Help me set up a laundry system in my tub?
March 12, 2020 6:09 AM Subscribe
I'm home as of yesterday, with a toddler. I have to giant hampers full of dirty clothes, and I need to get on top of this (slowly) and then keep up, presumably by washing the days clothes every night. Please help me set up a system and teach me best practices for hand-washing, sanitizing, and drying not-particularly delicate clothes.
My condo has a laundry room on each floor, no within-unit washers dryers. Gradnmas declared long ago that under no circumstances would their grandson's laundry be done in the communal washers, so one actually takes the laundry every week and washes it at her house. (yes, I know, I'm a monster, but would YOU turn down that service?)
So now there's no way we want to see grandmas right now until we've self-isolated two weeks. If I attempt to go out to the laundry room (Even if I felt great about that), my toddler would want to come, and he would touch everything everywhere and then lick his hands. The laundry room closes at night, so I don't think I can do it after he goes to sleep. So I think I have to wash in my unit. This would be less daunting if I didn't already have two giant hampers.
So explain to me like I'm 2, what i should do. I assume get a giant bin, put in some subset of laundry, fill with water and detergent (I have liquid HE detergent) and kind of pull it in and out etc. Then rinse? It's going to take FOREVER to dry, isn't it? Especially jeans? Like 2 days or more like a week?
I will wash our post-isolation clothes/towels first each day and then a few items from the backlog and cleaning rags last of all? Can I assume that coming in contact with a reasonable concentration of soap will sanitize it? My understanding is that the virus envelope is very vulnerable to any kind of soap or detergent? What do I want to do to sanitize the bin after? I'm trying to avoid using my stash of lysol unnecessarily, but if I gotta, I gotta.
This is going to kill my back, any tips for scrubbing methods/positions to make this easier? I have a tub with sliding doors and a toilet next to it at the faucet side (back of toilet and faucets on the same wall). So I imagine I'd be sitting on the toilet, leaning forward over the side of the tub to the bin full of water/clothes.
I feel like this should not require an AskMe, and yet I simultanously feel like I have no idea what I"m doing.
My condo has a laundry room on each floor, no within-unit washers dryers. Gradnmas declared long ago that under no circumstances would their grandson's laundry be done in the communal washers, so one actually takes the laundry every week and washes it at her house. (yes, I know, I'm a monster, but would YOU turn down that service?)
So now there's no way we want to see grandmas right now until we've self-isolated two weeks. If I attempt to go out to the laundry room (Even if I felt great about that), my toddler would want to come, and he would touch everything everywhere and then lick his hands. The laundry room closes at night, so I don't think I can do it after he goes to sleep. So I think I have to wash in my unit. This would be less daunting if I didn't already have two giant hampers.
So explain to me like I'm 2, what i should do. I assume get a giant bin, put in some subset of laundry, fill with water and detergent (I have liquid HE detergent) and kind of pull it in and out etc. Then rinse? It's going to take FOREVER to dry, isn't it? Especially jeans? Like 2 days or more like a week?
I will wash our post-isolation clothes/towels first each day and then a few items from the backlog and cleaning rags last of all? Can I assume that coming in contact with a reasonable concentration of soap will sanitize it? My understanding is that the virus envelope is very vulnerable to any kind of soap or detergent? What do I want to do to sanitize the bin after? I'm trying to avoid using my stash of lysol unnecessarily, but if I gotta, I gotta.
This is going to kill my back, any tips for scrubbing methods/positions to make this easier? I have a tub with sliding doors and a toilet next to it at the faucet side (back of toilet and faucets on the same wall). So I imagine I'd be sitting on the toilet, leaning forward over the side of the tub to the bin full of water/clothes.
I feel like this should not require an AskMe, and yet I simultanously feel like I have no idea what I"m doing.
Does your toddler *want* to come to the laundry room or *have to* come to the laundry room? You would get a lot of value in knocking out those hampers quickly for whatever you paid in disappointment.
