Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Too much laundry

I have been going through all of our clothing over the past few weeks, taking stock of what we have, what is needed, etc.  I made a discovery.   We have too much laundry! 

We are a homesteading family.  The little ones have a large amount of clothing.  I realised this as I was bagging up Abigail's outgrown clothing (size 12-18 months) and quickly filled 5 small trash bags!  You would think that she has not a stitch to wear after gleaning out those things but she still has a full wardrobe of clothing.  Micah doesn't have nearly as many, but he has a fair amount.  I have clothing that I haven't worn in a very long time.  Granted, I was pregnant with Micah, but even before that, some of the clothing was never worn.

There are only 7 days in a week.  If I am doing a load or two of laundry each day, then why do we need over dozen outfits each?  With the little ones still in diapers, it is easy to make excuses, but if you are washing their laundry as you do their cloth diapers each day or two, why do they need so many outfits?  Allowing one outfit per day, 2-3 church outfits, a coat or for an infant a bunting, plus a couple of sweaters or sweatshirts to wear on cool days are sufficient.  I only need 6 daily dresses and 2 church dresses at the most.  Add a shawl, mantle, and a work coat for winter and I am set.

My Beloved can use more clothing than an outfit per day due to the type of work he does.  But even that doesn't mean a closet & dresser packed full of clothing is necessary.  He has enough jeans to get him through a week and plenty of shirts, both summer and winter styles. 

If you have more clothing than necessary, it can be a waste of money.  I have known people who have bought clothing, brought it home and once it was hung up in the closet, they forgot even buying it.  The outfit goes unworn for years, often with the price tag still attached to it. 

With the goal of wanting to do 100% of our laundry by hand as soon as I have the things I need to do a proper job of it, I can see where having fewer outfits would be a blessing.  Yes, it would mean doing laundry more often, but the amount of laundry to be washed at one time would be less.  This will also be important when having to dry the clothing indoors where space is limited. 

With the little ones in cloth diapers or even when Abigail is wearing training pants, I am guaranteed a load of laundry each day just of their diapers and training pants.  Sometimes their bedding also is washed daily.   If you have so much laundry that you are able to do the laundry once a week, it becomes a large task when doing it by hand. 

I am now alternating between 1-2 loads a day.  Each day, I have a load of cloth diapers, crib bedding, and a few towels.  Every other day, I add a load of Joe's and my laundry.  Doing it this way really helps to keep the task from becoming an all-day event.  Even hand washing the laundry is not as time consuming if done this way.  Come winter, when I will be hanging laundry on racks indoors to dry, this way of doing the laundry will also be a blessing.

I agree

01:29, Thursday, August 21, 2008 .. Posted by Sara

This was a realization I had a few months ago, right before we moved. I sat down and made a clothing list for all seasons of what was needed for each family member from clothes to shoes to outerwear to underthings. Then I started making my way through all of our clothes. I still haven't managed to whittle away as much as I'd hoped, but I'm still working on it. It's so much easier when you don't have so many things to go through, and stuff your drawers full to the gill of clothes that you hardly ever wear. Have fun going through everything.

Blessings, sara

Untitled Comment

09:58, Thursday, August 21, 2008 .. Posted by gabbie427

Yep!!! I realized some time ago, when we were switching from winter to spring and summer clothing. I was amazed and how much stuff was in my closet that I haven't worn in AGES!!! For some reason, the thought of me loosing some weight and getting into that one red dress, or those blue jeans made me keep them. LOL But I also realized by the time I loose the weight, that clothing is going to be so out of style, and I didn't really like that dress anyway! LOL

So, I decluttered my half of the closet, and it probably could be done again!!! Hubby still won't let me declutter his side of the closet, but I am still working on him. LOL And my drawers will barely close anymore on my dresser, so I need to declutter it this weekend or next week.

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo