How many loads of laundry per family member?

[sarahsthreads]

I feel overwhelmed with laundry, and I need to know if this is normal and I should just suck it up, or if we're really outside the norm and need to change our laundry habits!

I figured the best way to do the poll to account for different family sizes would be to have you total up the loads of laundry per week and then divide by the number of people in your family. (You may have to do some rounding.)

Right now, for our family of four, I do 9-10 loads of laundry a week. This includes everyone's sheets, towels (we only use 1 or 2 per week each), clothes, kitchen laundry (we use cloth napkins), and the dog's blanket weekly. It doesn't account for the random "Mom, I wet the bed" or "I slipped at recess and my coat is caked in mud" kind of laundry.

When baby #3 comes this fall, I expect to add at least another two loads a week (we all know how quickly newborn clothes get soiled) and DD1 is going to have to start dressing out for PE every other day...yay, stinky gym clothes.

Is it ridiculous that we're running at 2.5 loads per family member per week? I feel like it's a full time job just to keep the laundry under control here!

Sarah :)

[KrisM]

I do 8-9/week here for 5 of us. It'll go down a load in the summer.

ETA: I don't do all the kid sheets each week. I do ours weekly, and theirs are every other week, divided up.

[ilfaith]

I would say I generally wash between 1.5 and 2 loads per person, per week.

What drives me nuts is when I look at the piles of everyone's laundry, my tiny little pile is dwarfed by the amount of clothing I was for my children (who go through more outfits in a week than I do) and DH (whose clothes are just large).

In summer, when the kids go to camp i feel like I spend all my time washing towels. The kids take two towels each day and come home with soggy towels in their bags.

[twowhat?]

I regularly do about 4-5 loads per week for a family of 4. I know, I know - that sounds really low. And I probably ought to wash more often. We use sheets/towels for quite a while before I wash them because everyone showers/bathes before bed. I re-wear clothes (esp in the winter) many times before washing, esp since I work from home, and DH will re-wear jeans/pants at least a couple times before washing for just a normal, sit-in-an-office day. So - most of the laundry is the kids (I do 2 loads/week - one lights and one darks, and I don't let the kids re-wear clothes because the whole thought of daycare, bathrooms, etc just icks me out) and DH. About once a month I do "the big stuff" - sheets/towels. I do dog laundry whenever the dogs get a bath (so that's only 2-3 times/year unless something gets really dirty). I also run a load here and there depending on if kids had swim lessons (One swim lesson for 2 kids = 1 load).

But on a regular, normal week: 4-5 loads. So I voted 1 load per family member per week.

[BayGirl2]

We just did 5 loads this week for our family of 4 and that's on the high side. So maybe 1.2 loads, but I rounded up to 1.5. (I am not including cloth diapers, but that's 2 loads/week additional) Typical would be 3-4 loads/week plus 1-2 extra loads every few weeks.

You are washing more stuff that I would. My standards have probably lowered since I had kids. Sheets - ours no more than once a month unless they are visibly dirty for some reason, kids-when there's an accident or every few weeks. Dog's bed - every few months. Kitchen cloths/napkins - we use a lot but it fits in with our regular loads. ETA: Adult towels are reused for at least a week each, kids towels are small and fit with their cloths, so no towel-specific loads for us. I now do one additional half load for swim lessons too, most weeks.

What's the capacity of your washer/dryer? Ours is very high capacity and I load it up. I feel like we are drowning in laundry on the weekends, but its the putting away that is more burdensome to me than the sorting/washing/drying.

[ladysoapmaker]

We average around 1.5 to 2 loads per person. Some weeks it can be much worse (ie back from vacation; clothes, sleeping bags, and pillows, season change/going through drawers; wash everything give away/donate too small clothes fold and store out of season clothes).

DS#1 does his own laundry and he's managed to keep his down to 1 load a week.

I am very happy I no longer have kids in diapers. that was a load of laundry every 2 days.

Jen

[maestramommy]

I do 4 loads of clothing a week among 5 people. That came out to 0.8 loads/person. I also do a towel load and sheet load roughly every other week.