Then after that I have experimented with doing laundry in the tub vs the sink and it's much easier in the sink even though you have to do the pieces one at a time. It's easier on the back and it's easier to make sure each piece really gets clean and rinsed. You will need some kind of scaffolding to dry the stuff on, can you go out and get a bunch of those octopus clothes hangers and drying racks? For that matter what about one of those countertop washing machines?
posted by bleep at 6:29 AM on March 12, 2020 [8 favorites]
Then after that I have experimented with doing laundry in the tub vs the sink and it's much easier in the sink even though you have to do the pieces one at a time. It's easier on the back and it's easier to make sure each piece really gets clean and rinsed. You will need some kind of scaffolding to dry the stuff on, can you go out and get a bunch of those octopus clothes hangers and drying racks? For that matter what about one of those countertop washing machines?
posted by bleep at 6:29 AM on March 12, 2020 [8 favorites]
Also how would you feel about a laundry dead drop? What if you just left the bags for grandmas to pick up? If there was any sickness in the clothes they're going to be washed by the time grandma is handling them.
posted by bleep at 6:33 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 6:33 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Do you have a stroller, and could you lock him down in that and position him out of reach of all surfaces so that you could use the machines? Or could you petition bldg management and see if you could get them to open the laundry later? (Because the dryers. With their beautiful, destroying heat.) Or maybe you could wash in unit and only dry in the laundry room?
posted by Don Pepino at 6:34 AM on March 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 6:34 AM on March 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
Is there a laundry service in your area that could come pick up your laundry, wash, dry and fold? They usually charge per pound so you could get a lot of bang for your buck and not have to go outside!
posted by DoubleLune at 6:35 AM on March 12, 2020 [11 favorites]
posted by DoubleLune at 6:35 AM on March 12, 2020 [11 favorites]
NO GRANDMA. GRANDMA STAY HOME.
posted by Don Pepino at 6:35 AM on March 12, 2020 [16 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 6:35 AM on March 12, 2020 [16 favorites]
Seconding Don Pepino's stroller suggestion, and to make the lockdown time shorter, sort all the clothes before you head down to the laundry room and only take one load at a time. Distract the toddler with a special toy or iPad or something of high value so the screaming is kept at a minimum. Doing all your laundry by hand is going to be so, so difficult.
posted by cooker girl at 6:36 AM on March 12, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 6:36 AM on March 12, 2020 [12 favorites]
Can you put mittens out similar on your toddler or a high value distraction (aka screen time) to do laundry in the machine? That would be the easiest way to go about it. You may get containment by popping them into a laundry basket of your own for a couple of minutes depending on your toddlern and luck.
The biggest thing is that people who hand wash laundry don't do it if it's not obviously dirty. Get more than one wear out of the clothes to reduce laundry. Reuse your towels. Have the kid run around in a diaper.
And don't worry about santizing your stuff while you are in isolation, if you have it you have it. You can't reinfect yourself.
posted by AlexiaSky at 6:37 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
The biggest thing is that people who hand wash laundry don't do it if it's not obviously dirty. Get more than one wear out of the clothes to reduce laundry. Reuse your towels. Have the kid run around in a diaper.
And don't worry about santizing your stuff while you are in isolation, if you have it you have it. You can't reinfect yourself.
posted by AlexiaSky at 6:37 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
If you decide to tub wash clothes, the best method I've found is to wear a bathing suit (or nothing); put warm water in tub, laundry soap and mix them up; then put in clothes and then carefully dance atop the clothes in your bare feet. It helps to have good music playing.
To rinse, let soapy water drain out. then put in warm water and swish/dance around on clothes to get soapy water off. Rinse and repeat until no soapy water is evident. Drain well at last.
Then stomp atop clean wet clothes to get most of water off. Then wring out anything you can and hang atop all things available to dry.
Not as much fun as it sounds like....
posted by mightshould at 6:41 AM on March 12, 2020 [10 favorites]
To rinse, let soapy water drain out. then put in warm water and swish/dance around on clothes to get soapy water off. Rinse and repeat until no soapy water is evident. Drain well at last.
Then stomp atop clean wet clothes to get most of water off. Then wring out anything you can and hang atop all things available to dry.
Not as much fun as it sounds like....
posted by mightshould at 6:41 AM on March 12, 2020 [10 favorites]
Oh god don't make yourself do laundry in your bathtub when there is a functional laundry room on your floor if you can at all help it. Wet clothing gets heavy and it's basically impossible to get as much water out of it by hand as a washing machine's spin-cycle can, so it takes longer to air dry.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:45 AM on March 12, 2020 [36 favorites]
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:45 AM on March 12, 2020 [36 favorites]
Response by poster: OK, I just washed one kitchen towel, one hand towel, and one outfit for each of us. I would like to revise my question to: Does anyone have experience with the countertop washers available through amazon.ca prime. Which is the cheapest likely to be effective? I'm thinking of this bucket one?
