Large Family Laundry Logistics - How to Create Less Laundry

Its important to me to have clean, tidy children (as much as life will allow).  For some reason large families seem to be put under a microscope and judged according to how well the children are kept and how well they are behaved.  Typically I am the kind of person who truly doesn't care what other people think or say, but when it comes to mothering, cleanliness and manners are a big indicator to the outside world of our ability to raise a large family.  I make efforts in this area in hopes that people will have a good impression and maybe be a little more accepting of our lifestyle.


Laundry is one of those areas that I make extra effort, but I've got to keep a balance.  I could spend 40 hours a week on laundry if I let myself, a full-time job in and of itself.  In the States, I would typically do 30-35 loads of laundry per week.  This includes linens, bedding, each kid wearing a new outfit every day, and a new set of pajamas every night.  I alternated between using Tide and a homemade laundry recipe.  Sometimes I'm in money-saving mode, sometimes I want the amazing perfumes in commercial soaps and opt for that.  Every load went through the dryer (few people use dryers in New Zealand).  I used Shout or bleach pens for stain removal that are not available here.  Often I would find totally clean laundry, STILL FOLDED, in the dirty laundry because people were too lazy to put it away, it got mixed in with the dirty and here it is again, unworn.


Moving to New Zealand required major adjustments to our routine.  For example, electricity is 3 times as expensive as the States.   Our first power bill was almost $800, and water was $265, about 3 times our American monthly bills.  That is simply more than I want to pay.  Next, our house is older, and doesn't have a hot water line to the laundry in the garage.  (YIKES!)  Our washer and dryer are about half the capacity of the Kenmores I had in the US, so I have to do twice the work to get the same volume finished.  Detergents, fortunately, did not go up in price but....no Tide brand.  Another hurdle, we moved here in the late fall, when it rains several times per day, so the dryer really has to work hard...sometimes a load would take 1.5 hours to run.


For us, a bigger or second washer and dryer just isn't in the budget right now, and its not exactly practical anyway, so we're going to do what we do best and that is .... get creative.


The first thing I did was minimizing the amount of laundry to be washed.


HOW TO MINIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF DIRTY LAUNDRY CREATED


  1.  Spot Clean wherever possible - School uniforms are a perfect example of how spot cleaning can save laundry.  Hang up their uniforms right away after school.  We soon found out that most kids at our schools only have 2 tops and 1 skirt/shorts that they spot clean each night, and re-iron for the morning, but re-wear all week long, washing as needed. This applies mostly to my 4 high school students who are responsible for their own laundry, starting at age 12. 


*How to spot clean - Take a wash cloth and get it wet with warm or cold water, depending on the spot.  Place a dab of dish soap or laundry detergent on the wash cloth and scrub the fabric in circular motions.  Don't use too much soap!  Then use another part of the wash cloth to wipe the soap off.  Hang garment to dry.


  For the primary school-aged kids, I purchased 5 uniform tops and 5 bottoms for each kid, a fresh one for each day Monday through Friday that I have labeled and boxed in my clothes filing system. (I'm saving that discussion for an organization post later on.)  This is necessary laundry that just cannot be side-stepped.


2.  Hand wash small loads - When they only have a shirt and a pair of socks to wash, we hand wash in the sink with dish soap or a dab of laundry detergent, rinse, and lay it out to dry overnight. 


3.  Control the Play Clothes - Changing into play clothes after school is a great practice to keep uniforms in top condition, but if all kids put on new outfits after school, we're creating a TON of laundry for something they wore briefly, especially if they're changing into sports uniforms, too.  I asked each child to pick out (1) play clothes outfit that they wear again throughout the week.  Only when the play clothes outfit is noticeably dirty, they can get an additional play clothes outfit.  This outfit gets washed on the weekend with the uniforms while they're wearing their 2nd play clothes outfit.  Notice each child really only needs 2 play clothes outfits?  that leads me to my next tip....


4.  Get rid of their closet full of clothes - American closets are huge.  I didn't know it until now.  I decided to limit the amount of clothes each kid had down to a minimum.  Not because I'm cruel, but I found myself washing and rewashing stuff they'd never even worn.  Some clothes my kids didn't even know were theirs, so they kept putting it in the dirty laundry, hoping Mom would eventually get it to the correct owner's room.  I'd find it folded and clean, but mixed in with dirty stuff, required to wash it again.  What a waste of resources!  With the help of each child, I had them select their favorite 3-4 shirts, 2-3 pants, and best church outfit and just got rid of everything else.  It felt so good, and my laundering is way down.  Disorganization creates a lot of waste, and not just with clothing.


5.  Keep Church clothing in a separate area - Immediately after church, kids strip down and I re-hang their clothes and re-iron on ironing day when I inspect the clothes and launder only what's dirty. Its always ready to go, that is a bonus!  The church clothing are kept in my closet, so I can protect them from being used as play clothes (oh yeah, they'd totally do this).


6.  Use Bibs and burp cloths - Washing 4 bibs and 1 outfit is less laundry than 4 outfits, and better to stain the bib.  Bibs also save you time from changing the baby over and over throughout the day.  A burp cloth is easier to wash than Ryan's work clothes.


7.  Limiting Linens - Each bed only needs (1) set of linens.  There is no linen storage closet.  I have 8 twin beds, (1) crib/cot, and (1) queen bed in the master bedroom.  Each bed has one white sheet set so it doesn't have to go back to any particular bed.  Linens get washed, dried, and replaced on laundry day.  I used to wash weekly, but now I do bi-weekly or less.


8.  Don't use a towel when a washcloth will do - Less fabric dirtied means more can fit in the washing machine.  Speaking of wash cloths, when these bad boys get into the laundry, they can create major havoc.  I hand wash dish cloths in the kitchen sink and let soak overnight with an anti-bacterial mix like vinegar and baking soda, wring out, and lay flat to air dry.  Kitchen laundry never enters the clothing circulation.


With all these tactics, I have been able to reduce our laundry to 15-20 loads per week, that is about HALF of the 30-35 I was doing, a huge savings of water, detergent, electricity, and time.