s/o kids hygiene: laundry?

potbellypig · December 2014

For those of you who change kids clothes every day, do you do tons of laundry? Part of the reason I decide LOs would wear the same thing twice was to try to cut back on how much laundry I had to do. In the same vein, how often do you wash linens?

Sept07b2b · December 2014

K3am said:

We do 2-4 loads of clothing a week, including ours. Depends on a lot of things.

For our clothes, if they're not dirty, smelly, or worn too many times, we wear them at least once or twice. If DD's fell into those categories, we would do the same.. But hers never do.

This is essentially us. The kids usually wear the same pjs a couple of days in a row, but it's clean clothes every day. DD is 2.5, DS is 5. Their clothes are still small enough to where we can usually get away with doing one load with their stuff for the week. One load for me, one load for DH and one load of towels, linens, etc. Our washer/dryer is pretty big, but I do HATE putting clothes away!

Helenahhandbasket · December 2014

PrivacyWanted said:

I don't sort the kids clothes so it all goes into one load a week.

THey are both filthy at the end of the end of a DC day so I can't imagine not washing those

This totally.

How do your kids not get all the things on them?

vvvvvfee · December 2014

i usually do 2 loads of adult clothes per week, 1 load of DS's (filthy) clothes (he's 2, so his clothes are still pretty tiny), and 1 load of assorted bath & kitchen towels/sheets/blankets. DH and i both wear things like pants and sweaters multiple times if they don't get noticeably dirty. so i feel like we don't have a ton of adult laundry, but DS's stuff just gets so filthy from spills, art supplies, diaper leaks, etc., that we have to wash everything after each wear.

ideally i'd change our sheets every other week, and wash our blankets maybe once a month. but in reality these days it's more like once a month for everything. i wash our bath/kitchen towels once a week.

sdlaura · December 2014

I usually do 4 loads of laundry a week - one load for the kids, two loads for adults (one hot and one cold/delicate), and one load for towels. I try to do sheets every other week but usually it's a little less often.

Mustardseed2007 · December 2014

I feel horrible and liberated all at once that I can't answer this question. My husband does all our laundry.

I do know the sheets on our bed are changed weekly (unless something terrible like the stomach flu happens) b/c our housekeeper does that. I can't believe I'm this person. I do other stuff, though!

ccam · December 2014

I do about 6 loads of laundry a week - DH's work clothes, our darks, my lights/whites, a load for DS and DD each and a load of towels, sheets, etc. DS wears everything once (except maybe heavier sweatshirts). He's 2 and everything is always dirty plus he could probably fit his entire wardrobe in one load of laundry so I just wash it all.

ErinO21 · December 2014

I usually wash LOs clothes every other week. He has a ton so he can go a week and a half or so without clean laundry. DH's laundry is a whole different ball game. He's a firefighter/paramedic so he requires at least one load per week because who knows what he brings home with him. My laundry gets done every other week and usually requires 2 loads. Sheets get washed like once a month, maybe less. It's not a huge concern of mine.

shannm · December 2014

I do about four loads of clothes each week. Linens and towels about every other week.

potbellypig · December 2014

Helenahhandbasket said:

PrivacyWanted said:

I don't sort the kids clothes so it all goes into one load a week.

THey are both filthy at the end of the end of a DC day so I can't imagine not washing those

This totally.
How do your kids not get all the things on them?

I guess I'm really not a stickler on kids clothes. I feel kind of bad for them now! They get a few crusties, but honestly unless it's really bad (more than one dirty spot) I will try to put them in the clothes again. I feel like I'm way behind on laundry as is, I can't imagine new clothes every day.

I think I need to step it up somehow!

[Deleted User] · December 2014

We do so many loads of laundry...gym clothes, work clothes and PJ/lounge clothes. That's 3 outfits a day for DH and I.

I let DS wear the same PJs for a few days.

PhDMomma · December 2014

I try to throw in a load everyday. But everyone's clothing gets washed together....so it's just what's in the hampers along with towels. Ds has a ton of clothes, so he just wears things once between washes.

