The secret to staying on top of laundry:) - Page 2

[SugarAndSun]

We have a load a day too! It's nuts. DC get wet and dirty all the time and DH and I work out so it seems we always have dirty stuff.

I turn each load on as it is full. I also have a family closet so I just put the clean clothes in the closet and can then put them all away (walk-in closet). Once in a while they will build up in the closet, but usually I put them away a load at a time.

I never watch TV and would go nuts if I had laundry in the living room. I hate leaving clean laundry around because dirty laundry always seems to get mixed with.

[oneKnight]

Originally Posted by erynw

But what I REALLY want to know is why does it feel like there is AT LEAST one load of laundry to do every.single.day??? We are only three people. And my dh and I wear things more than once. Ugh.

I can't immagine this. DH and I do 2 loads of laundry per week. When we had a front loader we crammed it all in one load.

For me, when I stay at home I wear the same thing most of the week. We both have some "lounge pants" that we change into at home and we usually wear them a few hours a day all week long. DH wears 2 pairs of jeans to work all week with a fresh shirt every day. I did the same thing when I worked too, 2 pairs of jeans and fresh shirts. We use the same towels all week because we're always clean when we use them. Just make sure they hang up and dry between uses.

I hang all the clothes to line dry. I hate matching the socks, so sometimes in nice weather I match them as I take them down from the clothesline. It forces me to actually DO it, then all I have left is sorting underwear and putting it up. I hang shirts on hangers straight out of the washer, then they go straight from the line to the closet. Pants are easy to hang up so I don't mind doing them.

[bntamin]

I also used to, until very recently, have 3-5 loads of laundry in a big pile in my bedroom. I just never wanted to touch it because it made me so depressed and was such drudge work. After promising myself I'd give flylady a serious, persistent try, I considered the laundry pile a "hotspot" and set the timer and worked on it for five minutes every day.

I've been laundry-pile-free for a month! I do a load every day, even if it's a small one, unless I know for sure I don't have time to wash, dry, and fold that same day. I try to fold the clothes right out of the dryer, do it while we watch tv or the girls are playing around me, and put everything away as soon as I'm done.

With baby #3 on the way, it is just so empowering and relieving to know that I have the laundry (and a lot of the housework) under control and can hopefully keep it that way!

[mommaof5]

Laundry for me has to be a family event. :
My kids throw all the clothes down from the upstairs to the downstairs and sort into darks, lights, whites, towels, everyday. I wash 2 loads a day. I hang right out of the dryer. Everything is hung except for DS clothes, and pajamas, underwear and socks. Each child has a bucket with their name on it. I have a shelf that all the buckets sit on. I throw their stuff that is not hung up in their basket but I do not fold them. Sock, underwear and Pajamas don't need folding. The kids have to empty their baskets once a week. I tell them to fold their pajamas but I don't really care if they wear wrinkled clothes to bed. I bought 10.00 hanging rack from the container store that attaches onto their closet hanging bar so that they can reach their hanging clothes. So even my 4 year old takes their clothes on hangers from the laundry room to their closet and hangs them up.
It is my 14 year olds job to put her hanging clothes and mine and my dh's into our closets. Oh and I also don't turn anything right side out. How ever it comes out of the dryer is how I hang it. I figure the kids can turn it on their own. Not turning things really makes it all go faster...try it!

[traceface]

Originally Posted by oneKnight

I can't immagine this. DH and I do 2 loads of laundry per week. When we had a front loader we crammed it all in one load.

For me, when I stay at home I wear the same thing most of the week. We both have some "lounge pants" that we change into at home and we usually wear them a few hours a day all week long. DH wears 2 pairs of jeans to work all week with a fresh shirt every day. I did the same thing when I worked too, 2 pairs of jeans and fresh shirts. We use the same towels all week because we're always clean when we use them.

Have to say, when you have baby or small children, it's a bit different.

Right now with my 9 mo old I am having to change my shirt like 3 times a day. He's drooly, he has a runny nose which I wipe constantly, but still, I don't look fresh after a couple hours.

I try to be mindful of not creating unneccessary laundry, my kids re-wear their pajamas, for ex. But still, I have a load's worth every day or 2.

[bobandjess99]

We have easily 1-2 loads per day...how do some of you guys do it, seriously?

basically, per week, we have a bare minimum of 2 loads of diapers, 1 load of dd, 1 load of ds, 1 load of me, 2 loads for dh, 1 load of towels, and then there always seems to be a few more loads that sneak in...sheets, blankies, an extra load of dipes, or dd's clothes (we're in potty accident hell half the time) random stuff like kitchen towels and cleaning rags, etc...so generally, at LEAST 10 loads per week.....

[OakBerry]

I do laundry twice a week, about 2-3 loads on each of those days.
It's just three of us, but I change hand towels every day, and my kitchen towels often too. (I am doing chemo so I do that for infection control) I use reusable microfiber cloths to clean with, and they add up too.
And I am allergic to dustmites, so I wash all my bedding every 2 weeks in hot water.

