So, yesterday I spilled a full cup of fresh brewed iced tea on my Ivory colored Dutalier Glider. Needless to say I was not thrilled. I had to act quick in order to keep the stain from setting in so I grabbed all of the cushions off of the glider threw them in a plastic garbage bag and drive a couple mins up the road to the public laundrymat to use the commercial machines. I was clearly out of place as the laundry mat attendant came up to me right away. He helped me to get change, quickly produced a sponge and told me to hurry and give him some detergent. This all happened so fast so I went along. Long story short he applied the detergent to the stains and gently scrubbed with the sponge and then he helped me get them into the washing machines. While I was waiting he proceeded to tell me that he had been working there for 20 years and if I needed any help with laundry to let him know. He then proceeded to tell me how they offer laundry service and that the prices are much more reasonable than the neighborhood dry cleaners.
PS the covers came oult excellent by the way. He was very insistent that I should not put them in the dryer but to let them air dry. They are hangin on a rack at home now.

OP maybe you can search out your local laundrymat and use their drop off services?

Anonymous wrote:OP if you want to hire someone, send your laundry out. They charge by weight (dry, not wet).

We are a family of two adults, three kids. I do a load of laundry every evening after work. When I get home I change out of work clothes, and take a laundry bag down to the washing machine. Start it, then go up to the kitchen and start dinner. Some time either before dinner starts or during dinner, I send a kid down to move everything from washer to dryer and start that. After cleaning up from dinner somebody takes everything out of the dryer. Anything still damp or needing to be ironed gets hung, everything else comes upstairs. We fold while watching tv. I sort into piles based on what belongs to whom. As kids go up to bed they take their piles of clean clothes, and if it's not too much have them take my stuff and DH's to our bedroom.

The 3 yr old is excused from having to carry her stuff up, because invariably she drops it on the way and it becomes unfolded. We do a load of sheets/towels twice a week. Other nights are whites, darks, regular, and gentle. On weekends if we're around I might do two loads.

Don't your kids have homework or sports in the evenings? I cant imagine sitting around all night watching TV doing laundry. We rarely have time to watch TV and when my kids have completed their homework they normally head outside to play with the neighborhood kids. I cant just throw my kids outside. Someone has to watch them.

One of the things I hate about laundry now is that the new front-loader washers take forever to do a load. That's great that they use less water, etc, but I'm almost considering going back to a conventional washer just for the speed of doing more loads faster.

Wash your clothes less often.

Funny how different people hate different chores. Laundry I don't mind.

One trick I have is to keep people's clothes separate. I will do mine and DH's together because it goes to the same room when folded. I then try to wash each girl's laundry separately because the sorting is then done for me. Throw away all socks and buy each kid a package of all the same ones. Don't get me wrong - I loved having all those cute girly socks to match each outfit but when I started pulling my hair out over the lost ones, I decided it wasn't worth the fashion!

Sheets are done in the morning and generally go right back on the bed they came from when done so no folding there. My kids fold the towels. When they were 3 they could say "fold in half and then in half again"

One last tip - it's well worth the cost of tuition to send your kids to a school with uniforms. During the school year my laundry is so simple! One load of white polos a week and one load of dark bottoms/jumpers/socks. Done.