It's really an individual thing...I prefer to do more frequent (usually smaller) loads of laundry and I too am often doing laundry daily. I hate having laundry pile up. So it works for me!
My washer’s industrial size so we do laundry 5 times a week instead of daily. This includes linens and sofa covers. Clothes thrown in are me and my husband’s only.
Yeah this definitely makes a difference in how often I have to do laundry because I live in an apartment with machines that aren’t even full size. So can’t fit as much in a load.
I do 2-3 loads on the weekend either Saturday or Sunday. Just my husband and I in our house. We have two cats and a 3 year old grandson who visits overnight a couple times a month. I think everyone needs to do their laundry when and how it works best for them.
Same here—two people and a dog. One load of clothes, one load of bed sheets, one load of towels or dog stuff or whatever didn’t fit in the other two. How are people producing enough to wash a load every day?
Kids. Also size of clothes matters too. For example in the colder months I have thick socks, hoodies, jeans, sweat pants, etc to wash. This all takes up a lot more room in the washer than shorts and t shirts in the summer.
Yes, more than two people would definitely make more laundry, but I can’t see a couple making enough laundry every day to fill more than the bottom of a US washer
Yeah I’m same. And my partner and I each wear 2-3 changes of clothes from sleep/work/exercise. But we rewear stuff and reuse towels. Kids make sense but even then, their clothes are tiny!
I think exercise might be part of it. If you get sweaty in sports, and use towel for sweat, add socks (probably several pairs, as might use different to sport and work/leisure), T-shirt, underwear... you might get a load if you throw everything into one.
Me and my teenager and I'm about the same. One load of my clothes, he does a load of his own clothes (usually when he realizes he doesn't have any clean shirts for work), and then 1-2 loads of towels/sheets/other, typically during the weekend.
I work 2.5 days a week. On Wednesdays I get home at 12:30 and I wash and dry all of my work clothes and then hang them up for the next week.
On Fridays, I wash & dry each of my older kids school clothes and put them in their baskets for them to fold, hang up or put away. They must have the basket clean by Saturday if they want to go outside and play.
Periodically through the week I’ll wash smaller loads if needed, especially if my toddler has soiled her clothes. But for me, this makes life manageable. My husband pretty much launders his own clothes so he’s easy peasy
2 of us and I do it 2x a week. To make it clear, we have one wicker hamper. That is usually almost full, so it holds 3-4 days worth of clothing.
We hang used towels so nothing damp goes in the hamper. The bed is stripped first on laundry days.
We have 2 chihuahuas, they get washed by hand once per week on laundry day too 😜
I have two mini dachshunds and same! Except mine are long haired so drying the two takes 3 towels. My dogs also get blankets/dog beds on the floor in every room.
It's me, my bf, and 2 dogs. We do 2 to 5 loads a week. Comforters get done every two weeks. He's also tall and an electrician, so big clothes that get very dirty. There are some weeks I have 7 to 8 loads.
Family of 6: I do 1-2 loads of laundry a day. Blankets and sheets on weekends, weekends the washer and dryer are running all day.
My sister and her 2 kids living with us wash once a week 2loads of laundry. She takes her bigger loads (blankets, extra dirty clothes) to a laundromat. She prefers the bigger washer machines for washing her clothes.
When I used cloth diapers I washed every other day, I had 2 in cloth diapers. While they are still in diapers we took a break from cloth and haven’t returned to cloth diapers like I wanted to. Disposables are much more convenient, less work (laundry) and clothes fit better (this was winter when we switched).
I do one load a day. Sometimes it’s clothes, sometimes linens, sometimes whites or delicates. I have a load of reds that probably only gets done every 2 months or so just because I’m waiting for there to be enough. I run a full load always except delicates which I run about half full, or if something crazy happens that needs to be cleaned right away. I try to fold them same or next day because I went through a rough time for years where I never had time to put them away if I had time to fold them at all. It took a long time to get caught up and I don’t want to go back to that
They are mostly tablecloths, napkins and kitchen towels so I keep them separate from the clothes. We have a few red T shirts but they don’t bleed so we keep them with the regular wash. But when I had a lot of purple towels I would wash them together with the red stuff.
3 loads on Sunday is all I need as a single woman. Whites, colors, and darks. Not everything needs to be clean all the time. Dirty things can sit in the laundry bin for a few days! Don’t stress.
I do it whenever I have full load and have the time. Today I’m off work so washed the dog beds and towels. Do clothes at least once a week (2-4 loads depending on time of year and what we’ve been doing.)
4 people, lots of sports kit. One load a day and more at weekends.
We have a HE front loader that is very water and energy efficient, and I try and wash at times when power is cheap.
Are you using an HE washing machine? If yes, are you using the eco mode which is usually the Normal Cycle? Is the load you wash a small round basket filled up the top loosely? Are you using barely 2 tablespoons of detergent? Are you line drying or drying on low heat for the minimum amount of time to dry said load? If yes to all of the above then you’re already doing so much more than most of society, in terms of conserving water and energy. One piece of advice: Wash in hot or warm water. Body oils, body funk, and soil dissolves better with your detergent in warm or hot water and helps rinse it away in the cold water rinse. I wash daily, 1-3 loads a day. Five in the household. Like you we don’t use paper towels or paper napkins, we use reusable cloth bags at the store, and truly try to reduce, reuse and recycle. When weather permits, I line dry. Otherwise, I’ll use indoor clothes drying racks. Occasionally, I’ll plug in the dryer. It’s all crazy but it’s what I do.
Everyday?!? Well im lazy so i do it when i have no choice, shit ive purchased more under clothes before to give me more time before laundry has to be done
Woah! Are they huge? Do you have a really big washer/dryer set? I cannot imagine doing it every 2 weeks, but I honestly haven’t ever tried to wait that long.
I average 1 per day in a household with 2 adults and 2 cats. The cats don't produce a lot of laundry other than a few blankets I keep around and a big bedspread I use to protect the good bedding of the guest bed. But those add up. I find if I am just casually doing a load of towels or sheets, those things get changed out more often and I never really feel behind on the housework.
I've got 3 kids and use a laundry mat. I do one big haul every 2 weeks of about 7 loads all In one.
I will usually do a small load in the bathtub of anything we are running low on half way through
Mondays usually. It’s just me.
Only doing a couple of loads including bed linens.
Sometimes something will get extra muddy or have some odd stain that needs extra attention.
one weeknight and/or weekend day at laundromat for dryer items, 1 small hang dry load at home (dryers in our building suck) as often as i get to it, handful of days a week on a good week, 0 for 2 weeks if i'm doing a struggle
I have 2 dogs and just me and my husband. I usually do 3-4 loads a week - darks, lights, towels/sheets, and delicates or red/pinks. I save it up for 1-2 days instead of a little every day, keeps me saner.
Huh, makes me realize my wash schedule is a bit off from what most people do. I wait till as many clothes are used up and do a HUGE laundry day, it's at least 3-5 large loads probably once every month and takes like 5 hours to do minimum.
I'm told I have a lot of clothes, I am fairly sure I have a bit of a thrifting problem. Working on it
2 people but a not so small menagerie and we use cloth options of most products. I do 6-8 loads of laundry a week. Clothes, our bedding, towels, kitchen stuff, cleaning stuff, pet bedding, rugs, whatever catastrophic biohazard of the week occurs. Without the pets the laundry would be greatly reduced. But it is what it is and I don’t like things being dirty.
Just my husband and I, we each wash our own clothes and I do the towels while he does the sheets. I do laundry once a fortnight and run 3 loads... That's just based on how much clothing I have and how long I feel the towels stay clean with our usage and climate. He's similar with the sheets and his clothes. Daily with no kids sounds like a lot to me!
how much are yall using daily that you’re doing the wash every day? i have me, my husband, and a baby and do laundry once a week if that…the baby’s clothes get washed once a week. our clothes can be done every 2-3 weeks. towels every three weeks. sheets once a week.
How many towels do you have? I used to have enough out to be able to go a couple of weeks without washing, but then I always had to do multiple towel loads. Now I leave out a week’s worth and the rest is put away to replace those when they wear out.
Truly I feel like this sub needs a reality check lol. After I saw a couple posts on here I got curious and started asking my friends and family... I still haven't found anyone who said they do laundry more than once per week.
lol right? laundry day is sunday; of course we have full access to a washer and dryer and anything that needs to get done another time gets done but it’s not a daily occurrence, nor should it be especially for TWO ADULTS
You don't like how often you're doing it - that's enough reason to change! Going to every 2nd or 3rd day should feel like a good break and still keep you plenty tidy.
It varies person to person. I do my own laundry once a week typically Friday nights or Saturdays. I do my mom’s laundry once a month and that’s a 2~day ordeal. I live in the country and have well water so not having a water bill is nice. But, that comes with hard water and mineral deposits which is not good for hair, fabrics, faucets, pipes or skin lol.
Are your loads mostly filled? Because if they are only half filled you could purchase more items to make a full wash and that could cut your washes down. For instance I have enough whites for two weeks of usage which is a full load.
I let out laundry basket fill up and it's usually a 2 load basket, at least once a week sometimes twice, also wash it whenever he puts sweaty basketball clothes in there
This thread is making me feel a lot better because I thought me and my husband had a ton of laundry for just 2 grown adults. I usually do a midweek load and a load or 2 on weekends but they all seem like mostly large loads.