Grandma will not be involved in the solution.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:55 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Grandma will not be involved in the solution.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:55 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: The toddler will put mittens in his mouth too, and knows how to unlock and open the unit door. I suppose I could wrestle him into the stroller every half hour or so? I was actually hoping to sterilize the stroller (Again) and put it out of the way, since we're not going anywhere. But maybe I could use the umbrella stroller?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:57 AM on March 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:57 AM on March 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
Nthing the above sentiment that handwashing the laundry is going to be more difficult than finding a solution to get your clothes washed in a more conventional fashion (eg laundry service that does pickup & drop off, taking it yourself to be washed at a laundromat while your toddler is strapped in a stroller, taking your kid with you when you go to the laundry room keeping them strapped in a stroller with an iPad ).
Depending on the climate in your apartment, waiting for two hampers of handwashed laundry to drip dry is going to take a long time and be quite messy. I hang about half of my clothes to dry and anything that went through on delicate or handwash is very very drippy, and I sometimes end up with more wet things than practical places to hang wet things. Though it could be a fun activity to keep your toddler busy helping with the process above, I do not think they will make it a more efficient process.
posted by dotparker at 7:00 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Depending on the climate in your apartment, waiting for two hampers of handwashed laundry to drip dry is going to take a long time and be quite messy. I hang about half of my clothes to dry and anything that went through on delicate or handwash is very very drippy, and I sometimes end up with more wet things than practical places to hang wet things. Though it could be a fun activity to keep your toddler busy helping with the process above, I do not think they will make it a more efficient process.
posted by dotparker at 7:00 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
If it's safe for him to be unattended in your unit for a couple of minutes, do you have a baby gate he can't get through that could block access to the outer door?
Or another thought: I realize HOAs can be a nightmare to get any changes through, but what if you proposed having the laundry room open later into the night or earlier in the morning a couple times a week for the next month or so?
posted by teremala at 7:24 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Or another thought: I realize HOAs can be a nightmare to get any changes through, but what if you proposed having the laundry room open later into the night or earlier in the morning a couple times a week for the next month or so?
posted by teremala at 7:24 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Why not just put the toddler in a stroller while you're with him in the laundry room? Handwashing tons of clothes is so, so hard and they never dry properly. Keep him in the stroller away from things he can touch for the 20 minutes or so to load the washers, wheel him around while the laundry goes, back to move to the dryers, more wheeling, etc. Obviously I don't know how much room you have, but any change of scenery/etc. can be good.
posted by emjaybee at 7:32 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by emjaybee at 7:32 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I would use the umbrella stroller, and take some disinfecting wipes. It's droplet based, you are only exposed to your floor's worth of people.
Sort laundry at home, obviously. Tie a toy to the stroller.
Enter laundry room, immediately wipe down the machines closest to him, position stroller as effectively as possible. Put laundry in, set timer on your phone. Return to apartment. Rinse and repeat (ah ha ha) for washing and drying. Fold laundry back in your apartment. Then minimize your laundry as best you can at home.
posted by warriorqueen at 7:33 AM on March 12, 2020 [11 favorites]
Sort laundry at home, obviously. Tie a toy to the stroller.
Enter laundry room, immediately wipe down the machines closest to him, position stroller as effectively as possible. Put laundry in, set timer on your phone. Return to apartment. Rinse and repeat (ah ha ha) for washing and drying. Fold laundry back in your apartment. Then minimize your laundry as best you can at home.
posted by warriorqueen at 7:33 AM on March 12, 2020 [11 favorites]
Does he nap? When my kids were nappers in cribs, I'd zip down to the laundry room to start the washer, move clothes to the dryer, grab them out of the dryer and then fold them in the apartment.
posted by cooker girl at 7:33 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 7:33 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
To be clear, I would end up doing three separate trips to the laundry room; I wouldn't stay down there while the clothes were washing/drying.
posted by cooker girl at 7:34 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 7:34 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Get all the laundry sorted, put the basket(s) by the front door.
Wet a washcloth, put a dab of soap on it, stow the washcloth in a ziplock or for less waste, a reusable food box. Bring washcloth to laundry room.
Teach toddler how to do laundry. This can be a game and a fun life lesson. Toddler will eventually was their own clothes, and you have kids of time to practice now.
