do any items that need hand washing.

Split up like this helps keep on top of it, and the weekday evening tasks aren't too arduous after a day at work.

GreyQueen

I'm a singleton household these days but do have experience of busy multi-adult and multi-child laundry.

I'd suggest having at least two laundry bins on the go, one for darks/ mixed coloureds and one for lights. If sufficient space can be found, perhaps a separate one for towels/ household linens.

The idea being to streamline the initial sorting stage to make loading the washer faster - all household members need to be trained to put their stuff in the right place.

If you live somewhere that running your washer overnight won't disturb your household or your neighbours, buy a cheap timer switch and do so, timing it so it finishes before breakfast. Get up early (even if still in dressing-gown) and peg out on the line (if you have one).

Even in winter, unless it's a raining/ flat calm/ foggy, you should be able to get laundry a bit dryer outside than if you didn't peg it out, and this will shorten any time needed to rack it indoors.

Call me out for a dirty mare if you like, but I don't personally wash bedlinen on a weekly basis. I change my pillowcases twice weekly, and my jammies, but I figure it's only my bare feet and hands which are exposed to the bedlinen, I do clean myself regularly, so I reckon it's not getting so dirty it needs washing weekly.

If kids are in school uniform, train them to change into play clothes as soon as they come in, maybe look at running a uniform washload midweek, so that there isn't a panic to get everything sorted out in time for Monday morning.

In the warmer weather, you can take towels which have just been used and are sopping wet and peg them on the outside line. They'll dry nicely and not be sitting indoors getting fusty. A towel should easily be able to last a week's use this way.

Unless people are working a job which is filthy, it's quite likely that working clothes don't need washing on a daily basis. Get in the habit of changing as soon as you get home, hang clothing up to air for a few hours, and then decide whether it really does need washing, or can do another day or so, perhaps with a bit of spot-cleaning if necessary.

The laundry you don't have to do is the laundry you don't have to organise, and it saves wear and tear on the clothing/ linens themselves, the washing machine, your water and leccy bill and the environment.

cowboymum

We are in the habit of putting a load in early in the morning and hanging it either outside or on a heated airer to dry. After putting the load in, I then fold up and put away yesterday's washing (unless I managed to do it the night before). Sometimes I do another quick wash in the evening if there is a lot of washing.

In this way we seem to manage to keep on top of it all. The heated airer has definitely been a god send!

suki1964

I just have to wash for two of us, and that's plenty enough for me

No tumble dryer and it rains daily

I put a wash on at least daily, two weekends.

I sort my washing, when I've a full load it goes on. Not unheard of for something to stay in the laundry basket for a week or two waiting

I'm fortunate that my machine does a very fast spin so clothes are not wet when coming out, more like damp so I don't worry about hanging on a clothes horse in the hall ( big halls as well). But there are always clothes drying. I'm also fortunate to have a walk in hot press, plenty of space to store bedding and towels and to hide the pile of ironing waiting it's turn

Ironing I do on Sunday's whilst catching up on the soaps and cooking dinner. I detest putting clothes away so leave his to do himself. , he's getting very good at it

Of all the household chores, ironing is the one I hated most till I got into the soap routine. Now I find it my indulgence, I no longer feel guilty about watching emmerdale or corrie

Jackieboy

suki1964 wrote: »

I just have to wash for two of us, and that's plenty enough for me

No tumble dryer and it rains daily

I put a wash on at least daily, two weekends.

I sort my washing, when I've a full load it goes on. Not unheard of for something to stay in the laundry basket for a week or two waiting

I'm fortunate that my machine does a very fast spin so clothes are not wet when coming out, more like damp so I don't worry about hanging on a clothes horse in the hall ( big halls as well). But there are always clothes drying. I'm also fortunate to have a walk in hot press, plenty of space to store bedding and towels and to hide the pile of ironing waiting it's turn

Ironing I do on Sunday's whilst catching up on the soaps and cooking dinner. I detest putting clothes away so leave his to do himself. , he's getting very good at it

Of all the household chores, ironing is the one I hated most till I got into the soap routine. Now I find it my indulgence, I no longer feel guilty about watching emmerdale or corrie

That's a minimum of 11 loads a week for 2 people!:eek:

Do you both work in dirty jobs?

[Deleted User]

I never use the washing machine unless I have a full load, there are only the two of us so it's only a couple of times a week. I don't own a tumble drier, do take advantage of nice days to dry outside particularly for towels and heavy items that take a lot of drying but mainly I use the heat generated by the boiler in the utility room to dry clothing, I have a fixed bar that goes across the room and hang things on hangers which means they usually dry overnight. Bedding I hang on the clothes horse in the lounge as we go to bed in front of the wood stove and it's dry by morning. Works for us.

pigpen

There are 11 of us..

Bedding is strippe din a morning, washed immediately and hung out to dry the second it is finished.. or I hang it over doors or a radiator.. it is usually dry and back on the beds by bed time!!

I do a load of fleece onesies every 2-3 days and they go on the airer.. they dry superquick.

Jeans and towels are washed and hung out to dry.. they come in when they are dry enough to take 5 minutes airing in the dryer or on a radiator.

undies get washed and go straight in the dryer.

woolies are washed and hung on radiators


cottony items, leggings, tshirts, etc are washed and if it is nice hung out and if it is wet are rotated between the airer and radiators.


I have 2x 12Kg washing machines and an 8Kg TD I try not to use!

I only wash when I have a full load. I do at least 4 loads most days.. somedays I do 12, others I do none (like yesterday!)

It takes seconds to loads a machine.. hanging out I delegate.. I fold because it is one of my major OCD things and noone else does it right.. ironing is a rude word (I ironed OHs shirt for his sisters wedding 5.5 years ago)..

tessasmum

Just me and three teenage girls here. Two baskets on the landing so that the washing is sorted into lights and darks straight away. When the basket is full, the load is washed. I have a lean to at the back of the house, and the laundry is hung out there on washing lines and airers, and is left there until it is dry! Brought in, and I fold all the non-ironing and it is straight into the airing cupboard. The ironing waits for the weekend tv and then gets done. Very relieved that the girls are not wearing uniforms as they are Sixth Form, so no pressure there. Towels go in with the appropriate coloured wash, and loads of bedding are done on a rota basis - I wash it and they are responsible for changing their beds! In winter, really bad weather means that the washing is dried on an airer near the wood burner, but two windows in the room are then put on the smallest opening to make sure that there is airflow in the room.