Do you re-use your bath towels?

[aprilgail2]

Not the quoted poster but I will share my routine.
Load washer before bed.
Wake up, transfer load to dryer, reload washer.
Afternoon/Evening- unload/reload dryer, kids help fold and put away laundry. Throw in third load, if needed.
I do not work outside the home, but my routine is pretty basic and would be possible if I did.

I never thought about doing it before bed- I usually throw a load in before I go to work. Sometimes I can get home for a little while at lunch and will throw that one in the dryer and another in the washer before going back to work but if not I do that when I get home from work. I could do the load of towels before bed then the other clothes in the morning, thats an idea!

 

[jrmasm]

Not the quoted poster but I will share my routine.
Load washer before bed.
Wake up, transfer load to dryer, reload washer.
Afternoon/Evening- unload/reload dryer, kids help fold and put away laundry. Throw in third load, if needed.
I do not work outside the home, but my routine is pretty basic and would be possible if I did.



Yep. I wash everything. If it can not survive the machine, we do not need it.
Simmons foam pillows do not lump, if anyone is looking for a good washable pillow.

(I have a horrible dust allergy. That may factor into my laundry ocd a tiny bit. I do enjoy the ability to breathe easily )

I can reuse towels but there is no way I could leave my laundry sitting damp in the washer for more than an hour. Blech!

I guess we all have our own "issues".

 

[thedonduck]

I can reuse towels but there is no way I could leave my laundry sitting damp in the washer for more than an hour. Blech!

I guess we all have our own "issues".

I often throw in a load before bed.... However we have a delayed start option so I just set it to start in 9 hours and then it is usually done when we get up for breakfast and then I can just toss it in the dryer! If we would leave it sit, our front loaders get incredibly stinky!

 

[jrmasm]

I often throw in a load before bed.... However we have a delayed start option so I just set it to start in 9 hours and then it is usually done when we get up for breakfast and then I can just toss it in the dryer! If we would leave it sit, our front loaders get incredibly stinky!

I would be ok with that. My washer is old skool!

 

[4luv2cdisney]

I have to ask -- how many family members that you have 18-20 loads of laundry a week?

Heavens! That's so, so much water used every year. With the most water-conservationist washer you can buy, that's well over 25,000 gallons a year; with a conventional washer, it's over 40,000. I'm not a rabid environmentalist, but I couldn't justify using that much water unless I had a family of ten.

There are 4 of us. I am neither proud nor ashamed of our laundry habits. The water consumption portion of my water bill is $25 per month. We all shower daily, run dishwasher 1-2 times day, and do laundry every day. I don't know how many gallons, but it doesn't seem excessive based on what it is costing.

Towels - about 6 loads per week (My job)

DD14 does her own laundry. About 3-4 loads per week (socks/undies, darks, lights, items needed to be washed seperate) They are small loads, but she is taking responsibility from start to finish for her own things, and I think that is most important.

DD11 is just beginning to learn how to do her own laundry. I am assisting at this point. About 3 small loads.

DH works a dirty job. He does his laundry separate (well he's supposed to. I can tell he throws my stuff in with his to save time sometimes and it ticks me off! I can smell the difference in my clothes and then will rewash them) He is responsible for both of our laundry. About 6 full loads (2 -work clothes, 4 the rest)

Things like bedding, jackets, curtains, rugs, blankets we use while watching TV, etc. all have to get washed sometime! So, there is always an extra load of something. (My job)

When the kids were not doing their own laundry, their laundry was combined and could be done in 4 loads (or even less when they were very little).

 

[penn19]

I can reuse towels but there is no way I could leave my laundry sitting damp in the washer for more than an hour. Blech!

I guess we all have our own "issues".

Thats what I was thinking. That smell when you open the washing machine door and get a whiff of damp towel. blah.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

We are a family of 5 and we average 2-6 loads per week.

Two would be if I didn't do sheets for whatever reason and only wound up with 1. cold/darks and 2. hot/socks, underwear, towels

Six would be including all clothes, towels, and sheets (3 loads)


I cannot imagine doing 3 loads of laundry every day.

See my post above on my situation (we do many small loads) but even if I tried to combine most of our clothes together, I don't know how I could do make that work!

I have a large capacity washer / dryer and do not see how I could fit all of our darks in 1 load. I would say we'd have 2-3 loads.

If we reused our towels (say 2 - 3 times) and combined them with all our socks and underwear, we would still have at least 2 loads.

Bedding - 3 loads.

Delicates/other - There are just some things that have to be separated out. Examples: colors that will bleed (reds, the kids have some really bright blues), light colored clothing that cannot be washed in hot water with the whites or with the darks (I wash towels, underwear, socks, etc on "sanitary" which is extra hot), other blankets (bulky), kitchen towels (even on "sanitary" I cannot wash underwear with kitchen towels...just can't do it! So, say 3 "other" loads.

