Uniforms for Kids/Laundry Situation

[Carolinagirl1]

I am overwhelmed with laundry (and I only have 2 kids). It's not that there is too much, but it is just another obligation on top of many others. My girls know how to do their own and put it away, but it is just a struggle to get them to actually do it. So, I am seriously considering homeschool uniforms. Maybe just short sleeve navy blue dresses to be worn with sandals during the warm seasons and with tights and sweaters when it is cold. Of course, I would have a couple of extra play outfits and a few dresses for church, but I feel like this would really lighten my load, especially as far as sorting and putting clothes away. I just think - one load of navy blue dresses (plus a load of white tights during the winter) - aah, the simplicity! Anyone else tried this?

[regentrude]

Why would switching to a different kind of clothing for everyday use reduce the laundry?

 

And how  is one load of navy blue dresses different from "one load of mixed color shirts and pants"?

If anything, having school clothes in addition to play clothes would cause kids to wear several outfits a day and exacerbate the problem.

 

 

[YaelAldrich]

I have a friend who did this.  She said it saved her laundry headaches.

[Occasionally]

Have they experienced what happens when they don't do their laundry and put it away?

 

Frankly,  the same sort of dresses or clothes for each kid would be a turn-off for me, because then you have you look at every label to see whose dress/shirt/whatever it is. I know. My mother likes to buy all three of my boys the same shirts, just in three different sizes.

[aggieamy]

I make sure I buy super easy to wash outfits for both kids (and DH and myself also because we work from home).  Everything can get washed together mostly.  I do laundry everyday and I find that makes it less overwhelming. I didn't get a chance to do any yesterday and am feeling overwhelmed with laundry today.  Are you trying to do it all at one time?

[rebbyribs]

I stopped sorting laundry last year.  Clothing all gets washed together in cold water.  No problems so far!

[Carolinagirl1]

Right now I am sorting multiple colors into multiple piles and washing multiple loads - lights, darks, pinks that might bleed onto whites but not dark enough for darks. Then having to fold certain pieces, hang certain pieces - different hangers for different items, etc. I would have just a few minimal play clothes for occasions and would not be allowing for multiple outfits a day. This is why I think it would be simpler.

 

This is our first year homeschooling after they went to private school. We did have uniforms for private school and when they came home, they stayed in their uniforms until bedtime. It really was much easier having less to sort through. At the beginning of our homeschool year, they would sometimes wear their old uniform because they missed it. I was looking forward to no uniforms but the mish mosh of clothing variety in the dirty clothes basket to have to contend with on top of other stressors right now is causing me to evaluate anything that could be done more simply.

[LucyStoner]

Just have fewer clothes. The clothes don't need to match each other or be the same each day. Each child gets a laundry basket. As clothes come out of the dryer, they go into that child's basket. Then that child takes and puts them away. I have their drawers labelled. They can fold them or not. If it is their nicer clothes that need to be folded I put them into the basiket folded. I used to have my older son fold them all but decided that rarely does it even matter if their clothes have been folded. This works well for my 5 and 10 year old. I wouldn't have them wear a uniform. I don't sort to wash except for a few things. The kids clothes can all be washed together.

[Arcadia]

 My girls know how to do their own and put it away, but it is just a struggle to get them to actually do it.

 

My kids clothes are so little that we just use one big laundry basket for everybody's dirty laundry. We dump the entire basket into the washer when there is enough for a full load.   My kids take turns using the bathroom sink to brush their teeth so whoever is not the one brushing puts their clean laundry away.  It takes them about 5 mins to put a weeks worth of their laundry away in their wardrobe.

My hubby has problem sorting their clothes and he likes to sort clothes while taking them out of the dryer.  I end up buying tops in my boys' favorite color so my hubby just need to do color sorting.   For jeans, hubby has to look at the tag for the size to sort.

I had blue pinafores  and white blouses for school uniforms from 1st grade to 10th grade.  My mother got me 5 sets of school uniforms and 3 pairs of all white school shoes to make her life easier.  She was working as a nurse so she would just iron all my uniforms for the week and put them on hangers for me.  I just need to grab a set every morning and get changed for school. I just change to t-shirts and shorts/jeans when I get home.

