Tag Archives: laundry

Love My Laundry

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The title of this post may sound ridiculous but I am truly very happy with my laundry and the functionality of it.

Here is a photo I took the other day.

The hanging rail is perfect for hanging shirts both before and after ironing. I also use it to hang wet washing during rainy weather when I use the dehumidifier in this room to dry the washing.

The bench is used for folding clothes as well as sorting washing to go in the machine. It is also where we polish our shoes.

The metal multi-peg hanger is handy for drying rewashed plastic bags, cleaning cloths and other small items.

The grey corrugated hose is an extension which we can add to the outlet hose of the washing machine to direct grey water onto the garden. We live in a high rainfall area so this is not often required, however, we do have periods of dry weather. Rainwater tanks are our only source of water so we do watch our consumption.

As well the cupboards below the bench there is a tall cupboard on the left-hand side of the photo. These contain the dehumidifier, vacuum cleaner, brooms, cleaning supplies and laundry hampers. All are within easy reach.

Ongoing Maintenance

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Even though most areas of my home are decluttered, I find that regular maintenance is both useful and necessary.

These shelves in my laundry cupboard had got a bit out of hand recently so it was time to pull everything out.

I wiped the shelves down, sorted out the contents and removed a few things before replacing the remainder. It is also a good reminder to check what is actually stashed away at the back.

There were a couple of old calico carry bags that were stained irreparably so they will go in the compost and a bottle of bleach which GMan uses for cleaning/sterilising home brew bottles will be relocated to the cupboards downstairs with the rest of the home brew equipment.

A Continuing Tale

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There is no doubt in my mind that decluttering is a long-term and ongoing project. This post from 2017 explains my thoughts in detail.

I have been a bit under the weather for the past few days with a head cold but am definitely much improved today. Since we were in lockdown until 6pm today, I took the opportunity to do a bit of cleaning, tidying and decluttering. I have really just done the bare minimum at home over the last 4 months while my mother was ill and following her death as there were many other more pressing priorities.

As I noted in another old post from 2015:

“Circumstances are constantly evolving as we welcome children into our homes, they grow and then finally leave home.  Later there may be the addition of grandchildren or the death of a spouse.  All of these things require us to adapt what we have and how we use it.  It is easy for the essentials of one phase of our lives to become the clutter of the future so it is wise to review our needs regularly.”

I am not sure of exactly what prompted me to write that 6 years ago but it is certainly relevant to my current situation. Not only have I acquired items that belonged to my mother but I am also reassessing what we really need.

We have been empty-nesters for close to 16 years, however, during that time the lives and needs of our children have become increasingly separate to us. They are now thoroughly independent adults in their mid-late 30s. Even the grandchildren are moving into their teen years.

The impetus for some of my recent decluttering has been multi-faceted.

Acquisition of items from Mum
Items becoming obsolete due to improved organisation
Need to use the available storage as efficiently as possible
Continuing realisation of how much/little I actually need
Desire to give to others who need items
Considering the possibility of relocating sometime in the future

I don’t have many photos for this post but here is one example of what I have achieved recently.

This is a photo of my laundry cupboard back in 2015.

I had one laundry hamper in the cupboard and another mesh foldable one in our bedroom.

About 3 years ago I relocated the vacuum cleaner to the bottom of the linen cupboard and the space on the left-hand side of this photo was home to the portable dehumidifier. This worked reasonably well except I was not overly thrilled with a basket of worn clothes lurking in the corner of our bedroom.

I recently acquired another mesh foldable hamper from my mother’s belongings and this prompted me to reconsider how things were arranged. The dehumidifier was rehomed to a cupboard under the laundry bench and I then put the 2 matching hampers in the tall cupboard. They are now designated as ‘lights’ and ‘darks’ so I can see at a glance when a particular load needs doing.

The cane hamper is now surplus to requirements.

