Tips on reducing laundry/ keeping barn clothes separate?

[4Martini]

Between my work clothes, workout clothes, barn clothes, PJs etc the laundry pile is crazy! What do you do with barn clothes - how often do you re-wear? Any other laundry mountain reducing tips? How do you keep the horsey stuff separate?

Thanks!

[ReSomething]

Flylady.net has a whole section on conquering Mt Washmore. I think you have to have a machine at home to follow the system.
When I lived where there was a laundry room I just used one machine for horse hairy girths and saddle pads and wiped it out afterwards. Barn clothes were usually breeches and shirts and they went in with my work clothes, cottons together, poly together, like that. My work clothes could pass for workout clothes at the Y or a college gym, not so much a health club. Breeches got worn two to four times depending on whether they got seriously slobbered on, work bottoms two to three times, work shirts once, underwear once, socks alternated days, or not, depending on the weather. And I got to spend a day using at least three machines, four if I washed the girths and saddlepads.
Never ever ever, no matter how sorely you are tempted, go out and buy more underwear because you haven't done the laundry and are about to run out - it just postpones the inevitable (and makes it worse).

[Cielo Azure]

Honestly, I don't keep horsey stuff (as in farm clothes) separate. I keep dress clothes separated:winkgrin:. And we try to keep horse blankets, saddle pads separate.

With 12 horses, three horse people and a twenty acre -red mud (or is that dirt?) farm, we have piles of laundry sometimes.

My husband is excellent at doing laundry, not just folding it. My son is excellent at spreading clean and dirty clothes all over his floor (his dogs think his clothes make fantastic beds)...

We all seem to live with dog hair everywhere. Except my husband's business clothes (I dont' seem to have many good clothes that I actually wear these days), those are treated with care.

For us, it is just part of farm life. The constant laundry cycle...

[deltawave]

I don't keep things separate for washing, and I wear my barn jeans until I can't stand them any more. :lol: But a light pair of coveralls is very handy if you tend to "pop in" on the barn with regular clothes on and need to do a couple of things.

[GreyHunterHorse]

Barn and workout clothes go in together, and I wear my second and third layers twice ( for winter I wear base layer, long sleeve T over that, and a fleece THEN my coat(s)) and I wear my barn jeans 2-4 times depending how much I do in them. That seems to cut down on bulk a lot.

Work clothes and delicates go together and I do occasionally wear work pants twice before washing.

DH is a carpenter, so HIS stuff gets done separately -- you never, EVER want sawdust in your underwear! :lol:

Horse laundry gets tossed in by itself, then I wash barn jeans the load after it. I live in a rental, so its not like I own the washer.... :winkgrin:

[ddb]

DH is a carpenter, so HIS stuff gets done separately -- you never, EVER want sawdust in your underwear! :lol: :winkgrin:

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

How about the nails that fall out of pockets that were of course checked before he put them in the washer!!:mad:

[betsyk]

I hear you on the laundry mountain, especially in winter when you need so many layers. We try to wear things til they just can't be worn again but that point varies... coveralls are GREAT.

We have a lineup of laundry hampers in front of our washer and dryer and as we bring stuff downstairs it gets thrown in the appropriate basket. When one gets full, that's the one that gets washed. It seems to keep things moving through the system (jeans basket gets full fastest, washed most often, needed most; reds get done maybe once/month; black fleece about every 2 weeks in winter - we have a lot of clothes!). Bleach-whites are my responsibility, wool is my housemate's. Dog and horse laundry piles up for a while and gets washed by itself, but there's a hamper for that so at least it looks neater while it's waiting. We haven't really solved the problem of all the clean baskets full of clothes waiting to be put away and the fact that if every single piece of clothing was clean it wouldn't all fit in our dressers...

[draftdriver]

The outer outers (winter coat and snow pants) get washed once a year, in the spring. By that time, the coat is about ready to stand up and come when called! I keep barn jeans separate from go-to-the-store jeans, and will wear them many, many times before washing. Washing frequency of winter clothing layers increases with proximity to the skin.

[4Martini]

Thanks everyone! Another question - where do you store your once or twice worn barn jeans? I can't figure out a good system - I don't want to put them on the shelves with the clean clothes - but other than the hamper I don't have a place for dirty but still to be worn clothes... What do you do?

[mkevent]

I have a walk in closet(not big) where I have wicker basket that I keep those types of clothes in-barn clothes that can be used again and breeches,etc. I also have a wooden clothes drying rack in our bedroom that the wet workout clothes dry on before going in the hampers. For the horse items, I keep a hamper in the barn that I bring in when I'm ready to do horse laundry.(not recommended if you have a mouse problem at the barn, though!)

[deltawave]

where do you store your once or twice worn barn jeans?

Hooks on the wall inside the walk-in closet.

[Dazednconfused]

Thanks everyone! Another question - where do you store your once or twice worn barn jeans? I can't figure out a good system - I don't want to put them on the shelves with the clean clothes - but other than the hamper I don't have a place for dirty but still to be worn clothes... What do you do?

I have separate hampers for really icky barn stuff and regular, not that icky dirty clothes.

[ReSomething]

Thanks everyone! Another question - where do you store your once or twice worn barn jeans? I can't figure out a good system - I don't want to put them on the shelves with the clean clothes - but other than the hamper I don't have a place for dirty but still to be worn clothes... What do you do?

We have a great big bathtub that we rarely use in the master bath and they get hung over the edge. Also have an over-the-door set of hooks in the bath and a wicker storage box with lid, great for piling stuff that is not too dirty to wear again. DH makes heaps on the floor in all the corners:rolleyes:. Chairs work too.

[fromatox]

Umm..I'm in college and I wash my breeches when -I- can start to smell horse in my room. Sooo maybe once a week. Thank god I don't have a roommate! :D Oh yeah..space is really an issue with the clothes. I don't know how I have so many. I store most of my barn clothes in huge plastic bins under my bed. But when I've worn them once they go in a heap far away from my bed so I can wear them again the next day.

[DML]

My clothes are divided between what has to go into dryer and what has to hang dry, LoL

Works well that most my barn clothes go in the dryer, so they are seperate from my gym clothes and work stuff that hang dry, I keep it simple :)

As for where I put my barn jeans that I wear again before washing, they usually get tossed over the laundry basket, but I like the hooks in the closet idea.

[appychik]

My system is very similiar to what's already been stated.

I wear my breeches at least 4-5 times in the winter. Less if they get filthy, then I wash sooner. They never stink in the winter, like they tend to do in the summer (who knew that horse sweat stunk? ;)). I find that less washing makes them hold up way longer.

My base layers (under armour... champion, etc) get washed more frequently, mainly cause I wear them all the time, not just at the barn.

Shirts & fleeces usually get washed more frequently too, for the same reasons as stated above.

My barn coat (going on 11 years :eek:) and ski pants (love 'em - got them two years ago :yes:) get washed about every two weeks, more frequently if they get really rancid :winkgrin:. My stocking cap & gloves are washed at the same time too.

When not in use, the barn coat, ski pants, hat and gloves hang out in my truck, along with my winter boots. Here in MN you never know when you'll need warmer clothes. The breeches and what not hang on a rack of other clothes that "have been worn but aren't that dirty yet" in my closet. I'm crazy, but I do spray some body splash (right now it's like Rainwater Leaves, or something like that) on my clothes. Seems to freshen them up without being overwhelming.

This system works well for me. And I don't get too many complaints about smelling :D.