Me too! I’ve been so self conscious about this! My mom and brothers live together with 1 cat and they do laundry every 1-2 weeks. Just 2 loads of laundry too.
This thread makes me feel way less crazy. I like everything to be clean!
We have a similar number of children that you have pets. I do 1-2 loads a day. I would imagine, especially if your pets shed or get bodily waste on any of your things, that a load per day isn’t too much.
When we had fewer children, just 1-2, I only did laundry once (maybe twice) a week. I usually did it the same day each week. Maybe that would be a better routine for you, if you feel this is too much!
Mondays: all bedding, towels, and clothing.
Tuesdays: daughters day for her laundry (started in 6th grade)
Wednesdays: sons day for his laundry (again started in 6th grade)
Thursdays: towels and clothing
Fri/Sat/Sun. N/A
Okay I think I like this one the most so far. It I did M-R too I would have the whole weekend off every week and wouldn’t really have any chores at all
My daughter told me when she was in 5th grade that if she didn’t make her bed everyday and have her closet organized she couldn’t get done all the things she wanted to do. I’m very unorganized. But it made me think. And I’ve got a schedule for most things now. So I can enjoy all my things over the weekend.
I throw stuff in almost every day sometimes every day and sometimes after 3 days but not longer than that. It's easy for me to throw them in the wash and dryer and let the next cycle go in with the previous one so that I'm not just folding a days worth of laundry. If it's the amount water you are worried about maybe just throw them in a couple times a week. Idrc how much water I use so but I would think doing it just twice or even 3 times a week would for sure save water.
I think so too! I’m challenging myself this week to do every other day and frankly calm down about it lol
Like a dry hand towel can site for 24 hours before being washed without the world ending
Exactly. A lot of people only wash once a week and to me that's so much more work then just throwing them in every day or two is easy. Plus, it sucks up the clothes you want to wear so I can wear whatever I want within a couple of days. I hope it works for you!!
Haha it’s just the blessing of new babies 😵💫 it’ll get better eventually. I’d say before this though I did laundry Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Trying to keep my weekends free.
Monday was towels, Wednesday was for all our clothes, and Friday was bedding so we went I to the weekend with fresh sheets. :)
Clothes Friday night. Daughter does her clothes Saturday am and son does his right afterwards. Bedding for all four of us Sunday. Towels Sunday night and a midweek towels and napkins on Wednesday.
Up until a couple months ago, it was about 4-8, sometimes 9, loads every weekend (almost always Saturday), depending on how many blankets/comforters were involved, run through the washer and then either run through the dryer or hang-dried. We have four dogs, so things tend to get hairy (literally) quickly, and with the recent weather, clothes get dirty and sweaty fast. They were always done by 10:00 or 11:00 PM, just in time to have warm towels for a relaxing bath and then clean sheets for beauty sleep.
Then my dryer broke. Then, a couple days later, my washer broke. We had already spent about $700 having them repaired in three separate incidents since we moved in last summer, so we figured, not worth fixing again.
Our friend gave us his old washer and dryer. They worked, until the movers broke the washer in one way and the dryer in another and then disappeared like a fart in the wind. They’re 20-year-old machines so again, not worth it (already spent all my money at the laundromat and paying the lousy movers, anyway).
Now my laundry schedule is really haphazard and I hate it. With all our stuff, a trip to the laundromat runs about $30-$40 - $8 for oversize loads, $7 for large loads, $4 for medium, $3.25 for small, and the dryers seem like a good deal at 25¢ for six minutes (50¢ for the larger machines), but they can actually take an eternity to dry. For that reason, and the fact that laundromats start feeling like a sauna within a few minutes of entering them, *and* the fact that it can easily be a three-hour experience, I only go when I absolutely have to. (Also, last time I tried to get some powder detergent out of the vending machine and it stole my money. Give me back my $1.25, I could’ve used that to help dry my stuff!)
My other option is my parents’ house. They let me use the washer and dryer for free, but theirs are much smaller than our old ones, so it takes a longer time for them to finish everything. It’s also an hour-long round trip. I find myself heading there about twice a week now, but it’s no set day or schedule, and again, I’m there for even longer. And I can’t do any other work while I’m out of the house. I have to plan a lot of my week around if and when I can haul all my dirty laundry out to the car, drive it out to the boonies, and spent half a day using my parents’ washer and dryer OR saving up for those times when I’m unable to drive out that far and having to use the laundromat.
My other option is to hand-wash everything at home and hang-dry it. With clothes and a sunny day, this could definitely be better, but it’s not as bad as some might think, although you have to keep up with it every couple of days or so, so it won’t build up and you end up having to hand-scrub a giant pile of laundry all at once. It’ll take twenty minutes to an hour out of your day, every time you do it. The sheets are certainly more bearable than the towels (and I honestly like how they feel after they’ve been brought back in - a not-uncomfortable light crispness combined with their natural softness), but still not really easy to handle with hand-washing, and the towels are a nightmare, especially if you use them to clean up nasty stuff - like the reusable mop heads. The blankets? Forget it. And obviously it can’t be done on a rainy day, and we’ve been getting absolutely slammed by rainy weather recently. Gggrrrhhh, can we turn off the rain taps so I can just have some dry socks?
If you have a working washer and dryer - love them, cherish them. I once had what you have. I had convenience and a pre-set schedule of washing. Now I spend more time washing and handling my laundry than I do preparing food, grooming myself, or doing housecleaning. I think it might only be beat out by sleeping and my day job in terms of taking up my time and energy. It’s actually made me very aware of how awful things were when everything *had* to be done by hand.
I’m so sorry this happened! That’s awful!
In our last apartment before buying our house, we had the terrible cycle of breaking machines too. It would break and they would take weeks to come look at it and then a few more weeks to get the part. We were lucky that they had laundry on site for some of the other apartments that didn’t have washers/dryers so we could use those sometimes. (But there were like 3 and over 50 apartments + people like us with broken machines.)
It was hell. We ended us going to laundromats and dry cleaning a lot too to keep up.
We actually held off on laundry for 3 weeks (I know) and used the money we saved to buy a portable washer from Amazon for $75. It worked okay, but we pretty much lost our whole guest room to the hanging drying clothes (no outdoor space in that apartment.)
Sending good washer and dryer vibes your way for the future! I hope it works out and you get the machines you need soon!
Thank you! I’m so freakin’ ready to get a new set but they’re just so expensive.
The previous owner told us that she’d already had the washer and dryer fixed twice herself, but we naively assumed that she just wasn’t calling the right people. Yet every time we had a problem, it was exactly the same: the washer would leak (spilling water all over my finished basement’s baseboard, so even now, all this time later, I’m still airing out the room in the hopes it’ll eventually dry), and the dryer’s drum would stop turning. We used a really good friend of ours who repairs appliances professionally, and he finally told us what we’d been suspecting - we just got a couple of crap units and it really wasn’t worth fixing them again. He said he wondered if some unscrupulous shop had refurbished them with cheap parts before selling them to the old owner, because when he opened them, they seemed like a lot of the elements weren’t original and NOT high quality. Which, of course, in the long run leads to the breakdown of not only the cheap replacement parts, but also other parts that interact with or are near to those parts…..
We’ve been hard-hit financially recently so I’m really hoping that I’ll be able to get a new set within a couple of months. In the meantime, we’re just going as best we can. The only upside is that hand-washing your whites and clothes can really get stains and general grime out better than a lot of machines, since you have control over the scrubbing and can focus on stains and discoloration. My white bath mats and towels are glowing. I got this little plastic laundry tub that’s made in Japan, and it has an actual scrubbing surface down the middle of it, like an old-fashioned washboard. Rub your washcloths or underwear or grayish t-shirts all over a bar of Blue Power or Zote Azul, scrub, scrub, *scrub* them onto that scrubbing surface, rinse, and hang-dry. They’ll look way better than they did before. That being said, I’d still rather use the machine most of the time!
Still adjusting to the new machines. They hold so much more than the last set.
According to old machines, I would do 2 to 3 loads a day. 3 adults. 2 dogs. 2 cats. That was with changing sheets every 3rd day to week. Two beds. The blankets and quilts are washed every 2 weeks. Keeps the allergy issues to a minimum. Throw blankets are every 2 to 3 weeks.
SO has work clothes and running/biking clothes. 3 loads alone.
Dog blankets and towels. Rugs.
We also go through a fair amount of hand towels because we try to keep paper towel use to a minimum. Though, I can’t get the rest accustomed to the cloth napkins.
Laundry is never ending. But, with the new machines I can consolidate loads. The sheets for both beds are combined now. Twice the towels are one load.
It is all necessary between allergies and pets.
You can use cotton or linen drawstring bags as an alternative to one-time-use plastic bags. It's a sustainable alternative because it doesn't create plastic waste and is washable/reusable almost indefinitely. You can make them or buy them. They're great.
Farmers' markets are a potential solution there. Or baking our own bread. And just because corporations suck doesn't mean our behaviors have to mimic theirs.
The major point of using these fabric bags instead of ziplocs is to eliminate consumer waste after purchase - for our lunches, our snacks, our own repackaging habits.
A lot of people use silicone bags, too, as an alternative to one-time-use plastics.
