Recently I was enjoying a chat with a friend, we began discussing laundry and she told me that she does 14-16 loads of laundry a week for two people; granted our washers are much smaller than the American size ones, but I was horrified!
I have found that I do one to two loads a week when I’m on my own, three loads a week when there are two of us and when I had the kids I really tried to do no more than five loads a week (yes, even with four!); it wasn’t always easy, but with some planning and compromise it was usually possible!
I shared with my friend some tips for reducing laundry: you don’t need to wash everything that is worn once, I’ve found most trousers, skirts, dresses and even tops can be worn a few times before they need washing! When I had the children my method still worked but I did find for the little ones shirts often needed to be washed after a full day’s use! I will never forget discussing laundry with a friend who had a 2-year-old and she told me she washes every item of clothing that is worn, even if only for an hour! Her bathtub was FULL of laundry! That system would never ever work for me! Another tip I shared: I wear PJ’s/nighties for three-four nights before I put them in the wash, I wash sheets every other week and I use two towels per week per person!
Four years ago I gave up drying clothes and now happily enjoy hanging them on my little line in the kitchen during the winter and outside in the spring, summer and autumn!
How many loads a week of laundry do you do each week and how many people are in your household? Do you have any tips for cutting back?
We do usually one light load, one dark load, towels, heavily soiled clothes, per week, and sheets every other week – there are just 2 of us here. And I adjust the water level in the machine accordingly, so if there are only a few really dirty clothes I’ll either wait for the following week (although I do like to see an empty dirty clothes basket) or just use the low water level setting. I’m like you though, if the clothes aren’t dirty, they don’t get washed!
About the same as you, 2-4. Unfortunately we tend to get a backlog in winter, we don’t use a dryer and can copy perfectly fine without but it does take organisation (remembering to put the wash in and take it out again!) which i don’t have! I usually wear work trousers/tops twice, jeans more – so for slobbing out clothes after work i wear the same stuff a few days in a row.
… seriously, SIXTEEN loads?! *staggered*
I can’t believe that 2 people could own that many clothes let alone wear them all!! It’s not just the amount of extra work that horrifys me but the waste of electricity and water and all the detergents being washed down the drain. There are 3 adults in my house and I have an average of 5 loads a week including bedding etc with the odd extra when I wash bath mats or coats. I have a 2nd hand tumble dryer but can’t remember when I used it last. I pay a friend to do my ironing, as I never have the time, which takes her 1-2 hours a week but would take me 2-3 hours (I don’t know how she does it!)
Teresa x
How on earth can someone do 14 – 16 loads of laundry a week for two people???? The mind boggles – I don’t think we possess enough washable items to make that physically possible.
There are just the two of us here and I probably do on average 2 – 3 loads of washing per week. As I don’t have a tumble drier I often do a lot more washing if the weather is good and then let it pile up again when it is raining and so I’m unable to get it dry.
My partner wears a shirt and tie for work so his shirts are changed every day as is all our underwear (naturally) but everything else gets worn for at least a couple of times before being put in the wash. Also, we both have ‘scruffy’ clothes that we only wear around the house and these cut down on the amount of ‘good stuff’ that has to be washed frequently.
14-16?! That sounds like OCD to me! Why would anyone want to spend so much time loading, unloading, hanging out and putting away clothes? She must spend a small fortune on washing liquid!
We are just two in my house, and we probably wash 3 times a week max. Tip to reduce washing…hmm, maybe look at your clothes when you get changed and if they dont NEED washing hang them up to air and to let the creases drop out.
Well laundry really went up with a baby in the house, especially with having a load of nappies every other day. So I’m much more conscious of only washing things that really need it. I do have some stretchy tops that just don’t look nice when put on a second time, but most clothes last a fair while. I always save up laundry until I can run a full load. If you hang towels so they’re spread out and can dry properly they can last a nice long time… I won’t say *how* long in case it makes me sound a bit lax! When I do the wash I always set the machine to use the minimum water and temperature needed and use much less than half the recommended detergent. Obviously it’s a good thing I’m trying to save the planet if some people are out to do the opposite!!!
