How to keep up with the Housework

"How to keep up with the Housework" is going to be a little series on The Life of a Farmers Wife. This is the first post, How to keep up with the Laundry. Suggestions are welcome :)

How to keep up with the Laundry

I try to keep up with all the house work more or less as it happens. Spot cleaning can make the deep clean a LOT easier! But sometimes things get out of hand, after a very busy week on the smallholding, helping out friends on their farm, throw in 4 days of sun-stroke, and you have a recipe for the housework to pile up on you. It happens to everyone, no matter how on top of it you try to be.

My aim is to help you stay on top, or give you some ideas on how to. I'll give you some tips that I use, and explain how I do it myself. Some people will agree with me and some people wont, but at the end of the day it's just the laundry were talking about today. It needs to be done in whatever way possible, so that's what we try to do.

First of all, I try to not separate my washing too much. Some people only do whites, darks, and then separate the loads depending on the colours of the clothes. I try to keep it simple:

-Whites, creams, and beige.
-Black and dark blues, greens, browns, etc.
-All colours are out in together, if need be with a colour catcher.
-Items to be hand-washed or on a special cycle.
-Brad's work clothes

Doing it this way, I save myself time and money by doing larger loads (my machine takes 7KG) and manage to not let the sorting take over my life. I did use to separate my washing the following way:

-blues
-greens
-whites
-blacks
-reds
-pinks
-etc.

I think you get the point. I carried on this way for approximately 3 weeks. I got fed up with having to spend an hour or more sorting through the washing, so it didn't last very long. Now I only have to spend 10 minutes sorting, and the short time it takes to load and start the machine.

Another tip I have is not putting the cycle on for 2 hours. I have multiple settings on my washing machine, and I'm sure you do too. I have some that I know I will never even use! My main cycles to use are:

"Daily Quick" This cycle takes around 28 minutes, but I generally tend to add on an extra rinse, so it makes it 33 minutes.

"Baby Clothing" This takes a little longer. Okay maybe a lot longer, at over two hours. I use it for the kids clothes (obviously haha!) as I know they will be cleaned properly and I can just let the machine do the work.

"Super Short" I use this cycle, that only takes 15 minutes, when Brads over-alls need a little bit of a clean but it's only mid week, so I don't have enough time to let them wash for 30 minutes or more and then stick them in the tumble-dryer. They take AGES to dry, I'm talking over an hour and a half! Rushing around in the morning trying to dry work-clothes isn't my thing.

I also try to tackle any big or noticeable stains with a stain remover spray before putting the item of clothing in the washing machine. This saves me running the same top or jacket through the wash twice when I really don't need to if I treat it before hand.

I do use a tumble-dryer. I did used to refuse to use one, but I ended up with wet and half dry clothes all over the house and even in the garden on the line while the weather was cold and wet. Using a tumble-dryer has made things a million times easier and faster. I can have the washing machine doing the second load while the tumble-dryer is drying what was in the first load. This way I get all the clothes washed, dry, and put away the same day instead of wondering where that other sock went for two days.
I would recommend using the cool heat setting on your dryer, as it's less likely to shrink your clothes and ruin them.

Do you have any laundry tips? Anything that keeps you organized, or helps you make your way through it?

If you'd like to recommend an topics for How to keep up with the Housework, please mention them in the comments! :)

Bella

P.S. You have no idea how many times "tumble-dryer" became "Tumblr-dryer" haha!