Who does the laundry?

[sillyberry]

I don't think you sound confrontation, Mayerling. I think "problem" was a poor word choice on my part--I just find it amusing that you're so curious about this, that's all.

We have a teeny tiny dishwasher, it's very strange actually, and we only run it every few days. (It's just the two of us and we hand wash many of our dishes.) Whoever comes home first and has time to do the daytime dishes is the one who does them. My husband is home at various points throughout the day to eat meals, so he will sometimes leave his dishes in the sink if he doesn't have time to wash them before his next client. If they're there when I come home, I wash them. We don't like to leave dishes in the sink at all though, in general, so we'll usually do our dishes right when we're finished with them. We're pretty much clean-as-you-use with everything but clothes, which we store up until the last possible second because we both hate doing laundry. For example, we sweep the kitchen floor after we're finished fixing food in there, every time. We don't wait for the end of the day to sweep or anything.

ETA: One of us will usually clear both of our dishes and do them after every meal if we're together. We're definitely not "That's your dish, you wash it" people. Not that I'd see anything wrong with that method, either.

Wait - you sweep every day?

I am clearly such a slob.

 

[kama_s]

What's an iron?

We don't even own one anymore. We just throw things in the dryer for a few minutes to take the wrinkles out of an item if needed.

This is what I do, too!

DH has a steamer thingy that he really likes. That is even too much trouble for me.

If I had time, I'd iron my socks! Not surprisingly, we own two irons. Between the two us. And I want a third.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I do the laundry primarily. I actually enjoy it. I love the look of neatly folded warm clothes and I get such a kick out of my dog who is overjoyed by the sight of hot-from-the-dryer stuff. My cleaning lady does it sometimes, when there is enough...mostly sheets, bath mats, towels and the stuff we affectionately call puppy laundry.

HOWEVER, I am not into the sort, iron, hang to dry thing. My husband does his own dry cleaning runs.

 

[April20]

OK, but wouldn't it be possible for somebody to watch how they take care of your clothes the same way the take care of theirs?

My DH basically washes 80% work clothes and 20% casual that are his. His clothes are nearly indestructible. Doesn't matter whaat he does to them, they're fine. But he takes this approach to mine too, which is why I prefer to do my own. Some things are dryed, some air dryed, some hand washed. I really don't love him doing mine (but right now have no choice) because he washes everything with detergent, no fabric softener and dries EVERYTHING. He dryed my jeans a couple weeks ago and it took three wears to get them comfortable again! But then he'll come home with half my shirts wet because he was scared to dry them! He washed and dryed (and thereby felted) my merino wool sweater earlier this winter and it's now sized to fit a ten year old! So much easier to just do my own! Far less casualties!

 

[meresal]

I definitely don't think it should only be one person's job... that makes me nervous just thinking about it!

My husband does most of our laundry, except for this past weekend when I did 5 loads, and I am in charge of the baby's laundry... which is usually a couple of loads a week.

When it was just us, most of my stuff was dry clean since I wore suits (I was in charge of getting those to the cleaner's), and since my husband works in a machine shop and changes clothes like twice a day, he did the laundry, "most" of the time. IMO, if you contribute to 99% of the laundry, then it should be mostly your job to get your clothes clean.
(However, if I find myself with extra time, like this past weekend, I will do it. No sense it letting it sit there...)

 

[Haven]

This thread has me wondering how much dry cleaning everyone does.

Two or three years ago (in an effort to further simplify my life) I made the decision to STOP wearing dry clean only clothing on a regular basis. Since then I've been slowly weeding out my dry clean only clothing. I haven't dry cleaned an item of regular clothing in about a year now, and I have to say I don't miss it! It was tough to replace some items, and my fancy clothes are all still dry clean only, but now all of my work clothes can be laundered at home. (It helps that I don't have to wear a suit to work, although I have to admit that such a requirement would turn me off from the job, anyway!)

Anyway, DH and I do very little dry cleaning now, only a couple times a year after weddings and big holidays and other such events.

How much dry cleaning does everyone do?

 

[meresal]

Haven, when I was working, all of my work clothes went to the cleaners. The suits, skirts, etc were a must, and I sent all my collared shirts bc they press them and I didn't have the time or desire to do it myself.

Now that I stay at home, we only send my evening dresses and my husband's suits and dress shirts.

