Laundry....

OMG..... I just saw the pile of laundry thats accumulated this week while I was sick. Its only been since Tuesday since I did any laundry, and when I was done, there was only one bathmat and some dishrags that needed to be washed. Not so much as a single sock left unwashed......... and in my basement is at LEAST 10 (count 'em TEN) loads of laundry! :mad: :mad: :mad:

I'll tell you how: Teenagers. They wear something for as little as five minutes (to try it on and decide they don't like it so it gets tossed on the floor to be later scooped up and tossed in the laundry basket) and if they do wear something, its for a maximum of 6 hours while they sit in school.... and it all gets tossed in the laundry.

I've always learned that you do not need to wash a sweater/sweatshirt/jacket EVERY time you wear it, especially if you wear a tee shirt or something under it (like they do) because then its not sweaty or stinky, and if there's no stains on the outside, then its wearable for a second time. I've grown up learning that the more you wash something the faster it looks bad and the faster it falls apart. Right? wrong? :confused:

My son came home from college for semester break saying he's finally figured out what I was talking about, and said he wears some clothes 3 times before washing. So what has he done since being home? Wears his pants once (ones that he had on only an hour to run..... and these were worn OVER running shorts) and tosses them in the laundry. I guess if HE'S doing the laundry and wasting his money on the machines, then its ok to extend the # of wearings. but if good old mom is doing it, its easier than folding them and putting them away, because mom does that when she does the laundry :mad: :mad:

So am I the only one who gets frustrated over this?

PS: I am the ONLY one in the house who does laundry. I will not let the kids do their own for various reasons (namely they broke two washers and two dryers in under 3 years... not covered by warranty because both times it was just after the one year warranty expired)

Ah, I feel better now that I vented! ;)

UMMM at least yours get it in a basket ,Hubby has a pile by the door I'm supposed pick up and take down. His theroy is it's all right there. The 22yr old runs outof clothes and decides at 10pm hey mom i need underware for tommorrow. I have finally tought him how to use the washer , but he forgets they have to get in the dryer to dry. Of course it's my fault the next morning.
Oh I feel your pain!

LOL! Yes, don't we all know that all to well!

One day, a long, long time ago... I had 4 children and a job. This day was a Saturday and everyone was off doing their own thing with all their friends, hubby was gone hunting and where was I? I was home, cleaning and doing the weekly wash so I could hurry up and run to town to get groceries. I looked at ALL those dirty clothes and all the mess I had swept up in a pile on the floor and realized that hardly ANY of it was MINE! There were piles of shoes, school papers, assorted socks scattered about, toys and a lot of dirt tracked in and there was NOBODY around to pick up their stuff to put it away! Hummmmm.... It was very obvious that I was left alone to clean up after them while they went on to their life of fun and relaxation... NOT ANY MORE! I threw the broom down, did just my own washing and made a poster for the fridge that their maid had QUIT! From now on, you want clean clothes, YOU wash them! You want a clean dish to eat out of? YOU wash it yourself! You want a clean house, YOU clean it.. These Saturdays, from now on, were MINE to do what I wanted to do. I would go get the groceries still, but anything else they needed or wanted, was up to them to do themselves.

That was the day their maid quit and she never came back.

I would instruct them on the proper way to load the washer and dryer and if they broke anymore, then they could do their was by hand or take it to the laundry mat out of their own money. My kids did their wash for years and never broke the washer or dryer so it CAN be done properly.

I will tell you this though. There IS something about how Mama does it so much better. The whites are whiter, the clothes smell better and are folded neater... You should see how some of those deckhands do their laundry out on the river.... It only takes them about one trip to change from white underwear to the darker colored. They never realized you didn't throw your new white socks, T-shirts and underwear in with your greasey, sooty, filthy work clothes and you don't shove them down in a box when they come out of the dryer and have them come out looking neat. Their mothers never taught them how to wash. There is a real world out there that they will have to live in one day and Mama will not always be around to do things for them.