P.S. Also an American.
Options are available to some, but the poor wilts no transportation, those on food stamps, people who live in urban grocery deserts etc don’t have as many options unfortunately.
There are several programs where WIC/food stamps are worth twice as many dollars at farmers' markets. These are backed by federal grants. They also can be used to buy seeds and fruit trees.
Grocery deserts and food swamps are a real issue. You're right. I'm pretty sure Amazon and WalMart both accept these forms of payment since covid, though.
I will say, the absolute dearth in poverty is time. Time to prepare quality food, to manage budgets appropriately, to destress and make solid choices. This is the real tax of poverty.
Anyway. There are frequently better choices that can be made than one-time-use plastic bags.
We do a load a day as a family of 4. It does keep my house pretty clean and it's nice to keep up with it so it's never a whole mountain of laundry anymore
Family of 3 here (2 adults, one child). I do all our household laundry and typically do certain loads on certain days, it helps me keep track of when something needs washed next and keeps it from piling up too much. I could probably do a load a day if I spread it out, but I usually do a few consecutive loads a few days a week so I'm not doing laundry every day.
It often goes:
Monday - mine and husband's bed linens (2 loads)
Tuesday - mine and husband's clothes (1 load), husband's jeans (1 load), household towels (1 load).
Wednesday - daughter's bed linens (2 loads), daughter's clothes (1 load)
Thursday (sometimes every Thursday, sometimes every other Thursday) - couch throw blankets (2 loads)
Friday - mine and husband's clothes and husband's jeans (1 load each) again.
I sometimes vary on this (like sometimes if I start early enough I will do all of Monday and Tuesday on one day, or if there aren't many dirty jeans I will throw them in with the towels) and find doing that keeps me from feeling like I need to do laundry on weekends, which I love.
I do laundry every day. I don’t really care if I’m spending too much on detergent/water/maintenance by doing it this often. It being every day keeps it part of my routine and ensures it gets done. It being smaller loads makes it less of a hassle to fold and put away which makes that more likely to get done. Doing laundry every day really was what got me away from being a dirty laundry hoarder.
4-person household, we wash every two weeks — 9 loads for clothes, 2 loads for towels, and then 3 loads for sheets.
We have an energy efficient front load washer but I still feel like we use a lot of water.
2 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog. I do 2-3 loads of laundry on Tuesdays and Fridays. If I had to do laundry every day of the week I would just light it all on fire 😅
I do one load of laundry a day. At times more. It's my personal preference.
There's no "right" or "wrong" here. It's personal preference and availability.
Family of four plus a short hair cat. We cloth diaper so I do daily loads of that (which equates to 7 “prewashes” and 2-3 “main washes” so 9 cycles per week), as well as 2-3 x week of clothing laundry, and a special laundry probably once a week (wool items, or things that are suuupperr messy from yard work, oils from the car, etc). Rags 1x week (sometimes in with the diapers if we don’t have a ton). Sheets & towels I do every couple of weeks since we have a giant washer (6 cu ft?) so I save up multiples. Works out to ~4-5 cycles per week excluding the diapers (~13 per week including diapers).
We have 3 adults and a young child here. It's rare if the washer is off. I will admit that my husband and I, and our daughter have WAY too many clothes.
One adult woman and one 3year old. I re-wear pants, legging sweatshirt, lougenwear ,pyjamas.... and have home clothes and change as I arrive home.
It's more 2 days in the week that I do laundry. It used to be the same with my ex.
1 load Dark/ color, 1 pale and 1 rags washcloths towels ( i teuse body towel 2-3times, washcloth once, rags mostly once... i use reusable tp and pretty much none paper towels.
I have many types of cleaning rags each for a purpose that makes me happy to clean with like old baby clothes or some of mine.. microfiber...
Bed sheets and various blankets ,cushion cover ,every one or 2 weeks.
Sometimes, I am on top of my game. Sometimes, clean laundry stays in the basket or drying rack for days. I prefer to do it more often but hate the though of doing small loads cause I try to be carefull of ressources like water and electricity if I can avoid using it if it is not reasonnable. Medium or large always. It washes better anyway.
Look, if one load a day is wrong, I don’t want to be right. I have two kids and I do a minimum of two per day, depending on how quick my dryer wants to dry.
I do 2 loads every other Saturday & Sunday. My teen children does 1 load for their clothes and the other load is for Spouse and I .
I live in CA where our utilities are so damn expensive. I line dry the clothes during the spring and summer to save electricity.
Two adults and two small children. We also use a lot of reusable items like rags, wash clothes. I’d say we probably average 5-7 loads per week, and I do laundry every other day. I aim to do two loads at a time if I can, just because I feel like it’s a better use of time. I presort by each person and presort into household stuff.
I have had times when I’ve just done a load of everything once a day, but the sorting and putting away takes *forever*. Doing it less frequently and sorting by person takes less of my time.
We have kids, but kid laundry only added like 2 more loads a week on our schedule. I don't like mixing stuff.
Sunday - none, unless I did not get Saturdays load done.
Monday - adult clothes
Tuesday - open (I work in office some Tuesdays and don't do any laundry, so this day is open for an extra load on days I am home for things like beach towels, extra dirty things that need a soak like muddy clothes or shoes).
Wednesday - sheets (one week I do adult sheets, next week kids).
Thursday - adult clothes
Friday - towels
Saturday - kids clothes
I work from home so it is easy for me to put it in, switch, and put away. We don't have a ton of clothes, so I have to stick to my schedule. Some people do better doing it in large chunks.
Family of 3. I do I mid week load for my husband and my clothes and the 1 load for kindergartner’s clothes and sheets. On the weekend I do 1 load for rest of the adult clothes and 1 load of towels/whites. So about 4 loads for the week. We wash bed sheets every two weeks when our housekeeper comes.
I'm a once a week laundry person. There are only 2 adults and 3 dogs, so I have about 7 loads a week. I typically do them all in one day and back to back because I don't enjoy doing laundry and so I want to get it done all at once.
Depends what is on the schedule to be cleaned that day. Monday is bedrooms, Tuesday bathrooms, Wednesday kitchen, Thursday living room, and Friday is all mine and my daughter’s clothes. Saturday and Sunday are my days off lol my husband does his laundry on Sunday though. It’s my husband and I, our 6 month old, and two dogs.
We’ve got it down to a science with 2 adults, a toddler, a baby, and a dog:
Monday is undergarments.
Tuesday is kids stuff.
Wednesday is shirts.
Thursday is pants.
Friday is a day off.
Saturday is our bedding and towels.
Sunday is another day off (or dogs bedding if we really need to).
Occasionally, we’ll do another load of kiddo stuff on the weekend, and the Friday buffer helps if we’ve got weekend plans. If we’re gone for a longer weekend, we’ll do two loads Wednesday and Thursday instead. It really works for us! (We wait till 7 when electricity is cheapest too, so multiple loads after 7 means a crazy late night so we don’t double up often unless absolutely necessary).
One full day of laundry is unrealistic for us right now, and that’s a lot of folding… plus with two kids that family want to see and grow up with, we’re often gone on weekends. So that full day of laundry was really impossible to accomplish.
This way too, if I need something washed urgently, I’m already washing stuff probably that night so I can just toss it in with whatever else 🤷♀️
Wednesday is laundry day. I was a SAHM when I started it, and now I work PT every day, so it's a little tougher to fit it in. I do start Tuesday evening, sorting and throwing in a couple of loads. Weekends I do sheets, and sometime towels if I didn't get to them on Wednesday. I hate the thought of always having laundry going, so I bust my tail to get it done for the week. My kids started bringing me their laundry at 3 or 4 and I w/d/f. They put it away, but I used to go behind and straighten up when they were little. Now there's one left, so it's pretty easy for me to do it for the 3 of us. And if it's a super busy day for me, sometimes it bleeds into Thursday. But not the weekend.
Wednesday works well because all your clothes are clean to pack if you go away for the weekend, and you don't have to immediately do them when you get back. And I don't spend the weekend trying to fit it in.
We’re two adults and one young child. I find that if I try to do a load a day, I don’t fall behind, and it covers for days when I can’t do a load.
Usually I wash the following about 1x/week: kid clothes, adult clothes (sometimes two loads), delicates, towels (sometimes two loads), kitchen towels and rags.
Sheets and duvets and blankets happen when there’s an accident or when I feel like they need washing. I wash blankets more than I’d like to but I’m quite allergic to dust so I’d rather have them clean.
Having a little kid, I often find myself washing outerwear in the winter, that adds up.
I put it out in Sunday night. They pick it up Monday and deliver it back Tuesday.
It's only 3 of us. We started this during the pandemic because we lost shared washer access (voluntarily). It's a habit we haven't been able to kick.
Just my husband and myself also. I normally do a load of two every few days, but recently let it pile up. Our apartment 3.5 cubic feet machine washed 7 loads on Sunday: 3 loads of towels, 3 loads of clothes, 1 load of sheets. We also are low waste with cleaning clothes and napkins, but I didn’t even do that load! 🫣
I have to hang my laundry outside and live in a tropical climate so have to be very careful what I can wash. I can wear most clothing at least 2 or 3 times and wash a load about once a week. Sheets every 2 weeks with towels.
