How many loads of laundry do you do each week?

[msjprincess]

We're a family of 5. At least 10 loads a week.

 

[mirandaperez10]

Family of 6. And we do two to three loads a day not counting bedding

 

[Bec3b1g]

We're a family of 6, with 1 in college who usually pops in on the weekends to do laundry. I/we do at least 15. Now that the kids are older (19, 18, 18), I ask that they do their own laundry.

We have 2 sets of washers and dryers so that helps cut down on the time it takes. Bedding alone takes 5 or 6 loads each week.

 

[Jedana]

We got our first full water and sewer bill this week. Less than $100 for the quarter, so a little over $30/month.

We went to my parents house for dinner and they happened to have their water and sewer bill on the fridge. It was almost double what ours was. This of course led to us trying to figure out why theirs was so high.

My dad made a comment about "don't you guys shower?" which of course my DH took personally, because that is the relationship they have, but that is another thread!

Just to be sure they were actual usage bills and not estimated, my dad called the city. They are actual usage. They said normal usage for 1 person is 10 units. They used 22 units and we used 8 units.

We tried to figure out the difference and we think it is the laundry. They do 7+ loads and we do 1-2. It is just the two of them and they are retired but my mom works at a shoe store. We have the 3 of us and DH works but DS and I are home.

So, that got me thinking, how many loads of laundry to you do and how many people are in your family?

I do laundry for 3 people.

4 loads of bedding (our sheets, DS's sheets/underpad, then each bedspread separately) plus 2 more if I wash the blankets (once a month or as needed)

4 loads of darks/lights/jeans

1-2 loads of towels (some of the towels are really heavy, so if I split them into 2 small loads, they seem to wash and dry better)

 

[LBIJim]

People wash pajamas after one wearing???

DW does most of the laundry. With just the two of us now, I'm guessing 3 or 4 loads a week. When DDs were at home, it was MUCH higher. They'd often run the washer for just two or three items.

I CAN do laundry, but DW prefers to do it herself. When I was single, I'd often put everything together, and it was fine. I don't know why some people are overly anal about separating things. And I've NEVER lost a sock while doing laundry. My greatest achievement.

Just paid the quarterly water & sewer bill yesterday. $212.50. $120 of which was for water. That's the minimum charge, no matter how little water we use.
Perhaps two or three times in 25 years we've exceeded the allowance and had to pay more.

 

[LilyWDW]

I'm alone and I do about 3 loads a week, plus sheets every other week which adds another load.

1) Light/white clothing
2) Dark/colored clothing
3) More dark/colored clothing and towels

I also won't do a load unless it will be a "full" load unless I NEED something in that load (like work pants or leggings for PT). So if I only have a handful of light/white clothing, which happens quite often honestly, then I will wait until the following week. Even though my water usage is a part of my rent, I am trying to get into a habit for when it no longer is.

Some of these amounts just seem crazy for me and like a personal hell. I hate doing laundry. HATE it.

 

[tzolkin]

Family of 6. And we do two to three loads a day not counting bedding

I know many families where this is the norm and like the OP I find it pretty outrageous. I just can't figure out what people are washing to add up to that many loads.


I do two loads per WEEK aside from bedding.

One load of "darks" in cold water.

One load of "hot" (this includes all towels and undergarments).

I do not overload the machines. In fact, I'm usually wandering around the house looking for extra items (jackets, pillowcases, etc) that I can throw in to fill a load.

We are a family of 5.

I will acknowledge that DH wears scrubs at work, so he will re-wear jeans/dress pants for multiple days since he only has them on for short periods of time. But even if I had "work clothes" of his to wash I feel like that would only add maybe one extra load per week.


And, yes I do remember the "sheet laundering" thread from way back. That was a heated debate about personal hygiene

 

[Jedana]

I know many families where this is the norm and like the OP I find it pretty outrageous. I just can't figure out what people are washing to add up to that many loads.


I do two loads per WEEK aside from bedding.

One load of "darks" in cold water.

One load of "hot" (this includes all towels and undergarments).

I do not overload the machines. In fact, I'm usually wandering around the house looking for extra items (jackets, pillowcases, etc) that I can throw in to fill a load.

We are a family of 5.

I will acknowledge that DH wears scrubs at work, so he will re-wear jeans/dress pants for multiple days since he only has them on for short periods of time. But even if I had "work clothes" of his to wash I feel like that would only add maybe one extra load per week.


And, yes I do remember the "sheet laundering" thread from way back. That was a heated debate about personal hygiene

DH's work shirts/undershirts and his underwear/socks are one full load. DS's shirts/undewear/socks and my clothes add up to 2 loads. Then I wash their pants together (because they take sooo long to dry). I don't like to fill the washer full, because then it takes longer to dry.

(My washer is one of those that adds the water based on the weight of the load, so I'm not wasting water by not washing a full load.)

 

[JanaDee]

DH's work shirts/undershirts and his underwear/socks are one full load. DS's shirts/undewear/socks and my clothes add up to 2 loads. Then I wash their pants together (because they take sooo long to dry). I don't like to fill the washer full, because then it takes longer to dry. (My washer is one of those that adds the water based on the weight of the load, so I'm not wasting water by not washing a full load.)