My boyfriend and I only do 3 to 4 loads every two weeks or maybe every 10th day. In that respect we do have access to two large machines that swallow a lot of clothes, due to the Swedish system where the landlord has to provide you with a communal laundryroom if you rent. We change underwear and t-shirts/tops every day but all else is worn several times before it goes into the wash. We only change our sheets once a month as well.
I have 2 adults and I average 2-3 a week also.
I wear jeans almost all week as I work at home at my plant nursery business and I get dirty so it is no big deal. Then I wash them and soak them if need be. I sometimes wash knickers and bras daily if it gets hot and I get sweaty and just hang them out on my line.
I am horrified about the 14 loads, yikes! I would not get anything done at all either inside or outside, and a horrible use of water and laundry soap.
I think that some of these young people need to open their eyes,and quit being so afraid of germs and dirt, this is the reason that kids are so sick, they are not allowed to play outside and get dirty, and this kids do not have resistance to dirt and germs. I say lets all go out and get dirty, I do!
My god do people really wash that often?! I feel like I’m horrifically filthy now!
I usually do one a week, maybe 2 if I do the bedding and towels as well and that’s for the 2 of us.
I’ve never had a dryer so I’ve just been used to hanging them on the line or on a clothes horse. I’d love to dry my clothes outside because they smell so good but we don’t have a garden so have to make do with clothes horse now.
Seriously. 14-16 loads a week for 2 people?! What are they doing?! How can you fit that in with a job even?!
I can chime in like a lot of the other commenters that 14-16 loads/week just blows my mind. What are they washing?!
My husband and I do an average of 2-3 loads per week. We run a load of whites and a load of darks and either a load of sheets/tablecloths/towels or a load of reds. If we don’t have a full load but REALLY need a few of the items, we choose “half-load” on our washer.
Like some others have said, too, we have “scruffy” clothes for around the house that get washed only about once a week. After all, we’re only lounging in them. Our towels also stretch to two per person/wk, and we fan them out in an airy location to dry.
All of our clothes get hung out to dry in the sun.
Family of 4 – 4-5 loads/week..plus sheets every other week..which is an additional 2 loads (3 when we do the duvet covers).
No way my kids can reuse clothes..but sometimes we do their pj’s for 2 nights. We use the same towel for a week (1 each) and I wear my work pants/jackets many many times before drycleaning..so it’s usually just tops + my playclothes. No one reuses their shirts though.
I feel like we’re always doing laundry…I can’t imagine doing double the amount.
I wash 3-5 loads per week depending on if I have towels & sheets to wash. We have enough towels that I can usually do a load of towels every other week. I wash sheets every other week as well.
I invested in a front-loading washer & dryer which allows for large capacitiesof clothes. It’s a huge time saver and a lot easier on my clothes than the old washing machine.
I don’t hang clothes very often these days, but maybe I’ll get back to doing that.
I will wear my work clothes several times before washing them. As soon as I return home, I change into casual clothes. I also wear my night shirts for 3-4 nights before laundering.
I too am astonished that they can fill a machine 14 times a week!
We have three washing loads a week; me (with fabric softener- I can’t do without!), him plus some towels, and towels/bedding.
Then the towels/bedding and his items get put in one dryer (towels come out at half time and finish air drying). My clothes are all hung to dry in the apartment.
If we had space I would hang it all to dry but that would mean doing laundry at several different times of the week and as we use communal machines it is a bit too much effort; and even then we really don’t have space to hang bedding.
I really don’t wash anything (other than socks/undies!) after only one wear, but SO does need to wash his t-shirts after one wear. He does only wear 2 pairs of jeans in a week, so 3/4 days each.
3-5 washes a week here! We’re 2 adults and 1 rough-and-tumble toddler, who wears cloth nappies a good portion of the time. I am guilty of chucking a few dark items with a white wash now and then (and vice versa) though, just so that the basket gets emptied, and I probably don’t wash the towels and sheets as often as I should. We probably wash tops after 1-2 uses, depending on what we’ve been up to, and trousers after 2-4 uses.
I can’t see how a family of less than 10 people can generate 14-16 loads a week though!! Seriously crazy people – they can’t be on a meter.
I will be glad when DD finally realises the value of a potty/toilet though
Goodness me! That’s an awful lot of washing!
