You can hire out laundry pretty easily these days. Do that for a while.

Definitely kids can wear school clothes to bed or change into pjs when they get home. Spouse does not need pj and home leisure clothes washed every day either, unless he is up to some crazy nights!

Put your kids in PJs as soon as they come home, instead of changing clothes twice.

Start a load before you go to bed. Move it to the dryer in the morning. It shouldn't get musty overnight. If it does, you need to do a deep clean of your washer.

Here are my hacks -
1) Only use white bed linens, white bath mats, white towels etc. I wash everything in hottest water, oxiclean and detergent. It takes care of washer moldy smell too.

2) I have a whole bunch of linen towels, along with regular towels too. Linen towels are easier to wash and dry.

3) All undies and socks get washed together in the hottest wash to kill bacteria.

4) Daily laundry.

5) Use the steam sanitize setting in your dryer to "sanitize" stuff that does not get dirty or stinky. I very often use it for my hoodies, jeans, comforters and blankets. It also removes wrinkles.

6) Use the fast wash setting for clothes that cannot go into general load.

7) Use the tray washer to do two loads at once.

8) Wash delicate knits in the sink with shampoo and cold water. Dry it laid flat on the top of an open umbrella over a heat vent.

9) Use left over soap and shampoo (even from hotels) to wash your woolen socks in the sink in your bathroom. Hang it up to dry in the shower. Same for bras, hose etc.

10) Run two or three loads per day. It will take care of your sheets, towels, kitchen towels, back packs, jackets etc. in a household of 4-5 people.

I only wash towels once a week, except if I get period stains on them. You’re using them on a clean body. Everyone hangs up their towel to dry as soon as they’re done showering. Sheets get cleaned every 2 weeks unless they get dirty. Cut down on the number of clothing changes every day.

For now, OP, just send your laundry out to a wash and fold service to get caught up. Then do a load every single day. I know that sounds like a lot. But someone gave me this advice and it worked.

Here's what I do. I pop all the laundry in at night and set it to wash overnight. Then in the morning, I transfer the laundry from washer to dryer while my coffee brews. Then after work, I fold.

You'll find that some days you don't have enough. That's fine, just wait. But make it a daily habit to collect all the laundry and put it in the washer.

This is a tough habit. But someone on DCUM recommended it and I read it when my kids were young, and it's what got my laundry under control.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Change your linens less often. I wash sheets and bath towels once a month and the pillowcases and handtowels/washcloths once a week. Sweatpants and other pants can be worn several times before washing. DH wears t-shirt under sweaters so only the shirt needs to be washed. Any dress shirts, heavy sweaters, and slacks are sent to the cleaners.

Not washing your towel for an entire month is nasty!!!

Maybe you're not washing well in the shower.

Anonymous wrote:Seconding the second washer and dryer. There's not really a limit on how many you can have. We have 2 full-size sets in the basement, and then I have a combo washer/dryer built into my walk-in pantry for kitchen towels/cloth napkins.

This is why the environment is a lost cause.

Anonymous wrote:Change your linens less often. I wash sheets and bath towels once a month and the pillowcases and handtowels/washcloths once a week. Sweatpants and other pants can be worn several times before washing. DH wears t-shirt under sweaters so only the shirt needs to be washed. Any dress shirts, heavy sweaters, and slacks are sent to the cleaners.

Not washing your towel for an entire month is nasty!!!

I would skip the changing clothes after daycare, I really don't understand that one.
But also, don't keep up with it during the week if that doesn't work for you. Our weekly laundry is about 9-10 loads - I start running it through Sat morning, if I am home a lot it's finished late Saturday night, if not then it's finished sometime Sunday. I think it's more efficient doing it all at once - our machines are in the basement so while I am down there I can remove clothes from the dryer, put the wet load in the dryer, and start another load in the washer.

If clothes smell bad after only a few hours (especially in the winter), you have a problem. Clean your washer. I usually run a load during the night and then put in the dryer in the morning, then another in the afternoon.

We wear our daily clothes and then change into pjs after dinner. Dh and I change into our pajama pants/sweatpants when we get home. Everyone wears pajamas 3x. Sheets and towels every other week (we take nightly baths). Sweatshirts or hoodies are worn more often than other clothes.

Regarding the wet snow clothes, I threw ours in the dryer when we came in. That keeps them dry and not moldering. Once the snow is gone I’ll wash all the snow pants and jackets.

Of course I wash socks, shirts, underwear every wear.

Anonymous wrote:Rewear sweaters, I wear mine for 5-6 times before washing.
Dress pants - 2-3 times before dry cleaning.
Bed linens - change once a month.
The only thing you need to wash after one wear is undergarment, socks and gym clothes.

Same, except I am for every two weeks on linens.

Kids are harder because they do get such a lot genuinely dirty. Can you get your kids to help with laundry in the evenings? I find that mine think chores are good fun if I don’t complain about them and make them part of routines.

Also if they’re getting their evening playclothes dirty, do they really need to change after daycare? My son comes home a mess but I don’t change his clothes because frankly all he’s going to do between home and bed is spill dinner on his clothes and have a bath; might as well just let him get his daycare shirt even dirtier. I have a full load of (clothing) laundry every 1-2 days.

Seconding the second washer and dryer. There's not really a limit on how many you can have. We have 2 full-size sets in the basement, and then I have a combo washer/dryer built into my walk-in pantry for kitchen towels/cloth napkins.