My laundry is ridiculous............

**MOMMYDEAREST** · 02-10-2009, 12:34 PM

Ok so I have 7 kids (I think just about everyone knows this) and I expect alot of laundry, but lordy lordy my laundry is ridiculous. I'm averaging about 4-5 loads a day. I make the kids wear the same school uniform pants & skirts 2-3 days in a row. They wear the same pj's 2-3 days in a row. My kids are 13mths, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, & 14. My 14 year old prefers to do her own laundry, & thats fine with me lol. We also reuse towels as much as we can, but they get musty smellin after using them like twice. Any other suggestions????

**rainbowgc** · 02-10-2009, 12:36 PM

No advice but you do have my sympathy LOL. There are only the two of us but I still haven't gotten the weekend loads put away.

**Cricketlegs** · 02-10-2009, 12:40 PM

Wow, I only have one load a day plus I have a steam press to do dhs uniforms for work. The press saves us $100 a month over dry cleaning and it takes me about 45 minutes a week.

I can't imagine. even doing bed linens everyday and curtains I still couldn't scrap up 4 loads a day.

**IntlMom** · 02-10-2009, 12:55 PM

you;re doing great - you;re just gonna have lots of laundry!!

**Cricketlegs** · 02-10-2009, 01:29 PM

Mommydearest! Do some housework and clean out your PMs so I can send you the laundry soap recipe!!!

LOL!

**MOMMYDEAREST** · 02-10-2009, 01:33 PM

OMG I'm laughing hysterically.......lol. Ok I'm cleaning it out right now, I promise!!!

**Cricketlegs** · 02-10-2009, 01:41 PM

LOL! I was thinking ..how do I tell her to clean her box if I can't send anything to her box.....??? LOL!

**YankeeMom** · 02-10-2009, 01:42 PM

I will stop complaining about my laundry now lol. I guess it averages to about 2 loads per day. And I only have four kids, so I think you're doing pretty good. I remember growing up (I was one of six kids) we had 3 loads of laundry EVERY day. One lights, one darks, & one towels. More on the weekends when we did bedding.

**Cricketlegs** · 02-10-2009, 01:43 PM

Ok PM sent!

**Dancing Lotus** · 02-10-2009, 01:49 PM

It's just 4 of us and I always have a ton of laundry. It the one thing I can't keep up with. I can't figure out why, I wear my clothes twice before washing. My dd stays in her pj's most of the day and Dh wears a uniform.

**frugalbabe** · 02-10-2009, 02:28 PM

I have my own battles with the Mt. Washmore pile as well. I do regular clothes laundry on MWF, bathroom stuff on Tuesday and sheets on Thursday -- make my kids wear jeans two days in a row and same with jammies but I can still barely keep up with it all and I "only" have four! It is neverending!

**mommy4ever** · 02-10-2009, 02:35 PM

you know, I'm not sure I can help..lol

I have assigned days to each child. (I have 4). This saves me plenty of time in sorting. I don't need to look at the tags of each pair of undies to see who they belong too. I know that I just did dd9's clothes, so they are hers. I do bedding once a week, and towels as needed. We re-use our towels too. The trick is make sure they can hang to dry, if too crowded, they sour. DD11 and ds14 hang theirs on ahook in their rooms. DD9 is *supposed* to do so as well. Dh and I are good about it. Ours last the week most times. But I don't shower daily.

Are you in a high humidity area? That might be why the towels don't stay fresh for long. Too long for the towel to dry.

**Grainlady** · 02-10-2009, 02:46 PM

My MIL had 8 kids in 15-years (no multiple births and the last two were less than a year apart) and she never had a clothes dryer other than the 6 lines in the back yard, so I'm sure she would be the first person to say how well you are doing.

I do have a suggestion for the little kids...probably won't work with the teen. Instead of using regular bath towels, how about using microfiber towels. You can get a bundle of them in the automotive department at Wal-Mart (and similar stores). They are smaller, but absorbant and dry quickly after they've been used. They DO take special care (no bleach, no washing with "fuzzy" fabrics, etc.), but may be worth the trouble.

Hubby and I use these in the summer at our "groady" shower - the shower we use when we're disgustingly dirty from outdoor projects. Especially when I can end up taking a couple showers a day after working outside. Using the small microfiber towels work great and really saved on the towel load.

Idea #2. My daughter purchased a bunch of Turby-Twist Hair Towels - http://www.cosmeticmall.com/product_...tion_id=447258 - at Big Lots and she said using these for her and her 13-year old daughter's long hair has helped reduce the towel load. They dry quickly because they aren't thick or large, so they use one each for a week.

Idea #3. I have a wall-mounted accordian-style drying rack - http://www.containerstore.com/browse...8&PRODID=60113 - in the laundry room that might work in your bathroom to use for drying towels you plan to reuse. If you don't get enough air flow from your floor vent, set a fan to blow on the towels to help dry them quicker to prevent them from getting musty-smelling. We use our towels for a week.

I use my wall-mounted accordian drying rack to dry anything wet before it's tossed in the laundry baskets.

**elphie** · 02-10-2009, 04:36 PM

I think its time for some of the other kiddos to jump in and help out... my kids are 8 and 9 and both do their own laundry, I help them fold what doesn't get hung up but the rest is their responsiblity.

My kiddos wear their pjs for about 4 days... their only sleeping in them after all.

If you don't have space to hang the towels pop them in the dryer on air dry for about 10 minutes to prevent the musty smell.

That's all I've got... my hat's off to you though.