[StantonHyde]

My family manufactures laundry. Apparently, I am the only person who can wear an article of clothing more than once.

I actually pay somebody to fold and put away clothes once a week!!! I wash it all but this way it all gets put away. She even irons if she has time. If not, I wear it slightly wrinkled!

[belovedgandp]

I'm just getting used to my new HE machine that has a much larger capacity than my ancient machine it replaced. I'm now down to 1.5 per person if I'm on top of sheets, but honestly I'm not. I've been more so now because I hate running a not full load and getting a full load of whites is hard with that huge thing.

Prior to the new machine I was closer to 2.25 pushing 2.5.

[hillview]

I do about a load a day (so 7 total a week and we are a family of 4, I voted 1.5). In addition to regular laundry (clothes, towels, and sheets), I do a load of cleaning rags a week and 2 or so loads of DH's STINKY sweaty gym clothes a week. I do not separate ANY laundry aside from the above 2 items. Sheets, whites, towels all go in together. We have a large HE washer.

[hillview]

Apparently, I am the only person who can wear an article of clothing more than once.

I actually pay somebody to fold and put away clothes once a week!!! I wash it all but this way it all gets put away. She even irons if she has time. If not, I wear it slightly wrinkled!
:yeahthat:

[mommylamb]

Wow, I think I do a lot fewer loads than most of you. I do 1-2 loads for DH ans me combined, 1-2 loads for the boys combined, one load of towels, and usually someone's sheets each week. And that's it. My washer has a huge capacity though.

[lmh2402]

too many to count

DD is a puker, so she and i wear lots of outfits each day

and then there are the towels that we use to try and catch her puke.

and i also change our shower/bath towels every two days, or three days at max.

and sheets are changed each week. (except for DD, who has hers changed each time she pukes on them...which can be more than once a day)

[Green22]

Dh alo generates about 1 load a day. He has a work outfit and socks, then changes into an after work outfit which frequently imvolves at least 2 pairs of socks and shirts because often they get wet or sticky according to him, and night outfit which he claims to use at least 2 nights. He uses a new washcloth every day and says his towels getused multiple timesbefore changing it.

2 kids and we can prob do about 4 loads a week bt the pair, and that is using towels twice, jammies for the toddler mulitple times bc she never wants to get out of them.

Dh does the laundry bc i will not deal with his excess, and i have requested he not do my stuff, but since he is constantly doing laundry, i only squeeze in abt 1 load every 10 days.

Also, all sheets and stuffed animals weekly.

[Melaine]

10-12 loads a week for us for 5 people. I *know* it's high but we've made some bad habits. I seriously think it goes back to when the girls were babies and threw up all the time. I was so used to thinking that things go in the hamper immediately and haven't re-adjusted that mindset. For instance my kids never re-wear pajamas. That's crazy! But I just haven't taught them to do that.

We also do cloth napkins and use a ton of rags. Plus the fact that we homeschool so the kids and I are here using towels and rags all day long. But I still spend a ridiculous amount of time folding and putting away clothes.

[hellokitty]

Hm, for our family of five, I think we do about 5-6 loads of laundry a wk. I usually do full loads, unless it's something delicate or something that might bleed.

[KrisM]

Wow, I think I do a lot fewer loads than most of you. I do 1-2 loads for DH ans me combined, 1-2 loads for the boys combined, one load of towels, and usually someone's sheets each week. And that's it. My washer has a huge capacity though.

I used to be at about that, and I'm still at 1-2 for me and DH. But, kids are up to 3 always now. Sometimes 4. Their clothes get bigger, which is really annoying! DS1 is in size 10 pants and they just take up more room than size 4T (DS2).