The lid had long since broken and the lining ripped so I had fashioned a removable liner from an old sheet. I really did not think it would be a highly desirable item, however, I listed in on a couple of local Buy, Swap, Sell groups and had several enquiries almost immediately. It is going to be collected tomorrow.

More Than Washing

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What does doing the washing mean to you?  Grabbing an armful of used clothes and tossing them into the washing machine and then transferring them to the dryer?  Or do you have a careful sorting and separating process?

I sort my washing into light and dark fabrics, check the pockets for errant coins, tissues or slips of paper and then turn the articles so that they are the right side out.  They are then washed and hung on the clothesline under the verandah.  When the clothes are dry I sort them into the items that need to be ironed and those that can be folded and put away immediately.

All of this process allows plenty of opportunity to examine items for any damage or wear and tear which requires repair.  The old adage, ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ is very true.

This week I found a small hole and run in the front of one of GMan’s merino thermal tops.

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My darning skills are somewhat limited but I do have a rudimentary understanding of what is required.  Since this is an undergarment, a perfect result is not essential.   I found some similar coloured tapestry wool and split it to extract a single strand to use.

The end result is functional if not particularly pretty.

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Regardless of the type of garment, it is worth checking clothes regularly to ensure that they are maintained which will prolong the life of the garment.  Things to look for include loose buttons, hems coming down, breakage of side seams near pockets or armholes.

Cleaning the Laundry Room

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It is probably the smallest room in the house but it can be difficult to get and keep clean.  This is mainly due to there always being something in progress.

However, on Sunday I had finished all of the washing, including the handwashing so it was the perfect time to clear the bench and give the laundry a scrub from top to bottom.

This is the result.  I do love a clear bench, even though it is a fairly rare occurrence.

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The view from the doorway.

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The opposite side of the room with storage cupboards.  For a view and story of the contents of the various cupboards you can read about it here.

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The entrance to the 2nd toilet is just out of view.

This room had 4 doors – one to the hall and another to the kitchen as well as the external door and the toilet door.  We had the door to the kitchen removed which allowed for the built-in bench and cupboards.  The hall and toilet entrances are both sliding doors which conserve space.

I am enjoying the clear, uncluttered space and am determined to try to keep it that way.

 

(Dis)organised

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I have said before that this blog real.  What you see is what you get.

These are the views that greeted me this morning.

The ironing board is under this pile.

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This is my sewing/ironing/spare bed room.  There was more on the bed and even clothes in the basket to be folded.

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And more on the sofa in the living room.

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This was all washed early in the week but a busy week at work has meant that I didn’t complete the task by finishing the folding and ironing.

The total time taken to complete this was about 2 hours, however, this was interspersed by breakfast, a phone call and going to Maleny to pick up movie tickets for tonight.

The end result is here.  Shirts, trousers and dresses hanging up.

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Everything else folded.  This is a mixture of items that were ironed and those that were simply folded.

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And the bed and sofa are clear once more.

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The next project was to shorten and hem 2 new pairs of trousers for GMan.  I have done one pair but the others will have to wait until tomorrow as they are black and dark navy. The afternoon light is fading and I need bright daylight to be able to handsew dark fabrics.

 

 

Keeping it Clean

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While I do not have huge areas to declutter or sort out there are always ongoing jobs to do.  Some are so small that they are barely noticeable but 5 minutes can literally make the difference.

My clothesline is 5 parallel lines under the verandah.  Every few months I wipe down 4 of the lines with a damp cloth to remove any dust and grime.  The last line does not get done because I have 12 hanger holders positioned along the line.

Yesterday I took the hooks off because I was washing a couple of sets of sheets and needed the extra hanging space.  I realised the hooks were very grubby and the line was filthy.  I wiped the line thoroughly before I hung the white sheet on it and then washed the hooks.  A quick soak in some warm, soapy water then scrubbed with an old nail brush before I spread them out to dry.

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Once the sheet was dry I replaced them on the line and hung out the next load which included plenty of items to dry on hangers.