[Deleted User] · December 2014

I usually do a load on Thursday then a marathon session all weekend.

shakinros · December 2014

Maybe 5 loads a week. I hate it. Right now there are still 3 loads of laundry in the laundry room waiting to be folded. At least 3 more loads to do this weekend. And after reading this thread, I feel like I need to change all out sheets! Ugh.

kristennd · December 2014

LO's laundry alone is two loads a week and pretty much always has been.

Like I said in the other thread, he gets a new outfit every morning but I frequently put the day's shirt or pants back in the closet for another wear. It only takes one spot of food for me to put it in the laundry basket, but he just stays remarkably clean.

Virgo17 · December 2014

We do have a lot of laundry, but I just don't like rewearing clothes or reusing towels, so I deal with it.

There are five of us so I probably do 4 loads of towels per week, 2 loads of kid clothes, and 3 loads of adult clothes. Sheets I do once a week. We don't have duplicate sets, so I wash, dry, and remake the bed.

jlaOK · December 2014

We do laundry on weekends and its 6 loads - kids, light, dark, gentle, jeans, towels/sheets. It's not too bad but folding/putting away the kids clothes is my least favorite part.

DiveFrog · December 2014

I would say I do at least 3 loads a week. All of our laundry is mixed together so, 1-2 dark,1-2 light, 1 diaper load/week. Then every other week I do 1 dark towel/sheet load and 1 light towel and sheet load. DD's (2.5yr) laundry has drastically increased since she was say a year old because she just gets everything on her clothes. Also, it has increased since DH switched jobs 2 years ago. He used to work for a company that had a uniform company that cleaned all his shirts and pants/shorts. That was amazing.

Laundry is the one chore that I really can't keep up on completely. Things get cleaned for sure, but getting everything folded/on hangers/back to closets and drawers just doesn't usually happen. On rare occasions I get completely behind and my Dad who is the laundry king will come over and get us totally caught up.

KayteeGee · December 2014

This.

K3am said:
For our clothes, if they're not dirty, smelly, or worn too many times, we wear them at least once or twice. If DD's fell into those categories, we would do the same.. But hers never do.

I think the two kids probably have enough for 2 or 3 loads each week - the nanny does them. Honestly OP, your kids just must be cleaner than mine because it never ever occurred to me not to wash everything every time.

DH does his own laundry.

I have two types of clothes - those that go in the washer and/or dryer (I do pull stuff to line dry) in one big load - meaning I don't separate colors unless I have enough laundry to warrant two loads. And those that go to the cleaners. I just don't have time to devote more energy than that to
laundry. And I'm sure this is not cost efficient and I really don't care.

Housekeeper changes the sheets biweekly

2chatter · December 2014

After reading the responses this sounds crazy - but we average 10-12 loads/week and much of it hangs out in the laundry room for a while. DH somehow managed to mix up the kids clothes so their clothes are all in each others rooms on piles on the floor and no one has underwear or socks. I need a couple of hours - seriously - to unwind this insanity.

2 load towels/week (double this in the summer when we have beach towels)

2 loads sheets/week

4 loads (1 per child + miscellaneous from sports, activities, nap mat)/week

1 load for me

2 loads for DH (I have no idea how he generates so much laundry; also he sometimes will break his into 4 smaller loads and it makes it impossible for me to get things done).

mlee116 · December 2014

I'd say we do about 3-5 loads a week, just depending. We normally have to wash after every wear, unless its something we just wore for a few hours (like to church or something). We try to get a couple of nights out of pj's. I wash all of our clothes together and do towels and sheets separately.

I normally do a couple of loads during the week and the rest gets done during the weekend. The loads that get done during the week may sit in the dryer for a day or two before getting folded, then I stack the folded laundry on the dryer as its done and put it all up after I've done the weekend laundry. I feel like its manageable by breaking it up over the week.

mae0111 · December 2014

The kids re-wear dress up clothes if they can, and PJ's twice. Everything else gets washed after 1 wear.