[ourbabygirl]

I voted 1 load per person... I'd say I do 2 loads (1 lights, 1 darks) about every 2-3 days, though it's more if the kids are in swimming lessons (adds a load), and maybe a *bit* more if DH and I work out every day (though I barely work up a sweat walking on a treadmill; he soaks his clothes from his workout).
I also wash all of our sheets about every two weeks, and DS' crib sheet & waterproof pad about once a week. The kids only take baths about every 3 days, and I use their towels twice before washing them. DH and I usually use our towels two or three times before washing them (hang them to dry after the shower), though we're washing them after each shower (every day) now that our house went on the market and we don't want dirty laundry sitting around.
All 4 of us are home almost all day, every day, and I was using cloth napkins but got lazy and started using paper.

[lalasmama]

I voted 1.5. Occasionally its more, occasionally it's less, but 1.5 seems close enough.

Sheets and towels are one load, DD has one load, and I have one load, and to-be-DH has 1-2 loads.

[daniele_ut]

I do way too much laundry. I do at least a load every day and some days more. Usually I wash 1 load per person each week (5) plus 2 loads of diapers, 1 load of sheets and towels and 1 load of kitchen and cleaning rags. That's a minimum of 9 loads of laundry.

[sarahsthreads]

Interesting. I'd say we have a reasonable capacity washer, but it's a top loader with a tall agitator, so it's probably not as high capacity as a front loader would be. I also sort things out a *lot*. I often run a very full load (a single kids clothes + sheets fill the washer) but sometimes it's half or less full (whites, jeans).

I do kids clothes + sheets x 2 (so, all of DD1's clothes + sheets in a load, all of DD2's clothes + sheets in another load). But I pull out all the denim from both baskets. Denim gets it's own load, kids + adults. Then there's whites, darks, lights - 1 load each. Towels could *maybe* all go in one load, but I usually do two, between the bath towels, kitchen linens & bathroom hand towels. And then our sheets go in on their own because they really don't fit into any other load. The dog blanket gets it's own load, because it's got dog hair all over it. ;)

As far as re-wearing, the kids wear their PJs 2-3 times before getting a new pair. None of the rest of their clothes are worn more than once. DH and I re-wear pants and sweaters/sweatshirts, but everything else is a one-time wear.

So if you don't sort, say, denim from knits, you don't find that your knits get pilled after a few washings? Or if you don't sort colors - don't the light colors (pinks, yellows) get dingy after going through with navy or black?

Sarah :)

[twowhat?]

Interesting. I'd say we have a reasonable capacity washer, but it's a top loader with a tall agitator, so it's probably not as high capacity as a front loader would be. I also sort things out a *lot*. I often run a very full load (a single kids clothes + sheets fill the washer) but sometimes it's half or less full (whites, jeans).

I do kids clothes + sheets x 2 (so, all of DD1's clothes + sheets in a load, all of DD2's clothes + sheets in another load). But I pull out all the denim from both baskets. Denim gets it's own load, kids + adults. Then there's whites, darks, lights - 1 load each. Towels could *maybe* all go in one load, but I usually do two, between the bath towels, kitchen linens & bathroom hand towels. And then our sheets go in on their own because they really don't fit into any other load. The dog blanket gets it's own load, because it's got dog hair all over it. ;)

As far as re-wearing, the kids wear their PJs 2-3 times before getting a new pair. None of the rest of their clothes are worn more than once. DH and I re-wear pants and sweaters/sweatshirts, but everything else is a one-time wear.

So if you don't sort, say, denim from knits, you don't find that your knits get pilled after a few washings? Or if you don't sort colors - don't the light colors (pinks, yellows) get dingy after going through with navy or black?

Sarah :)

For kids clothes, I just sort lights and darks and that's it, because kids clothes don't need to last for years. I'll put delicate items (like a MB dress) in a lingerie bag. Pajamas are worn a full week before they get washed (kids bathe every day before getting into jammies).