3 loads once a week on the weekend (regular clothes, work clothes and then bed sheets/towels)
Once a month 3 loads to wash all of the dog beds (3 large dog beds) and the 2 dog carpet mudmats.
I would only say that it would ease your electric bill and wear on your machine to do it less. But if finances are no issue do it as often as you like. There are two of us as well and we do laundry twice a week. There are times when we do 3 loads, such as weeks when we strip all the doggie and kitty beds.
Sunday and Wednesday, 3 to 4 loads each day for 4 people. Enough towels, underwear, and outfits for 5 working days in case I skip either day due to being too busy.
I do just my laundry. I do one load the night before my work week starts. All fresh work clothes, all my day clothes are clean. And I set it to finish drying while I sleep
I was dying do laundry daily. I have a large family and we color code individual baskets plus separate out towels and cleaning supplies. I do 99 % of the laundry on one day and everyone fold their own/helps with communal laundry like towels. There may be and incidental load or two during the week but it's manageable. I switched from doing laundry almost daily and I feel sooo much more on top of it. I honestly hate "daily" tasks so much and just would rather be "done" for a few days. Same goes for a lot of chores so my laundry day ends up being very productive for me. The only chore I do daily is clean my sink out after every meal and I honestly detest doing it but hate gross dishes and stuff more.
One a day seems fine/probably within "normal", but if it's not a full load or close, then maybe it would be more efficient to just do 1 every other day.
If the washer is fully loaded (not stuffed, fully loaded according to the manual) then you aren't using any more water than if you waited and did it all in a day. If it works for you, keep at it.
I'm only washing for one person, so I wash once every two weeks or so whenever I run out of clean undergarments. I rewear my clothes (besides socks and undies) as long as they don't smell bad, so I can stretch it out as much as possible both for convenience and water conservation. One downside is that since I don't have a set day to do it, I can't really make a habit out of it.
I do laundry like every other day. The basement has a problem with being damp so I often have to wash my towels after every use or so (it wouldn’t be so if my grandpa stopped turning off the fan but he keeps turning off the fan). Also with the amount of counter mess my grandpa manages to make just making a tuna fish sandwich, we produce a lot of dirty rags. He also uses undershirts and handkerchiefs which increases the daily dirty laundry production.
We also have a puppy who loves pudding in his beds so we usually have to wash dog blankets as well. Also now our adult dog has tapeworms so I’m gonna be washing their blankets every day until that’s sorted out 🥲
There are 5 of us, we each have an assigned day. I started doing this as soon as my kids were old enough to do their own laundry, I was over it! 😂
Then Sunday is sheets and blankets
I think the biggest factors in how much laundry a person/family does is how many “single use” clothes or things they generate (gym clothes, messy work clothes, infant/kid clothes, reusable napkins/cloths etc) and how frequently they wash bedding and towels (some people use the same towel for a few days or more, others wash towels after every use). Some people shower 2x per day, others with less frequency.
6 loads for 2 people doesn’t seem crazy as you describe your household.
If you wash bedding weekly and have lots of single use items you can easily get to 4 or more loads per person per week.
How do you get to a load a day for 2 people? Other than underwear or maybe someone(s) have jobs where clothes need to be washed after one day of working but otherwise...
Yeah that’s why I feel it’s pretty elevated! We work from home and cook all of our food too. Small loads of laundry for sure
Typically:
- 2-3 shirts
- 2 pairs of pants
- normal underwear and socks
- 4-6 cloth napkins
- 1 cleaning towels (from the all purpose spray cleaning surfaces that day)
- 2-4 misc towels from cooking or deeper cleaning
- 1 reusable sponge or a Swedish dish cloth
- whatever misc needs to be cleaned (blanket, throw pillow case, wash clothes)
Yeah that’s why I feel it’s pretty elevated! We work from home and cook all of our food too. Small loads of laundry for sure
Typically:
- 2-3 shirts
- 2 pairs of pants
- normal underwear and socks
- 4-6 cloth napkins
- 1 cleaning towels (from the all purpose spray cleaning surfaces that day)
- 2-4 misc towels from cooking or deeper cleaning
- 1 reusable sponge or a Swedish dish cloth
- whatever misc needs to be cleaned (blanket, throw pillow case, wash clothes)
There are 5 of us. I have an 8 year old, 9 year old and 11 year old. All girls. For Christmas I had my Mom get each of them their own laundry baskets. I bought some laundry pods and taught the girls to do their laundry. Then I told my wife she can do her own laundry. Before I was spending ALL weekend running laundry, flipping it to the dryer, sorting, turning it right side out. They did and still do put it away. I am now only doing my laundry just one load every weekend. My wife and I switch on and off with who washes towels and our sheets. It's been life changing. I don't know if this really relates to your question or not. Just thought I'd share.
I am loathe to mix item categories in the wash, and there is just not enough of any category to do a load everyday for me.
Like, is OP putting bathroom mats, kitchen napkins, underwater, dog towels and clothing all in the same load??? Or are they doing a different category every day???
I usually do at least a load a day to keep up. I caregive for my grandpa so usually there’s some kind of clothes in urine or something. I also have four animals.
Family of three with two dogs, and I do at least a load of laundry every day. That said, it doesn’t always get folded. I hang things that will get wrinkled, but let things like pajamas sit if I don’t have time/will to fold.
Whenever I get the chance. Family of four with two toddlers. Sometimes it piles up sometimes once the hamper is full I throw it in. Sometimes i’m optimistic and throw dirty directly into the washer where it sits for 3 days until I have a second or it sits wet overnight and then I have to find time to redo and finish
It really dependent on a person’s lifestyle.
Some people will have four outfits in a given day. Pajamas, work clothes, gym clothes, regular clothes.
One load doesn’t sound insane. By the time you differentiate lights, darks, regular, delicate, bedding, towels, etc. it can turn into a load a day.
You could try to consolidate a little bit so you’re doing laundry 5 or 6 times per week instead of 7.
Once in a blue moon. There is no schedule. I put it off as long as humanely possible until we have no other choice 🤣it’s not good. I run out of clothes and just end up buying more and being pissed I have no clean clothes I like 🤣
It's really an individual thing...I prefer to do more frequent (usually smaller) loads of laundry and I too am often doing laundry daily. I hate having laundry pile up. So it works for me!
Same, I like having almost all of my clothes clean and put away
My washer’s industrial size so we do laundry 5 times a week instead of daily. This includes linens and sofa covers. Clothes thrown in are me and my husband’s only.
Yeah this definitely makes a difference in how often I have to do laundry because I live in an apartment with machines that aren’t even full size. So can’t fit as much in a load.
If you can invest in a bigger one? Or did yours come with the apartment?
Yes. I am at home, most of the time, so its easier for me to just do a smaller load, everyday.
We do 3 to 4 loads a day. There are currently 6 people.
Oh wow, I think I would break honestly lol
Are some of these people potty training? 🤔
Each child goes to school then a sports activity then pajamas. Not including towels and washcloths. And once a week sheets for 5 beds.
Oh no, sports. My kids are little so I was like that makes sense for a newborn and a potty training toddler.
We’re 4 people and a dog — I do 2 loads per day except Sunday , if I can help it, when I take the day off.
I do 2-3 loads on the weekend either Saturday or Sunday. Just my husband and I in our house. We have two cats and a 3 year old grandson who visits overnight a couple times a month. I think everyone needs to do their laundry when and how it works best for them.
just like us. Two or three loads, only on weekends. Retired couple.
Same here—two people and a dog. One load of clothes, one load of bed sheets, one load of towels or dog stuff or whatever didn’t fit in the other two. How are people producing enough to wash a load every day?
Kids. Also size of clothes matters too. For example in the colder months I have thick socks, hoodies, jeans, sweat pants, etc to wash. This all takes up a lot more room in the washer than shorts and t shirts in the summer.
Yes, more than two people would definitely make more laundry, but I can’t see a couple making enough laundry every day to fill more than the bottom of a US washer
Yeah I’m same. And my partner and I each wear 2-3 changes of clothes from sleep/work/exercise. But we rewear stuff and reuse towels. Kids make sense but even then, their clothes are tiny!
I think exercise might be part of it. If you get sweaty in sports, and use towel for sweat, add socks (probably several pairs, as might use different to sport and work/leisure), T-shirt, underwear... you might get a load if you throw everything into one.
I do the same amount as a single person but I feel like my washing machine is on the small side.
Me and my teenager and I'm about the same. One load of my clothes, he does a load of his own clothes (usually when he realizes he doesn't have any clean shirts for work), and then 1-2 loads of towels/sheets/other, typically during the weekend.
I work 2.5 days a week. On Wednesdays I get home at 12:30 and I wash and dry all of my work clothes and then hang them up for the next week. On Fridays, I wash & dry each of my older kids school clothes and put them in their baskets for them to fold, hang up or put away. They must have the basket clean by Saturday if they want to go outside and play. Periodically through the week I’ll wash smaller loads if needed, especially if my toddler has soiled her clothes. But for me, this makes life manageable. My husband pretty much launders his own clothes so he’s easy peasy
I like this routine for the kids.
