The Cleanest I've Been
There are just the three of us in the house, as far as clothes-wearers go. The cats do not wear clothing, no matter how many times Daughter tries to convince herself otherwise. The dog gets his stuff dry-cleaned.
And yet, I feel as if I'm not completely done with laundry. Never caught up. I can't even dream of being ahead of the laundry. I know this has something to do with air-drying most of our clothes, but it's still getting a Sissifean quality, which baffles me because we're such a very small family, at least one of whom can go to work in pajamas.
(That's me. The kid dresses for school.)
SO, I have to ask those of you with big families; do you just never stop doing laundry? Do you inform loved ones they can make everything last 2-3 days, if for no other reason than the water-heater has begun to sob? Or do you make all the most socially-confident children wear paper underwear?
And yet, I feel as if I'm not completely done with laundry. Never caught up. I can't even dream of being ahead of the laundry. I know this has something to do with air-drying most of our clothes, but it's still getting a Sissifean quality, which baffles me because we're such a very small family, at least one of whom can go to work in pajamas.
(That's me. The kid dresses for school.)
SO, I have to ask those of you with big families; do you just never stop doing laundry? Do you inform loved ones they can make everything last 2-3 days, if for no other reason than the water-heater has begun to sob? Or do you make all the most socially-confident children wear paper underwear?
posted by Unknown at 9:18 PM
14 Comments:
I'm dying to know the answer to this too as I'm in a similar situation. Please experts, do tell.
I only have 2 and the laundry never stops.
Sacrebleu!
I'd like to leave a long comment, but there are 6 of us in the house and I've got laundry to do. Short answer: it never stops. Clothes, bedding....don't even get me started on towels.
I was trained to do towels as soon as I was tall enough to reach the controls on the washing machine and dryer. That's how we handled it. The kids did a lot of the laundry.
Alyson said it - The Towels! The washer runs nonstop(9am-6pm) three days a week with bursts in between. But it is not so much the washing and folding, it is the putting away- and worse, the gathering. Why is it that my four children cannot manage to get the clothes in the basket - each room has one- and why does every shower require a fresh towel?
With one 17-year old boy left in the house, and understanding that there are no total solutions to the laundry problem except paying someone else to take care of it (heh!) I have taken a couple of small steps that can reduce the burden: a) Son gets 2 bathtowels a week, period. He has no idea where we keep the rest of the stash; b) I go through his dirty clothes hamper and put once-worn jeans, sweatshirts and anything else not obviously dirty/smelly back in the closet (underwear and gym clothes excepted). Victory dance!
Laundry was turned over to the child when she was around 12 or so. It isn't really against any child labor laws. Believe me, she looked.
Tips for Success:
1. I only like to start things I can finish (like a cocktail) so, laundry is not on my list.
2. Sometimes I buckle down and put the little ones to work. The pay is substandard ($0.00) but the benefits are good (clean boxers)
3. Everyone is in charge of their own crazy. (explanation: 6 pairs of jeans. 1 pair is acceptable. I'm sure you understand.)
4. Dirty = clean with a dryer sheet and 5 minutes. Yes. I've done that. Yes. A whole load.
5. Did I mention the cocktail?
One load a day, no exceptions. t must be folded and hung up before bed. Towels get washed after 3-4 uses. Jeans get washed when they stink.
There are 6 of us and I usually try to do at least 2 loads of laundry a day. There is always laundry to do, it is never completely done. On the rare occasions when I think I am done, everyone changes from their day clothes to their pajamas and instantly there is at least two more loads of laundry!
Scott has his own system. And I, blissfully, have *nothing whatsoever to do with it*. (This, I always tell people, is the answer to the oft-repeated "How do you do it all?" question. Me: "Add up all the minutes you spend doing laundry. Now imagine what you'd do if you had them back." Really, the question is: why don't I accomplish MORE??)
I have only a vague idea of how his system works--you'll have to grill him someday--but I know it's terribly important that he starts a load early in the morning before we leave for our walk. I *think* this has something to do with the fact that our dryer hasn't worked well in a while. (Takes ages to dry a load. We hear the landlord intends to replace it. In 2011.) He hangs everything except socks and underwear on a clothesline strung across the laundry room. So the timing has to do with being dry in time for a second load to hang overnight? 8 people, two loads a day? Something like that? All I know is: I have clean socks.
Father with a family of six here -- one wife and four kids under age 9. Laundry is a never ending battle. We are on second washer and second dryer.
Sadly, we have no great solution, but our washer and dryer are in same room as biggest TV so I often combine sports watching with folding. I even got the NBA package to expand the viewing options.
My best stab at keeping up with laundry is: I do mine and husbands. The kids (16, 19 and 21) do their own, which they do separately from everyone elses and take immediately back to their respective places (dorm room, apartment or bedroom) and sort. This makes me happy on several levels. One: My children can do laundry. (See above where I said I do husband's laundry.) Two: I do not have to figure out whose white workout socks are whose. The kids keep their laundry separate. Sorting between my size 7 and husband's size 11 workout socks is something I can handle.
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