(This only works with older kids, NOT small ones... Hope I wasn't to harsh and offended anyone)

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Originally Posted by catnapper

So am I the only one who gets frustrated over this?

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ARGHHHH, sounds oh so familiar to me!! Due to my back troubles, I rarely go upstairs. So, I always ask the kids to bring the laundry downstairs for me. Mostly they do their own laundry, as it is to much for me. Last week, I was told that all the washing was done, and all the ironing too :)

This afternoon I went upstairs because my hubby needed some help to hang up picture frames. Guess what I found .......... :rolleyes: : 6 large laundry baskets full of stuff that has to be ironed, 2 baskets full of dirty stuff, and at least 8 bedsheets :eek: :eek:

KIDS..... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

My 13 year old does that, my 14 year old is the opposite, she doesn't want things to fade, shrink so she never gives me things to wash, I have to go insist.

I know families where the kids do their own laundry it just doesn't make sense to me because I wash things together that go together.

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Originally Posted by Maya & Inka's mommy

ARGHHHH, sounds oh so familiar to me!! Due to my back troubles, I rarely go upstairs. So, I always ask the kids to bring the laundry downstairs for me. Mostly they do their own laundry, as it is to much for me. Last week, I was told that all the washing was done, and all the ironing too :)

This afternoon I went upstairs because my hubby needed some help to hang up picture frames. Guess what I found .......... :rolleyes: : 6 large laundry baskets full of stuff that has to be ironed, 2 baskets full of dirty stuff, and at least 8 bedsheets :eek: :eek:

KIDS..... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

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Ironing :eek: Whats that!!! hehe

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Originally Posted by caseysmom

I know families where the kids do their own laundry it just doesn't make sense to me because I wash things together that go together.

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Thank you! I am almost obsessive when it comes to laundry. I have seven baskets that clothes get sorted into.
~Dark towels
~Light towels
~Whites
~darks
~mediums
~jeans
~reds (yes, there's enough reds because my daughter and I wear a LOT of red)

I never mix up loads and toss in something from another color basket just to complete the load. The load can wait til I get something else to complete it.

Laura, as for making them do their own laundry.... ain't gonna happen, though they'd like that! I am too organized down there and I know they'd make a disaster zone of my laundry area the way they've done the rest of the house. The laundry is MINE.

I'd kill someone if they tossed my good sweater from the washer into the dryer when they did their own loads (which they've done MANY times before I said "no more laundry for you guys!")

I also use the laundry as a way of keeping tabs on them. Everywhere they've been, and whatever they do leaves an odor on their clothes. I'll be able to tell in an instant if they were smoking (cigarettes or otherwise) and I'd know if alcohol was involved simply by smelling their clothes.

Oh my gosh Kim I think the same exact way, that is too funny.

UGGHHHH, Don't even talk to me about laundry!!!!! :mad:

When my boyfriend first moved in with me, I had to go on holiday for a month. When I came home, NOTHING was washed, and there was huge huge loads of laundry. He had been talking his clothes to the launderette, where the owner will wash it for you for 10 euros a load, but when he knew I was almost home, he just let it pile up for me. His excuse? He said. "I don't know where the machine is" OMG :mad: :mad:

Then when we moved into our new house, I went on holiday again, and the same story! Tonnes of dirty clothes, he had actually been going out and buying new clothes so he didn't have to wash!!!!!! I freaked out because on top of the laundry, the house was a pig sty. He told me he didnt wash because he didn't know how the machine worked!! I told him I would do his laundry for 5 euros a week, he said he wouldn't pay his girlfriend to do his laundry. So I showed him how to use the machine and ignored the baskets of clothes. On his first try he dyed all his nice white work shirts PINK! hahahahahahahaha ! Then he said that he would pay me the 5 euros and asked me to start washing right away. I told him the price was now 10. Now I get ten euros a week. :p

thank god there are no kids here yet. or are there :rolleyes:

I have NO problem doing Robs laundry as he never does it right & it really annoys the hell out of me. I told him I have no issues doing it, aslong as he brings the baskets upstairs for me.. 2 baskets have been in the baasement for 3 weeks now :eek:

I hate bringing them upstairs, as it hurts my back & I tend to fall up the stairs (I'm not very big so a basket of laundry is super wide to me), so I don't until I run out of clothing & drag them up the stairs & since I have enough to last me a month, I'm glad I only have to do laundry once a month.

