My family is killing me with the laundry. 3 loads/day at least and I resent it so bad especially sorting it.

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Without Health you have no Wealth!

I do about a load or two a day. How old are your kids? Are they old enough to help?

Holly

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Forgiveness is love in its most noble form. -Anonymous

3-4 loads twice a week.

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

I wash about 6 loads a week. There's 3 of us. I have 1 LARGE load of towels each week, 1 load of sheets a week, at least 2 loads of darks and 1 or 2 loads of whites/lights. I usually wash a couple of times a week. But when I'm home with nothing much to do, if there's a load waiting, I go ahead and wash it. No real scheduled day for laundry here. My kids are good about helping out with folding and they put their own clothes away and they'll carry the folded towels to the bathroom to be put away.

I have a larger than average fam and have become a laundry nazi in order to maintain my own sanity.
Any kid 9yo or older in this house *will* be taught how to wash, dry, and fold laundry.
My dh made me a few fabulous laundry aids :
You know how at Walmart they have a turntable type deal with hooks to hang 3-4 shopping bags? I had dh make me these for dirty and clean laundry, only he made it so we have enough space for 8 mesh bags to hang for clean and 4 spaces for dirty laundry mesh bags. He put each sorter on casters so I can easily move them around to the washer and dryer. ( yes, my dh is a true gem ;-)
All kids (and dh ;-) are expected to sort their own dirty clothes into appropriate mesh bags for lights, darks, whites/hot water wash, and red things.
Anyone who empties the dryer is expected to sort the dried clothes into the mesh bags on the clean laundry turnatable for each fam member plus linens (all marked with everyone's name, natch).
Till dh made me the Walmart type turntable/sorters, I would literally be calf high in dirty laundry in the basement. Clean laundry used to pile up in multiple baskets and on top of the washer and dryer.
Each morning before breakfast and every evening before bedtime I remind everyone to check their mesh bags and fold/put away clean clothes.
It still doesn't work perfectly, but it sure is an improvement from our former days of laundry, laundry, everywhere ;-)
Right now we only have 7 people to do laundry for, but we also have 2 giant breed dogs and 1 sick cat that generate almost as much laundry as 2 people ;-)
Another incentive we've implemented here is the 25 cent fine per item that has not been turned right side out and zipped or snapped prior to putting it in a dirty laundry mesh bag. It's amazing how quickly kids learn something when you hit them in their pocket books ;-)
MZ ---> the meanest mama on the block

we are a family of six. i do about 4 loads a day 6 days a week, and my daughter is the only one that will help my other three my dh says are too litlle to put away there own laundry even there socks and underwear. and they want to help

3 loads Monday - Friday..weekends endless with rugs, sheets, blanets..etc We are a family of 5 with work clothes, work-out clothes, towels..etc

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Carolyn
At the Jersey Shore

Two adults, 12 y.o. and 9 y.o. boys here. I do four loads twice a week, not counting sheets, blankets, etc. My boys generally are responsible for taking all clothes out of the dryer and then sorting, hanging, folding, etc. I am too picky to let them sort before washing yet, lol.

Geesh..I do 4-5 loads on Fri nite-Sat. I always wonder if its cheaper to do one load a day or many on one day? Fly lady says do one a day and I try to do it on Sat b/c power is cheaper on weekends.

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" Even though life can be a very long, hard, stressful and never-ending journey, never lose hope in what you want the most."

5-6 loads once a week for 2 people.

I grew up in a large family and my mom always had a rule that we had to wear our clothes twice unless we got them dirty. I still do the same thing. Obviously, with little children, they'll get dirty playing outside, eating dinner or whatever, but it works with older children. And of course, underclothing is only worn once before washing And there's really nothing to do with gym clothes or sports uniforms but wash them every time. We washed towels and sheets weekly. I read somewhere that you can wash sheets every two weeks but that seems somewhat gross to me. But if laundry overwhelms you and you don't have allergy problems, it might be something to consider.