 

[monarch64]

SO and I share laundry duties fifty/fifty...neither of us minds doing laundry, folding it, hanging it, or putting it away. We both wear dry clean only clothing on a regular basis, although he more than I, but I like to use the Dryel kit at home as often as possible. That is because not only do we prefer to save money, but the solvents used during the dc process are very hard on garments. SO's shirts are laundered at home and hung straight out of the dryer, and pressed when necessary. He works in a casual office and he is one of the few who wears a tie and jacket to work, so he doesn't have to be starched and pressed at all times. I work in an outdoor/adventure store and my dress code is much more relaxed, of course, but our extracurricular activities involving politics, etc. require both of us to be a bit more well dressed. Then we have cocktail occasions and other social activities which require some clothing needing dry cleaning and my things typically have beading or extras which require special treatment that the Dryel kit and the dryer just won't be able to handle.

If and when we are blessed with children, I think that around children's ages 10 or so, we will teach them how to do their own laundry and see how things go from there. I think that a child can do their own laundry if need be around that age, I know I could do it at that age whether my mother would allow me or not...

 

[mayerling]

I feel like I need to clarify what I mean by my question as a lot of people seem to answer with things like 'it shouldn't be one person's job', etc.

I also think it shouldn't be JUST one person's job. I too think that children should learn how to do laundry, but not only their own. When my mum taught me to do laundry and it was my turn to do it, I had to do everybody's.

As for clothes being ruined if washed by somebody else, wouldn't this be fixed by having separate hampers? We have separate hampers for whites, darks, delicates, etc. and I taught FI early on which hamper to put each piece of clothing in. So if he does do laundry he knows everything in one particular hamper is washed in one particular way. And clothes that need to be dry-cleaned do not go in the hampers. They're taken to the cleaners on hangers and picked up on hangers.

Sorry if it seems that I'm belabouring the point.

 

[mrscushion]

This thread has me wondering how much dry cleaning everyone does.
Two or three years ago (in an effort to further simplify my life) I made the decision to STOP wearing dry clean only clothing on a regular basis. Since then I've been slowly weeding out my dry clean only clothing. I haven't dry cleaned an item of regular clothing in about a year now, and I have to say I don't miss it! It was tough to replace some items, and my fancy clothes are all still dry clean only, but now all of my work clothes can be laundered at home. (It helps that I don't have to wear a suit to work, although I have to admit that such a requirement would turn me off from the job, anyway!)
Anyway, DH and I do very little dry cleaning now, only a couple times a year after weddings and big holidays and other such events.
How much dry cleaning does everyone do?

Way too much...and it's so expensive. I wear suits and shirts day-in, day-out. I think we used to have a 40 € dry cleaning bill a week. I have recently cut down on that quite a bit by laundering my shirts at home and hiring a cleaning lady who also does the ironing. At her hourly rate it actually makes a lot of sense.

I hate how women's shirts cost double (or triple) what men's shirts cost -- there is always a deal to be had on men's shirts, but because women's blouses have to be ironed in a special way, they cost so much more. Really irritating.

 

[zoebartlett]

Ironing: We hate doing it. I know a few people who iron their sheets and towels, which to me, seems pointless. But if it makes them happy, that's great.

Dry cleaning: We don't really take any of our clothes to the cleaners because we can just wash them on delicate at home. The only things we do take are wool blankets and blankets and comforters that are too big for our machines. We do this a few times per year maybe.

 

[kama_s]

This thread has me wondering how much dry cleaning everyone does.

Two or three years ago (in an effort to further simplify my life) I made the decision to STOP wearing dry clean only clothing on a regular basis. Since then I've been slowly weeding out my dry clean only clothing. I haven't dry cleaned an item of regular clothing in about a year now, and I have to say I don't miss it! It was tough to replace some items, and my fancy clothes are all still dry clean only, but now all of my work clothes can be laundered at home. (It helps that I don't have to wear a suit to work, although I have to admit that such a requirement would turn me off from the job, anyway!)

Anyway, DH and I do very little dry cleaning now, only a couple times a year after weddings and big holidays and other such events.

How much dry cleaning does everyone do?

I never dry clean (except for my winter/spring coats), but I'm finding that a lot of my clothes just don't hold up well even after being gentle washed. Also, a lot of my silk tops are weird in that I just can't get the wrinkles out of them I've been ironing since I was 12 (I used to do the entire household's ironing!), so it's not as though I don't know how to iron. But whatever it is that they mix the silk with these days is weird. Ironing for me is a mind clean issue, so even if I feel as though it isn't properly ironed, I can't wear the item.

Anyways, TLR on this is that I think I'm going to start dry cleaning often now. I have my first massive bag to take to the cleaners! The cost associated with it will quite literally take me to the cleaners.

 

[Aoife]

I feel like I need to clarify what I mean by my question as a lot of people seem to answer with things like 'it shouldn't be one person's job', etc.

I also think it shouldn't be JUST one person's job. I too think that children should learn how to do laundry, but not only their own. When my mum taught me to do laundry and it was my turn to do it, I had to do everybody's.