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A few minutes well spent to keep everything in working order.

Built for a Purpose

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A very quick post tonight in between trying to catch on on some housework.

I brought the washing in this evening and folded it on the laundry bench.  Now, that may not sound very exciting but I was inspired to take a photo to show you.

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While the bench was not totally clear – a few things in one corner – it was adequate to fold a load of washing.  That was my plan when we had these cupboards built not long after we moved in.  The reality is somewhat different.  There always seems to be a bucket with something soaking in it, handwashing to be done and a myriad of other things.  I end up doing the folding on the spare bed or lounge and neither option is good for my back.

I am definitely going to try to keep this bench clear so that it can be used for folding clothes on a regular basis.

Loads of Laundry

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We live in a relatively high rainfall area and I have written before about the challenges of getting the washing done, and more importantly, getting it dry.   I do have a clothes dryer but choose to use it as little as possible.  Apart from the power required to run it, the wear and tear on your clothes is significant and can result in substantially shortening their lifespan.

Despite the high humidity and showery weather, I needed to do the washing today.  Much like women of previous generations, I spent the day doing the washing.  However, I was not slaving over a scrubbing board and copper.  I was kept busy trying to make the most of the intermittent breeze and small snatches of sunshine.

I hung some of the smaller items on the airer.

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I had to race out and move it under the verandah every time a shower of rain started but I did manage to get it dry.

The rest of the clothes were hung on the line under the verandah.

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I also did the ironing from the washing I did last weekend.  When the atmosphere is so damp, I do not like to put them away in the cupboard until they are absolutely dry.

I use the portable dehumidifier in the bathroom and close the door.  Within a couple of hours the room and the clothes are warm and dry.

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I also have a portable rotary clothesline and in the cooler months I hang washing on it and the airer and set them up in the lounge room in front of the fireplace.

There are many options for drying clothes.  What are your creative solutions?

Back to the Laundry

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It is a while since I have cleaned the laundry thoroughly and it was beginning to show.  The general view of the room looks OK but I was starting to feel that things were just being shoved in the cupboards.  I was finally prompted into action after we went to the Kin Kin markets yesterday to stock up on more laundry liquid and pre-soak/stain remover that are made locally by Felix at Kin Kin Naturals.

005I have 2 storage areas in this room.  One is the cupboards under the bench.  The other is a tall cupboard opposite the washing machine.

This is what the cupboard under the bench looked like this morning.

003Then I pulled everything out.

006I found that I had a couple of half-used bottles of laundry liquid so I condensed these.  I also decided to change the storage container for the dry cat food from a large, round bucket which is never full to a more manageable oblong container.  The spare spray bottles which were living in the rectangular bucket have been removed and will be stored downstairs.

The cupboard, shelves and inside and outside of the doors was wiped down and cleaned.  I was astounded at how grubby the insides of the cupboard doors were.

The finished cupboard is a bit more organised.

008Then it was on to the tall cupboard.  Here is the before photo.

002For a moment, I was tempted to just ‘tidy it up’ but decided to remove everything (including the rack on the inside of the door) and do it properly.

007Everything got the ‘once-over’ before putting it back.  I scrubbed the small stepladder, removed and cleaned the liner of the laundry hamper, washed the plastic bag holders and repaired the rag-bag where it was coming unstitched.  I realised that I barely scratch the surface of the pile of rags in the bag so I sorted through them and have sent a few downstairs to the workshop and thrown a few in the rubbish as the fabric was not terribly good for any sort of cleaning job.

I checked what cleaning supplies I had and made sure that they were all things that I will use – either currently or in the future – before putting them back.  Like every other area of the house, I have been working on reducing the amount of ‘stuff’ that is in here by using it up and in some instances not replacing it.

Once I had refilled the rag-bag and plastic bag holders it was time to put everything back in its place.

013Whilst the overall view is not substantially different, I am happy that I know what is in the cupboard and exactly how much I have.