How many loads of laundry?

There are only two of us here, but I still do about 3 loads twice a week!!!!! I can't stand wearing my clothes more than one time, and DH wears his depending on how dirty, about twice!!!

I do about 4 loads twice a week on Monday and Thursday. I usually don't have that much on Thursday though, there are four of us and 2 of those loads are diapers. It really seems like a lot and heats the house up terrible to run the dryer, can't wait til I can have a clothes line!

I do about 7 loads a week....a little more right now because my 4yo has started wetting the bed :no: :no:

My kids wear there clothes for two days (changing just unders every day) unless they get really mucked up. My husband wears his jeans twice to work and has separate clothes for woodcutting and yardwork. Coveralls when its cool enough.

We have 3 kids and 2 adults.

I do an average of 10 loads a week for two people. Here's why: I'm a massage therapist and each client gets a clean set of twin sheets. That adds up fast, even with my terrific Staber machine that can hold 4 complete sets of sheets per load. With clients in the house I go through a minimum of a handtowel a day in that bathroom as well occ. extra linens blankets for clients.

The Staber only uses 1 ounce of detergent per load, and yes, the cheap stuff has been fine for us. I love that washing machine: loads from the top, but spins as if a front-loader: comparably priced to other water and energy-saving models.

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Make Equality A Reality
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I like Tide b/c it gets out the nasty stuff my dh and kids get into. They are 4 and 5(mud monsters, LOL), he works in construction(HAVC) and right now they have him at a power plant...he comes home with some really nasty stuff on him. I can use the Tide full strength on stains and soak them, and they come out. But for a normal load, I use like 1/4 of whats reccomended, as its just too strong and bothers our skin. We have hard water, I mean really hard water, and nothing gets our clothes clean like the tide. I use purex and All and the off brands and it seems like I have to use twice as much to do the same job. And doing that adds to the sensitivity.

I can get away with about 4-5 loads a day in the summer, 3-4 for me and the kids, (clothes, sheets, blankets, towels, occasionally a stuffed animal) and one for him, b/c I don't like washing his work stuff with ours. We don't buy disposable towels so we use a lot of towels and rags for cleaning. The dog also gets a bath regular and he takes 3-4 towles at once to dry him good. For the rest of us we reuse the towels a couple times if all we did was dry off after the shower.

For my family of five, one of which is in cloth diapers, I do about 7-8 loads/week. I recently started using homemade laundry soap with fels naptha/borax/washing soda, and love it! Used to buy Purex brand because it was one of the cheapest. I worked allright, but my homemade soap works as well as an expensive soap like Tide and for less than even the cheapest laundry soap!

Just two of us now as of May 21 - DD got married! Probably do about 5 loads per week.

Question - we just bought a new front loader - how much of the homemade detergent do I need? I used to make it all the time but DD (little princess that she is ) didn't think it smelled pretty enough. Now I'm ready to go back to making it myself. Not sure how much to adapt to with the front loader. Any advice? Thanks!

Nance

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your washer takes 4-5 hours per load!??

i have a fisher-paykel (sp) top loader that works off my solar set up. I do about 4-6 loads a week pending linen. usually when weather permits i line dry but also have a propane dryer/

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I saw that too!!! My front loader takes much less time than my old top-loader but I've never heard of one taking 4-5 hours. Is that normal for a European machine? Does it use less water like an American front loader?

Nance

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God wants spiritual fruit - NOT religious nuts!

I do 3 or 4 loads every other day. Seems like I am always doing laundry.
tnborn

A load per day, generally, with 4 of us.

Okgoatgal2, I had to read your post a few times before I figured your recipe, I thought you were only using 12 oz of lard You must be using about 90 oz of lard? Just shy of 6 lbs?

My laundry detergent is a powder form, just grind up the soap and mix with borax and baking soda. I use 1/4 cup for most loads. I offer it retail at craft shows for $7.50 per 4 lb bag, which is comparable to Tide, but more than other detergents. For myself, however, without markup, it's more econimcal to make my own.

For anyone who's wanting to make their own soap, it's good to double check figures for lye at thesage.com. Even when you get recipes from some other source, always double check, as sometimes folks will transpose numbers or make some other error in calculations.

Where do those of you who use washing soda buy it? I've seen so many recipes that call for it, but I've never seen it in a store. Right now I buy the premium-type laundry detergent from Aldi.

I do 8 loads a week for three people and four dogs (lots of dog towels during wet season). One load of clothes first thing every morning and an extra for linens on Friday.

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Melissa
Reformed hoyden. Please forgive me if I relapse.

Usually the larger supermarkets will have it. I found mine at Tops. It is also at Wegman's. Someone told me they got theirs at Wal Mart, but our Wal Mart didn't have it. It is in the laundry section, usually on the very top or very bottom shelf. Looks like a large box of arm+hammer baking soda. Hope this helps.