Also, I was folding laundry from a very young age. YOu just can't afford to be particular about how exactly your clothes are folded if you ask your children to help. At least give them the underwear and T-shirts which no one cares if they are wrinkled.

One other thing - as soon as I was considered responsible enough (I guess I was 12 or 13) I was completely responsible for my own laundry. I had a basket in my room for my dirty laundry and I had to wash it when it was full. (or when I needed clothes)

I'm so lucky - mil was incredibly particular about how clothes are folded, so dh is the same. Therefore, he usually folds them! Me, I could care less which way a shirt is folded as long as it's neat.

One other thing I just thought of - you mentioned you particularly despise sorting. Once I knew a lady who, in her laundry room, had one of those shelving units with large mesh-type drawers (large enough to hold about half a load of laundry). She labeled each drawer with a color or color group (blacks, whites, pastels, darks, etc.) and her entire family (including small children) was expected to put their clothing in the appropriate drawer/bin/thingy. There was also a basket for sheets, one for towels, etc. If you have a separate laundry room, this could work.

2 adults... kids age 9, 7, and 4.

If we don't do one a day, we're up the creek the next day.

Jason

I do about 10 loads a week, sometimes more. The kids and DH all know how to do laundry, but, honestly, I prefer to do it myself. The worst part is the folding and putting away.

I look at it this way, I am grateful to have a loving family to do laundry FOR. That helps me get thru several chores, if you know what I mean. And, to overlook several things.....i.e., the cabinet door left open, the bread crumb mess on the counter, spoon from choc. milk on the counter....and on and on.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I have it in my head that I will do a load or two a day. BUT it never happens. I end up doing about 5 loads two to three times a week. And there are only 4 of us.


I too hate laundry!!!!

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We are a large family (There are 10 of us at home) so I live in the Laundry room. My two biggest time saving aids are my two hampers one dark and one white so the kids can sort it themselves. The other is a product called sock locks. They are little plastic rings that the you put your socks into before you wash them, then into the dryer and into the drawers. Each child has their own color so there is no matching socks or sorting just throw all the reds together all the yellows etc.
HTH

so funny to read about the lady with the mesh drawer dresser. i have one of those too (elfa) in my laundry area. the room is just the back entry from the garage so i had to put the dresser in the tiny coat closet. i have three drawers to sort dirty clothes and one for dry cleaning. kids are responsible for taking dirty laundry downstairs and putting it into the drawers, i do about 2 loads a day 7 days a week. kids are also responsible for putting own laundry away once i have sorted and folded it. even a 2 year old can do these jobs. i can't let it build up longer than a day because i literally have nowhere to store it. clean things go into the laundry basket and have to be put away that day to make way for the next loads.

There are 5 of us and I do 8 loads of just clot hes, then another 4-6 of sheets and towels.

I usually do at least a load a day Mon-Fri, try not to do it on the weekends unless absolutely necessary.

I really like to do laundry. It is just so rewarding to me to have a basketful of fresh folded clothes or a stack of tri-folded clean and fluffy towels. Kinda sick, huh?

I do 1-2 loads of laundry 6-7 days a week. Two adults, one kid that at 17 is pretty much another adult (his clothes are the biggest of anyone's) and a 12 year old who wears a lot of bulky hooded sweatshirts. And then there's me that works out to a total sweat most days of the week.

cj/

I usually do one or two loads of laundry a day...Two adults and three kids...It's not worth it to skip a day, because it really piles up and that just makes more work for me. ~Lisa

I don't mind washing/drying the clothes...it's the ironing I hate!

Ironing? What's that??

Count me as one of the weirdos who likes doing laundry too (except the ironing - which I try to avoid by putting clothes away as soon as the dryer goes off). DH has actually ruined a couple of my nice sweaters when he tryed to "help" me do laundry and he threw them in the dryer. He's also famous for running the washer (with enough water for a large load) and dryer to just wash and dry one or two items. He wanted a pair of shorts to play golf in one time, so he ignored the fact that there was a pile of dirty clothes and only washed and dried the one pair of shorts that he needed at the time.