Toddler can put the clothes in one piece at a time! Or help you dump it all in at once. Toddler might enjoy naming the colors they see. Toddler might want to pour the soap, so maybe pre-portion it.
Toddler almost surely want to press the buttons.
Swab toddler down with your wet washcloth before hands to mouth action commences.
This will be exhausting, yes. But nowhere near as tiring as washing clothes by hand. And, two weeks of laundry lessons might stick.
posted by bilabial at 7:40 AM on March 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
Wet a washcloth, put a dab of soap on it, stow the washcloth in a ziplock or for less waste, a reusable food box. Bring washcloth to laundry room.
Teach toddler how to do laundry. This can be a game and a fun life lesson. Toddler will eventually was their own clothes, and you have kids of time to practice now.
Toddler can put the clothes in one piece at a time! Or help you dump it all in at once. Toddler might enjoy naming the colors they see. Toddler might want to pour the soap, so maybe pre-portion it.
Toddler almost surely want to press the buttons.
Swab toddler down with your wet washcloth before hands to mouth action commences.
This will be exhausting, yes. But nowhere near as tiring as washing clothes by hand. And, two weeks of laundry lessons might stick.
posted by bilabial at 7:40 AM on March 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
As others have said, you should not hand wash this laundry. Even if you can't find a place that will pick it up and deliver it to you, you can hire a student or someone off Taskrabbit to take it all to a laundromat and get it all done at once in two hours.
But if others in different situations want an answer: Get a laundry plunger like this. Wash clothes with it in a five gallon bucket in the tub; dump out the water; add clean water and plunge some more to rinse.
You really want a wringer to remove the water, but if you don't find an old one lying around someone's basement, they're expensive (like $200). Assuming you can't get one, squeeze out as much water as you can. Then roll up each item in a dry towel and press down. Repeat with another towel or two, then hang dry.
posted by metasarah at 7:50 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
But if others in different situations want an answer: Get a laundry plunger like this. Wash clothes with it in a five gallon bucket in the tub; dump out the water; add clean water and plunge some more to rinse.
You really want a wringer to remove the water, but if you don't find an old one lying around someone's basement, they're expensive (like $200). Assuming you can't get one, squeeze out as much water as you can. Then roll up each item in a dry towel and press down. Repeat with another towel or two, then hang dry.
posted by metasarah at 7:50 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Can you hire a laundry service? There are several services in my town that pick up laundry, wash it, and deliver it back to you.
posted by OrangeDisk at 7:51 AM on March 12, 2020
posted by OrangeDisk at 7:51 AM on March 12, 2020
I am unclear whether you are self-isolating as a protective measure to flatten the curve, or if you + toddler have either been exposed or actually been diagnosed. My advice differs depending on that answer.
If the former, I would strap toddler into the stroller and go do laundry even if the toddler is screaming. I'd also email condo management to ask for extended laundry room hours during this crisis. Or I'd use a pick-up and delivery laundry service, if you can verify that their employees have paid sick time and will not be coming in to work sick.
If the latter, I'd get the cheapest counter-top washing machine with high verified purchase ratings on Amazon and ideally a 3rd party recommendation like Consumer Reports.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 7:55 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
If the former, I would strap toddler into the stroller and go do laundry even if the toddler is screaming. I'd also email condo management to ask for extended laundry room hours during this crisis. Or I'd use a pick-up and delivery laundry service, if you can verify that their employees have paid sick time and will not be coming in to work sick.
If the latter, I'd get the cheapest counter-top washing machine with high verified purchase ratings on Amazon and ideally a 3rd party recommendation like Consumer Reports.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 7:55 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I am self-isolating to flatten the curve and to allow us to eventually see (and possibly move in with) grandmas.
My request that the condo board consider installing hand sanitizers at entrances and/or by the elevators or maybe just look into who might do that and how much it might cost so it can be done quickly if they choose to do it later was met with thinly-veiled scoffing.
The laundry room is two washers facing two dryers with maybe a 3 foot aisle in between. A stroller cannot go in here (the place is a hazard, as anyone inside is likely standing directly behind the door), so the stroller-based solution is him screaming in the hallway just outside the laundry room, not in the laundry room.
Also, I just realized (sorry, not to be a negative ninny, which I've often been accused of being), but I would have to go down to the lobby to load money on my laundry card, and out to ....? .... to get change (the building is transitioning between systems, so you need both). I think this latter point (needing to find the means to pay) may kill any possibility of using the washers while remaining isolated. I should have thought of it and mentioned it earlier.