[jenn-]

Your post doesn't indicate the ages of your children.  All 4 of my kids are responsible for washing their own clothing.  The result of not calling for the washing machine on the day they put on their last xyz item is having to wear dirty clothes while their laundry runs.  They all wear clothing that can be washed together so there is no separating colors for them.

[Carolinagirl1]

 Are you trying to do it all at one time?

 

No, actually, I have been doing one person's clothing per day, so Monday is the day for my clothing, Tuesday is my older daughter, Wednesday is my younger daughter. My husband does his own. This cuts down on having to look at labels and trying to figure out whose room each item goes to. However, it does not cut down on the sorting. I am still doing 2-3 loads per day.

[regentrude]

No, actually, I have been doing one person's clothing per day, so Monday is the day for my clothing, Tuesday is my older daughter, Wednesday is my younger daughter. My husband does his own. This cuts down on having to look at labels and trying to figure out whose room each item goes to. However, it does not cut down on the sorting. I am still doing 2-3 loads per day.

 

For one single person??? What a waste on water and electricity and time!

 

If you collected the clothes for the entire family for the entire week you'd have maybe  ONE load of darkds, ONE load of whites, ONE load of red if you must (Towels and sheets in addition.)

Put the kids to work sorting the clothes - mine have to harvest their own from the clothes line, the rest is mine and DH's.

[PrairieSong]

Just have fewer clothes. The clothes don't need to match each other or be the same each day.

I read this comment a lot on forums but I don't get it. How does having fewer clothes =less laundry? You're still wearing clothes every day, which would generate the same amount of laundry. If the advice were, try to wear clothes twice if possible, then I would understand. But just owning fewer clothes would not, by itself, mean less laundry.

[Occasionally]

Right now I am sorting multiple colors into multiple piles and washing multiple loads - lights, darks, pinks that might bleed onto whites but not dark enough for darks. Then having to fold certain pieces, hang certain pieces - different hangers for different items, etc.

 

Well, there's your problem :) I think different people have fundamentally different views of laundry. I don't sort. They're kid clothes, they get torn up, worn out, used up before any potential dinginess is an issue. If the clothes last long enough, I don't care about sorting anyway. Everything except for a very few items gets thrown in the dryer, I put the big basket of clean and dry clothes out, the kids sort into their own baskets and put away. Folded or not, as they choose. I do one load of kid clothes every other night. That's it. All four kids.

 

What do I care about? That they have clean clothes to wear. Are they model perfect? Heck no. Do I care? Heck no.

 

ETA: I will wash new red items alone with a white rag before allowing them to join the rest of the regular laundry, just to make sure they don't bleed. Items that bleed are often relegated to the back of the closet if possible.

[T'smom]

I don't sort by color. Everyone has their own laundry basket and their stuff all gets washed together. Once in awhile with something very dark and brand new I will wash it separately. But everything else goes together and is washed in cold water. (I do towels together in hot). I feel like this saves time because out of each load, I only have to go to one place to put it away. And actually, to cut down on that, I recently labeled the kids drawers and make them put their own stuff away. They are 6 and 3.

[Cosmos]

For one single person??? What a waste on water and electricity and time!

 

If you collected the clothes for the entire family for the entire week you'd have maybe  ONE load of darkds, ONE load of whites, ONE load of red if you must (Towels and sheets in addition.)

Put the kids to work sorting the clothes - mine have to harvest their own from the clothes line, the rest is mine and DH's.

 

I agree. I think you'd have a much easier time doing the laundry all together, even if sorting it adds a bit of time.

 

I only have one child, and still I found doing the laundry a bit of a chore, so I understand the OP. What I found helped me was setting a day for each type of thing. I do sheets on Monday, towels on Tuesday, whites on Wednesday, and then colors on Thursday and Friday. If is isn't the day for whites, I don't even think about whites. It's very easy to keep up.
 

[Carolinagirl1]

For one single person??? What a waste on water and electricity and time!

 

If you collected the clothes for the entire family for the entire week you'd have maybe  ONE load of darkds, ONE load of whites, ONE load of red if you must (Towels and sheets in addition.)

Put the kids to work sorting the clothes - mine have to harvest their own from the clothes line, the rest is mine and DH's.

 

Yes, I know, it seems crazy. I was washing all of our darks, lights, etc together but I was so tired of sorting each person's items and it became easier to just wash clothes for one person and take it straight back to their room for them to fold and put away. Honestly, I havent noticed a huge jump in our bills. I do like the idea of the kids sorting the clothes, but it would require me to tell them 100 times to get it done, which is tiring in itself, and is probably another issue altogether.

[Julie Smith]

Laundry here is easy.

Everything gets washed together. We have three sizes of clothes, mine, my husbands, and boys. The boys don't have different clothes that I know about. They know which shorts fit them and which don't. They figure it out themselves when they are looking for what to wear. (eldest does have his own socks, brown long and fuzzy and youngest has short and tight ankle socks)

They put away the boys clothes in the dresser in whatever way they want. I don't look in it. (I have a feeling they don't organize it in anyway other then put the clean clothes in whichever draw has the most space.

My boys do sort of have a uniform. But only because eldest only likes solid gray t-shirts with black atheltic shorts with pockets.

[vonfirmath]

I wash all my son's stuff together and all my daughter's stuff together. The only stuff that gets sorted is DH and mine -- and that because I need some easy way to separate it into two loads.

 

[PrairieSong]

No, actually, I have been doing one person's clothing per day, so Monday is the day for my clothing, Tuesday is my older daughter, Wednesday is my younger daughter. My husband does his own. This cuts down on having to look at labels and trying to figure out whose room each item goes to. However, it does not cut down on the sorting. I am still doing 2-3 loads per day.

I agree with Regentrude. That seems like a lot of laundry. Your family really does 8-12 loads per week for four people? Not including towels and sheets? It seems like you are making more work for yourself. I would launder everything together and then have your girls separate out their clothes and put them away. Maybe they can even sort laundry before and transfer it from the washer to the dryer, or hang it in the clothesline if you do that. I'm assuming they are old enough to do this. I don't think you mentioned their ages. Even very young kids can separate by color or match socks.

[Carolinagirl1]

So for those of you who don't sort, do your darks not make your lights dingy?

[PrairieSong]

Yes, I know, it seems crazy. I was washing all of our darks, lights, etc together but I was so tired of sorting each person's items and it became easier to just wash clothes for one person and take it straight back to their room for them to fold and put away. Honestly, I havent noticed a huge jump in our bills. I do like the idea of the kids sorting the clothes, but it would require me to tell them 100 times to get it done, which is tiring in itself, and is probably another issue altogether.

How old are your kids?

[Wilma]

What if you just for a trial run, put all of one person's clothing into one load? It probably wouldn't matter a bit! And think of the freedom you'd experience!

I wash by rooms - mine + his, Kid1+Kid3, and Kid2+Kid4 - and don't sort. The kids put away their own stuff (they're the only people on the planet than can tell the difference between girls size 4 undies and girls size 6 undies anyway) and I put away my stuff and his stuff. Each room has a day, and on that day the kids also do a cleanup of their area so I can vacuum. It's lovely. And if we blow it off for a week, it's okay.

[Ravin]

I only have two sorting categories:

 

things to wash on warm (white socks, underwear, towels, rags)

 

everything else, which gets washed on cold.

 

If DH's stuff is in a load, I don't put in oxyclean. i try not to include his stuff in the warm wash loads.

 

 

Diapers are washed separately out of their own pail, on hot with an extra pre-rinse.

 

Uniforms would not make any of this easier.

[Wilma]

If you're worried about dinginess, put the stuff on the clothesline every couple of go arounds, and they'll perk back up.

For me, dinginess is really really low on my totem pole of concerns.

[Pawz4me]

I've never understood the logistics of doing each family members' laundry separately.  I like to keep things simple -- When we have enough for a load of darks, I do a load of darks.  When we have enough for a load of light colors, I do those.  Etc., etc. I don't find folding and putting away clothes for four people to be much of a chore at all, but our laundry room is centrally located.  I can imagine it would be much more onerous if the washer/dryer were in the basement or some other inconvenient spot.

 

I do sort.  I don't care what anybody says, washing lights and darks together eventually means dingy lighter colored clothes.

 

(But I think you should do what works for you.  And if that's some sort of uniform, then go for it.)