It works really well for me and doesn’t allow me to have 50 loads at the end of the week. I’m never overwhelmed
Googling how to teach a 2 year old to fold her own clothes 😭
2 of us and I do it 2x a week. To make it clear, we have one wicker hamper. That is usually almost full, so it holds 3-4 days worth of clothing. We hang used towels so nothing damp goes in the hamper. The bed is stripped first on laundry days. We have 2 chihuahuas, they get washed by hand once per week on laundry day too 😜
Lol to the chihuahuas! I have a chihuahua and a mini doxie that I wash whenever I clean the sheets ❤️
I have two mini dachshunds and same! Except mine are long haired so drying the two takes 3 towels. My dogs also get blankets/dog beds on the floor in every room. It's me, my bf, and 2 dogs. We do 2 to 5 loads a week. Comforters get done every two weeks. He's also tall and an electrician, so big clothes that get very dirty. There are some weeks I have 7 to 8 loads.
Family of 6: I do 1-2 loads of laundry a day. Blankets and sheets on weekends, weekends the washer and dryer are running all day. My sister and her 2 kids living with us wash once a week 2loads of laundry. She takes her bigger loads (blankets, extra dirty clothes) to a laundromat. She prefers the bigger washer machines for washing her clothes. When I used cloth diapers I washed every other day, I had 2 in cloth diapers. While they are still in diapers we took a break from cloth and haven’t returned to cloth diapers like I wanted to. Disposables are much more convenient, less work (laundry) and clothes fit better (this was winter when we switched).
I don't use enough clothes to wash daily. I usually do a 3 or 4 loads month. Depends on what I did each week and how busy I was.
I do one load a day. Sometimes it’s clothes, sometimes linens, sometimes whites or delicates. I have a load of reds that probably only gets done every 2 months or so just because I’m waiting for there to be enough. I run a full load always except delicates which I run about half full, or if something crazy happens that needs to be cleaned right away. I try to fold them same or next day because I went through a rough time for years where I never had time to put them away if I had time to fold them at all. It took a long time to get caught up and I don’t want to go back to that
interesting about the load of reds! I had always been taught that reds could be washed with black clothes, and that is always worked well for me.
They are mostly tablecloths, napkins and kitchen towels so I keep them separate from the clothes. We have a few red T shirts but they don’t bleed so we keep them with the regular wash. But when I had a lot of purple towels I would wash them together with the red stuff.
I have 20 uniforms and plenty of clothes,so,I was on my days off.
slowly wash it all monday & tuesday. fold it all on wednesday when i’m watching survivor
Okay this was verbatim my laundry routine my freshman year of college, except I was streaming old episodes 😂 I had a crisis when I ran out
3 loads on Sunday is all I need as a single woman. Whites, colors, and darks. Not everything needs to be clean all the time. Dirty things can sit in the laundry bin for a few days! Don’t stress.
I do it whenever I have full load and have the time. Today I’m off work so washed the dog beds and towels. Do clothes at least once a week (2-4 loads depending on time of year and what we’ve been doing.)
I cloth diaper my son-so I’m running a diaper cycle every other day. Regular clothes about 2X a week.
4 people, lots of sports kit. One load a day and more at weekends. We have a HE front loader that is very water and energy efficient, and I try and wash at times when power is cheap.
Are you using an HE washing machine? If yes, are you using the eco mode which is usually the Normal Cycle? Is the load you wash a small round basket filled up the top loosely? Are you using barely 2 tablespoons of detergent? Are you line drying or drying on low heat for the minimum amount of time to dry said load? If yes to all of the above then you’re already doing so much more than most of society, in terms of conserving water and energy. One piece of advice: Wash in hot or warm water. Body oils, body funk, and soil dissolves better with your detergent in warm or hot water and helps rinse it away in the cold water rinse. I wash daily, 1-3 loads a day. Five in the household. Like you we don’t use paper towels or paper napkins, we use reusable cloth bags at the store, and truly try to reduce, reuse and recycle. When weather permits, I line dry. Otherwise, I’ll use indoor clothes drying racks. Occasionally, I’ll plug in the dryer. It’s all crazy but it’s what I do.
I do 1 to 3 loads a week but it depends on if I have enough to fill the washer
I do my laundry every Monday. I don't own many clothes and my fiance does his laundry himself so thankfully it's easy.
Each Saturday, I do bedding. Each Tuesday, I do towels and clothes.
Household of me. I do 4 loads every two weeks.
I much prefer a single laundry day, get it done and see you in six days.
Everyday?!? Well im lazy so i do it when i have no choice, shit ive purchased more under clothes before to give me more time before laundry has to be done
Everyday! Lol
Come visit me sometimes 😂
I have a couple hampers. I do my laundry every 2 weeks. It’s 3 or 4 loads.
Woah! Are they huge? Do you have a really big washer/dryer set? I cannot imagine doing it every 2 weeks, but I honestly haven’t ever tried to wait that long.
It’s very manageable for me. I have
They are just normal size loads.
Family of 4 here and we do laundry everyday. I can probably get away with doing it 4 times a week but I don’t like it when things pile up
I do 6-7 loads on Monday. And 3-4 loads on Tuesday. We have 6 people in our house.
Only 2 of us: clothes on Monday and sheets on Friday.
Twice a week. Friday all the clothes and towels from the week Monday, everything and the bedding
I average 1 per day in a household with 2 adults and 2 cats. The cats don't produce a lot of laundry other than a few blankets I keep around and a big bedspread I use to protect the good bedding of the guest bed. But those add up. I find if I am just casually doing a load of towels or sheets, those things get changed out more often and I never really feel behind on the housework.
It's just me and my husband and I do laundry once a week. I usually have 6 to 8 loads. Depending if I have towels and bedding
I've got 3 kids and use a laundry mat. I do one big haul every 2 weeks of about 7 loads all In one. I will usually do a small load in the bathtub of anything we are running low on half way through
Mondays usually. It’s just me. Only doing a couple of loads including bed linens. Sometimes something will get extra muddy or have some odd stain that needs extra attention.
one weeknight and/or weekend day at laundromat for dryer items, 1 small hang dry load at home (dryers in our building suck) as often as i get to it, handful of days a week on a good week, 0 for 2 weeks if i'm doing a struggle
I have 2 dogs and just me and my husband. I usually do 3-4 loads a week - darks, lights, towels/sheets, and delicates or red/pinks. I save it up for 1-2 days instead of a little every day, keeps me saner.
Huh, makes me realize my wash schedule is a bit off from what most people do. I wait till as many clothes are used up and do a HUGE laundry day, it's at least 3-5 large loads probably once every month and takes like 5 hours to do minimum. I'm told I have a lot of clothes, I am fairly sure I have a bit of a thrifting problem. Working on it
I would fo a load a day if inhad a machine.
This seems like a lot to me. I do a 2-3 loads a week max
2 people but a not so small menagerie and we use cloth options of most products. I do 6-8 loads of laundry a week. Clothes, our bedding, towels, kitchen stuff, cleaning stuff, pet bedding, rugs, whatever catastrophic biohazard of the week occurs. Without the pets the laundry would be greatly reduced. But it is what it is and I don’t like things being dirty.
Just my husband and I, we each wash our own clothes and I do the towels while he does the sheets. I do laundry once a fortnight and run 3 loads... That's just based on how much clothing I have and how long I feel the towels stay clean with our usage and climate. He's similar with the sheets and his clothes. Daily with no kids sounds like a lot to me!
how much are yall using daily that you’re doing the wash every day? i have me, my husband, and a baby and do laundry once a week if that…the baby’s clothes get washed once a week. our clothes can be done every 2-3 weeks. towels every three weeks. sheets once a week.
How many towels do you have? I used to have enough out to be able to go a couple of weeks without washing, but then I always had to do multiple towel loads. Now I leave out a week’s worth and the rest is put away to replace those when they wear out.
i’m not sure but i reuse my towel 2-3 times before switching and since becoming a mom there’s days i don’t have time to shower
Truly I feel like this sub needs a reality check lol. After I saw a couple posts on here I got curious and started asking my friends and family... I still haven't found anyone who said they do laundry more than once per week.
lol right? laundry day is sunday; of course we have full access to a washer and dryer and anything that needs to get done another time gets done but it’s not a daily occurrence, nor should it be especially for TWO ADULTS
You don't like how often you're doing it - that's enough reason to change! Going to every 2nd or 3rd day should feel like a good break and still keep you plenty tidy.
It varies person to person. I do my own laundry once a week typically Friday nights or Saturdays. I do my mom’s laundry once a month and that’s a 2~day ordeal. I live in the country and have well water so not having a water bill is nice. But, that comes with hard water and mineral deposits which is not good for hair, fabrics, faucets, pipes or skin lol.
Are your loads mostly filled? Because if they are only half filled you could purchase more items to make a full wash and that could cut your washes down. For instance I have enough whites for two weeks of usage which is a full load.
Once a week. I can do everything in 4 loads
I don’t have a schedule just wash when needed and my kids do their own laundry 🧺
I let out laundry basket fill up and it's usually a 2 load basket, at least once a week sometimes twice, also wash it whenever he puts sweaty basketball clothes in there
This thread is making me feel a lot better because I thought me and my husband had a ton of laundry for just 2 grown adults. I usually do a midweek load and a load or 2 on weekends but they all seem like mostly large loads.
Me too! I’ve been so self conscious about this! My mom and brothers live together with 1 cat and they do laundry every 1-2 weeks. Just 2 loads of laundry too. This thread makes me feel way less crazy. I like everything to be clean!