There are three of us in the house - me, DH and our 7 month old DD (and one basset hound). I usually wash 2-3 loads of baby laundry per week. I know I don't have to keep it separate anymore, but it's just easier that way since I like to use fabric softener on our clothes and can't use it on hers. I usually wash about 4-5 loads of mine and DH's clothes each week. I wash towels, sheets and dog blankets/beds as they need to be washed since we have plenty of back ups.

I bought a laundry sorter from Target. It's made out of pvc pipe and has 3 mesh bags hanging inside the frame and it has casters on the bottom. It works so much better than standing knee deep in laundry and trying to sort clothes as you're throwing them into the washing machine. As soon as the dryer goes off, the laundry gets folded and put away, to avoid wrinkles.

When DH and I first got married, he used to take his socks off inside out and leave them that way. I got tired of sticking my hand in stiff, dirty socks to turn them the right way. After asking him repeatedly to turn them right side out, and after him repetedly "forgetting" to do it, I stopped doing it for him. DH used to work two different jobs and plays golf occasionally, so he sometimes went through 3 pairs of socks per day. It only took about one time, but I washed them (about 20 pair, which means about 40 single socks) all inside out and then dumped them on top of the dresser and told him that he could start turning them right side out, matching them up and putting them away because I wasn't doing it any longer. He got it after that one time and he doesn't "forget" to turn them right side out anymore.

~Lisa

I WISH I could do laundry! I have 7 kids and I hated doing 5-6 loads a day. But now we can't use our washer, when we do it backs up and floods the basement. Two plumber/sewer guys have been out and say it's fixed but it isn't.
So now I have to go to the laundrymat on the weekend, spend $60 there and don't even get all of it done!
I would sooo love to do laundry in my house everyday again!

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Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking

We have 5 kids and we do a lot of laundry. We do any where from 4-5 loads a day. Luckily the kids have learned to help out. DH does not like putting clothes up. He will do anything else you ask him around the house but he has never put clothes up. LOL

Tracy

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Give me the wisdom and grace to understand

Tracy S
Mommy to 5 little girls
Victoria
Alyssa
Samantha & Selena
Malaya
Tracy_s5girls@yahoo.com

I do laundry once a week about 8 loads since I like to do my son clothes by themselves, my husbands work clothes, and the rest of our clothes together.

3-4 a day.

Everyone has a basket that gets filled during the day and the hanging stuff set on top and then they are responsible for putting away.

We have a lot of closet space so i basically hang everything (even tshirts etc) so there isnt much folding. PJs, undies, socks and swimsuits are really all that go in the drawers.

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rhapsody112@gmail.com

I average a load a day except on weekends.

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Mom of 2 DD's & soon to be Grandma to Malycia Lynn due 6/3/07

We are a family of 6 and I do tons of laundry too. One of the major rules in this house is that if it's turned wrong side out--I don't wash it (unless it is something that has to be turned wrong side out to be laundered). Everyone knows this. I will actually take it and throw it back in their room ha ha. When I got that under control that actually cut down a lot on the time it took to load & fold.

Other than that I actually like doing laundry (hate putting it away though). But I grew up on a farm where we actually hung it all out, etc. so I know that laundry of today is so much easier than when I grew up, KWIM?!

Sams Club right now has one of those rolling laundry sorter things for $35.xx I saw it the other day and am thinking about getting it for the laundry room. Thought this might help everyone to learn to sort their own clothes. One thing that I do that helps me too is I have one large hamper in the kids' bathroom for all of their stuff & it gets washed 'together' then one for my DH & I. This helps on 'where everything needs to go' too as we have a split floorplan (kids are all on one end of the house). Another thing is that the kids know when they have something stained up, they take it to the laundry room and spray treatment on it when they take it off (they don't always do this though--they are 10, 8, 5 & infant). HTH.

One load a day.

3-4 loads a day and we are a family of anywhere from 6-12 people, depending on who came home this particular weekend.