I do a load every night and probably 2 loads on saturdays and sundays.
Clothes get folded on the laundry bench as soon as they're brought in, we each have a pile. It's not often those piles often make it to their wardrobes though!
I sort... Loosely whites on there own or with lights depending on how much there is, colours, darks, dh work clothes, towels, sheets, nappies. I have one in fulltime cloth nappy and 3 others for sleeps so they get done every one-two days. Towels & sheets once a week (sometimes more or less if we are away a lot of the week), if dh isnt working away his filthy greasy stuff gets done usually twice a week. The towels and sheets etc work out to be 4-5 loads incredibly and id estimate all other washing is around 6 loads because I usually do 2 or 3 loads every other day as the baskets fill up. Wow that seems like a lot when i write it down, and we wear the same clothes until they are fairly dirty! I've only just switched in the last few months to an automatic washing machine from a twin tub. When i had the twin tub id reuse the water for all the washing twice a week doing 8-10loads but it was a fairly small machine.
Definitely fold when taking off the line (& sort if possible) or out of dryer. I agree that getting a load on at bedtime or first thing in the morning really helps
I have 1 wash everyday and don't sort the colours - everything goes in together.
Friday night when DH gets home I wash his shirts on their own and then every 2 weeks I do the sheets and towels - I do DD and the twins beds every second Wednesday (they fit in 1 was) the towels every second Thursday and our bed every second Friday.
I also fold as I take things off the line and put them away immediately so I don't have clothes piles invading the bedroom.
I stay away from the washing when DH is around, he does it but in a crazy way that seems to go on and on and on, I can't work out what his system is. Plus he generates mountains more washing than everyone else.
But when he's not here - I have a little system. School & sports uniforms all go through together once a week (Fri arvo). Rest of wash is divided into loads and I can pretty much just wash twice a week (or sometimes once) and get everything else done. Loads are dark things together, whites with anything light-coloured or fluffy (eg sometimes our kitchen towels go through with the whites), and then a wash with all the medium coloured things that aren't really dark and aren't really light. Anything that can be hung onto a coat hanger to dry is hung (we have a rack inside the house for this), and everything else is run through the dryer on the wrinkle-free light-dry setting - this means I can fold them straight away while they are still warm and nothing ever needs ironing. Light dry means they don't get crispy & you use less electricity. In winter I often hang onto a clothes horse next to the heater, they dry faster, they dont' need pegs and you can whip everything off and fold it quicker than you can out on the line. Towels are washed once a week on Wednesdays, and sheets washed on the weekends.
FWIW our electricity bills when DH is away (and I'm using the dryer) and when he's here are the same, I suspect my system is more efficient (I only ever wash full loads) and I pretty much never have to iron and so that offsets the cost of running the dryer a couple of times a week.
Our washing machine has a timer on it, and I use that quite a bit so that the washing loads finish at a time that fits in with whatever else I'm doing. I often run the dryer in the evening so I can whip the things out and fold them while the telly's on.
My putting away tip is to fold it all into sorted piles on the coffee table, then I stack them back into the laundry basket, so I can carry the basket around the house once and it's all done.
Load 1 - whites and sheets on Sunday
Load 2 - towels (this is sometimes only done fortnightly as we have a large machine)
Load 3 - midweek, gym clothes, school uniform
Load 4 - darks (weekend)
Load 5 - colours (weekend)
We have a front loader, so I tend to do loads overnight so they are ready to hang out in the morning. Or I'll set it to have finished when I get home and then hang it out (either outside or on an airer inside depending on weather or when I'll be able to collect it)
DH tries to get two days out of his business shirts, my work pants go a few days. Sometimes I'll do mixed loads if there would have been two small loads, or at the end of the weekend when we seem to have created as much washing as during the week.
We are a family of 5. I don't really have a process to do my washing. I only sort things into sheets, towels, clothes and whites. I wash one load a day usually, occasionally two, sometimes I can get away with none. My problem is folding it though. I try to fold it straight off the line, but I am often in a bit of a hurry and don't, so it all goes into the spare room, where, right now, I could lose a child the pile to fold in so huge.
I suspect if I fold straight from the dryer or off the line it will give things a better chance to get into drawers.
I didn't factor cloth nappys- that's where most if my folding time gets used up.
hope with the warmer weather we will have less washing. the winter layers are so thick.
its good to see Im not the only washing machine slave
I have just started using bags for washing. having an agitatorless machine has been hard on clothes. tangles etc.
I have found using bags helps with cutting down hanging out time
i reckon we do 3 every 2 days - about 50:50 clothes and nappies.