There’s two of us here, and we get by on average with around 1 load a week – which now makes me feel rather slovenly
Jeans and skirts and everything are washed when they’re dirty need it, not just after one or two wears. With tops, it depends how long they’ve been worn for etc. I don’t change the bedding every week, and we only OWN three towels, so we share and they get rotated 
(I should probably point out that I don’t usually get to the end of the washing basket every week – white things for example build up til there’s enough for a full wash, or are slung in with the normal wash. I tend not to buy things that need special washing care!)
My laundry has always averaged one load/person/week, with an extra one for cloth diapers when the kids were younger. I don’t sort by colour at all anymore. (Does it really make a difference?) I do the laundry when someone’s hamper is full or they start saying that they are running out of something.
I try not to use my dryer, but in the winter it takes a few days to dry in my basement so it does take some pre-thought timing to make it work. I can’t do more than two loads in one day or I run out of clothesline and there are five of us in the house. Spring will one day come though – I can smell it in the air!
It’s just the two of us for now. I usually do one load a week unless I have no towels. We wear our jeans/pants more than one day , at least 2-3 days before washing. It’s easier to do that. However shirts I usually have to wash weekly.
I’d like to use a clothes line because our dryer is upstairs(!!) in the apartment but I’m not sure if that’s allowed here.
For my husband and I we do about 3 loads a week in tiny laundromat washers (it also comes out to a load each of blacks, colors, and whites), 4 if we’re doing bed linens and such.
Most of what we wash each week is work clothes, then we have a small amount of non-work clothes. We also, though it sounds bad when you say it, we wear thing multiple times before they’re washed. Not underclothes or t-shirts/camisoles/shirts that are right next to the skin, but things like pants and sweaters get worn at least twice before they’re washed unless they’ve been stained/soiled in some way. I’ve learned that when you have to wear dark colored or black clothing to work everyday no one really keeps tabs on if your pants are different each day.
There are 5 of us here. I think I may have admitted before that my mother in law takes care of my washing when she comes over to look after my youngest on a Monday.
I *love* coming home on a Monday as all our socks are paired, everything is folded and put back and we are ready for the week ahead. Before she helped me it was chaotic and I was probably doing a load and sometimes two every day but never having the right thing clean. Now she does everything on a Monday in about 4 loads (I think!). I also do the bedding and towels etc on a seperate load at the weekend and if I need anything urgently.
My tip (although you probably think I am a lazy so and so for getting someone else to help!) is to reducce the items of clothes you own and put things back on hangers (!) – I used to try on three tops, discard what I didn’t like on the floor and then three items would end up in the washing basket……..seriously it can’t just be me that behaves like this? So huge amounts of time wasted washing things that didn’t need washing. As soon as MIL took on the washing this ridiculous practice stopped as I was suddenly concious of the washing I was producing.
I do about 5 loads a week – 2 each for me and The Boy, then one for towels and bedsheets etc.
x
we are 2 adults and a small boy. I probably do about 5 washes a week. I am not quite sure how. I do wear the same outfit several days running if I can (I mean apart from undies of course!) And I do fish out clean stuff from the laundry basket and hang it up – hub has a habit of throwing all his clothes in the laundry as he undresses!
I do three to four a week for myself!! I think I need to cut back after reading this!!
I do 2 loads per week during summer time.
Unfortunately winter here is very cold hence bulkier clothes so I find myself washing 4 loads/week.
You’re right, certain things you can definitely wear twice before washing.
I have to say that it wouldn’t surprise me….
I do whites(everybody’s)/darks(mine)/sheets(2 beds) each week. 3 loads of laundry. Not every laundry load is a full load but I adjust the water accordingly.
My husband is responsible for his clothes and the 2 kids who live with us half time. Their dark clothes must be at least 3 loads a week. And invariably, the kids never seem to have the clothes they need – they are always in the laundry. It completely blows my mind that he always seems to be doing laundry for the three of them. I have no idea why there is so much laundry generated by the three of them.
I do a lot of laundry:
2 loads of diapers a week
1 load whites
1 load lights
1 load dark t-shirts/jammies/bumming around the house clothes
1 load dark nice clothes
1 load kids clothes
1 load towels
1 load sheets
1 load toddlers sheets, blankets, towels, etc.
