Radical laundry reduction

Churchmouse

kunekune wrote: »

I have pj bottoms that I put on first thing in the morning so that I'm decent while on MSE -

Just thought I should tell you, we can't see you when you're on MSE, so you could save on these:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: ( I do know what you mean really:D but couldn't resist)

HelenKA_2

You get the net bags in Lakeland. You can get them elsewhere but I've had several cheapie ones and the lakeland ones I've only just replaced......after 13 years!

iceicebaby

Well theres just me and each week i do

1 load bedding (its white so I add my few whites to this too)
1 load towels/tea towels
1 load darks (navy blue, black and browns)
1 load colours (everything else)

I wear trousers/jeans twice, tops that are next to skin once and try to make jumpers/cardis worn over tops be worn twice. pyjamas once as they are next to bum lol (but then if OH is staying over I dont wear any ) and underwear and socks changed daily.

bedding is changed daily and I use 3 towels and 3 tea towels a week

belfastgirl23

I'm always so impressed by how industrious people are

I tend to adopt the old school uniform approach and get changed when I get in, esp changing trousers for old fleecy ones so that my work ones will do 2-3 days. Undies are changed daily as are tops since I tend to keep the same one on when I get home. Skirts frankly hardly ever get washed unless I spill something on them but I don't wear them too often anyway.

As for bedclothes and towels I don't have a set routine. DH and I each have our own towel which gets aired after use so I might get around to washing them after a week but probably realistically more like after a couple of weeks. Sheets get changed when I feel like it. I'm trying to be more eco friendly so both are more likely to be changed on a sunny day when I can get them out to dry. I'm always amazed that some people wash towels after every use, after all you should be clean when you use them. And since I like big towels that would add up to a heck of a lot of washing!

So I guess between the two of us it's probably around 4-5 loads a week depending on if we're hitting the gym regularly or not...

jinny

rozza216 wrote: »

austin,

my mum never had a washing machine. she used your method of washing in the sink everyday. she would soak the clothes then scrub them with a green fairy washing soap!

It was part of her os daily rountine!

I remember my granny doing this when we were kids, she used to hand wash most things as we took em of, school uniforms ect. I still wash my smalls every night in the washbasin, ring em out, roll them in a towel, and hang in airing cuboard to dry for the next day. I forgot about green soap, she used to wash her face with it too then rub on a bit olive oil, and she had the loveliest skin. Can you still get green soap? I may start doing a bit more handwashing, tops for work ect.

ceridwen

Yep - green soap still available. Not an easy one probably - but I saw it the other day in Kwiksave.

scuzz

Interesting to see what everyone does.

When I (eventually) get in my flat, I certainly won't be like my mother, who's obsessed with washing. She even takes clean things out of wardrobes and washes them:mad: And yet other things like T-shirts, she lets mount up and up, where I change them. I get to the point where I've run out before she washes them.

Before anyone says anything, I would quite happily do my own washing as I did when I lived with Dad, but after he died and I had to move in with my mother, she thinks I'm still six, and won't let me near anything. It drives me mad!!!

pigpen

iceicebaby wrote: »

pyjamas once as they are next to bum lol

See.. I KNEW it wasn't just me!!

mary43

originally posted by belfastgirl23
I tend to adopt the old school uniform approach and get changed when I get in,

I do that myself. IfI'm just sitting around the house or actually doing housework :rotfl:itdoesn't matter what I'm wearing but to go out (unless I'm just nipping to post office and back) I'll change ,,,,,,,,,,,jeans go on, different jumper etc. Back home its my old track suit bottoms or a long skirt.
Certainly helps keep the washing down

Austin_Allegro

MATH wrote: »

: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:

Hehe the revolving tablecloth is true; the silk lined sleeping sack is a little extreme even for me and was just an idea for people who were living on boats or something.

I agree that when you think about it, a towel washed once a week has probably got a lot of dead skin on it, but I don't really think that's a problem - most mattresses, pillows, duvets etc are full of dead skin flakes. The problem is when you get bacteria forming, which isn't really likely on towels since the skin is clean when you dry yourself.

I think that if something doesn't smell or doesn't show the dirt, then it's not 'dirty' in any real sense, so I don't wash trousers or jumpers very often - but I do have quite a few, so nothing ever gets worn much anyway. If people are paranoid about 'hidden' dirt, I'd ask them if they would be willing to wear all white clothes and have all white carpets, curtains and bedding, so that they would always know if something was 'dirty'!

However, nobody's told me I smell, in fact since I started cycling to work, I insisted to a colleague that if I ever smelled in the office, she was to let me know, and she hasn't in two years, so hopefully I'm ok!