We don't separate colours and clothes - it just all goes in an a cold run.
The nappies of course are separate (with any soiled pants, bedding etc) and they go on a hot wash with soak function.
Life is good. And simpler!
I don't like folding it when bringing it in from the line, I chuck it all on the couch, and then fold it into baskets - all of DH's stuff, then mine, the boys, the linens, etc - that makes it easier to put away.
family of three - two adults, one kidlet
we have hampers all over the place - once they are full, it's a load of washing. some of these might get filled every couple of days (towels), some may not get filled for two weeks (i sort my work clothes in to black, white and colors - the advantage of walk in robe - i can have several hampers in there!) - we only ever wash a full load. DH will wash as many loads as are needed on any given day. i'd say we average about five to six loads a week
We have two adults and three girls, and I usually do a load a day plus an extra two or three on the weekends. Weekends are linen so that's two loads of towels and two and a half loads for sheets - the half load I will combine whites with the sheets.
Otherwise, I sort into blacks and reds which is usually a huge pile because that's school uniforms, most of DH's clothes and a lot of mine. Then there's the whites and lights (usually waits for the sheets) and then the pink pile. Yes, I have an entire load of pink clothing.
Cloth nappies I will do a rinse then wash cycle every second day.
At the moment I'm putting a load on when DH has the girls in the shower at night. Then I hang it out at night and bring it in in the morning. Its been so hot and we get very strong morning easterlies where we are so I find the washing always feels a bit crispy if its been on the line all day. Come winter I will put the load on after the kids are in bed and then hang it out in the morning.
We have two adults and three girls, and I usually do a load a day plus an extra two or three on the weekends. Weekends are linen so that's two loads of towels and two and a half loads for sheets - the half load I will combine whites with the sheets.
Otherwise, I sort into blacks and reds which is usually a huge pile because that's school uniforms, most of DH's clothes and a lot of mine. Then there's the whites and lights (usually waits for the sheets) and then the pink pile. Yes, I have an entire load of pink clothing.
Cloth nappies I will do a rinse then wash cycle every second day.
At the moment I'm putting a load on when DH has the girls in the shower at night. Then I hang it out at night and bring it in in the morning. Its been so hot and we get very strong morning easterlies where we are so I find the washing always feels a bit crispy if its been on the line all day. Come winter I will put the load on after the kids are in bed and then hang it out in the morning.
I sort folding from ironing when I'm taking it off the line. Folding I take into the lounge at night and do while the girls are showering, and then finish off when they go to bed. Put away in the morning their stuff. Nappies I fold and organise each morning in Miss A's room while she's settling down for her morning sleep
I sort the whites (usually only one load a week) and the rest go together on a cold wash. Towels and sheets are fortnightly.
I would do one load a day and more on the weekend. I reckon 9 loads a week is realistic. We have a front loader 7kg too
I tend to do all folding at one time while watching tv. It's how we did it as kids. My dad used to put baskets of washing in front of us and say 'if you want to watch tv you have to fold laundry' so it became a fun job and we just placed folded clothes on people's beds. Now I also put away but it keeps the cupboards neat.
I am going to get baskets for each person for clean washing though because some rummaging of the basket happens while I'm waiting to do the folding.
Dh and the kids would have two or three times more washing than me. It's insane how little of my own clothes I wash.
Family of 5 here. I do 2-3 loads per day. I sort into whites/very light colours, bedding, towels, darks and DH work clothes/our horse riding clothes. I am trying to train my children to hang up their towels instead of putting them on the laundry pile - I would like to change towels every three days or so, they seem to think they need a new towel every day! My folding tip is to get your DH to do it! My DH folds so well that I only iron uniforms and the odd cotton item.
Reply With Quotewhites on there own or with lights depending on how much there is, colours, darks, dh work clothes, towels, sheets, nappies. I have one in fulltime cloth nappy and 3 others for sleeps so they get done every one-two days. Towels & sheets once a week (sometimes more or less if we are away a lot of the week), if dh isnt working away his filthy greasy stuff gets done usually twice a week. The towels and sheets etc work out to be 4-5 loads incredibly and id estimate all other washing is around 6 loads because I usually do 2 or 3 loads every other day as the baskets fill up. Wow that seems like a lot when i write it down, and we wear the same clothes until they are fairly dirty! I've only just switched in the last few months to an automatic washing machine from a twin tub. When i had the twin tub id reuse the water for all the washing twice a week doing 8-10loads but it was a fairly small machine.
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