As for clothes being ruined if washed by somebody else, wouldn't this be fixed by having separate hampers? We have separate hampers for whites, darks, delicates, etc. and I taught FI early on which hamper to put each piece of clothing in. So if he does do laundry he knows everything in one particular hamper is washed in one particular way. And clothes that need to be dry-cleaned do not go in the hampers. They're taken to the cleaners on hangers and picked up on hangers.

Sorry if it seems that I'm belabouring the point.

The bolded quote is the crux of the issue for my DH and me. To separate everything that needs specific handling, by color and by wash temperature+drying methodology, would involve more hampers than would fit into our walk-in closet. Much, much simpler to each do our own. It's more convenient. It's more efficient. It's more environmentally responsible. It's the way we prefer to do it. And that way we each end up with our clothing washed and dried to our preferences. It's actually pretty simple.

I'm curious as to why this seems to be a bit of an issue for you. Are you in the middle of working out the laundry rules at your household?

 

[mayerling]

Actually, no. Laundry is pretty much sorted out at our house. It's the way things are done at FI's family house that got me going.

Anyway, I'm about to catch a plane soon and, thus, will be off internet for a while so I'm dropping this. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Jennifer W]

I feel like I need to clarify what I mean by my question as a lot of people seem to answer with things like 'it shouldn't be one person's job', etc.

I also think it shouldn't be JUST one person's job. I too think that children should learn how to do laundry, but not only their own. When my mum taught me to do laundry and it was my turn to do it, I had to do everybody's.

As for clothes being ruined if washed by somebody else, wouldn't this be fixed by having separate hampers? We have separate hampers for whites, darks, delicates, etc. and I taught FI early on which hamper to put each piece of clothing in. So if he does do laundry he knows everything in one particular hamper is washed in one particular way. And clothes that need to be dry-cleaned do not go in the hampers. They're taken to the cleaners on hangers and picked up on hangers.

Sorry if it seems that I'm belabouring the point.

I think this is a great solution and I'm glad it works for you. When my family looked at the issue, we reached a different solution.

I hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip.

 

[purselover]

I do the laundry 100% of the time for DH and myself, he doesn't even fold his clothes or put them away- I fold and then they just sit on top of his dresser. Since I've been super busy with work and school though this week I'm going to start having it sent out again in which case DH will be in charge of pick up and drop off. He also handles all dry cleaning, all of his work clothes are dry clean only as are almost all my cocktail dresses I wear once or twice a month.

 

[jewelerman]

everyone in my house helped with the laundry and house work when i was growing up.The jobs were rotated and we learned that there were no jobs in the house that were gender specific.When i graduated high school and went out into the real world i was surprised there were guys that actually had never done laundry or ironed a shirt before!They told me that their moms did all their laundry,cooking and cleaning for them and when they got married then their wife's would do it for them.

 

[lulu66]

growing up in my family (a mother, father, and 3 daughters) my mother did all of the laundry. the only exception was once the children were of a certain age, it was our responsibility to separate our own clothes & bring them to the laundry room on laundry day. if we choose not to, we were responsible for doing our own laundry. we also sometimes helped fold & put away our clothes.

now that it's just my husband & i we share laundry duty. sometimes i wash, sometimes he does. we usually try to fold together (our most dreaded task) and put our own clothes away. we hardly ever iron & if we do it's piece by piece. neither of iron our clothes straight out of the dryer. and even it's even rarer that something has to go to the dry cleaner (he wears a uniform for work & i dress casually for work).

 

[bee*]

I tend to put on most of the washes, although if DH is home and there's one to put on, he'll do it. I don't mind doing laundry at all and I enjoy seeing an empty basket after all the clothes has been put on.
In terms of dry cleaning, DH gets all his shirts drycleaned and I'll just get evening wear dry cleaned after a night out.

 

[lbbaber]

I guess I can understand not doing all the laundry because of lack of space in the machine, and lack of time - assuming there's multiple loads to be done. But purposely selecting only your own clothes to do seems a bit strange.

For those of you that do your own laundry, do you also do just your own dishes (assuming no dishwasher)? As in, you go to the sink, pick out the dishes that you used, and only do those?

We don't have to purposely select our own clothes, we keep separate hampers. It's really not a big deal. I'm surprised that you seem to have such a problem with people who do their own laundry!

In our house whoever doesn't prepare the meal does the dishes. I don't see doing dishes as an adequate analogy to doing laundry--dishes are all washed in the same manner, and everyone should know how to properly care for all of the dishes in the house. Clothes are a completely different issue--some items should be handwashed, others only washed and not dried, etc.

I really don't care *how* other people take care of their laundry, as long as they don't touch mine!

+1....was gonna comment but you hit the nail on the head!