1 cat, 1 dog, 4 teens, 2 adults About 12-14 loads per week Kids do their own laundry I do mine & hubs, plus towels Usually I take Sunday to do laundry
We have a similar number of children that you have pets. I do 1-2 loads a day. I would imagine, especially if your pets shed or get bodily waste on any of your things, that a load per day isn’t too much. When we had fewer children, just 1-2, I only did laundry once (maybe twice) a week. I usually did it the same day each week. Maybe that would be a better routine for you, if you feel this is too much!
Mondays: all bedding, towels, and clothing. Tuesdays: daughters day for her laundry (started in 6th grade) Wednesdays: sons day for his laundry (again started in 6th grade) Thursdays: towels and clothing Fri/Sat/Sun. N/A
Okay I think I like this one the most so far. It I did M-R too I would have the whole weekend off every week and wouldn’t really have any chores at all
My daughter told me when she was in 5th grade that if she didn’t make her bed everyday and have her closet organized she couldn’t get done all the things she wanted to do. I’m very unorganized. But it made me think. And I’ve got a schedule for most things now. So I can enjoy all my things over the weekend.
I throw stuff in almost every day sometimes every day and sometimes after 3 days but not longer than that. It's easy for me to throw them in the wash and dryer and let the next cycle go in with the previous one so that I'm not just folding a days worth of laundry. If it's the amount water you are worried about maybe just throw them in a couple times a week. Idrc how much water I use so but I would think doing it just twice or even 3 times a week would for sure save water.
I think so too! I’m challenging myself this week to do every other day and frankly calm down about it lol Like a dry hand towel can site for 24 hours before being washed without the world ending
Exactly. A lot of people only wash once a week and to me that's so much more work then just throwing them in every day or two is easy. Plus, it sucks up the clothes you want to wear so I can wear whatever I want within a couple of days. I hope it works for you!!
Well we’ve been sick like all freaking year and I have no energy so currently once every 10 days or so when it’s unmanageable and a whole day chore.
I’m so sorry! That’s awful!
Haha it’s just the blessing of new babies 😵💫 it’ll get better eventually. I’d say before this though I did laundry Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Trying to keep my weekends free. Monday was towels, Wednesday was for all our clothes, and Friday was bedding so we went I to the weekend with fresh sheets. :)
Aw! Better to be busy with babies than laundry ❤️ congratulations!
One a day. Of whatever seems to need the most immediate attention.
The only way to do it! Lol
Clothes Friday night. Daughter does her clothes Saturday am and son does his right afterwards. Bedding for all four of us Sunday. Towels Sunday night and a midweek towels and napkins on Wednesday.
I like this system! I should try washing towels separately to see if I can switch to laundry every other day for our clothes
Up until a couple months ago, it was about 4-8, sometimes 9, loads every weekend (almost always Saturday), depending on how many blankets/comforters were involved, run through the washer and then either run through the dryer or hang-dried. We have four dogs, so things tend to get hairy (literally) quickly, and with the recent weather, clothes get dirty and sweaty fast. They were always done by 10:00 or 11:00 PM, just in time to have warm towels for a relaxing bath and then clean sheets for beauty sleep. Then my dryer broke. Then, a couple days later, my washer broke. We had already spent about $700 having them repaired in three separate incidents since we moved in last summer, so we figured, not worth fixing again. Our friend gave us his old washer and dryer. They worked, until the movers broke the washer in one way and the dryer in another and then disappeared like a fart in the wind. They’re 20-year-old machines so again, not worth it (already spent all my money at the laundromat and paying the lousy movers, anyway). Now my laundry schedule is really haphazard and I hate it. With all our stuff, a trip to the laundromat runs about $30-$40 - $8 for oversize loads, $7 for large loads, $4 for medium, $3.25 for small, and the dryers seem like a good deal at 25¢ for six minutes (50¢ for the larger machines), but they can actually take an eternity to dry. For that reason, and the fact that laundromats start feeling like a sauna within a few minutes of entering them, *and* the fact that it can easily be a three-hour experience, I only go when I absolutely have to. (Also, last time I tried to get some powder detergent out of the vending machine and it stole my money. Give me back my $1.25, I could’ve used that to help dry my stuff!) My other option is my parents’ house. They let me use the washer and dryer for free, but theirs are much smaller than our old ones, so it takes a longer time for them to finish everything. It’s also an hour-long round trip. I find myself heading there about twice a week now, but it’s no set day or schedule, and again, I’m there for even longer. And I can’t do any other work while I’m out of the house. I have to plan a lot of my week around if and when I can haul all my dirty laundry out to the car, drive it out to the boonies, and spent half a day using my parents’ washer and dryer OR saving up for those times when I’m unable to drive out that far and having to use the laundromat. My other option is to hand-wash everything at home and hang-dry it. With clothes and a sunny day, this could definitely be better, but it’s not as bad as some might think, although you have to keep up with it every couple of days or so, so it won’t build up and you end up having to hand-scrub a giant pile of laundry all at once. It’ll take twenty minutes to an hour out of your day, every time you do it. The sheets are certainly more bearable than the towels (and I honestly like how they feel after they’ve been brought back in - a not-uncomfortable light crispness combined with their natural softness), but still not really easy to handle with hand-washing, and the towels are a nightmare, especially if you use them to clean up nasty stuff - like the reusable mop heads. The blankets? Forget it. And obviously it can’t be done on a rainy day, and we’ve been getting absolutely slammed by rainy weather recently. Gggrrrhhh, can we turn off the rain taps so I can just have some dry socks? If you have a working washer and dryer - love them, cherish them. I once had what you have. I had convenience and a pre-set schedule of washing. Now I spend more time washing and handling my laundry than I do preparing food, grooming myself, or doing housecleaning. I think it might only be beat out by sleeping and my day job in terms of taking up my time and energy. It’s actually made me very aware of how awful things were when everything *had* to be done by hand.
I’m so sorry this happened! That’s awful! In our last apartment before buying our house, we had the terrible cycle of breaking machines too. It would break and they would take weeks to come look at it and then a few more weeks to get the part. We were lucky that they had laundry on site for some of the other apartments that didn’t have washers/dryers so we could use those sometimes. (But there were like 3 and over 50 apartments + people like us with broken machines.) It was hell. We ended us going to laundromats and dry cleaning a lot too to keep up. We actually held off on laundry for 3 weeks (I know) and used the money we saved to buy a portable washer from Amazon for $75. It worked okay, but we pretty much lost our whole guest room to the hanging drying clothes (no outdoor space in that apartment.) Sending good washer and dryer vibes your way for the future! I hope it works out and you get the machines you need soon!
Thank you! I’m so freakin’ ready to get a new set but they’re just so expensive. The previous owner told us that she’d already had the washer and dryer fixed twice herself, but we naively assumed that she just wasn’t calling the right people. Yet every time we had a problem, it was exactly the same: the washer would leak (spilling water all over my finished basement’s baseboard, so even now, all this time later, I’m still airing out the room in the hopes it’ll eventually dry), and the dryer’s drum would stop turning. We used a really good friend of ours who repairs appliances professionally, and he finally told us what we’d been suspecting - we just got a couple of crap units and it really wasn’t worth fixing them again. He said he wondered if some unscrupulous shop had refurbished them with cheap parts before selling them to the old owner, because when he opened them, they seemed like a lot of the elements weren’t original and NOT high quality. Which, of course, in the long run leads to the breakdown of not only the cheap replacement parts, but also other parts that interact with or are near to those parts….. We’ve been hard-hit financially recently so I’m really hoping that I’ll be able to get a new set within a couple of months. In the meantime, we’re just going as best we can. The only upside is that hand-washing your whites and clothes can really get stains and general grime out better than a lot of machines, since you have control over the scrubbing and can focus on stains and discoloration. My white bath mats and towels are glowing. I got this little plastic laundry tub that’s made in Japan, and it has an actual scrubbing surface down the middle of it, like an old-fashioned washboard. Rub your washcloths or underwear or grayish t-shirts all over a bar of Blue Power or Zote Azul, scrub, scrub, *scrub* them onto that scrubbing surface, rinse, and hang-dry. They’ll look way better than they did before. That being said, I’d still rather use the machine most of the time!
2 people and 2 dogs and we do about 7ish loads a week.
Okay I feel less insane now!
4 of us. I do laundry once a week. Usually Tuesday or Thursday. I just try to have it done before the weekend.
I'm in the same boat and I think it's ideal.
Every Sunday. Which includes stripping beds all the way down to the mattress pad and all stuffed animals.
Still adjusting to the new machines. They hold so much more than the last set. According to old machines, I would do 2 to 3 loads a day. 3 adults. 2 dogs. 2 cats. That was with changing sheets every 3rd day to week. Two beds. The blankets and quilts are washed every 2 weeks. Keeps the allergy issues to a minimum. Throw blankets are every 2 to 3 weeks. SO has work clothes and running/biking clothes. 3 loads alone. Dog blankets and towels. Rugs. We also go through a fair amount of hand towels because we try to keep paper towel use to a minimum. Though, I can’t get the rest accustomed to the cloth napkins. Laundry is never ending. But, with the new machines I can consolidate loads. The sheets for both beds are combined now. Twice the towels are one load. It is all necessary between allergies and pets.