I'm expecting and accepting that hand-washing (or portable-washer washing) solution may take the full two weeks to clear the hampers.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:13 AM on March 12, 2020
My request that the condo board consider installing hand sanitizers at entrances and/or by the elevators or maybe just look into who might do that and how much it might cost so it can be done quickly if they choose to do it later was met with thinly-veiled scoffing.
The laundry room is two washers facing two dryers with maybe a 3 foot aisle in between. A stroller cannot go in here (the place is a hazard, as anyone inside is likely standing directly behind the door), so the stroller-based solution is him screaming in the hallway just outside the laundry room, not in the laundry room.
Also, I just realized (sorry, not to be a negative ninny, which I've often been accused of being), but I would have to go down to the lobby to load money on my laundry card, and out to ....? .... to get change (the building is transitioning between systems, so you need both). I think this latter point (needing to find the means to pay) may kill any possibility of using the washers while remaining isolated. I should have thought of it and mentioned it earlier.
I'm expecting and accepting that hand-washing (or portable-washer washing) solution may take the full two weeks to clear the hampers.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:13 AM on March 12, 2020
If you're set on doing this at home:
Point fans and/or space heaters at clothes that are drying; it makes a big difference.
Pick two or three (depending on how long things take to dry or possible toddler mishaps - you might need more, but the point is to use the least possible) sets of clothes that you think will be easiest to wash and dry. Each night, wash that day's clothes and only those. Definitely don't bother taking care of a whole hamper. Avoid jeans.
Experiment with positions to see what's most comfortable. Washing things in a bucket can add some options.
It's doable, people have done it forever, but make it as easy for yourself as possible.
posted by trig at 8:49 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Point fans and/or space heaters at clothes that are drying; it makes a big difference.
Pick two or three (depending on how long things take to dry or possible toddler mishaps - you might need more, but the point is to use the least possible) sets of clothes that you think will be easiest to wash and dry. Each night, wash that day's clothes and only those. Definitely don't bother taking care of a whole hamper. Avoid jeans.
Experiment with positions to see what's most comfortable. Washing things in a bucket can add some options.
It's doable, people have done it forever, but make it as easy for yourself as possible.
posted by trig at 8:49 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Does anyone have experience with the countertop washers available through amazon.ca prime
Not directly with these, but I got myself an apartment washer back in 2004 and I loved that thing. I was prepared for it to be crappy, but it worked great. Mine held a small load but since it was right there in the kitchen, it was nothing to do one a load a day. I'd think about getting a foldable drying rack if you don't have a ton of room to hang things - or even if you do since toddler clothes are small and the rack is great for small things.
posted by soelo at 8:56 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Not directly with these, but I got myself an apartment washer back in 2004 and I loved that thing. I was prepared for it to be crappy, but it worked great. Mine held a small load but since it was right there in the kitchen, it was nothing to do one a load a day. I'd think about getting a foldable drying rack if you don't have a ton of room to hang things - or even if you do since toddler clothes are small and the rack is great for small things.
posted by soelo at 8:56 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Laundry delivery service. The storage to deal with the portable washer is going to be a long term hassle, and many package delivery services are currently overwhelmed. You local small business laundry almost surely could use the money. You will need sheets and towels before the two weeks are up, and they will take forever to dry if hand washed.
Also, leaving the toddler briefly to scream in the hallway is not a totally acceptable part of toddler parenting in an apartment building with such a limited laundry situation.
It miiiiiight also be possible for you to find someone in the building who can pick up the laundry from in front of your door, wash it, dry it, and then leave the bag of clean laundry back at your door. You could pay with cash, or venmo and they can handle getting money onto your laundry card, or use their own. You could maybe put a sign up in the laundry room, on one of the machines or maybe there's another common area with a pin board?
If you can get money onto the card (this sounds like a huge pain, and I'm so sorry your building hasn't finished this switch yet to make it easier) an option is to use the machines to wash and then hang dry in your apartment. So that's slightly fewer trips, and the wringing out is handled well, which makes the drying so much faster. If it's four loads of laundry I would time it so that it's something like:
Drying is much faster if you can keep air circulating, so buying a fan or three might also be worth it. Open windows if you can.
In a perfect world, the toddler would take a nap during some part of this adventure, but I know what world we live in.
