Radical laundry reduction

HelenKA_2

V interesting reading....how sad I've become!!

I wash

towels once a week Saturday
each set of sheets once a week or there abouts (5 sets), full load made up with whites
PJ's once a week or more if needs be (girls and I all wear underwear), always in sheets wash
Coloureds x2 or 3 (school/brownie uniform Friday eve to hang out on Sat)

In all about 5-6 loads a week, 4 girls and 2 adullts in the house.

Girls all change immediately after school, uniform usually lasts 2-3 days, same with mufti.

I wear tops couple of days, trousers that 'knee' the same. Jeans type 3 or 4 days. Favour fleeces for everyone over knit wear since they dry so quickly.

DH clean shirt every day but trousers last 4 or 5 days.

My WM broke nearly 3 yrs ago (after 3 lots of nappies though so it didn't owe us!) and we had good insurance so could pay a bit extra and up grade. I got a 7.5kg which really reduced the number of washes a week, before that I was washing 10 loads a week, and that was with 2 of them still in cot beds.

kunekune

The leaky one needs new pjs every day. He wears a pullup under them but as someone else commented, it is often peed out. The fashion queen prefers to sleep nakey, not even knickers. That saves on washing, but unfortunately she also changes her 'look' several times a day (she's 6). I am training her to put clothes back in the drawer if not dirty.

My own washing savings are that I get two days out of trousers if I'm wearing them at home. Work ones only do one day. Jumpers go several days unless I get food on them. I don't wear pjs unless it is very cold. I just go to bed in the t-shirt and knickers I've been wearing through the day. Or just knickers sometimes. I have pj bottoms that I put on first thing in the morning so that I'm decent while on MSE - they do 3 days often as they are only worn for a couple of hours or less on a work day.

I don't change the sheets as often as I ought.

MATH

:rotfl:I never know whether you are yanking my chain or not Allegro:rotfl:With your revolving tablecloth and silk lined sleeping sack:eek:

Oh how I wish I could reduce my laundry but with three kidz, one of whom thinks he is Ronaldo (and we live opposite a muddy field!!) and the other two with sports, am-dram stuff and choir robes. I agree Kidz get worse as they hit the teenage year and their clothes are so big! I also work with disabled children and often need to change mid-day and then again when I get home so I fear I shall forever have a aura of Dreft about me!!

My commercial grade 10kg machine does 3-4 loads a day 365 days a year (yup even Christmas Day):rolleyes:

ceridwen

...and of course - dont wear anything to bed. Every little bit helps (of saved washing that is).

I'm in the clean knickers daily - but other stuff gets washed whenever its dirty (which rarely means after only one or two wears). Towels - cant quite figure out why it would be necessary to change them more than once a week (just how dirty are they going to get - when all they are ever used for is drying myself after daily shower and drying hands after I've washed them?)

When you're on a watermeter (as I am) you certainly dont want to wash perfectly clean stuff unnecessarily.

(edited: cant answer for what state childrens clothes get in - as I recall mine stayed pretty clean even as a child. I dread to think what my mothers reaction would have been otherwise! - she must have thanked her lucky stars (well I hope she did!) that my definition of childhood consisted of sticking my head in a book/watching tv or going for pretty sedate walks).

Pipkin

There are 4 of us.. 2 teenagers, 2 adults.. I could do 3 loads a day and the washing basket would still be full up!

Sometimes school uniform is good enough to be worn 2 days running, but only occasionally and thats about it.

We must be a very dirty family.:D

taplady

I try and stick at 1 load a day - there are the equivalent of 3 adults here and my eldest son comes home at weekends with a bagload - 2 washes worth.
The 1 load a day is clothes and towells, the bedding is changed weekly and is extra. i have made a conscious effort to cut down on my laundry, my DS2 is nearly 16 and I have to drag his jeans off him for a wash but he does change tops daily. DH is quite good as he has 3 sets of clothes a week - 1 for work(changes the top about twice a week), 1 for up the garden and pigeon loft and 1 for going out shopping etc. They all go in the wash once a week mostly. i try and wear my jeans for 2 to 3 days - but have a clean t shirt. Jumpers are ususally washed as needed.
I have also cut down drastically what i iron - mainly DS2s school shirts and DS1s work shirts. Anything else is hung up straight from the machine and folded before going in the airing cupboard. I dont use a TD either, just hang it outside or from the picture rails upstairs or on the airer.

soon2bjobless

Interesting thread!

Me - clean knickers, nightie and socks every day, clean work clothes every day for 2 1/2 days (work part-time) and then tend to slop about in the same things for a couple of days...

Dh - tends to wear stuff until i forcibly remove it!

Our bedding changed fortnightly

DD - really bad excema so clean clothes every day and bedding changed every second day

Towels - i try and get 3 days out of each one

My own little foible is I wash my pillowcases in Bold lavender (cant wash anything else as dd has allergies) and I have a clean lovely smelling pillowcase every night!!

I wont put the machine on unless I have a full load - wash everything at 30 degrees (the bedding I add tea tree oil in the rinse as it kills dust mites) and only use 2 dessert spoons of washing powder, 1/2 cap of fabric conditioner in my work clothes and vinegar for my towels.

pigpen

ceridwen wrote: »

Towels - cant quite figure out why it would be necessary to change them more than once a week (just how dirty are they going to get - when all they are ever used for is drying myself after daily shower and drying hands after I've washed them?)

We use towels once.. I'll dry 2 or 3 children on one towel but mine are used once and washed.

We have 1 towel in the bathroom for hand drying after the loo too.

That's 2 towels for me.. 1 for hubby and 2 or 3 each day depending on which children have been washed.. has been known to be 6 though!!!

They have dead skin on them.. all that manky dead scuffy skin that the crispy towels scrub off (I like crispy towels) If it was there all week how much rotting carcass would be on them by Friday???

Makes me feel a bit sick just thinking about it!!

in a week I do..

3 or 4 loads of whites (mainly school shirts)
1 load yellow
1 load green
2 loads red
2 or 3 loads of pink (I have lots of girls)
3 or 4 loads grey (mainly school uniform)
4 or 5 loads blue (mainly towels and jeans)
8 loads black (school uniforms and my stuff)

On top of that I have 4 or 5 loads of bedding.. sometimes more!

Sola

Little_Miss_Saver wrote: »

Its interesting to see how much washing other people do, I don't do much washing compared to some of you though

Its just me & DS and I do the following loads each week, they are all done at 30 degrees except for whites which are done a 40 degrees.

1 x Whites
2-3 x Darks
1 x Towels
1 x Sheets

This is exactly what we do.

Spendless

We got our laundry up to date over the w/end. :T In the laundry basket at the min is my trousers and jumper, ds' top, dd's trousers plus underwear. Not putting load on yet cos want to add dh clothes when he goes to bed. There are also 2 white shirts of dh that need re-doing on a boil wash, but they can possibly wait till I have more of a white load.

DH has a pile of his socks to sort out and match up, but I've done everything else and all mis-matched socks are being thrown.

I went looking for one of those large net washing bags that you used to be able to get, thinking I'd start washing socks in that, to stop strays but I couldn't find one. Anyone know where I'd get one from? I used to have one years ago, back in the days when i didn't need one as I lived alone, no idea what happened to it.