My washer also adds water based on weight.

 

[luvsJack]

We are a family of 3, but dh is only home 2 days a week and his clothes are with him on the truck.

I wash a load of towels every other day, a load of dd's school clothes every other day and a load of my work clothes. I don't wash her school clothes together with anything else because I have had too many instances of something bleeding on to her uniform pants and there is nothing worse at 6 am than a teenager with no clean uniform pants for school!!

On the weekends, I do a load of dh's work clothes. DD's sheets and blankets are one load, her comforter is another. My sheets and blanket is one load, comforter is another. I do wash all of this weekly, it helps with dd's allergies. A load of my and dd's jeans. And usually a full load of towels, underwear, socks, etc.at least once on the weekends.

So while some of mine are smaller loads its at least 15 loads a week. I can't imagine doing less than 10 as that would only be with combination of mine and dd's daily school/work clothes.

 

[LJSquishy]

Our laundry loads have changed recently due to going from a pair of LG HE machines to currently using a standard top loader. We had to include my beloved washer/dryer in the sale of our house.

It's just the two of us and currently I do about 5 loads per week. Bed sheets, towels, whites, lights, and darks. Sometimes I have to do two loads of lights or darks due to the smaller capacity of the standard washing machine. I really miss my HE machines! I wash bed sheets weekly but only wash the duvet cover every 3-4 weeks. I was able to do fewer loads of laundry with the HE machines because they were much larger capacity.

 

[mamamary]

Family of 4 here with a dog. I'm gonna say I do at least 16 loads a week. I normally do at least two a day and once a week when i do the sheets it adds at least another two loads.

 

[lvillotta1]

One adult and 2 kids here. I do 3 loads a week and only on the weekends. Darks,light,winter coats. I only wash sheets about every 4-6 weeks along with rugs. Towels are shared among the whole family and we use them for a week. Full drum cold water. All clothes lined dried except socks,towels and underwear. I would never slave over wash on a daily basis or every couple of days. We also have enough socks and underwear for 2 weeks so we have plenty.

 

[stargazer2892]

About 10 loads. 1 white, 2 towels, 2 lights, 3 darks, 1 sheet, and one load of DHs work pants.

 

[JanaDee]

One adult and 2 kids here. I do 3 loads a week and only on the weekends. Darks,light,winter coats. I only wash sheets about every 4-6 weeks along with rugs. Towels are shared among the whole family and we use them for a week. Full drum cold water. All clothes lined dried except socks,towels and underwear. I would never slave over wash on a daily basis or every couple of days. We also have enough socks and underwear for 2 weeks so we have plenty.

You make it sound like you are down at the creek, slapping the clothes against rocks to get them clean.

 

[powellrj]

When my DD was living at home, it was nothing to wash 12-15 loads a week. She wore clothes to school and then she played 2 sports and would have those clothes and then she also had a part-time job and she would have those clothes and then heaven forbid you wear the same clothes you wore to school to go out with your friends or go to youth group so that would be another outfit. And outfits weren't just a shirt, jeans and underwear. She would have several layers of shirts on, plus a hoodie.

I would love to be a fly on the wall to see her on laundry day!

Now that there are just 3 of us, its only 3 or 4 loads a week. Now that DS is out of his frat dressing days and looks like what I refer to as the organic farmer look with long hair tied back, needs a shave along with flannel shirts and jeans, its much less laundry!

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Family of 3. My husband, daughter in college, and me. We are finally bringing our wash to a normal amount but still much higher than most.

A load of towels every other day. My daughter uses 2 each shower and we don't reuse. It really is 4 per week of just towels. One load of clothes one day and two the next. So that is 10.

Add in sheets, pillow cases and or work out clothes for an extra 2 loads a week.

Our total - 16 loads per week / 2-3 per day.

When the children were in sports/school uniforms we were at 4 loads per day or around 28 per week.

 

[Lavaluma]

There are 4 of us. To stay on top of laundry, I wash at least 1 load a day, sometimes 2. It probably averages out to 9 loads a week. When we go to the pool regularly, it adds an extra 2-3 loads a week. Soccer season adds at least 1-2 extra loads a week.

 

[luvsJack]

One adult and 2 kids here. I do 3 loads a week and only on the weekends. Darks,light,winter coats. I only wash sheets about every 4-6 weeks along with rugs. Towels are shared among the whole family and we use them for a week. Full drum cold water. All clothes lined dried except socks,towels and underwear. I would never slave over wash on a daily basis or every couple of days. We also have enough socks and underwear for 2 weeks so we have plenty.

I have never slaved over washing in my life!!

If I lined dried everything, I would end up doing twice as many loads a week.

You make it sound like you are down at the creek, slapping the clothes against rocks to get them clean.

 

[ORMom2Four]

We do about 8 loads a week, and there are 7 of us in the house.

We also do about 2 loads of dishes per day.

The water bill runs about $80/month