Anonymous wrote:Another way to do laundry is to do one load a day. Put it in the washer when you get up. Have the first person home first put it in the dryer or hang what needs to be hanged. Bring it to the family room and everyone can take and fold and put away what is theirs when they get home. (That last part takes five minutes for each person- tops). The next morning put in the next load. If you really need more than 7 loads a week- do an extra one on Sunday.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Well I guess I hit upon the group of parents of young kids who all have WFH jobs. We have busy older kids with activities and both of us work outside the home. Our kids do lots of chores (they mow the grass, make themselves meals, do dishes, fold laundry, etc.) and know how to do laundry, but I have found it super inefficient for them each to do a tiny load a couple times per week. We certainly don't buy them enough clothes for them to build up a giant load before running out of things to wear. If there are any actual parents of pre-teens and teens who responded, I'd be glad to take a suggestion on how logistically each one of three kids in the family does their own laundry with a single machine and not owning a full weeks' worth of clothes each. And I agree it's not hard to do laundry, obviously. In fact I like doing it. But in our current phase in life it's at the expense of sleep, exercise, and quality time with my kids.

Family of 4: we pool the clothes, and have enough to wash every two days. There is a hamper for delicates, with extra-delicates going into laundry bags in the same laundry, and a hamper for regular. The delicates and extra-delicates are washed on delicate, low soil, cold water in summer (because it's tepid) and warm water in winter (because it's tepid). The regular get a stronger wash. The really soiled clothes get a pre-treatment. Soiled delicates are washed by hand. The extra-delicates are hung to dry, everything else is dried on very low or low, to preserve fabrics.

But by pooling our clothes... there is no water waste and every wash is full, which increases the friction the clothes get, and improves the washing efficiency.

If there is no family member who wants to be point person for laundry, and you don't want to rotate between family members, then pay your housekeeper more money to implement this system.

I've done it for many years and it's not a burden. When the clothes are clean, they get dumped on people's beds and everyone is responsible for folding and putting away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Well I guess I hit upon the group of parents of young kids who all have WFH jobs. We have busy older kids with activities and both of us work outside the home. Our kids do lots of chores (they mow the grass, make themselves meals, do dishes, fold laundry, etc.) and know how to do laundry, but I have found it super inefficient for them each to do a tiny load a couple times per week. We certainly don't buy them enough clothes for them to build up a giant load before running out of things to wear. If there are any actual parents of pre-teens and teens who responded, I'd be glad to take a suggestion on how logistically each one of three kids in the family does their own laundry with a single machine and not owning a full weeks' worth of clothes each. And I agree it's not hard to do laundry, obviously. In fact I like doing it. But in our current phase in life it's at the expense of sleep, exercise, and quality time with my kids.

Family of 4: we pool the clothes, and have enough to wash every two days. There is a hamper for delicates, with extra-delicates going into laundry bags in the same laundry, and a hamper for regular. The delicates and extra-delicates are washed on delicate, low soil, cold water in summer (because it's tepid) and warm water in winter (because it's tepid). The regular get a stronger wash. The really soiled clothes get a pre-treatment. Soiled delicates are washed by hand. The extra-delicates are hung to dry, everything else is dried on very low or low, to preserve fabrics.

But by pooling our clothes... there is no water waste and every wash is full, which increases the friction the clothes get, and improves the washing efficiency.

If there is no family member who wants to be point person for laundry, and you don't want to rotate between family members, then pay your housekeeper more money to implement this system.

I've done it for many years and it's not a burden. When the clothes are clean, they get dumped on people's beds and everyone is responsible for folding and putting away.

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for reviews on laundry services for a family with school-aged kids. We'd be sending out a range of items -- play/public school clothes for our elementary and high schoolers, machine-wash school uniform items for our middle schooler (specifically wrinkle-free oxfords and khakis), a bunch of very sweaty sports wear for the older two, and some delicate items for myself and the high schooler (bras, blouses, machine wash suiting). Our bi-weekly cleaner does sheets, and we can manage towels, so no linens. Can you recommend a service in the McLean area? We're thinking twice per week. We want to ensure items are properly sorted so that delicates are treated properly, colors don't bleed, etc. and also want to avoid lost/damaged items. Thanks!