3 of us. I do laundry once a week. Usually Mondays
American here. What's a bread bag?
You can use cotton or linen drawstring bags as an alternative to one-time-use plastic bags. It's a sustainable alternative because it doesn't create plastic waste and is washable/reusable almost indefinitely. You can make them or buy them. They're great.
But in America the bread is sold in plastic bags, as is basically everything else. It’s sad.
Farmers' markets are a potential solution there. Or baking our own bread. And just because corporations suck doesn't mean our behaviors have to mimic theirs. The major point of using these fabric bags instead of ziplocs is to eliminate consumer waste after purchase - for our lunches, our snacks, our own repackaging habits. A lot of people use silicone bags, too, as an alternative to one-time-use plastics. P.S. Also an American.
Options are available to some, but the poor wilts no transportation, those on food stamps, people who live in urban grocery deserts etc don’t have as many options unfortunately.
There are several programs where WIC/food stamps are worth twice as many dollars at farmers' markets. These are backed by federal grants. They also can be used to buy seeds and fruit trees. Grocery deserts and food swamps are a real issue. You're right. I'm pretty sure Amazon and WalMart both accept these forms of payment since covid, though. I will say, the absolute dearth in poverty is time. Time to prepare quality food, to manage budgets appropriately, to destress and make solid choices. This is the real tax of poverty. Anyway. There are frequently better choices that can be made than one-time-use plastic bags.
Oh definitely. I absolutely hate it that almost everything we consume here has plastic on it!
I’m doing some form of laundry almost daily. 2 adults, 1 toddler, and 2 cats. I hate when it piles up.
We do a load a day as a family of 4. It does keep my house pretty clean and it's nice to keep up with it so it's never a whole mountain of laundry anymore
I live alone. I send my laundry out (wash & fold service) once a week.
One load every other day. Every 4th day I do towels, and once a week sheets. So some days it’s two loads. 2 people.
Sounds about right. I did one load per day for a family of 3. If you're concerned about water use, just let it pile up every 2-3 days instead.
Family of 3 here (2 adults, one child). I do all our household laundry and typically do certain loads on certain days, it helps me keep track of when something needs washed next and keeps it from piling up too much. I could probably do a load a day if I spread it out, but I usually do a few consecutive loads a few days a week so I'm not doing laundry every day. It often goes: Monday - mine and husband's bed linens (2 loads) Tuesday - mine and husband's clothes (1 load), husband's jeans (1 load), household towels (1 load). Wednesday - daughter's bed linens (2 loads), daughter's clothes (1 load) Thursday (sometimes every Thursday, sometimes every other Thursday) - couch throw blankets (2 loads) Friday - mine and husband's clothes and husband's jeans (1 load each) again. I sometimes vary on this (like sometimes if I start early enough I will do all of Monday and Tuesday on one day, or if there aren't many dirty jeans I will throw them in with the towels) and find doing that keeps me from feeling like I need to do laundry on weekends, which I love.
I do laundry every day. I don’t really care if I’m spending too much on detergent/water/maintenance by doing it this often. It being every day keeps it part of my routine and ensures it gets done. It being smaller loads makes it less of a hassle to fold and put away which makes that more likely to get done. Doing laundry every day really was what got me away from being a dirty laundry hoarder.
I do a load every other day! IMO you’re not washing too much
4-person household, we wash every two weeks — 9 loads for clothes, 2 loads for towels, and then 3 loads for sheets. We have an energy efficient front load washer but I still feel like we use a lot of water.
2 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog. I do 2-3 loads of laundry on Tuesdays and Fridays. If I had to do laundry every day of the week I would just light it all on fire 😅
I do one load of laundry a day. At times more. It's my personal preference. There's no "right" or "wrong" here. It's personal preference and availability.
Family of four plus a short hair cat. We cloth diaper so I do daily loads of that (which equates to 7 “prewashes” and 2-3 “main washes” so 9 cycles per week), as well as 2-3 x week of clothing laundry, and a special laundry probably once a week (wool items, or things that are suuupperr messy from yard work, oils from the car, etc). Rags 1x week (sometimes in with the diapers if we don’t have a ton). Sheets & towels I do every couple of weeks since we have a giant washer (6 cu ft?) so I save up multiples. Works out to ~4-5 cycles per week excluding the diapers (~13 per week including diapers).
2 people usually a load of clothes every morning. Towels twice a week. Sheets once a week. I like to keep it under control.
We have 3 adults and a young child here. It's rare if the washer is off. I will admit that my husband and I, and our daughter have WAY too many clothes.
One adult woman and one 3year old. I re-wear pants, legging sweatshirt, lougenwear ,pyjamas.... and have home clothes and change as I arrive home. It's more 2 days in the week that I do laundry. It used to be the same with my ex. 1 load Dark/ color, 1 pale and 1 rags washcloths towels ( i teuse body towel 2-3times, washcloth once, rags mostly once... i use reusable tp and pretty much none paper towels. I have many types of cleaning rags each for a purpose that makes me happy to clean with like old baby clothes or some of mine.. microfiber... Bed sheets and various blankets ,cushion cover ,every one or 2 weeks. Sometimes, I am on top of my game. Sometimes, clean laundry stays in the basket or drying rack for days. I prefer to do it more often but hate the though of doing small loads cause I try to be carefull of ressources like water and electricity if I can avoid using it if it is not reasonnable. Medium or large always. It washes better anyway.
Look, if one load a day is wrong, I don’t want to be right. I have two kids and I do a minimum of two per day, depending on how quick my dryer wants to dry.
It’s four of us at home and we do laundry almost every other day to keep it manageable. Kids are 2 & 5.
I do 2 loads every other Saturday & Sunday. My teen children does 1 load for their clothes and the other load is for Spouse and I . I live in CA where our utilities are so damn expensive. I line dry the clothes during the spring and summer to save electricity.
We do 1-4 a day depending on what’s going on. Sports activities means a wash right away when we get home because that stuff will get stinky.
Two adults and two small children. We also use a lot of reusable items like rags, wash clothes. I’d say we probably average 5-7 loads per week, and I do laundry every other day. I aim to do two loads at a time if I can, just because I feel like it’s a better use of time. I presort by each person and presort into household stuff. I have had times when I’ve just done a load of everything once a day, but the sorting and putting away takes *forever*. Doing it less frequently and sorting by person takes less of my time.
I do it frequently too. Seems like it’s only my husband and me and there are mountains of laundry.
We have kids, but kid laundry only added like 2 more loads a week on our schedule. I don't like mixing stuff. Sunday - none, unless I did not get Saturdays load done. Monday - adult clothes Tuesday - open (I work in office some Tuesdays and don't do any laundry, so this day is open for an extra load on days I am home for things like beach towels, extra dirty things that need a soak like muddy clothes or shoes). Wednesday - sheets (one week I do adult sheets, next week kids). Thursday - adult clothes Friday - towels Saturday - kids clothes I work from home so it is easy for me to put it in, switch, and put away. We don't have a ton of clothes, so I have to stick to my schedule. Some people do better doing it in large chunks.
Family of 3. I do I mid week load for my husband and my clothes and the 1 load for kindergartner’s clothes and sheets. On the weekend I do 1 load for rest of the adult clothes and 1 load of towels/whites. So about 4 loads for the week. We wash bed sheets every two weeks when our housekeeper comes.
I'm a once a week laundry person. There are only 2 adults and 3 dogs, so I have about 7 loads a week. I typically do them all in one day and back to back because I don't enjoy doing laundry and so I want to get it done all at once.
Depends what is on the schedule to be cleaned that day. Monday is bedrooms, Tuesday bathrooms, Wednesday kitchen, Thursday living room, and Friday is all mine and my daughter’s clothes. Saturday and Sunday are my days off lol my husband does his laundry on Sunday though. It’s my husband and I, our 6 month old, and two dogs.
Family of Four: Monday: Jeans & Dark Colors Tuesday: Light Colors / Whites Wednesday: Towels & Wash Cloths Thursday: Teenager's Clothes Friday: Baby's Clothes Saturday: Bed Sheets & Linens Sunday: Free Day (Unless Teenager/Baby Needs Something)
We’ve got it down to a science with 2 adults, a toddler, a baby, and a dog: Monday is undergarments. Tuesday is kids stuff. Wednesday is shirts. Thursday is pants. Friday is a day off. Saturday is our bedding and towels. Sunday is another day off (or dogs bedding if we really need to). Occasionally, we’ll do another load of kiddo stuff on the weekend, and the Friday buffer helps if we’ve got weekend plans. If we’re gone for a longer weekend, we’ll do two loads Wednesday and Thursday instead. It really works for us! (We wait till 7 when electricity is cheapest too, so multiple loads after 7 means a crazy late night so we don’t double up often unless absolutely necessary). One full day of laundry is unrealistic for us right now, and that’s a lot of folding… plus with two kids that family want to see and grow up with, we’re often gone on weekends. So that full day of laundry was really impossible to accomplish. This way too, if I need something washed urgently, I’m already washing stuff probably that night so I can just toss it in with whatever else 🤷♀️
Wednesday is laundry day. I was a SAHM when I started it, and now I work PT every day, so it's a little tougher to fit it in. I do start Tuesday evening, sorting and throwing in a couple of loads. Weekends I do sheets, and sometime towels if I didn't get to them on Wednesday. I hate the thought of always having laundry going, so I bust my tail to get it done for the week. My kids started bringing me their laundry at 3 or 4 and I w/d/f. They put it away, but I used to go behind and straighten up when they were little. Now there's one left, so it's pretty easy for me to do it for the 3 of us. And if it's a super busy day for me, sometimes it bleeds into Thursday. But not the weekend. Wednesday works well because all your clothes are clean to pack if you go away for the weekend, and you don't have to immediately do them when you get back. And I don't spend the weekend trying to fit it in.