I'm also glad Tom will do his own, but its a pain in the butt when he takes out my clean clothing & tosses it on the floor to do his :mad:

I have been trying to convince my husband that he doesn't need clean underwear every day....just turn it inside out and wear it again..... ;) ;) ;) :D

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Originally Posted by Edwina's Secretary

I have been trying to convince my husband that he doesn't need clean underwear every day....just turn it inside out and wear it again..... ;) ;) ;) :D

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HAHAHAHAA

in scouts (as a joke only), the leaders told the boy to wear their underware regular 1 day, & then inside out for the next :D :D

Well, I have to admit that I am NOT the main laundry person here! :eek:
My hubby (aka Suzie Homemaker) is laundry OBSESSED! :rolleyes: I'm surprised we can even afford all the water he uses washing clothes. He absolutely does at least one wash per day.

I used to do all the laundry, but he quickly out-did me by getting obsessive over it. I just spent this past week trying desperately to out-do HIM and get to the bottom of the dirty clothes in our "walk-in" closet, and I still haven't hit the floor. His main thing is washing his own clothes and towels .... but somehow we still end up with TONS of unwashed piles in our closet. I finally decided that we apparently have way too many clothes. Most of it is just t-shirts and jeans too ... but apparently more than enough so that we can go weeks without absolutely HAVING to wash.
So... I have begun washing, and separating out things to give away. Why do we each need 10 or more sloppy t-shirts? I think about 2 or 3 of each item should be enough .. and would force us to wash more regularly.

:confused:

EDIT: I can't believe it. Just as soon as I finished this thread, my hubby came into the bedroom and said "I need to put some clothes in the wash"
:eek:

Kim...just one load a day...I do at least 2 or 3 :D

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Originally Posted by Edwina's Secretary

I have been trying to convince my husband that he doesn't need clean underwear every day....just turn it inside out and wear it again..... ;) ;) ;) :D

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LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Growing up. my mother always did all the laundry because she was so organized and believed in folding sheets, etc perfectly. She used to iron underwear and sheets too! She finally gave up on men's shirts, so off they went to the cleaners.
After I swore I wouldn't break her beloved washer and dryer, I started the washing. But unbeknownst to her, I put all female undergarments in one load, all washable sweaters, sweats etc in one load, all darks etc. Fourgetaboutit-seperating each persons wash.
After mom got sick, I taught my brother how to use the washer, (first born, boy, spoiled). My friend John does his own. I do my own.
The "maid" hasn't quite quit yet, tho I'm the one who's recuperating. Some things, if unattended, drive me nuts so I put them away. But if dried dishes pile up (when I don't use the dish washer), they stay there until somebody does. I'll grocery shop (with help) but rarely put things away-I instruct. I milk it. "My back hurts"! Jeans can be worn more than once, thank you very much, as well as sweatshirts if not dirty or stinky.
I loved my mom, but I'm not her and won't cater to anyone. I have my own life.
My neighbor used to take her kids scattered clothes, shoes, basketballs etc, and lock them in a closet and charged 50c per item to get them back. She made a lot of money!
My newest thing is any unread mail, magazines, newspapers on the table, get instantly trashed.

I wash everything together, always have, in cold water. I can count on one hand the number of times I have had 'problems' from it. I don't see the need to separate into fifty loads all the fabric in the house. That said, I would separate out truly dirty things, in case I wanted them to have a longer wash cycle. Oh, and Jonah's stuff gets washed separately, in lovely smelling baby detergent.

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Originally Posted by caseysmom

I know families where the kids do their own laundry it just doesn't make sense to me because I wash things together that go together.

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That's how it was when my kids were young. They learned early.
I always thought it was a skill they would need someday anyway. :D