[fraidycat]

The only time I sort by color is if an item is new and might run. Everybody's clothes go in laundry hampers in the bathrooms. I just grab enough to fill the washer and turn it on. Easy peasy laundry.

[Carolinagirl1]

How old are your kids?

 

They are 6 and 8. They are old enough to do it all themselves, but they just don't, which leads to me telling them 100 times, offering rewards, threatening discipline. I've tried it all. I will put their clean clothes in a basket in their room and it ends up all over the floor, mixed up with toys, as they plow through it to find what they want.

[Carolinagirl1]

Now dishes.  I'd like to do away with that task.  LOL

 

Paper plates are your friend!

[chiguirre]

So for those of you who don't sort, do your darks not make your lights dingy?

No, but I won't buy anything that looks like it will bleed or anything that can't be tossed in the dryer. I always chuck the darks in with the lights and haven't had any mishaps.

[Loowit]

My kids are responsible for sorting, washing, and putting away their own laundry.  I am the one who folds it, but only because I am a bit particular about it because I have control issues.  :blushing:

 

My youngest has been sorting laundry since he was 4.  He makes 5 piles - colors, darks, whites, delicates, and towels.  Then my DD or middle dude wash them.  When they are done I will fold/hang the clothes and the kids put it away.  It is their chore and it isn't an option.  They can complain all they want, but they still have to do it.  When the boys were little I used to make it more fun for them by letting them use their dump trucks to carry their laundry to their room.  They thought that was great fun, and the more fun you can make chores the easier it is to get them to do them.

 

I personally would not want uniforms, and I doubt it would help with laundry at least in my house.

[Kristie in Florida]

I have never in my life sorted laundry. Never. The worst thing that happens is that over time white undershirts have an almost blue color because of the jeans. By that time though it is time for new ones because they stretched too much.

My daughter and I do have a uniform of sorts though... every day is jeans or shorts and a cute tee or tshirt. Flip flops because it is Florida, or sneakers if we are doing lots of walking. We have a simple wardrobe that way.

[Χά�ων]

I only sort new clothes if I fear it might run. I use the washing machine as a hamper. Whem it is full whoever thows the last item in turns it on. When it starts making the obnoxious sound to indicate it is done I move it. DS and I work together or take turns emptying the dryer and putting everything away. The laundry is part of the closest and we share a closet because we are too lazy to walk clean clothes to the other side of the house and put them away.

DS has two types of clothes. Everyday and dress.

Everyday clothes are all event clothing that he can wear at home, to work in the garden, to skate in or to lounge in. They look decent when clean if we go out to a nice establishment and come clean on normal wash after rolling in the mud.

Dress clothes are just that. They are dry clean only and stay in the plastic until we arrive at the destination and he changes into them. The white tux shirt is never to be put on if there are plans to play on dirt hill.

[umsami]

Do your kids put clothes in the laundry after every wear? That could be part of the problem.  I'm not talking undies…but I"m talking everything else.

 

Even with boys, they can usually wear a pair of shorts for two days or maybe three.  No big deal.

 

I thought about homeschool uniforms, but never did it.  DS picks out his own clothes.  I do washing for all four kids plus myself…folding…and they put them away. I still hate it. :)

[umsami]

DP Sorry :)

[LucyStoner]

I read this comment a lot on forums but I don't get it. How does having fewer clothes =less laundry? You're still wearing clothes every day, which would generate the same amount of laundry. If the advice were, try to wear clothes twice if possible, then I would understand. But just owning fewer clothes would not, by itself, mean less laundry.

When you have a lot, the laundry pile can get to be an overwhelming mountain. You can't get to that point if you have to wash regularly. Also many people have more clothes than they have dresser and closet space for so it also is overwhelming. Barring muddy activities my pre-puberty kids probably get 3 or even 4 wears out of each pair of jeans and 2 wears out of each shirt.

[Alice]

So for those of you who don't sort, do your darks not make your lights dingy?

 

No. I do sort a bit but in general we do a dark load and a white/light load. We have a lot of pink and red items and those are fine with the other stuff, I usually wash them on their own the first wash or two and then it's fine. 