But for adult's clothes, I sort very much like you. I want the woven fabrics to be washed together (DH's work shirts), the woven pants to be washed together (DH's and my trousers/cargo pants), knits/underwear to be washed together, and jeans to be washed together. Then on top of that I sort whites, lights, and darks (and, if there are enough clothes, I sort whites, lights, reds/blues/purples, and other darks). DH makes fun of me for all this, but I find it really helps clothes to last longer by (for example) not washing a pair of jeans with a tissue tee. I guess the reason we aren't doing so many loads of laundry is 1) we re-wear clothes, especially jeans/pants, and especially in the winter when clothes are bulkier and 2) we each have enough clothes to last a couple weeks without doing laundry. So I basically just wait until I have enough dirty clothes to sort them the way I like so that each load is a full load, and 3) we only do sheets/bath towels about once a month (I often toss hand towels, kitchen towels in with the kids clothes or adult clothes). I also rarely do half loads - really the only time I do half loads is if it's clothes with puke or pee or whatever.

I also do towels together and sheets together. And, of course, dog stuff completely separately.

[chottumommy]

I do about 4 loads a week for a family of four. It used to be 5 when we were cloth diapering.

But my split up - whites+lighter colored clothes, darks knits/softer fabric, darks pants, rags-socks-napkins-bibs.

Once in 2 weeks 1 extra load of sheets. I change our sheets every 2 weeks and kids about every month. We bathe before we sleep and both DH and me hardly sweat. I can even wear my workout clothes a couple of times. Kids jackets get washed once a month with one of the loads.

We only use cloth in the house (no paper towels) but don't find that adds too much to the load.

I also do an extra load of jeans every month. Kids hate jeans and DH and me both have only a few pairs. Bath mats and such get washed once in 2 months.

I avoid doing more than 5 loads of laundry a week. We have a normal sized washer. I also hang dry everything on hangers or the drying rack. They go back in the closet so no dryer most times and no folding (love that part) except the rags and such which lie in a basket.

[Simon]

I do about 6 loads for a family of 5 each week.

Baby gets his own load. on hot. All alone because he still chews on sleeves and I can't get my mind around washing his clothes with other kid underwear. Shiver.

Ds2 and Ds1, I mix shirts, pants PJs, socks, underwear, etc. 1-2 loads/week. I do not sort light/dark.

Pants for Dh and I (plus Ds1 now that his clothing is bigger) get sorted into jeans vs. dress/work pants and I do one or the other each week. 1 load.

Socks and underwear for DH and I. 1 load about every week or a little less. We have enough to go 10 days or so.

Linens. Kitchen towels and napkins are separate from Sheets and bath towels. I alternate these and do 1 load/week.

Shirts for Dh and I, all mixed together about 1 load a week, sometimes 2.

Then I have extra loads like delicates, sweaters, winter coats, etc. that I let build up so they sit a while before I have enough to wash in a full load. This averages to less than 1 load a week.

[elektra]

1.5 per person or so.
The kids get one load a week each, and I hate to say it but we go a long time between their sheet changes.
DH have 4-5 loads between us including towels and other non-clothes stuff.

DH gets his work shirts laundered because he will not wash and iron them and neither will I, so that cuts back on some of the laundry. It kills me sometimes though because on occasion I accidentally get some cheapo tshirt of mine in that bin and DH just takes it in and pays about what the shirt is worth to get it laundered.

[edurnemk]

About 2 per person, plus cloth diapers (3-4 a week).

[azzeps]

I hate laundry. It is the bane of my existence. Actually, I am pretty good at getting things washed and dried. But you should see the HEAP on top of clean, unfolded clothes, etc. It's a disaster right now. I voted 1 load, but I realized it's more than that...

1 load of DD's clothes
1 load of DS's clothes
2 loads of diapers/week
1 load of kitchen laundry
1 load of towels
1 load of sheets
1 load of darks (adults)
1 load of lights (adults)

soooooo, I'd better go fold some laundry.....

[s7714]

I voted 1, but DH and I average 2 per week. Kids are 1 each.

If you count towels and sheets it'd be about 1-3 more total each week, but I don't always do those every single week.

ETA: After reading some other responses, I wanted to add that my current machine holds nearly twice the amount my old machine did, so it's drastically cut down on the total load count.