We'd still be at 10 - 11 loads. Not at all singling you out tzolkin, I honestly just cannot figure out how people have any less than this! Good for you though

 

[Sorsha]

We'd still be at 10 - 11 loads. Not at all singling you out tzolkin, I honestly just cannot figure out how people have any less than this! Good for you though

How?

Because, in my house, at least, EVERYTHING gets thrown into one load unless it absolutely MUST be washed separately. I understand that a red or a very bright garment may bleed the first time or two, but after that, I have never had an issue with color leeching out - all the excess dye is gone.

Darks, lights, undies, towels, etc - it gets thrown in, I use warm water and a quality detergent, always rinse on cold. I have a large capacity, water-saving front loader, and NEVER wash on "Hot" or "Sanitary" unless someone has done something very nasty to their clothes or I am running something that absolutely MUST go separately (DH has gotten into something gunky at work, etc).

I have been doing laundry this way for 20+ years and I have never had anyone complain that their clothes looked "less clean" because of it, I don't find that our clothes "don't last as long" (DD9 has hand-me-downs that originally belonged to DD18, and they are still in quite good shape.

It allows me to do about half the loads of laundry that I would have to do if everything were separated out, and I can use less water and less electricity., Just my experiences, and how *I* do fewer loads. YMMV.

 

[Trek Girl]

ok so clean towels, but you sleep naked on the same sheets for a week

Yes. I'm dirty when I go to bed anyway. And then I get up and take a shower in the morning, and I'm clean again. Besides, I simply like the feel of a fluffy, fresh towel.

 

[Trek Girl]

How about helping out the environment?

I still don't see the need. One extra load of laundry a week from me isn't going to kill the Earth or my conscience.

 

[declansdad]

I still don't see the need. One extra load of laundry a week from me isn't going to kill the Earth or my conscience.

That is the type of thinking that causes problems; it isn''t just you that is doing extra laundry or other things that waste water.

 

[Trek Girl]

That is the type of thinking that causes problems; it isn''t just you that is doing extra laundry or other things that waste water.

It isn't like I think this way about everything, but water is a service I'm paying for, and unless there's a mandate by some governing entity to use less of it, or it gets crazy expensive, I'm going to use the amount that I want.

 

[declansdad]

It isn't like I think this way about everything, but water is a service I'm paying for, and unless there's a mandate by some governing entity to use less of it, or it gets crazy expensive, I'm going to use the amount that I want.

I stand by my earlier comment.

 

[Trek Girl]

I stand by my earlier comment.

As it's your right to, and I commend you for it. I respect people who care as much about the environment as you do, and maybe one day my attitude will change so that it's more in line with your thinking.

But that's not where I'm at right now. I freely admit that I'm selfish about some things (I guess water use is one of them).

 

[declansdad]

As it's your right to, and I commend you for it. I respect people who care as much about the environment as you do, and maybe one day my attitude will change so that it's more in line with your thinking.

But that's not where I'm at right now. I freely admit that I'm selfish about some things (I guess water use is one of them).

Thanks for being honest about it. It is nice to have a discussion without someone feeling like they are being attacked when they have a different opinion.

 

[PeterPanic]

I never thought about doing it before bed- I usually throw a load in before I go to work. Sometimes I can get home for a little while at lunch and will throw that one in the dryer and another in the washer before going back to work but if not I do that when I get home from work. I could do the load of towels before bed then the other clothes in the morning, thats an idea!

You guys are putting a lot of trust in your mechanical products.

Washers spring leaks, hoses break, motors burn up. Dryers are pumping in 220 volts into a large metal box with massive heat elements that rely completely on a revolving drum that is usually driven by a tiny little elastic band that can and does break on occasion. The clothes stay in one spot and can catch fire, if stationary. Leaving the house while either of those are operating, can create one heck of a surprise when you return home or (hopefully) wake up in the morning. Just saying!

They do have safety shut offs and they are pretty reliable, but, it is also a man made device that I do not trust completely. Course this is easy for me to say because I am single, and do one load of wash per week, everything included...never sort and have never had a problem.

 

[snapppyd]

You guys are putting a lot of trust in your mechanical products.

Washers spring leaks, hoses break, motors burn up. Dryers are pumping in 220 volts into a large metal box with massive heat elements that rely completely on a revolving drum that is usually driven by a tiny little elastic band that can and does break on occasion. The clothes stay in one spot and can catch fire, if stationary. Leaving the house while either of those are operating, can create one heck of a surprise when you return home or (hopefully) wake up in the morning. Just saying!

They do have safety shut offs and they are pretty reliable, but, it is also a man made device that I do not trust completely. Course this is easy for me to say because I am single, and do one load of wash per week, everything included...never sort and have never had a problem.

You have a valid point, and we never leave home while the machines are operating.