I am the type that doesn't start laundry unless I will finish it that day. We have a damp basement so it mildews fast. My bed is my folding station. I like my bed clear so I always do the folding and putting away.
I grew up with a laundry couch as well, and I hated it!
So I usually throw in a couple of loads during the day, and I always make sure they are up and folded before bedtime.

I also wash ds's clothes separately. I have a hamper in his room and when it's full, I do a load for him. It's easier to sort and put away because I know it's all his and the socks don't get mixed up.

[Dahlia]

Wow this is the thread for me. I feel like I've entered a support group of some kind. Laundry (and clutter) but especially laundry is one of my largest problems in the house. I hate doing it and I am never caught up. The thing is my Mom will come and visit and within 2 days she'll have my laundry room emptied out and all our drawers full of neatly folded clean clothes. Within a week after we're back to laundry nightmare again. I feel so lost sometimes drowning in the laundry.
Anyhow now I know I'm not alone...so thank you all for that

[Cardinal]

I can't see my love seat right now because so much laundry is on there. *sigh*

[minta]

I do laundry once a week, period. No matter how much I have to wash. I do it on Saturdays when DH is home to help with the kids (3 under 4) and just go go go until it's all done. We have multiple laundry baskets that I just heap all the clean clothes into and then they go in our living room on "the bench". DH bought me this gorgeous French provincial wrought iron bench that is exquisite to look at but totally uncomfortable to sit on even with cushions (scrolly back etc...) so that is where the baskets go. Then we fold everything while we're watching TV Sunday night. And then I can admire my pretty but otherwise useless bench for another week.

[lightheart]

I guess this is the same idea as buying all the same type of socks for each person. Our 4 and 6 yr old wear very close in size underware and unless you look at the tags you can never tell whose is whose and some of the tags are worn so you can't read them or taken off... was a real pain to seperate them. My solution was this time when I bought new underware for my 6 yr old I bought only Batman, I let him pick out the character. I went through all the small size underware for little guy and got rid of all the smaller size batmans now I can easily tell whose underware is whose, if they are batman they go in the big guys drawer, any other character they go in the little guys. Next time we buy the next size up underware it will be a different character and I'll go through the little underware getting rid of that character.

For socks when I line dry I hang them up side by side in pairs so taking them down they are already matched.

[Lohagrace]

I had an epiphany about folding and now i actually don't fold very much. the only things i fold are pants and some shirts of mine and dh. if its really prone to wrinkles, i just hang it.

kids clothes--i mean i really dont care if they have some wrinkles and they actually dont get that wrinkled in their drawers. i throw dd's clothes in one pile, ds' in another, and they just cram them in their drawers. i sure as heck dont fold diapers--they get thrown on the shelf.

i dont fold towels or sheets, i put them in the closet unfolded.
i dont fold a lot of my clothes--like t shirts, underwear, etc. i mean, the t shirts dont get that wrinkled and i dont really care if they are.

we dont use paper towels, only reusable cloth rags, and i have to wash like 10 of these a day, and i dont fold them when i put them away either. they are just going to get pulled out and used to clean something up, so who cares if they are folded?

this wouldnt work for the kind of person who cant handle opening their linen closet and just seeing wadded balls of sheets instead of nicely folded squares that are all symmetrical but i seriously dont care and cant spend my life folding things that no one but me and dh will see being a bit wrinkled.

[JenniferH]

My biggest goal after I finish with school this semester is to sort through all my clothes and donate, donate, donate! I've decided to cut my wardrobe down to work and casual basics, and I can't buy something new unless I yard sale it away or donate it.

I have piles of clean clothes I don't wear that much, so I figured if I donate them I don't have to store them....and probably won't miss them that much. That would greatly cut down on the number of clean clothes I have lying around in the house.

Plus, I don't know what sort of living situation I'll be in next year when I move, so I have to prepare to be in a 2 BR apartment for at least a while. I live in a 3 BR house with walk-in closets now. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to manage that scale down!

[momma4fun]

1) DH does ALL his own laundry to completion, nothing below is about him

2) Me and the kids don't own anything that has to be ironed

3) My two youngest have 3 sets of the same winter uniform: tights (no socks to match!), sweatpants, a turtle neck, an over dress (short sleeve) and a sweater. That's it, all their summer clothes are put away, and everything is so comfy that they sleep in it too, so no pj's.

4) My oldest daughter is out of control, there is no end in site.

5) I don't fold anything, ever. I don't hang anything up, ever. Everyone's clothes get thrown into their basket in the family closet. We just live out of the baskets.

6) So yeah, we have the comfy, pajama-y look going on.

7) I still can't say that any of this actually works. There are clothes everywhere, all the time.

[mamakay]

5) I don't fold anything, ever. I don't hang anything up, ever. Everyone's clothes get thrown into their basket in the family closet. We just live out of the baskets.

I like the sound of that!