While you're dealing with this, consider downloading some episodes of the One Bad Mother podcast. You may feel that they are commiserating with you. They swear a bit, so maybe listen with headphones. They might make you laugh.
posted by bilabial at 8:58 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also, leaving the toddler briefly to scream in the hallway is not a totally acceptable part of toddler parenting in an apartment building with such a limited laundry situation.
It miiiiiight also be possible for you to find someone in the building who can pick up the laundry from in front of your door, wash it, dry it, and then leave the bag of clean laundry back at your door. You could pay with cash, or venmo and they can handle getting money onto your laundry card, or use their own. You could maybe put a sign up in the laundry room, on one of the machines or maybe there's another common area with a pin board?
If you can get money onto the card (this sounds like a huge pain, and I'm so sorry your building hasn't finished this switch yet to make it easier) an option is to use the machines to wash and then hang dry in your apartment. So that's slightly fewer trips, and the wringing out is handled well, which makes the drying so much faster. If it's four loads of laundry I would time it so that it's something like:
- Haul sheets, towels, clothes laundry all to machine in one trip. Toddler is in crib or bed or other safe place with a screen that toddler adores. wash sheets and towels in the two washers, set timer for when washers will be done. return to toddler
- Toddler is back in safe place with screen or snacks, dry sheets and towels in the dryers while clothes wash in two washers
- Toddlers third visit to jackpot reward heaven, you get to bring everything back to apartment in one trip, maybe toddler will "help" you hang wet things, or match socks, or yell out colors.
Drying is much faster if you can keep air circulating, so buying a fan or three might also be worth it. Open windows if you can.
In a perfect world, the toddler would take a nap during some part of this adventure, but I know what world we live in.
While you're dealing with this, consider downloading some episodes of the One Bad Mother podcast. You may feel that they are commiserating with you. They swear a bit, so maybe listen with headphones. They might make you laugh.
posted by bilabial at 8:58 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Toddler is booooored. Make the stroller an adventure, cruise the hall, throw in the laundry, do it again in an hour, to get the backlog resolved.
Hand-washing: Cotton takes extra time to rinse, and a long time to dry inside. Do sheets, towels, jeans in the washer down the hall. If you have synthetic clothing, wear that. Little kids' clothes are not as much of a pain. Handwash other stuff by pre-treating any stains or extra dirty bits with a bit of detergent and scrubbing it. Put laundry in the sink or tub, add water and not very much detergent. Use hands or a potato masher to agitate/swirl it around energetically, let it sit, swirl some more. Drain. Add water, swirl, rest, swirl, drain. Add water, swirl, rest, swirl, drain again. Let as much waster as possible drain out, press more of it out. Wring anything that can stand it. Dry on a railing, rack, towel on the floor. Shower rods carry limited weight, but you can put some things on plastic hangers and hang them. Cleaning the kitchen sink and using that would be way easier on your back.
If I had a toddler, I might put them in the tub with laundry, because why not and bath fun is fun, add deterg. and proceed after toddler is done.
It's got to be hard to be isolated with a toddler, hang in there.
posted by theora55 at 9:09 AM on March 12, 2020
Hand-washing: Cotton takes extra time to rinse, and a long time to dry inside. Do sheets, towels, jeans in the washer down the hall. If you have synthetic clothing, wear that. Little kids' clothes are not as much of a pain. Handwash other stuff by pre-treating any stains or extra dirty bits with a bit of detergent and scrubbing it. Put laundry in the sink or tub, add water and not very much detergent. Use hands or a potato masher to agitate/swirl it around energetically, let it sit, swirl some more. Drain. Add water, swirl, rest, swirl, drain. Add water, swirl, rest, swirl, drain again. Let as much waster as possible drain out, press more of it out. Wring anything that can stand it. Dry on a railing, rack, towel on the floor. Shower rods carry limited weight, but you can put some things on plastic hangers and hang them. Cleaning the kitchen sink and using that would be way easier on your back.
If I had a toddler, I might put them in the tub with laundry, because why not and bath fun is fun, add deterg. and proceed after toddler is done.