[queenmama]

We have the Kenmore super capacity plus and do less than one load per week per person, if we're averaging.

DH is almost always working and they wash his clothes, so I mainly just do socks and underwear for him.

DS generates more laundry than his baby sister since he's almost a teen and gets stinky and has P.E. clothes.

DD is long past the spit-up stage and re-wears clothes that aren't dirty, so she barely has any laundry (not counting cloth diapers). She's still EBF so that'll change soon!

I wear the same thing several times before washing unless they're heavy housework or working out clothes. That excludes undies and socks, I hope that goes without saying!

Sheets are washed a couple of times per month and we reuse towels a few times (we do keep them separate, not sure why, though, since we're clean when we use them!).

Lara

[citymama]

I do roughly 6-7 loads of laundry a week for a family of 4, so voted 1.5. We don't wash sheets as often as we should :bag and I usually throw towels in with regular loads. I do seperate the kids' wash (washed warm and dried low) and everything else (washed cold and dried on medium). Sheets are washed on hot separately when we do them. We have a large HE machine and dryer so lots of clothes go into them.

I line dry a lot of things - our tees and DHs shirts, all jackets and hoodies and the kids' and my dresses. I did a wash today with 8 of DHs tshirts to hang up - 8 tees in less than 2 days! What is he doing with them???? :dizzy:

[bisous]

I voted 2. We are a family of five and we probably do five loads of clothing per week. And five loads of rags/towels/sheets/mop heads, etc.

I'd like to think that we have so many rags/towels/sheets, etc. because we are so clean but maybe it is really the inverse? I have three kids who make LOTS of messes. Also a fairly smallish top loader washing machine so towel capacity is somewhat limited!

[klwa]

~ 1 per person, but I make DH do his own now. (Before DS, I did DH's laundry, too, but then he couldn't be bothered to get me his stuff when I asked for it & I said screw that...)

[daisymommy]

Can't vote, as I'm on my iPad, but I do two loads of laundry every day, I may slack off on a day here or there, but generally 12 loads total a week, and we have 6 people in our family (gulp!). That includes bath towels, but not bed sheets.


Sent from my iPad

[ChristinaLucia]

I do 2-3 loads per day. Family of four. 14-21 a week. This week more since we just were all sick. Laundry non-stop here.

[123LuckyMom]

Wow, I think I do a lot fewer loads than most of you. I do 1-2 loads for DH ans me combined, 1-2 loads for the boys combined, one load of towels, and usually someone's sheets each week. And that's it. My washer has a huge capacity though.

Me, too! You guys are doing A LOT of laundry!!! I wash everything on cold, and I generally do not separate colors and whites unless the items are new. DS and DD's clothes fit in one load. DS and DD's sheets fit in another, and I do them every other week. I do our sheets (also one load) on the alternate week. DH and my clothes fit in another single load. Usually towels fit in either with sheets or clothes. If I need to do a separate towel load or extra sheet load, I do. On average, I do 3-4 loads each week. DH does send his shirts out, and we do have some dry cleaning, though.

[lizzywednesday]

Other. I don't do laundry every week.

DD has 1 load every couple of weeks. Sometimes I wash her jeans with mine or toss her towels in with regular towels to balance a load or reduce color-bleed.

I have 3-4 for myself, again, every couple of weeks. I typically have enough socks & underwear to get through 2 weeks without having to do wash.

DH does his own laundry. I think I would lose my mind if I had to do his AND mine AND towels/sheets.

We rotate on who does towels, but I always wash the bed linens so they're washed in fragrance-and-dye-free detergent - I have serious allergy attacks if they're washed in scented detergent! I have several changes of sheets for our bed, so I can wash on a biweekly schedule if I chose, but it's more like a monthly schedule. (I know, I should launder our sheets more often, but I really, REALLY, hate doing laundry.)

[minnie-zb]

My family manufactures laundry. Apparently, I am the only person who can wear an article of clothing more than once.



This is how I feel.

I typically feel like I'm drowning in laundry. It's not the laundry that's a problem, it's the folding and putting it away which kills me.