 

For a family of five we typically do laundry two-three days. Monday is usually 2 or maybe 3 loads if it's a sport season (one dark, one lighter). Thursday we do 2 loads (dark, light) and Friday is sheets and towels and anything that didn't get thrown in on Thursday. Every bedroom has a hamper, all the clothes get thrown in together and then taken downstairs and roughly sorted on the floor of the laundry room. The kids can all put their own stuff away, even the 4 year old. I fold hers and she puts it away except for dresses that have to be hung. The boys (7 and 10) get a laundry basket with their clean stuff and they do the rest. The boys also can switch the laundry, get it out of the dryer and the 10 year old knows how to start a new load (the 7 year old can't reach it). 

 

They are 6 and 8. They are old enough to do it all themselves, but they just don't, which leads to me telling them 100 times, offering rewards, threatening discipline. I've tried it all. I will put their clean clothes in a basket in their room and it ends up all over the floor, mixed up with toys, as they plow through it to find what they want.

 

I think this is the issue more than the laundry. I read somewhere that parenting boils down to "choosing the day or choosing the year". Choosing the day is "I don't feel like fighting with my kid about _________ and it's easier to just do it myself". Choosing the year is struggling with them now over ____________ to build in habits for the "year" or long-term. 

 

I don't mean to sound harsh, we all do it and have our own issues it's easier to just do ourselves or give in to. But somehow I don't think sorting or not sorting or uniforms or not-uniforms or more clothes or less clothes is really the answer. At 6 and 8 they need to do a task that you've asked them to do, maybe not perfectly or without some grumbling but they should be able to do it. That's what I would focus on. As for how....how do you get them to do anything they don't want to do? Do they have other chores? How do you get them to do school, go to bed, eat their veggies? I don't  mean that sarcastically although it's hard to convey tone online. I just mean that I'm sure you have strategies to get them to do what they need to do, I think if laundry is an issue then you may need to apply those strategies here. 

[Catwoman]

Separate the clothes into whites and colors. Period.

If you have red and pink clothing and the colors run, throw those items away. They're not worth the extra trouble.

And please don't think you're doing anyone a favor by donating the "running reds" to a thrift shop or Goodwill, because it's only going to leave the new buyer with the unfortunate surprise of a washing machine full of pink clothing.

Honestly, it sounds like you're over-complicating something that should be relatively simple and easy. If you don't like sorting the clothes when they come out of the dryer, have your kids help you while you're all watching TV or telling stories.

[solascriptura]

I have 4 kids ranging from early elementary to 3 years. I do either lights or darks and start a load as soon as there is enough to do a full load. The oldest puts the wet clothes into the dryer (receives chore money for this). As soon as there is a bit a free time, I dump the clean clothes onto my made bed and I tell them to fold and put their stuff away. This needs to get done before they can play. This usually takes 5 -10 minutes for them since there are usually only a few items for each of them. Oh, I also NEVER buy them clothes that need ironing. If they get a hand me down that does, they just wear it clean but wrinkled. I just cannot imagine being the sole person washing, drying, folding, putting away clothes for 6 people.

With most households, I think, if the individuals stay on top of the laundry and dishes, frustration is minimized. Hth.

[aggie96]

Frankly,  the same sort of dresses or clothes for each kid would be a turn-off for me, because then you have you look at every label to see whose dress/shirt/whatever it is. I know. My mother likes to buy all three of my boys the same shirts, just in three different sizes.

 

 

I like to buy my girls matching outfits, just in different sizes.  It does add the headache of reading the label for the size.  I would suggest making sure each size has it's own color that could be laundered together if you go that route.

 

I've been known to leave the kids in their pajamas all day and only change into fresh ones at night when I knew I needed a light laundry week.  

 

 

ETA:  I have a 6yo and 8yo, also.  I changed the way I sort the laundry to help me a little and help them a little.  I sort into kid pajamas/panties/socks, kid day clothes, parent pajamas/under shirts/underwear/socks, parent day clothes, all delicates.  This way as they get folded, I can have kids take each sorted pile upstairs and put away.  It has made a difference in them actually putting the clothes in the dresser, etc.  It is more manageable.  The last thing I give them is their hanging clothes so it doesn't get crammed into drawers.  If they don't manage to get the clothes put away properly, then they get to fold it all with me the next week with a reminder that if they waste my time, they have to give it back.   :)  One month of that (four laundry days only), and they got very good at putting away the clothes properly.  I only do laundry on Sunday (or Monday if I don't get to it).  I loathe laundry so doing it everyday is off limits in my world.  They also split the job of helping 4yo put away his laundry and upstairs linens.