DH has gym clothes and work clothes every day. He really doesn't need to wash work pants every time, but he's too lazy to hang them up, so he throws them in the hamper. My running stuff gets washed every day, and I try to wear my work stuff at least twice.

So 1 load for all of the kids' stuff (I have a huge washing machine), 2 loads sheets/towels (more in the summer since we have a pool), a warm dark load, cold dark load, cold dark load that is hung to dry, and a white load. Sometimes our nanny does the kids stuff, which is awesome.

itsmevkb · December 2014

I tend to do all the laundry on Sundays. I do my own, the kids and household stuff but not my husband's clothes. The kids stuff is typically three loads (that's with four kids) and I try to put my stuff in with one of those. So, when I tack on the towels, bed sheets, etc. that would make four loads total in a typical week.

I tell my kids to wear jeans more than once and even more than twice if there are no visible stains. Their pj's they can wear all week for all I care and it actually drives me nuts that my oldest daughter wears a new pair each night. Shirts and such are normally one time wear items. As for linens? I'm horrible at changing beds so honestly that probably gets done once or twice a month. Towels I tend to do once a week but I also believe towels can be used more than once. You're clean when you get out of the bath or shower so they are getting wet, not dirty.

glaw · December 2014

I feel like the laundry is always on. And we change her clothes multiple times per day. Pjs to play clothes then if those get dirty then it gets changed or after the park I change it (or wherever she goes out) to minimize germs and before naps bc I don't like her to sleep in her play clothes especially if she was at the park. So gross. Once there was poop on a slide at our really nice park and she slid down it before I saw had someone else's poop on her pants. Barf. So yes I change her a lot resulting in lots of laundry. She also has a lot of clothes so we could do less and then one massive load but a) my machine is small and b) I don't do the laundry so I don't really care.

emberlee3 · December 2014

We probably average 6 loads/week, 7 if I am washing sheets. My washer is kind of small. I usually wash a load of kids' stuff midweek and the rest on the weekend.

2-Step · December 2014

We reuse pajamas and jeans a couple times for my older son, but my younger is still in pull-ups at night and I think that makes his Pjs kinda stinky. We do at least two loads for the kids each week and usually 2-3 for us because I do delicates, whites ,darks and jeans separately for us, plus a load of towels and a load of linens weekly. I feel like laundry is just constant. I rotate linens so the kids one week and ours the next.

itsmevkb · December 2014

indyrowergirl said:

Oh, Laundry. The PP about housekeepers and what you can hire out has inspired me to consider hiring out the laundry. At this point, I do every Sunday 3 loads of lights (kids/us, towels/sheets, delicates), 3 loads of darks (kids, us, delicates) and probably 1 extra load in there somewhere. I don't mind the sorting/washing/drying so much. It's the folding/hanging/putting it away that kills me. (DH hates it too, so he rarely helps.) DH's work clothes go to the dry cleaners, so that's also another piece of it to manage. Ugh.

I haven't read all the other responses but I know there are some places where you can drop your laundry off and then pick it back up all clean and folded. I too hate the putting it away so that doesn't solve that problem. If there was a laundry place close to me that did drop offs I would so use them, but the one place I've found in my city is too far away for me to justify using it.

kmh2201 · December 2014

My LOs only wear their clothes once before the clothes go in the dirty clothes hamper. Because they are at daycare or school all day, they typically get something on their clothes, and I am grossed out by the thought of other kids sneezing on them, etc. My mom is my hero and she does the kids' laudry (clothes, towels, sheets) every week when she comes on Friday, which is the day my parents take care of the kids while DH and I are at work. I do my laundry and the sheets and towels for me and DH, and he does his clothes. That all seems to work pretty well.

If there is a week my parents don't come, the amount of time to do laundry definitely starts to feel like too much. Or maybe it's just the timing of this question, because my parents haven't been down the past couple weeks due to Thanksgiving and then DD was sick (stomach bug, so I told them not to come) and the combination of doing their regular laundry plus all the extra laundry from both LOs being sick (DS was sick yesterday), I'm recently feeling very overwhelmed by laundry.

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