Water bill been put up and water butt now empty!

jk0

Could you get a shower fitted? I'd have thought that would make a big difference.

Siebrie

To prevent jeans from leaching: right after you buy them, put them to soak in a bucket with cold water and some vinegar. This will fix the dye. Then, hang out to dry, preferably outside, and the smell will go, too. They are now good to throw in with the dark load.
How old is your son?
Can you hang out your clothes to air, and then wear them again before you wash them?
Some really good tips on saving water can be found on Frugal Queen's blog (frugal in cornwall).

kazwookie

2 adults
Anglian water
Apporx. £350 in total bills per year.
Washing 3 loads per week ( 1 white, 1 colours, 1 what ever is left, 8 kg machine)
We use bath, shower, both daily, dish washer may be twice per week
Have dual flush toilets
We are not particular a water saving couple, we could do better.
I water the garden from the outside tap, I know could do better
We wash cars x 2 about every 4 weeks, he washes his motorbike, every time it has been out! I know could do better..................

monnagran

Cheel sweetie, I've been giving your washing problems a lot of thought, (I live a very boring life.)

I have come to the conclusion that you need a completely different mind set. Have you ever considered washing something because it's dirty and not just because it is the day to wash it?

I find it hard to believe that you can only wear a pair of jeans twice before they are too dirty to wear again, unless you are a gardener or painter/decorator.
Likewise, what on earth are you doing to your cushion covers and throws to make them so grubby that they need washing every three weeks. I could just about believe every three months if you have a hairy dog that is allowed on the furniture or if you spread them about the floor and invite friends to come and dance on them. Otherwise you are washing them because it is their week to be washed and not because they need washing.

Let this be your mantra....It only needs washing if it is DIRTY.

X

Linda32

Since I have just pegged two loads out I'll list mine.

5 Purple T shirts and 3 pairs of black trousers (work wear)
2 pairs of OH's work trouser and 5 black T shirts (work wear)
All socks and non white underwear. Plus a few coloured clothes

That is a weeks worth of work clothes and clothes worn outside of work for two adults.

Another load will be one double bed and white underwear (our bedding is cream/white) Next time I do the bedding (next week) I shall do the t towels and dish clothes.

Towels go in with the coloured at the start.

The only other load is my "best stuff" which I wash at 30 and wait until I have four or five things. So every three weeks or so.

greenbee

Monna is right cheel (this happens with alarming regularity...). You need to think about whether things are dirty, or have just been worn but are clean enough to wear again.

For the latter, I have a chair in the bedroom where worn-but-still-clean clothes are neatly folded. If I think they need airing before folding I put them on a hanger on the shower rail or curtain pole for a bit.

Like many others I put underwear in with bedding/towels (because I like that to go on a hot wash too) and split by white/light and coloured/dark. I do occasionally have a pink/red wash as I have a LOT of those colours.

If you use vinegar instead of fabric conditioner then you can wash towels in with everything else and not worry about affecting their absorbency.

Duvet covers don't need washing weekly either - in the 'old days' when I had sheets and blankets in the summer the top sheet used to go to the bottom each week and a new top sheet would be put on. So each sheet would have a week on top and a week on the bottom meaning only one sheet to wash and iron each week. Duvet covers are like washing two sheets, so take a lot of space. Remember that they have two sides, so can be turned. If they are the same both sides, find a way to work out what the difference is (poppers/buttons may be different for example) and then turn them weekly.

hopefully some of the ideas here will help.

I'm just about to take a mixed load of towels, bedding and undies out of the machine to hand out in the sunshine!

Slinky

Somebody on MSE once posted, which I find very useful, that to check if your machine is full, put your hand in and do a thumbs-up on top of the washing (not rammed obviously). If there's room to do a thumbs up, there's enough room for the machine to wash it. If you've got a lot of spare space, there's still room for other things.


We have 2 double duvet covers and a bottom sheet with a valance plus 2 pillow cases in a bedding wash. I'm fairly sure there'd be enough room for a single duvet cover and sheet instead of one of the double duvet covers. You could probably get all your bedding in the same wash if the colours aren't wildly different.

DUKE

Ring them up & talk to them about it. I did this some years ago & told them I wasn't paying any more, they actually put my payments back down again.

ariarnia

If shirts blouses and 'knickknacks' are a full load and you wash four pairs of jeans for you and two for your jelly bean im not sure what the two loads of colours are

do you come home and get changed meaning two full sets of clothes each a day because i wouldnt wash those after being worn from say after school at 4 to bedtime at 8 id just fold them and out them on a chair for the next day

Ive gotten very pragmatic since jellybean and lollipop as having two under three means not much time to fuss over what goes in what wash and everything gets done at 40 or 90

when jelly first came along id do three loads a day for me oh work and 'babied' things and i wasnt doing anything but washing and drying when i was carrying pops i just couldnt do it and was bursting into tears surrounded by damp clothes

now i do three or four a week max in a six kilo machine normally on two days to let it dry before i do more

we wear until actually dirty and change into pjs if not going out again plus workwear

everyone uses the same towels which are hung after use unless dirty then go in the hamper at the end of the week and washed when there is a load with bedding ill wash all sheets together or put pillowcases in with our normal clothes

not sure why you think bedding needs a hotter wash than pjs given you sleep in them both or maybe you wash pjs after just one night

cheel

The coloured is his uniform sock and undies my tops socks leggings ect.

When my asthma was diagnosed I was told I needed to wash bedding on 60 to kill the dust mites, hoover the bed, dampdust ect. And have do e that ever since, I will check but I don't think the advice has changed.

Yes JK0I think an electric shower would help a lot, I have spoken to the housing officer and I'm allowed to install one but have to use agreed tradesmen or something. So that means I cant ask the brother in law who is a plumber ! Bit I suppose they have these rules to save us from dangerous. DIY lol!

Yes monna there is definitely a habitual element to the way I put the same things in on the same days ect, I must look and see if it needs it instead of just doing it on automatic pilot!

Thanks everyone, plenty of food for thought here!