It's got to be hard to be isolated with a toddler, hang in there.
posted by theora55 at 9:09 AM on March 12, 2020
A toddler screaming in the hallway for the two minutes it takes to load a washer sounds way better than washing clothes in the tub.
posted by mskyle at 9:20 AM on March 12, 2020 [17 favorites]
posted by mskyle at 9:20 AM on March 12, 2020 [17 favorites]
Also, leaving the toddler briefly to scream in the hallway is not a totally acceptable part of toddler parenting in an apartment building with such a limited laundry situation.
should be
Also, leaving the toddler briefly to scream in the hallway IS a totally acceptable part of toddler parenting in an apartment building with such a limited laundry situation.
posted by bilabial at 9:24 AM on March 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
If you do wash in the tub, my family's experience from two years of tub-washing when we lived in the Serengeti in the mid-70s is that yes, you want to get in and stomp around in your bare feet, and also young children find this to be a great deal of fun. At least, my mother tells me that I found it to be.
For drying: if you've got a ceiling or other fan, my husband and I find that lightweight jeans draped over a frame of some sort (we've got a drying rack) with the fan on high will dry to 96-97% overnight, and thicker jeans will dry 100% in 24 hours.
posted by telophase at 9:40 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
For drying: if you've got a ceiling or other fan, my husband and I find that lightweight jeans draped over a frame of some sort (we've got a drying rack) with the fan on high will dry to 96-97% overnight, and thicker jeans will dry 100% in 24 hours.
posted by telophase at 9:40 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Also, after you stomp out as much water as you can, roll the items up in a towel and stomp on that to get more out.
posted by telophase at 9:41 AM on March 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by telophase at 9:41 AM on March 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
If you’re determined to wash by hand, order a no-rinse handwashing detergent like Soak. Not having to rinse will dramatically decrease your workload.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:23 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by ocherdraco at 10:23 AM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
historically washerwomen were metonymy for very strong and grouchy women, because hand washing the heavy linen is so exhausting. But if you gotta, check out Lehman's for their recommendations.
posted by clew at 11:01 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 11:01 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Do you have a back carrier for the kid? A long time ago when my kids were little I used those and sometimes used the umbrella stroller to move stuff other than the kid with the kid on my back. Could you use a sling of some kind?
posted by mareli at 11:01 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mareli at 11:01 AM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
The way I learned to do the family laundry by hand was to let things soak overnight in the tub in water with detergent, being a bit careful about mixing colors. Children's clothes and other lightweight items were almost entirely clean by morning. I sat on the edge of the tub and rubbed them against the surface, which in that place and time was, conveniently, tiled. Every day I washed the day's clothing, so nothing was terribly dirty to begin with. My toddler happily came to help.
Drying was not a problem in that subtropical climate, but may well be in yours. That, I think, is why our grandmothers ironed things like sheets and pajamas. If you can manage to slip into the laundry room and toss things into a dryer it would be well worthwhile. Dryers are also pretty good at making things sanitary.
With two full hampers, though, the most likely way to get things reasonably clean is to send the laundry out.
posted by SereneStorm at 9:51 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Drying was not a problem in that subtropical climate, but may well be in yours. That, I think, is why our grandmothers ironed things like sheets and pajamas. If you can manage to slip into the laundry room and toss things into a dryer it would be well worthwhile. Dryers are also pretty good at making things sanitary.
With two full hampers, though, the most likely way to get things reasonably clean is to send the laundry out.
posted by SereneStorm at 9:51 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Can you use the laundry room while toddler is sleeping? Just do good hand washing with soap and water afterwards. Prioritize loads so surplus towels or whatever can wait, but undies and onesies get done sooner.
posted by stillmoving at 10:35 PM on March 13, 2020
posted by stillmoving at 10:35 PM on March 13, 2020
Response by poster: Does anyone know how laundry services work? Do they wash my clothes together with everyone elses? Do they sort or just throw everything in?
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:52 AM on March 17, 2020
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:52 AM on March 17, 2020
Generally they keep your items separate from others’, but they don’t separate by color or anything like that.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:12 AM on March 17, 2020
posted by ocherdraco at 10:12 AM on March 17, 2020
No, they couldn't throw your stuff in with everybody else's because they wouldn't then be able to get everyone's clothes back to them because how would they know whose was whose? I think you can sort and bag by color yourself and they'll wash each bag? (source: very ancient mental image of bags of neatly folded sorted laundry at the laundromat waiting to go out to people.) Call local laundries and see if they're still open and doing pickups.
posted by Don Pepino at 11:35 AM on March 17, 2020
posted by Don Pepino at 11:35 AM on March 17, 2020
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posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:12 AM on March 12, 2020