That is 10 loads a week for 3 of us. It is a lot. I can sometimes combine my daughters laundry into one load, or add her sheets and towels with ours, cutting down one load a week. But she can’t usually wear anything more than once. She is a mess most of the time…food, dirt, you name it on her clothes. She is a very active little girl. I only own one pair of jeans and wear them nearly every day, and they get washed twice a week or so, so they often get thrown in with some other load.
Admittedly, towels and sheets sometimes go more than a week between washes, but all in all I would say 9 to 10 loads a week.
I do about a load a week, but I tend to procrastinate until I am nearly out of everything, so I really do 3-4 loads every three weeks. I use towels, sheets, and pjs quite a while between washes – I’m clean and it’s just me, so why not?
I only buy machine-washable items, and I am very cavalier about mixing my laundry. I call it Laundry Darwinism – if it can’t take my lax approach, I don’t want to own/wear/use it anyway.
I have lots of laundry since I cloth diaper, and have a mud-attracting six year old. I’ve actually never counted the loads, though.
I am very, very excited though because today I finally pushed the order button on my new umbrella style clothesline! I will be able to dry so much more outside than on my old folding style rack.
I also got something called a sweater stone, which is going to make my pitiful sweaters look brand new and help me get more years out of them! I can’t wait!
An average week for the two of us is between wight and ten loads. I can’t wear the same shirt more than once, as I usually end up wearing food on it. LOL
An average week is 2 loads for bedding, 1 of towels, 1 for tea towels and dish clothes ( I was them separate from everything else), 2 or 3 for darks, 1 for lights and 1 for whites. It’s a lot of laundry for two people, but I can’t stand the idea of cross contanimation of certain items ( underwear is washed with pj’s, bras, white socks anything that is usually has direct contact with skin) Weird I know but I can’t change it.
Two adults, two children. Five loads of clothes a week, one load towels, and one load sheets equals seven loads a week.
98% is line dried. Drier occasionally when it rains a LOT – very rarely, and occasionally on cold winter days, again very rarely.
Currently I am training the 10 and 12 year old to accept the idea that they do not have to stick everything in the wash after one wearing if it isn’t dirty. This is an uphill battle, although I will pluck stuff out of the pile and send it back if I know a particularly item has barely been worn.
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Hmmm.. one adult with a 5.5kg washing machine. I do three to four loads a week – one each of lights, darks, sheets/quilt cover and then a load of towels fortnightly. I use eco-friendly or home-made laundry detergent, always wash in cold water and use the Hills Hoist (rotary clothesline) as much as I can.
madness!!!
we do laundry when we’ve worn all our clothes at least twice. . . ie sat at my desk all day in a blouse and sat in it for half an evening at choir practice. . . my husband wears lots of undershirts. . . those do for one wear but that means he wears his overshirts several times!!
Shock.
I need to lie down.
We do laundry maybe once or twice a month!
I mean, as long as you’re wearing underwear and you aren’t hiking to the top of the statue of liberty, why do you need to wash your clothes?
I must add that we have LOTS of underwear and socks so I guess we wait until we’ve got two laundry bags full and then we have to drive to the laundromat so that really discourages lots of the washing. .
There are 6 of us and I do on average 1 load a day. Really some days it is 2 and some days it is 1, but whenever I count up for the week it comes to 7, so I guess that is it.
Two of us and we do one load a week, maybe two.. but usually just the one!!!
Hmm, I guess I’m an anomaly. I do laundry every other week (and sometimes every 2 weeks). I don’t own a lot of things, I just re-use my clothing/towels/cleaning cloths.
I just can’t believe how much laundry some people are doing. We are a family of three working adults. I do three, sometimes four loads a week but with a bit more planning I could cut that down. I only use my tumble dryer when I really have to.
We certainly don’t step outside the door without looking clean and tidy. I can’t imagine how much ironing all this laundry must produce. I try and keep that to a minimum too.
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I do 9-10 loads of laundry/week, for a family of 3. The majority of the loads are for my son’s cloth diapers (4-5). I don’t think we ought to try to reuse those before washing, lol.
Agreed Rachel
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On my own, I do one load every two weeks, two loads if it’s time to do the sheets and linens. When I’m washing for two, I do two loads every two weeks, three only if it includes bedding and towels. 16 is … wow.
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