[stinkyfeet]

I was starting to feel overwhelmed by laundry until we got our new washer/dryer set--maytag bravos XL (top loader HE) It's HUGE and we find we a lot less loads per week. So far, we've been really happy with it.

[jjordan]

We probably have 10-ish loads a week for our family of 5, including cloth diapers, though we use disposable napkins in the kitchen. Dh does go running nearly every day and he doesn't re-wear anything, really, plus he's 6'3", so there's a lot of laundry from him.

NO WAY do I wash sheets every week. I'd definitely cut that if you at all can.

We have a very large HE top-loader, so if it's a full load, it's got the same amount of clothes as 2-3 pre-HE loads. Not all loads are full because I do wash some stuff separately and don't wait for a full load because it would take forever (eg cloth diapers, light colored clothing).

OP, your 8.5 year old is likely old enough to do her own laundry. Just a thought. :)

[legaleagle]

At least 2/person (so 10-12, we're a family of 5). My kids never ever rewear anything because they always manage to get some grossness on it. DD is drooly, a messy eater (as expected for a 10 month old) and even spits up some still. So she's bare minimum 2 outfits a day + pjs. Boys usually only one outfit per day at this point, plus new pjs every night. 2-3 loads cloth diapers/week (would be more but they wear disposable 3 days a week in daycare). That won't really go down because I won't go more than 3 days without washing them, no matter the size of the load. 1 load rags. Probably 7-8 towels total per week. Sheets every other week when cleaner changes them.

We have a good size front loader but I'm very careful not to stuff it completely full because it gets unbalanced and then things don't dry well in the dryer.

Rags & cloth diapers on hot, my darks on cold, everything else on warm, pretty much. I do have about 4 kinds of detergent & a bunch of supplemental stuff for different types of loads that I use regularly.

And then there's yesterday when DS2 puked on our bed, thus causing 4 extra loads since he managed to get the sheets, the mattress pad, the 3 blankets & the down comforter.

I've found having many many laundry baskets helps - I have 8, I think. Being able to always have one free to get stuff out of the dryer, and having enough to sort each person's clothes into a basket (after dumping everything on the bed) makes it go much faster.

[sarahsthreads]

NO WAY do I wash sheets every week. I'd definitely cut that if you at all can.
OK, so how often *do* people wash sheets? I just figured weekly was pretty normal and easy to remember. :shrug:


OP, your 8.5 year old is likely old enough to do her own laundry. Just a thought. :)
She kind of can. She has to stand on a step stool to reach down and fish things out of the bottom of the washer, which makes me pretty nervous. (I keep picturing her falling in head first!) She's also really petite, so carrying a basket of laundry up or down two flights of stairs would be pretty tough for her to do safely. As long as I have to schlep it, I may as well just do it.

I do have her strip her own bed in the morning and re-make it before bed on "her" laundry day, and both girls are responsible for putting away their own folded clothes. And sorting the socks. I HATE sorting the socks!

Sarah :)

[BabbyO]

We are squarely between 1.5 and 2 per person per week, so I voted 2. Everyone wears PJs for a full week unless there is an accident or someone gets sick. Sheets and towels are washed weekly. At most the sheets are allowed to go up to 2 weeks on the bed. I wash the boys clothes separately from DH and my clothes because I still do a 2nd rinse on their clothes.

Generally I have 1 light, 1 dark for the kids; 1-2 dark for DH and I, 1-2 "nice" clothes for DH and I (run on a gentler cycle), and 2-3 loads sheets/towels/lights for DH and I. Usually our "lights" are socks and T-shirts so they go with the light towels or sheets because it isn't enough for a full load.

DH and I also re-wear jeans and shorts for up to a week unless the get smelly/stained. Even workout clothes get used for up to a week since we workout at home...no one is going to notice your smelly work out clothes getting smellier at home. Esp in the winter DH and I wear a t-shirt layer under sweaters so just the t-shirt gets washed after a single use...the sweater goes back in the closet.

