Family laundry habits, line drying and laundry label confusion.

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It never fails to amaze me just how much laundry five people can make! I know it’s not just my lot, as often I see friends on Facebook saying the same thing. Some days I think my kids must wear their entire wardrobe each and every day! We’ve fallen into a good routine, one that doesn’t feel like hard work but lets us keep on top of it. Laundry never feels like much of a chore to me, though I know others don’t feel the same way! Especially through the summer months, when I can hang the washing on the line and bring it in, later on, smelling of fresh air and warm from the sun. It’s one of those little chores that I enjoy.

I got into the habit last year of putting a load of laundry on every evening before I go to bed. I put the basket at the top of the stairs when we’re doing bedtime, and the kids all empty their personal laundry baskets into it. I can put it in the machine, set the timer and it’s finished by the time I wake up. On days when it’s dry, I hang it out whilst having my first cup of tea of the day as soon as I wake up. Doing a load every day means I easily keep on top of the amount of washing our family makes, occasionally they’ll be an extra load – towels, and bed sheets, a couple of times a week.

There is something so familiar, so homely, so intentional about line drying clothes. There is nothing quite like the smell of line-dried laundry is there? Climbing into a freshly made bed at night, smelling the outdoors and sunshine. Pulling a t-shirt over your little one’s head and catching a scent of summer. I can remember playing in between the sheets hanging on the line, and seeing my kids doing the same always puts a smile on my face. Not only that but running a dryer is incredibly expensive, I also enjoy the mindfulness of taking the time to hang each item out on the line, watching it flutter in the breeze and folding it back up in the afternoon.

One of Lola’s responsibilities is to sort the clean laundry each evening. She organises it into piles and delivers each pile to its owner, ready to be put away. This works really well for us, as everything usually gets washed, dried and put away the same day, without being too much work! Keeping on top of it really is key, building a regular laundry routine that fits best for your family, so you don’t suddenly get swamped with mountains of dirty clothes all at once.

The one thing I’ve gotten better at lately is actually checking out those laundry labels. For years I ignored them, they seemed far too confusing, so everything ould just get thrown in together, and I’d cross my fingers and hope for the best. This, of course, led to one or two disasters {hello shrunken jumpers and whites dyed pink!!!}. |There are so many symbols, and only a few that I really know what they mean. From washing directions {hand wash, warm wash, don’t wash…} to drying and ironing directions, it’s a minefield. Apparently, I’m not the only one, Data Label have just conducted a survey, and found that over half of people find the labels to be confusing! People even admitted that they had thrown away or simply never worn an item of clothing because they’d washed that piece incorrectly and damaged it or were afraid of putting it into the wash! They’ve made a handy graphic to outline some of the basic symbols and what they mean {might be one to print off and put in your laundry!}.

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Information provided in a press release by Data Label

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