Here's why:

Two years ago I put a load of clothes in the washing machine and then went to sit on my front porch. About an hour later when I went back to check on the clothes my downstairs was flooded. I had just had new hard wood floors installed the month before. The water just kept running, I guess the thing that tells the machine it is full had broken.

Even worse, my basement had about 3 inches of water in it, the water ran right through the floor.

I hate to think what would have happened if I had been gone all day!

 

[Trek Girl]

You guys are putting a lot of trust in your mechanical products.

Washers spring leaks, hoses break, motors burn up. Dryers are pumping in 220 volts into a large metal box with massive heat elements that rely completely on a revolving drum that is usually driven by a tiny little elastic band that can and does break on occasion. The clothes stay in one spot and can easily catch fire, if stationary. Leaving the house while either of those are operating, can create one heck of a surprise when you return home or (hopefully) wake up in the morning. Just saying!

This is what keeps me from running the washer or dryer when I'm away. My mother's washer flooded one morning while she was doing a load. She and my sister were there at the time, and while there was a mess to clean up, I can only imagine what it would have looked like if she'd left for work early that day and left the washer running even longer.

And as for the dryer, I don't even like falling asleep with it on, much less leaving it on while I'm not there. My hair stylist says she opened her dryer one day when she was checking her laundry, and her clothes were in flames.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

How? See my last two posts.

Because, in my house, at least, EVERYTHING gets thrown into one load unless it absolutely MUST be washed separately. I understand that a red or a very bright garment may bleed the first time or two, but after that, I have never had an issue with color leeching out - all the excess dye is gone.We haven't been so lucky. I've noticed a few clothing brands in particular have dyes that will transfer if not careful. I am a laundry sorter. That's the way DH and I were both taught and have always done.

Darks, lights, undies, towels, etc - it gets thrown in, I use warm water and a quality detergent, always rinse on cold. I have a large capacity, water-saving front loader, and NEVER wash on "Hot" or "Sanitary" unless someone has done something very nasty to their clothes or I am running something that absolutely MUST go separately (DH has gotten into something gunky at work, etc).I know my situation is different because DH's clothes have to be washed separate, but how do you dry all that stuff the same way? 90% of our clothes are dried on low only and my big thick towels have to be dried on high or they would take FOREVER to dry!

I have been doing laundry this way for 20+ years and I have never had anyone complain that their clothes looked "less clean" because of it, I don't find that our clothes "don't last as long" (DD9 has hand-me-downs that originally belonged to DD18, and they are still in quite good shape.
I always wash whites/undies on hot/sanitary and separate. Growing up, both our families bleached whites / undies. My skin (and my kids) could never tolerate that. We can also only use dye free, fragrance free detergent and do not use fabric softener or dryer sheets. My eyes were opened as to how clean our laundry was (wasn't!) when we made that switch. It had always looked clean, but suddenly didn't smell clean! It's amazing what a little fragrance and some fabric softener will cover up! I specifically recall Dh's sweaty socks, baby spit up, and our kitchen towels retaining the most odor. I found smaller loads of like items and adjusting temperatures and amounts of detergent for each loads "needs" resolved those issues. DH's work clothes still stink after washing - no matter what! I really should buy some regular (fragranced) detergent for him to use, but I know he "cheats" sometimes and throws regular laundry in with his stuff.

It allows me to do about half the loads of laundry that I would have to do if everything were separated out, and I can use less water and less electricity., Just my experiences, and how *I* do fewer loads. YMMV.I think that's great if it works for you

Some replies in green above.

I am always interested in seeing how others make their households work (I never feel like I am doing a good enough job) and am genuinely just curious! Not being argumentative at all. Different strokes for different folks!

 

[aprilgail2]

How?

Because, in my house, at least, EVERYTHING gets thrown into one load unless it absolutely MUST be washed separately. I understand that a red or a very bright garment may bleed the first time or two, but after that, I have never had an issue with color leeching out - all the excess dye is gone.

Darks, lights, undies, towels, etc - it gets thrown in, I use warm water and a quality detergent, always rinse on cold. I have a large capacity, water-saving front loader, and NEVER wash on "Hot" or "Sanitary" unless someone has done something very nasty to their clothes or I am running something that absolutely MUST go separately (DH has gotten into something gunky at work, etc).

I have been doing laundry this way for 20+ years and I have never had anyone complain that their clothes looked "less clean" because of it, I don't find that our clothes "don't last as long" (DD9 has hand-me-downs that originally belonged to DD18, and they are still in quite good shape.

It allows me to do about half the loads of laundry that I would have to do if everything were separated out, and I can use less water and less electricity., Just my experiences, and how *I* do fewer loads. YMMV.

I do the same thing-i see no point in separating everything-all gets tossed in together. We dont wear many white clothes but if occasionally there is something white that is looking a bit dingy i will toss it in the washer with some bleach but that is rare.