If I can get 3 loads washed thur-fri night...my weekend washing task is much less annoying.

ETA: MIL washes all towels after a single use...so she'd do 2-3 loads of towels each week. I quickly broke him of the new towel a day habit, by letting him know he could get a new towel as often as he likes...but I'm only washing them 1x per week. After that he'd have to wash on his own. I never understood the towel a day thing...unless the towels don't dry between uses...but I've never had that be a problem. I will replace hand towels after a party when many people have been using them over the course of the day and they don't dry...

[A1icia]

I answered 1.5 which is rounding up.

Three are only 3 of us and all sheet get changed weekly. On Saturday we do three loads:

- whites which includes most sheets and towels and some undewear, t shirts and socks

- mixed normal load of colors that go in the dryer - including Dh's clothing, my PJs, Ts & jeans, DS's sheets, PJs & undies

- mixed delicate load of colors that don't go in the dryer but are hung to dry - Most of my clothing, my socks & bras, and DS's clothing & socks

Plus I generally do one small load mid-week.

[s7714]

OP, your 8.5 year old is likely old enough to do her own laundry. Just a thought. :)

:yeahthat: My oldest (newly 10) has been doing a lot of hers for a while. She loves having that control over when her laundry gets done. She still asks me to do it if it's getting really full and knows she won't have time after school, but usually she'll just ask if the machines are clear so she can do it herself.

[BayGirl2]

OK, so how often *do* people wash sheets? I just figured weekly was pretty normal and easy to remember. :shrug:

And sorting the socks. I HATE sorting the socks!

Sarah :)

When I was single every few weeks - because I guess then I had nothing better to do with all that free time I didn't know I had. Now - in reality I only wash the adult sheets when they start to seem dirty to me, which may be longer than once a month.
Kid sheets at least once every few weeks or when they get peed/puked on - whichever comes first.

I'm sure I sound really gross to many people here, but its just not a huge priority to me. A PP said something about washing baby things separately just because baby sucks sleeves, so she couldn't wash underwear in the same wash. That had me :ROTFLMAO: I just don't think of clean clothes as that germy.

I try to get my 3yo to take over the sock matching thing too. Way too many socks on my house, they drive me crazy.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

not counting cloth diapers (which we do only on weekends now) probably 4 loads a week for family of 4, so 1 load per person per week. we wash sheets maybe once a month (or two). it's just not a priority, really. i cannot imagine washing sheets every week! when my dc were babies, we did a ton of sheets due to accidents, etc, but now we just don't have the need.

we usually do one load of kids laundry, then two loads of our stuff (colors and whites - includes towels) and maybe one load of delicates (mostly my stuff, some dd's hannas).

the kids have swim lessons once or twice a week now but i don't wash their suits/towels in the washer each time..i soak and rinse it out and hang dry, and maybe i will wash it every few weeks.

eta: ok i forgot, it should technically be 5 loads since we have to take home their napmats from daycare home each week to wash them.

[jjordan]

OK, so how often *do* people wash sheets? I just figured weekly was pretty normal and easy to remember. :shrug:


She kind of can. She has to stand on a step stool to reach down and fish things out of the bottom of the washer, which makes me pretty nervous. (I keep picturing her falling in head first!) She's also really petite, so carrying a basket of laundry up or down two flights of stairs would be pretty tough for her to do safely. As long as I have to schlep it, I may as well just do it.

I do have her strip her own bed in the morning and re-make it before bed on "her" laundry day, and both girls are responsible for putting away their own folded clothes. And sorting the socks. I HATE sorting the socks!

Sarah :)

I had a long explanation of my sheet-washing typed out, but the bottom line is, we don't wash sheets on a regular schedule, as a matter of course. We just wash them if they're dirty (which can include feeling/looking/smelling bad). It probably ends up being in the neighborhood of once a month.

If you have any house renovations in your future, I have LOVED having the laundry room upstairs with the bedrooms! Up until last June we had the two flights of stairs and I agree, not a job for a kid! Yuck!