Laundry - how do you handle it? - Page 2

[georgia]

Here's another great thread, too: http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1268301/domestic-goddesses-i-need-help-with-laundry

[lucyem]

In order to stay on top of clothing I need to be running the washer almost daily.  My laundry is in the kids bathroom so when they brush their teeth and so forth I put in a load of dirty to wash, fold the dry and put away.  The next morning I run through and put the wet into the dryer.  If I do not do this it gets backed up and turns into a large pile of clothing that I do not want to deal with.  

My problem is my lack of anywhere to put my clothing.  But that's a whole other post about what to do without a closet in an old house.

[darjeelingmomma]

I can't wait until I can have a sig and don't have to keep listing my stats. 

 

I have 7 children, one on the way, 5 living at home currently. So yea, crazy amounts of laundry and some uniforms and most of my husband's work clothing goes to the cleaners so that's another errand on top of it all. I keep my laundry room extremely organized and well stocked, I'm diligent about it, otherwise I would feel really overwhelmed by it all. Clutter and I don't get along very well. I will say that I have housekeepers twice a week, so that helps. I do our laundry myself, but not worrying about other tasks on those days makes it easier and that's when I do the big stuff, like linens etc.

 

Each child has a hamper in their room and they are expected to pick up their room each night or morning (their choice), make their bed and leave their hamper outside their door before they leave for school or start their day. Obviously I guide the really little ones in this task. When everyone has gotten off to start their day I will do a quick sweep of the house and part of that is collecting the laundry, putting it into a larger hamper and getting it down to the laundry room. 

 

I settle any little one(s) that are home with me into some task in the laundry room. Helping with sorting if they are old enough but even if they are not I still call out colors and items of clothing as I sort, hoping it sinks in. I usually have 2-4 loads . We have two washers and two dryers which was the best investment ever - I wish I had done that years ago, it saves me (and my sanity) from being chained in the laundry room all day. 

 

I am back and forth most of the morning, moving loads from washer to dryer and hanging/folding/ironing. Then I sort everyone's clothing and place it into their respective cubby. I run errands in the early afternoon, so dry cleaning gets dropped off and picked up and then added to its owner's cubby. 

 

When the children get home I collect bags/papers and they collect their clothing from the laundry room and head upstairs to change before homework. Again, I help the little ones do this. 

 

After dinner I will do one final load of anything that accumulated during the day and any towels or baby stuff. 

 

The weekends are pretty much the same routine, only its a family affair, when a washer or dryer buzzes someone will run in and take care of it. 

 

Keeping on top of it, staying organized and doing it daily works in my household and keeps the overwhelming mountain o'laundry at bay.

[droolgoddess]

my husband is a carpenter(read:very dirty clothing), and i have 5 kids plus i'm raising my niece and nephew.  9 people is a lot of laundry...i do one load every morning, and before bed i do one little load of hubby's work clothes(wash then throw in the dryer before bed).  in the morning i take out his clean clothes, do one load of the day's laundry, and fold/put away right away.  we have a very VERY small house and our washer/dryer is in our extremely tiny kitchen.  there is absolutely NO room for clothing to build up.  once a month i do all of the sheets/blankets.  sorry if anyone thinks that's too long to go without washing them, but i'm realistic.  we all--kids included--bathe/shower before bed.  so unless there is an accident or unexpected illness that would require washing right away(thanks to God that this is very rare), the blankets and sheets really aren't getting too dirty.  i will add, that my kids love to help with laundry :)

[clutterwarrior]

Laundry is really like including fibre in your diet, if you don't do it, you end up with piles!

I also do a load or two every day, definitely at least every other day, but if for some reason I am having a very busy week and don't get anything washed for a couple of days, things get out of hand very quickly...  

With five of us in the family there are always a heap of clothes, towels and sheets to wash....basically it never ends....SIGH!!

[Ruthiegirl]

I am odd man out.  I really don't mind the laundry.  I mean, I shove clothes and take them out clean.  Not like I am scrubbing them by hand. 

We have less clothes than most households and that helps a lot.  I have a basket in the hallway and everyone is expected to put their dirties in the basket.  I was a load or two a day...I hang some things and dry the rest.  I fold while taking things out of the dryer and dh helps me put them away.  

Now mowing the lawn, washing the floors, and cleaning the bathrooms?  Those are the big chores that wear me out.  

[elisheva]

I have finally found a system that works for us. I will say that DH and I drastically down-sized our wardrobes and we keep this in mind when buying new clothes for the children, too (i.e. we don't over-buy). We have a two-bedroom house with only two closets (one in each br) and 3 DC (#4 on the way). 

I keep one square laundry basket on the floor in a nook in the hall (can be moved to my bedroom if people are coming over). Dirty clothes go here along with dirty kitchen rags (I go through 4-5/day as we don't use paper towels). Every morning, I take the basket to the basement - there's usually 1.5 loads there. I dump this basket into another basket on the laundry room floor and start a load. I take the load(s) from the previous day upstairs in my little square laundry basket and quickly sort/put away. We have a 4-tier shelf in the closet of the kids' room - each kid has his/her own laundry basket. I don't fold kids' clothes but I do put socks and undies in a little basket that sits next to each laundry basket on each shelf. 

It takes about 5 min to put away one basket of laundry. I do fold mine and DH's stuff and hang up stuff as needed. 

The ticket is staying on top of things. It's amazing how little you need when you know that your clothes will only spend one day in the laundry (and will then be back in your drawer/closet).

[chel]

i agree with the pp, limiting clothes is the best way to prevent piles.  if there is a pile that means we are naked!  i probably do laundry at least every other day.  i do minimal sorting.  dh's dress clothes from work go in one load at the end of the week.

[skreader]

We are 2 teens and 2 adults. We have a hamper in one of the bathrooms and a bucket in a cabinet in the kitchen. Everyone puts their clothes in either location when they are dirty.

We have a 6 kg washer and usually do 1 or two small loads a day. We will run a load in the evening and hang it up in the morning. Someone (usually me or DH) brings it down in the evening (usually after supper) and then everyone folds their own clothes. That means I end up folding the napkins and towels ;)

The kids' school uniforms do not require ironing; DH and I are both office workers, so many of our work clothes can be worn again after airing before needing to be washed. If it's too rainy or foggy for drying sheets and quilt covers, we can send those out to be washed.