[Laura Corin]

I do one clothes wash a day.  Each person has a laundry basket.  I go around and pick out colours most days - when the whites have built up to a load, then I'll do a whites wash.  Clean clothes get dumped on the spare room sofa and Calvin sorts them into people's rooms.  They each person puts away/stuffs into corners.

 

L

[vonfirmath]

So for those of you who don't sort, do your darks not make your lights dingy?

 

I haven't noticed a problem. No.

[Carolinagirl1]

 

I think this is the issue more than the laundry. I read somewhere that parenting boils down to "choosing the day or choosing the year". Choosing the day is "I don't feel like fighting with my kid about _________ and it's easier to just do it myself". Choosing the year is struggling with them now over ____________ to build in habits for the "year" or long-term. 

 

I don't mean to sound harsh, we all do it and have our own issues it's easier to just do ourselves or give in to. But somehow I don't think sorting or not sorting or uniforms or not-uniforms or more clothes or less clothes is really the answer. At 6 and 8 they need to do a task that you've asked them to do, maybe not perfectly or without some grumbling but they should be able to do it. That's what I would focus on. As for how....how do you get them to do anything they don't want to do? Do they have other chores? How do you get them to do school, go to bed, eat their veggies? I don't  mean that sarcastically although it's hard to convey tone online. I just mean that I'm sure you have strategies to get them to do what they need to do, I think if laundry is an issue then you may need to apply those strategies here. 

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is an issue. My kids are very diligent with completing their schoolwork and most of their chore list. However, they do like to play as children should, and along with playing comes messes, so I am constantly reminding them to pick up this, pick up that. Admittedly, I do have to constantly stay after them, which is why I feel if I can simplify one aspect of daily life such as laundry, then that is one less burden. After a day of schoolwork, lessons, and chores, they don't feel like dealing with laundry any more than I do. Our lives are far from perfect. This is our first year of homeschooling and I feel that I have a good structure but there is room for improvement. Before this year, I sent them to school (in uniforms), came back home and did the housekeeping. The house stayed clean and the laundry was simple because of the uniforms. They are at home now making messes all day and frankly, I'm exhausted after doing schoolwork and childcare and not enough self-care. I'd like to concentrate my efforts on things more important than laundry.  A basket full of clothes that don't match and have to be dealt with is an eyesore for me on top of all the other things I have to deal with. Now if you have advice on how to get the kids to do whatever you tell them to do the first time I would gladly accept that advice as this is an issue we are dealing with, especially with laundry!
 

[wendyroo]

DH and I have three hampers in our room - one labeled darks, one labeled lights and one that is for really sweaty workout clothes.

 

There are two hampers out in the upstairs hallway outside the kids' rooms - one labeled darks and one labeled lights.  Since my kids are pre-readers I labeled the dark hamper with a card onto which I glued paint samples: black, brown, grey, navy blue and red - they know everything else goes into lights.  I also have a "really dirty stuff" hamper in the laundry room for grassy, muddy, spaghetti saucy, painty, greasy clothes which have been pretreated if necessary.

 

My kids are in charge of sorting their own clothes into the two hampers...well, not the 8 month old, but I will start having him help once he is walking.  I supervise them until they are 2.5 or 3ish and then let them do it the best they can on their own.  Once in a while they egregiously mis-sort; I just fish out any really dark stuff from the light load and vice versa as I throw it in the washer - it only happens rarely.  The kids have been trained to put dirty clothes into the appropriate hamper as soon as they take it off, so there is never really an issue of nagging them to sort a big pile.

 

Each morning I glance into DH's and my hampers and grab the clothes from the fullest.  I add in the kids' clothes from the appropriate hamper (darks and lights from upstairs, really dirty stuff from the laundry room hamper added to DH's sweaty workout clothes) and throw all of that in the washer.  Each boy has a small tub sitting on my laundry room counter into which I fold their clothes.  DH's and my clothes get folded into the laundry basket in which I brought the dirty clothes down.  Every day or two the tubs and basket start to get full and the clothes gets put away - the kids put away their own jammies, but I put away their clothes for now to keep them folded.

