How to do less laundry
You might say “duh” after reading this tip for decreasing the amount of laundry. I’m sure you guys are way smarter than me and already do it, but thought I would mention it anyway.
Have your children wear their pajamas at least 2-3 times before washing them!
Since our boys take baths before bedtime, one could assume that their pajamas do not get that dirty. However, I always threw them in the hamper when we took them off in the morning (out of habit).
I read an article on how often to wash various types of clothing last week and it occurred to me that they can re-wear their pajamas at least a couple times before they need washed. It’s amazing how much this has decreased the amount of laundry I have to do for their clothes!
If only they could re-wear the clothes they wear during the day…but that, of course, require them to not look as if they’ve taken a mud bath fully clothed (which is how their clothes look by the end of the day on most days). :)
What tips do you have for reducing the workload at home?
My son would prefer to just keep wearing the same pair of underwear and socks over and over again! I quickly put my foot down on that one!! As silly as it sounds, if we don't have anywhere to go we totally have a pajama day – and if they have worn them twice already it does great on my laundry pile!
We also re-use towels for a couple nights. After taking a shower we are completely clean (just wet) and I see no reason to put a CLEAN towel in the laundry everynight after we shower!
If my son hasn't soiled in his onesie he just wears it to bed instead of wearing 'official pajamas'.
I agree with the towel thing. We hang our towels to dry after our showers and use them again.
Also because I have a girl, she changes her clothes several times just because she feels like it. I really make sure to check the clothes before putting them in the hamper because a lot of the time they were just worn for a couple hours inside and are totally clean (though I know my son will be a different story.)
GREAT IDEA!!! I don't know why I didn't think about that!!! Out of habit I throw them in the hamper every morning!!! I feel dumb!! LOL!!!! I have gotten a tip from the FLY LADY and that is, "One load a day keeps the chaos away!" When I go to bed at night I get a pile together. I put it next to the stairs and when I wake up in the morning and go down stairs I will see the pile. I pick it up and take it straight to the laundry room and then go to the kitchen to make my coffee and breakfast. I put it in the dryer around snack time and the clothes are dry by nap time so I can fold. Hope this helps! :0)
I don't wash sweatshirts, jeans, or other shirts (unless it's an undershirt) unless it's stained after the first use. {I do check for the smell test, but you know…}
My sweet boy puts EVERYTHING in his hamper b/c he's proud that he can. So I have to recheck after he's gone to bed to see if things really belong there.
He also wears his jammies 2-3 nights a row. :-) Great post!
oh, I have clothes issues. I can't rewear jammies and won't have the kids do it. They bathe before putting jammies on, but I just can't do it. I don't feel like they smell fresh after being worn to bed. Blah. We will use towels a few times and hubby and I will wear our jeans 2 times, but other than that, I'd rather wash again. I have issues.
I try to get the kids to wear PJs multiple times, but it can't happen if I don't dress them before breakfast… yucky oatmeal PJs just don't keep well :)
My DD wears her jammies 2-3 nights in a row as well!! It certainly helps with laundry!
the only trouble with rewearing the pj's is sometimes the bottom's smell like pee. The smell must leach through the diaper?? if they don't smell, I reuse them tho.
my mom bought be a three basket laundry thing for christmas the year my oldest was born. BEST THING EVER!!! that way when one type of clothes is full i just grab it and go. i have a crazy need not to dry any of my outer clothes, so i won't mix them with underwear and socks. I also bought my husband another set of undershirts so i wouldn't have to do whites as often – lazy I know but i still feel like i do at least one load a day anyway. and if i don't i have to play catch up the rest of the week…speaking of which better go fold!
FUNNY!!! you would mention! I do let my kids wear their jammies a couple nights in a row, but just the other day my 7 yr. old found her favorite pair of pjs and said can I wear these for SEVEN nights in a row!? LOL!
I have my 4 and 6 year olds trained to wear their outfits two days unless something got dirty. They also put clothes in the "stain pile" if there is a stain that needs treating so I don't forget about it when I wash them.
I try to rewear my two year olds pants if possible!
It is so funny how different laundry is done in different countries! When I lived in the US for a year (in a host family) I was completely shocked how much laundry they did!
All the clothes wear changed daily. I live in Germany – and that is something I had never heard of before. :-)
I was used to putting my clothes in the laundry when they are dirty. Now I will not wear my pjs for a months just because it does not get stained. ;-) But I definitely will not put it in the laundry every day. That goes for "day clothes" as well. (Not for underwear and socks though!)
Also I was shocked to see that even though we lived in Texas ALL the laundry was put in the dryer. Here in Germany it is totally normal to hang dry stuff outside – at least in summer. People do have dryers now – not when I was a kid – but they are usually only used when air drying is not possible like in winter.
So I found this post kinda funny as it never occured to me to change my kids pjs after one use.
(Well, have to add I do change my little ones pj very often after one wear – he has his breakfast in it and he is 1 year old … Still praticing to eat cornflakes withouth spilling them all over himself!) :-)
Denim Jean are the worn the same way at out house. After two or three days then they get thrown in the wash.
Same goes for socks and my cardigans that I wear on an almost daily bases.
I’m from Germany as well (live in the US though), and I agree.. seems funny to me that you would go through all that trouble of washing clothes which aren’t even dirty yet. Underwear and socks I definitely refuse to re-wear.. but everything else? If it didn’t get sweaty or stained, I see no reason to wash it!
I am re-reading this from a link on one of your recent posts, and I thought I’d let you know that we also have our three kids wear their pj’s at least twice if not three times (that is if the toddler doesn’t leak through her diaper) and my husband and I do the same as well. We always use towels for at least two days, too, and pants/skirts don’t get washed immediately either, except for church clothes. The only thing that really goes into the hamper right away at our house is underwear and socks or things that got dirty/stained! :)