Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 22:06     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:My kids - esp. my son - didn’t do their own laundry until they went to college and had no choice.

Like OP it was just easy for me to do it, and I’ve always enjoyed doing their laundry since they were babies. Something about folding their clothes and putting them away, for me.

I know plenty of DCUMers feel this is one of those skills kids *have* to have in order to go to college, but they figure it out very quickly in college. Don’t sweat it!


+1 I don’t like the way anyone else folds the clothes so I prefer to do it myself to do it right. Otherwise I end up redoing the folding of shirts anyway.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 22:05     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids are 11 and 13 and have never done their own laundry. I thought this was normal, but over in another thread, most commenters are saying their kids have done their own laundry since they were tweens/teens. For context, I don't mind -- I telework and it's easy to throw some laundry in over the course of the day. As housework goes, I don't hate it. Also, I never did my own laundry as a kid. I had other chores but my parents did my laundry for me until I went to college. Do most kids transition to doing their own laundry at some point while still living at home?


My kids have been doing their laundry since about 9-10. Extra points - we don’t own a washer /dryer, they have been using the laundry in our building.

But you are not alone- as reported by my middle child, lots of freshmen in her dorm were really stumped by the process. Like how do you remember to do it unless you find out you don’t have clean underwear and what do you do if all machines are occupied at that moment and you have a class in two hours?


You skip class.


You bring dirty laundry home to Mom and Dads on breaks and buy more clothes so you can do less
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 22:00     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Still waiting to learn the big secret to doing laundry that takes years of practice. As long as clothes get to the hamper it's a very small task imo.


Who said it takes years? Since it's such a small task, the kids can do it themselves.

So much more efficient to do big loads...


it’s a ton more work to wash mixed loads and then to have to sort everyone’s clothes out. It’s not like these kids only have 5 outfits, we all have plenty of clothes to wear we don’t have to wash clothes every couple days. My loads are full with my own clothes and my kids too. And I sort darks and lights.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 20:37     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Mine (19 and 17) both do their own, I started training them when they were home during Covid.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 20:33     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Still waiting to learn the big secret to doing laundry that takes years of practice. As long as clothes get to the hamper it's a very small task imo.


Who said it takes years? Since it's such a small task, the kids can do it themselves.

So much more efficient to do big loads...


Why wouldn’t they be big loads? Why do you need to make stuff up?
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 19:37     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
My kids - esp. my son - didn’t do their own laundry until they went to college and had no choice.

Like OP it was just easy for me to do it, and I’ve always enjoyed doing their laundry since they were babies. Something about folding their clothes and putting them away, for me.

I know plenty of DCUMers feel this is one of those skills kids *have* to have in order to go to college, but they figure it out very quickly in college. Don’t sweat it!
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 19:26     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids are 11 and 13 and have never done their own laundry. I thought this was normal, but over in another thread, most commenters are saying their kids have done their own laundry since they were tweens/teens. For context, I don't mind -- I telework and it's easy to throw some laundry in over the course of the day. As housework goes, I don't hate it. Also, I never did my own laundry as a kid. I had other chores but my parents did my laundry for me until I went to college. Do most kids transition to doing their own laundry at some point while still living at home?


My kids have been doing their laundry since about 9-10. Extra points - we don’t own a washer /dryer, they have been using the laundry in our building.

But you are not alone- as reported by my middle child, lots of freshmen in her dorm were really stumped by the process. Like how do you remember to do it unless you find out you don’t have clean underwear and what do you do if all machines are occupied at that moment and you have a class in two hours?


You buy new clothes.


You go down to the swimsuit bottoms. Everyone knows this.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 19:20     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Mine has been doing their laundry for years. Not sure it started at 11, but definitely by 13.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 19:18     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Still waiting to learn the big secret to doing laundry that takes years of practice. As long as clothes get to the hamper it's a very small task imo.


Who said it takes years? Since it's such a small task, the kids can do it themselves.

So much more efficient to do big loads...
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 17:20     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
It’s not a problem unless it’s a problem! I am a control freak about laundry. I am sure we will have a boot camp before college.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 17:01     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids are 11 and 13 and have never done their own laundry. I thought this was normal, but over in another thread, most commenters are saying their kids have done their own laundry since they were tweens/teens. For context, I don't mind -- I telework and it's easy to throw some laundry in over the course of the day. As housework goes, I don't hate it. Also, I never did my own laundry as a kid. I had other chores but my parents did my laundry for me until I went to college. Do most kids transition to doing their own laundry at some point while still living at home?


My kids have been doing their laundry since about 9-10. Extra points - we don’t own a washer /dryer, they have been using the laundry in our building.

But you are not alone- as reported by my middle child, lots of freshmen in her dorm were really stumped by the process. Like how do you remember to do it unless you find out you don’t have clean underwear and what do you do if all machines are occupied at that moment and you have a class in two hours?


You skip class.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 17:00     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids are 11 and 13 and have never done their own laundry. I thought this was normal, but over in another thread, most commenters are saying their kids have done their own laundry since they were tweens/teens. For context, I don't mind -- I telework and it's easy to throw some laundry in over the course of the day. As housework goes, I don't hate it. Also, I never did my own laundry as a kid. I had other chores but my parents did my laundry for me until I went to college. Do most kids transition to doing their own laundry at some point while still living at home?


My kids have been doing their laundry since about 9-10. Extra points - we don’t own a washer /dryer, they have been using the laundry in our building.

But you are not alone- as reported by my middle child, lots of freshmen in her dorm were really stumped by the process. Like how do you remember to do it unless you find out you don’t have clean underwear and what do you do if all machines are occupied at that moment and you have a class in two hours?


You take someone else's clothes from the dryer.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 16:59     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids are 11 and 13 and have never done their own laundry. I thought this was normal, but over in another thread, most commenters are saying their kids have done their own laundry since they were tweens/teens. For context, I don't mind -- I telework and it's easy to throw some laundry in over the course of the day. As housework goes, I don't hate it. Also, I never did my own laundry as a kid. I had other chores but my parents did my laundry for me until I went to college. Do most kids transition to doing their own laundry at some point while still living at home?


My kids have been doing their laundry since about 9-10. Extra points - we don’t own a washer /dryer, they have been using the laundry in our building.

But you are not alone- as reported by my middle child, lots of freshmen in her dorm were really stumped by the process. Like how do you remember to do it unless you find out you don’t have clean underwear and what do you do if all machines are occupied at that moment and you have a class in two hours?


You buy new clothes.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 16:53     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kids are 11 and 13 and have never done their own laundry. I thought this was normal, but over in another thread, most commenters are saying their kids have done their own laundry since they were tweens/teens. For context, I don't mind -- I telework and it's easy to throw some laundry in over the course of the day. As housework goes, I don't hate it. Also, I never did my own laundry as a kid. I had other chores but my parents did my laundry for me until I went to college. Do most kids transition to doing their own laundry at some point while still living at home?


My kids have been doing their laundry since about 9-10. Extra points - we don’t own a washer /dryer, they have been using the laundry in our building.

But you are not alone- as reported by my middle child, lots of freshmen in her dorm were really stumped by the process. Like how do you remember to do it unless you find out you don’t have clean underwear and what do you do if all machines are occupied at that moment and you have a class in two hours?

Yup, since we own a washer/dryer, I made sure they weren't available at preferred laundry times, only early in the morning. And if my kid didn't take his wet clothes out immediately, I would dump them on the counter so I could dry my stuff. Good practice for college.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2026 16:05     Subject: Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?
Yep - starting 7th grade, they each do their own laundry. I have girls so I still do all the delicates together just beause it's such a small load