Hanging out the Clothes

My washing line, this morning...

When it comes to hanging out the washing I have always been a bit of a nerd. I like to have it perfect or not at all. I paid for that one a long time ago when first married...

I had asked Russell to put out the washing for me as I was really busy doing other things. He did but when I went to look later how it had been done, I went and redid most of what he had just done. He was sooooo not impressed. That was it - he didn't hang out the washing again for years. Not that I asked. I sort of knew better. Now when he does it, I just leave it and don't say anything about the way it is hung out. I say "Thank you" instead. That off course encourages him to do more... Positive reinforcement works wonders, and not just on the hubby either.... :)

Many friends have commented on how fussy I am with my washing but this is how I look at it. If you take that extra little time to make sure towels are hung with three pegs and really straight and socks are hung together than you have less time wasting later. My tea towels are also always straighten out. Doesn't take any extra time but makes folding them at the line with dry so much easier and gets rid of the need for ironing. I only end up ironing Russell's shirts these days.

I like to fold out at the line and do this in sections as well. The basket is split up for me. I have Russell's clothes on one side, mine on the other. I then have Joshua's clothes on top of mine and Timothy's on top of Russell's clothes. Then come tea towels, face washers, towels, blankets, rugs for the floor and whatever else.

This way when I go inside I have everything ready to go into their spots. First kitchen stuff, then linen off all kinds and then each child gets theirs put on their bed. It is their responsibility to then put it away into their drawers that have pictures on them to let them know beforehand what goes into what drawer. Russell gets his clothes on his side of the bed and I put mine away straight away.

This way the basket is also empty and ready for use again as soon as it is needed.

I have a front loader machine that is 7.5kg so I only wash about every 1.5 weeks unless I am washing blankets. Very economical. I certainly don't believe in wearing something once and then washing it... What a waste. And that is not because I am on tank water only. I have always been like that. Thanks Mum. :)

When Russell and I were engaged I was very fortunate to be able to get ahold of a clothes dryer. It had only been used 1/2 dozen times and as my then step dad's boss was refurbishing his multi-million dollar home from cream to white I got the cream dryer for a bargain $75.00. To this day I only use it when I absolutely need to and also make sure I put money into a jar for electricity as I realise it really chews the power.

I must admit, I love the smell of sun drenched clean clothes and love to sniff them before I put them into the basket. We are very blessed in this country to have so much sun and to have it do so much work for us.

Must go now and put another load on...

Cheers Damaris