Monday 27 February 2012

Wash on Monday


Ma began the work that belonged to the day. Each day had its own proper work.  Ma used to say:  


"Wash on Monday,
Iron on Tuesday,
Mend on Wednesday,
Churn on Thursday,
Clean on Friday,
Bake on Saturday,
Rest on Sunday.”


Little House in the Big Woods  by Laura Ingalls Wilder , Chapter two


I found this verse last week whilst hunting for more pancake man information  and I have been thinking about it as I go about my housewifely activity.  As soon as anyone knows I have my very own little six pack at home, there very quickly follows a comment on how much washing I   must do






Every day as I feed my washing machine I am so thankful I live in a time when I do not have to devote a whole day to the Laundry.  The thought of washing it all by hand, after heating up all the water, having made the soap  and then having to dry it all make my four or so loads of daily washing  much easier to  deal with.


Today was the first day I braved hanging the sheets on the line this year, I am waiting for  the inevitable  rain  but it looks cheerful dancing in the breeze.








We have been trying hard not to use the tumble dryer as our little electricity usage OWL box shows a scary amount of electricity used when it is on.  We are very fortunate to have a big utility room; it was the old kitchen and is a perfect place for all the clothes to dry. I have done my best to surround myself with lovely things as I spend a huge amount of my day in there.











I have become such an expert on washing and how to cope with  drying  the mounds my family generate, one of the best things we did last year was to hang an old curtain pole up and hook the plastic IKEA drying hangers onto it, light clothes dry incredibly quickly this way.  Another top drying tip is to actually peg your clothes to the airer, because air circulates they dry much faster this way.





Dries so much quicker this way




Presiding over the laundry room is Pebble the cat who loves sleeping in the warm room.








Do you have any top laundry tips to share?  I would love to hear them!











7 comments:

  1. Don't think I have any particular tips to share, but thanks for yours! I thought we had loads of washing just with the 3 of us and cloth nappies, but 8 of you must be hard work on the washing front. xx

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  2. Goodness - that's a scary amount of washing! I struggle to keep on top of the ironing generated by the two of us! Jx

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  3. Great blog and I love the rhyme .... if only xx

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  4. I do the washing with a slower spin cycle in the spring and summer so that I can shake and hang the washing on the line and then fold it when I take it off - then there is no need for ironing :-)

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  5. Sunday here was a great day for washing, it looked lovely blowing in the sun and breeze! Julie xxx

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  6. I remember my mum having a set wash day, and the washing took her the best part of the day in a twin tub. She used to have a boiler too for the whites. Thank goodness I've got my automatic.

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  7. Oh how I loved those books when I was young! I too should pull them out and read them to Miss 11.

    My laundry tip is this - I dry on the outside line (perks of living in such a dry country) and when I get it off the line I have 3 separate baskets that I sort into
    Sheets, towels etc
    Underwear, non ironing
    Ironing

    Ironing is the one job I tend to avoid, but I find once I fold one basket the other one seems small enough to fold too, then with only one basket of ironing left it seems simple enough to knock that off as well!
    That way I don't have baskets of clean washing piling up...
    Well, it's what works for my anyway!

    X

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Thank you for your lovely comments, they really do brighten my day!