 

Wendy

[T'smom]

I admit to being confused though. People are saying that washing a black shirt with white pants would have no affect on the white pants? I've accidentally had stuff mixed in and occasionally had problems. But I can't imagine doing this on purpose on a regular basis.

That's what I'm saying. Except we don't have any white pants. Dd does have a couple pair of white denim shorts. No problems. The first couple times something new gets washed, it gets washed with like colors. But between that and using cold water, I have very rarely had issues.

[Berta]

I do one clothes wash a day.  Each person has a laundry basket.  I go around and pick out colours most days - when the whites have built up to a load, then I'll do a whites wash.  Clean clothes get dumped on the spare room sofa and Calvin sorts them into people's rooms.  They each person puts away/stuffs into corners.

 

L

 

This is basically how we get laundry done too. First thing in the AM my younger daughter (8 yrs) empties the dryer, folds and takes the clothes to the appropriate bedroom. She will put the clothes on the bed, and it is that persons responsibility to put them away (or throw in a corner lol). I walk around and grab dark clothes from each laundry basket and maybe once a week I have enough whites to do a load. On the weekend I will wash towels, bathroom wipes and my DH's work shirts (not all together!) since those all need extra laundry attention. That's it. That is how we keep up on laundry.

 

We have homeschool uniforms.. our jammies. My younger daughter is in competition training for karate and works out 15 hrs per week at the dojo. We school in our jammies, then she gets dressed in her Gi. We do all our errands while we are out since we live pretty rural and try to limit trips. It actually seems pretty strange to see her in regular clothes lol.

[Carolinagirl1]

Ok, so after going and looking at the pile that I need to deal with, I'm thinking the idea of less clothing is good. Maybe a weeks worth. The problem seems to be if I miss a day of laundry for whatever reason, the pile becomes overwhelming because there are too many clothes and the pile just grows bigger. Maybe instead of school like uniforms I could do khaki skorts with a variety of short/long sleeve shirts that can all be washed together. This would still simplify but give a little more variety to the outfits.

[Laura Corin]

Ok, so after going and looking at the pile that I need to deal with, I'm thinking the idea of less clothing is good. Maybe a weeks worth. The problem seems to be if I miss a day of laundry for whatever reason, the pile becomes overwhelming because there are too many clothes and the pile just grows bigger. Maybe instead of school like uniforms I could do khaki skorts with a variety of short/long sleeve shirts that can all be washed together. This would still simplify but give a little more variety to the outfits.

 

Do your children wear more than one outfit a day?  And do you wash everything after one day?  For comparison, when my children were home educated, they got up and put on 'play clothes' that they wore all day.  If they got particularly dirty (muddy country walk, for example) they might change their trousers.  Otherwise, the trousers were worn two days or so; sweaters were worn several days; shirt, underwear and socks were worn only one day; PJs were worn a couple of days.

 

Having fewer clothes may reduce the amount of stuff lying around, but won't necessarily reduce the washing load.

 

L

[regentrude]

Ok, so after going and looking at the pile that I need to deal with, I'm thinking the idea of less clothing is good. Maybe a weeks worth. The problem seems to be if I miss a day of laundry for whatever reason, the pile becomes overwhelming because there are too many clothes and the pile just grows bigger. Maybe instead of school like uniforms I could do khaki skorts with a variety of short/long sleeve shirts that can all be washed together. This would still simplify but give a little more variety to the outfits.

 

Don't you guys ever re-wear clothing? Do you wash everything after a single wear?

I don't ever have a laundry pile, and I most definitely do not do laundry daily...maybe 2 or 3 loads per week.

What is it about your current choice of clothes that is more complicated than your proposed khakis plus tops?

 

 

[Soror]

Around here we:

- 

1) have fewer clothes- maybe 5 outfits ea. play/town/church- clothes worn around house are play-some of us wear multiple times but the girls aren't real great at that

2)don't sort

3) clothes get dumped into the washer at night- everybody brings me their clothes or puts it in themselves and then thrown in the dryer or hung on the line in the am

4)kids help sort, fold and put away their own clothes

 

Doing it this way means little time or work for me and it is generally easy to keep up with (although there are times like last week when I didn't feel well and we were out of the house busy every day)