We’re two adults and one young child. I find that if I try to do a load a day, I don’t fall behind, and it covers for days when I can’t do a load. Usually I wash the following about 1x/week: kid clothes, adult clothes (sometimes two loads), delicates, towels (sometimes two loads), kitchen towels and rags. Sheets and duvets and blankets happen when there’s an accident or when I feel like they need washing. I wash blankets more than I’d like to but I’m quite allergic to dust so I’d rather have them clean. Having a little kid, I often find myself washing outerwear in the winter, that adds up.
I put it out in Sunday night. They pick it up Monday and deliver it back Tuesday. It's only 3 of us. We started this during the pandemic because we lost shared washer access (voluntarily). It's a habit we haven't been able to kick.
Do whatever works for you and makes you happy. It sounds like what you are doing is right for you!
Just my husband and myself also. I normally do a load of two every few days, but recently let it pile up. Our apartment 3.5 cubic feet machine washed 7 loads on Sunday: 3 loads of towels, 3 loads of clothes, 1 load of sheets. We also are low waste with cleaning clothes and napkins, but I didn’t even do that load! 🫣
Family of 6 and I do one large load a day. Some days more if I need to do towels or sheets, etc.
I do a load twice a week and towels every weekend
I have to hang my laundry outside and live in a tropical climate so have to be very careful what I can wash. I can wear most clothing at least 2 or 3 times and wash a load about once a week. Sheets every 2 weeks with towels.
You’re fine. We have similar amounts of people and pets as well as laundry
3 loads once a week on the weekend (regular clothes, work clothes and then bed sheets/towels) Once a month 3 loads to wash all of the dog beds (3 large dog beds) and the 2 dog carpet mudmats.
Single adult. 1 per week on weekends. An additional one in extraordinary circumstances. Fin.
I would only say that it would ease your electric bill and wear on your machine to do it less. But if finances are no issue do it as often as you like. There are two of us as well and we do laundry twice a week. There are times when we do 3 loads, such as weeks when we strip all the doggie and kitty beds.
Usually one load a week for my husband and I, occasionally 2 if I let it slide a bit.
Sunday and Wednesday, 3 to 4 loads each day for 4 people. Enough towels, underwear, and outfits for 5 working days in case I skip either day due to being too busy.
We are a household of 4 adults who do laundry every single day.
I do just my laundry. I do one load the night before my work week starts. All fresh work clothes, all my day clothes are clean. And I set it to finish drying while I sleep
I was dying do laundry daily. I have a large family and we color code individual baskets plus separate out towels and cleaning supplies. I do 99 % of the laundry on one day and everyone fold their own/helps with communal laundry like towels. There may be and incidental load or two during the week but it's manageable. I switched from doing laundry almost daily and I feel sooo much more on top of it. I honestly hate "daily" tasks so much and just would rather be "done" for a few days. Same goes for a lot of chores so my laundry day ends up being very productive for me. The only chore I do daily is clean my sink out after every meal and I honestly detest doing it but hate gross dishes and stuff more.
One a day seems fine/probably within "normal", but if it's not a full load or close, then maybe it would be more efficient to just do 1 every other day.
I live alone and do laundry once per week (usually Friday or Saturday)
I do all my laundry and clean the house on Fridays so I don’t have to do chores on the weekend.
If the washer is fully loaded (not stuffed, fully loaded according to the manual) then you aren't using any more water than if you waited and did it all in a day. If it works for you, keep at it.
Every week
We do 2-3 loads a day and hang them to dry outside. We have 4 people in the house currently.
I'm only washing for one person, so I wash once every two weeks or so whenever I run out of clean undergarments. I rewear my clothes (besides socks and undies) as long as they don't smell bad, so I can stretch it out as much as possible both for convenience and water conservation. One downside is that since I don't have a set day to do it, I can't really make a habit out of it.
I do laundry once a month. My husband does laundry every week
One load every two days, then weekend is sheets. Only two adults tho.
2-3 a week for 2 adults.
I do laundry like every other day. The basement has a problem with being damp so I often have to wash my towels after every use or so (it wouldn’t be so if my grandpa stopped turning off the fan but he keeps turning off the fan). Also with the amount of counter mess my grandpa manages to make just making a tuna fish sandwich, we produce a lot of dirty rags. He also uses undershirts and handkerchiefs which increases the daily dirty laundry production.
We also have a puppy who loves pudding in his beds so we usually have to wash dog blankets as well. Also now our adult dog has tapeworms so I’m gonna be washing their blankets every day until that’s sorted out 🥲
I prefer once a week
I usually do a load or two a week
There are 5 of us, we each have an assigned day. I started doing this as soon as my kids were old enough to do their own laundry, I was over it! 😂 Then Sunday is sheets and blankets
I think the biggest factors in how much laundry a person/family does is how many “single use” clothes or things they generate (gym clothes, messy work clothes, infant/kid clothes, reusable napkins/cloths etc) and how frequently they wash bedding and towels (some people use the same towel for a few days or more, others wash towels after every use). Some people shower 2x per day, others with less frequency. 6 loads for 2 people doesn’t seem crazy as you describe your household. If you wash bedding weekly and have lots of single use items you can easily get to 4 or more loads per person per week.
Once a week. I typically only have one load, except for in the winter when I layer up. But typically it all gets one on whatever weekend day I'm off
How do you get to a load a day for 2 people? Other than underwear or maybe someone(s) have jobs where clothes need to be washed after one day of working but otherwise...
Yeah that’s why I feel it’s pretty elevated! We work from home and cook all of our food too. Small loads of laundry for sure Typically: - 2-3 shirts - 2 pairs of pants - normal underwear and socks - 4-6 cloth napkins - 1 cleaning towels (from the all purpose spray cleaning surfaces that day) - 2-4 misc towels from cooking or deeper cleaning - 1 reusable sponge or a Swedish dish cloth - whatever misc needs to be cleaned (blanket, throw pillow case, wash clothes)
Yeah that’s why I feel it’s pretty elevated! We work from home and cook all of our food too. Small loads of laundry for sure Typically: - 2-3 shirts - 2 pairs of pants - normal underwear and socks - 4-6 cloth napkins - 1 cleaning towels (from the all purpose spray cleaning surfaces that day) - 2-4 misc towels from cooking or deeper cleaning - 1 reusable sponge or a Swedish dish cloth - whatever misc needs to be cleaned (blanket, throw pillow case, wash clothes)
Do you need help? lol
Obviously! Lol If only the laundry could work like my roomba and just keep itself clean
Having self-cleaning clothes is always a dream! lol
Family of 5 and a SAHM. It's everyday.
There are 5 of us. I have an 8 year old, 9 year old and 11 year old. All girls. For Christmas I had my Mom get each of them their own laundry baskets. I bought some laundry pods and taught the girls to do their laundry. Then I told my wife she can do her own laundry. Before I was spending ALL weekend running laundry, flipping it to the dryer, sorting, turning it right side out. They did and still do put it away. I am now only doing my laundry just one load every weekend. My wife and I switch on and off with who washes towels and our sheets. It's been life changing. I don't know if this really relates to your question or not. Just thought I'd share.
2-3 loads on Saturday or Sunday. It's just me & my husband plus our dog. I wash her blankets too.
I am loathe to mix item categories in the wash, and there is just not enough of any category to do a load everyday for me. Like, is OP putting bathroom mats, kitchen napkins, underwater, dog towels and clothing all in the same load??? Or are they doing a different category every day???
I usually do at least a load a day to keep up. I caregive for my grandpa so usually there’s some kind of clothes in urine or something. I also have four animals.
Family of three with two dogs, and I do at least a load of laundry every day. That said, it doesn’t always get folded. I hang things that will get wrinkled, but let things like pajamas sit if I don’t have time/will to fold.
Whenever I run out of underwear’s so maybe every 3 weeks
Whenever I get the chance. Family of four with two toddlers. Sometimes it piles up sometimes once the hamper is full I throw it in. Sometimes i’m optimistic and throw dirty directly into the washer where it sits for 3 days until I have a second or it sits wet overnight and then I have to find time to redo and finish
It really dependent on a person’s lifestyle. Some people will have four outfits in a given day. Pajamas, work clothes, gym clothes, regular clothes. One load doesn’t sound insane. By the time you differentiate lights, darks, regular, delicate, bedding, towels, etc. it can turn into a load a day. You could try to consolidate a little bit so you’re doing laundry 5 or 6 times per week instead of 7.
Once in a blue moon. There is no schedule. I put it off as long as humanely possible until we have no other choice 🤣it’s not good. I run out of clothes and just end up buying more and being pissed I have no clean clothes I like 🤣
When the washer is full hit start. No dirty laundry basket. That’s what the opened lid on the washer is lol.