So can we talk laundry?

[mrscopterdoc]

How many loads a day do you do?

 

Is there any way to ever catch up???

 

I only have one child and I swear I do a load a day! My child can't wear the same p.j.'s more than once, has to change clothes to go to church and co-op, and then the towels, and sheets, and so on. And we won't even mention sports!

 

Those with bigger families, do you have a system you can share?

[other than limiting my child, but try doing that to a teenage girl!:)]

 

TIA

[hana]

Are you open to having her wash her own clothes? When my older daughters turned 10, they each had one laundry day a week to wash their own clothes.

[Sue G in PA]

It's a MUST around here. I train them young so that they can do their own. That way, they can change clothes as often as they want (and my ds's do that more than my dd does!)! It's their responsibility to wash them. You don't have clean clothes? Oh well...not my responsiblity. Each child/pair of children has their own laundry day. My ds8 and ds9 share a room and their day is Tuesday. Dd11 shares a room with dd2 and dd11 does their laundry on Thursday. She also does a load of towels on Friday w/ the help of ds6. Ds5 and ds6 share a room and they are responsible for carrying the pop-up hamper upstairs to "help" me do their laundry (they are training). That is Wednesday. I do mine and dh's on Monday. Do I ever get caught up? Umm...nah! Today I'm trying to do just that...catch up. Whites never seem to get washed enough. There is always a pile of clothes in the bathroom from baths, showers, etc. My problem is putting clothes away! The dc do a great job washing and drying but when it comes to folding and putting the clothes away...they are severely lacking. Typically I have 3 baskets in my room along the wall of folded clothes ready to get put away. Do they ever find their way into the proper rooms/drawers...hardly. That's just my laziness. Anyway...teach your dd to do her own laundry. If she wants to change 8 times a day and doesn't have clean clothes by weeks end...it's her fault! That simple.:D

[RoughCollie]

The last time the laundry question came up, I took some ideas from others here. Now my children each have a laundry hamper in their rooms, and they do their own laundry when the hamper is full. I wash all the towels and sheets.

 

This is good because the clothing is pre-sorted by child. They do their laundry and take the clothes back upstairs in the same basket to be put away.

 

I have noticed that DD has to do laundry more often than the boys do. How one child can go through so many clothes in a week is beyond me ... but no longer my problem.

 

Before this, I did 1-2 loads a day. Now I do a load a day, on average -- 2 towel loads, 2 for sheets, my clothes, DH's clothes.

[Chris in VA]

If she's a Black Belt, it's time for her to take responsibility for her own laundry, as service to her family.

That's my opinion!

[Renee in NC]

I don't let them change clothes so often. We use towels more than once. They wear pants more than once as long as they aren't terribly dirty. I wash 2 loads a day for 8 people.

[mrscopterdoc]

Now why didn't I ever think of that??? Her doing her own laundry????

 

Thank you so much!!!

 

Now if only I can get dh to do his....................:D

[Susan in IL]

have been doing their own laundry since they were in 7th grade. The oldest even had to tell girls in the dorm how to do laundry last year. They had no clue and he made some friends that day. :D

 

My mother stopped doing my laundry when I was a freshman in high school. She just closed the door to my room (I was a slob) so she didn't have to look at the mess or try to figure out what was clean and what was dirty.

[Chris in VA]

My hubby actually does do his own. It came about because I got ticked at him for washing my stuff and ruining it--so he decided just to do his own! Both sons learned when our new baby came--they were 8 and 10. I didn't require folding until later...they were a little wrinkly around the edges for a couple of years, LOL!

 

Dd doesn't do her own yet, but she can take it downstairs for me. Well, actually, she throws the basket over the bannister for me, and I take it the rest of the way down! And she's the opposite of her bro's--she's learning to fold before she learns to use the machine.

[Jennifer in NH]

Why did I never think of this myself? I am sitting here INSTEAD of doing laundry right now...procrastination! My dd7 and ds5(almost 6) have actually asked to do laundry!

I'm off to sort through it, and showthem how it is done! Thank you!

[Jenstet]

I am going to do the same thing with my 9 year old. A big DUH!! for me too. I think you do things so long you forget they aren't babies anymore.

Thank you for the post!!

another Jennifer in New Hampshire

[awanama]

I'm just curious but with your kids doing their own laundry, don't you end up doing a bunch of partial loads? If my ds had to do his own laundry, he'd never have a full load of darks, colors, or whites. That seems like a big waste of electricity and water. So how do you deal with this? I have been teaching my dc how to do laundry and have them help me out some with it. We just haven't moved to doing their own.

[RoughCollie]

I don't sort clothes by color any more. I've found it makes no difference at all. The boys have mostly dark-colored clothing. DD uses enough clothing in a week so that she can sort if she wants to (and she does).

[Quiver0f10]

I don't have my kids do their own laudry as it wouldn't work, but they do the family's laundry. I rotate them so they each do laundry a different day.

 

We do 4-5 loads per day, 7 days a week.

[Tracey in TX]

My kiddos began doing their own laundry a few months ago. Most people think I'm mean and lazy for expecting them to do this. Our lives are all SO much better. Otherwise, it's 3 loads or more daily.

Finally, a group of women who believe that mom does not equal indentured servitude :)

[Greta Lea]

I think it builds that family "team" work. I just tell my 13yo ds when I want him to go get a basket and gather up *all* the darks or whites. I usually have to remind him to go check and see if the washer has stopped, but I just thought this weekend that I need to have him set a timer in his room for this.

 

He also folds and hangs all his clothes. I fold and hang all of mine, dh's and also my 10yo son's clothes.

 

10yo is in charge of washing, drying and folding towels.

 

Now, *I* am still the reminder for them to do it, but they happily help if I just tell them what to do.

[Storm Bay]

My 12 yo does 3 loads a week that include both her clothes and that of my other dd. I still do a lot. Both dd's fold their own laundry, and ds, 7, folds all of his and dh's socks and briefs. My thoughts on catching up on laundry are this. Can one ever truly catch up if one changes at least some of their clothes daily;)?

[Tap]

I do all the laundry on Sunday. I have a WP Duet so the loads are pretty large. I lay it out on my bed when clean. The kids help to pass the loads through and put it all away. In fact, I clean house on Sunday, cook ahead at least one large meal with leftovers and do laundry so I don't have to do much during the week.

 

I know some people don't mind mixed colors but I do find it makes a difference to me. I can instantly tell if a white shirt got mixed into another load. I like to keep the clothes looking nice and to pretreat stains. I am particular also about our clothes and fuzz balls, so I don't like flannel or sweat material to be mixed with certain fabrics.

 

I am definitely anal about my laundry but since I only do it once a week (with help), and can sort it all at once, it isn't that big of a deal to me.