Spinoff of Orthodox Housekeeper Thread

amother

Sun, Oct 26 2014, 10:20 pm

I BH lead a very busy work and family life. One area that I can't seem to manage well is that of clothing/laundry. My kids tend to be very messy eaters and create a lot of stains on their clothes. Every season, I try to go through their clothes, figure out what fits/doesn't, what's out of season and organize appropriately. Somehow I am not seeming to do a good job of it. A family member recently reached out to me and told me she had some concerns with my children's appearances. She felt that #1, the clothes were not well cleaned. #2, my sons shirts were too short, #3, they just sort of looked disheveled in general. This family member offered to pay for ongoing assistance with the above issues. I don't think she has a very high budget (I would guess in the $50 a week range). I am trying to figure out who to hire I.e. what type of person and what exactly their responsibilities would be. I have a cleaning lady every other week who takes care of household cleaning. She is only here for 3 hours so she can't address any laundry issues during that time. With a growing family, we often have 5 loads to do once a week. In an ideal world, what I would want is someone to come in and do my laundry who really knows how to get stains out. While the laundry is going, I would like her to go through my kids drawers and really organize things well. She should pull out things that don't fit, that aren't in good condition, and help me dispose them properly. She should help me figure out what to sell/give away as some clothes are in good condition but don't fit anymore. She should then fold and put away all my laundry.
I am trying to figure out how this could logistically work as I assume the tasks of really organizing won't be relevant after she does it the first few weeks. And my washing machine and dryer aren't exactly quick. What would she be doing the whole time while they are running?
And who would I hire? A post high school girl looking for cash? A cleaning lady? A professional organizer? (I don't need frum obviously). Any feedback would be helpful!

joy613

Sun, Oct 26 2014, 10:31 pm

I think you might do well to hire two separate people.
One for the weekly laundry, and the other one a professional organizer who will go through the clothing with you.
Just keep in mind if she has to get rid of too small clothing, either she has to have the kids there so she can try it or you'd have to try it on beforehand.
I dont' think it would take a few weeks. I dont' know how many children you have but if she can come a few hours a day she might be able to finish it with you around in a few days.

I'm just not sure who you would get for the laundry. Is it for just one load a day? people won't want to come for so short. Maybe you can have 2 designated laundry days and hire someone to come for a few hours those days. but wait- What will she keep herself busy with though when the machines are running...? this gets complicated..

perquacky

Sun, Oct 26 2014, 10:36 pm

I think better time management may be the solution. I also work full time, have a fairly large family, and I have a couple of not-so-neat boys. And we also go through many loads of laundry a week. Trying to get five loads done in one day is too time consuming. I'd spread them out so you're only doing one to two loads a night. Then there's much less to fold and it takes less time to put away, which is the part I dislike the most.

Depending on how old your children are, they can help you organize their clothing. They can look for stains that don't come out. And they can tell you what no longer fits.

Or, before they put on their pajamas at night, take a good look at what they wore that day. Is it too short? Too tight? Put those pieces aside to wash separately, so they don't end up back in with the clothing that still fits, and when they're dry, put them into a bag to give away.

Spend 10 minutes in each child's closet and dresser to pull out what you know can no longer be worn. Really, that shouldn't take too much time.

Someone who doesn't know your kids won't know what doesn't fit them. Only you can make that determination.

One tip: Toss a scoop of OxyClean in the wash with each load--in addition to the regular detergent. It really does help. And if you have clothing with new stains, add the OxyClean to a bucket and let the clothing soak overnight.

zaq

Sun, Oct 26 2014, 10:38 pm

Instead of hiring a laundress/personal organizer, why not just send the clothes out to be laundered professionally by a place that picks up and delivers? In the time you save not doing laundry, you could do all that sorting and culling. Professional laundering would solve your relative's objections 1 and 3, and in the time you free up you could easily take care of objection #2. Any time you see your ds wearing a shirt too short, mark a dot inside the collar with laundry marker before it goes in the hamper. Then, when the laundry is delivered, remove the shirts marked with dots--all nice, clean, and folded--and put in a bag to be given away. If when you're about to mark the shirt you observe that it's falling apart or otherwise really disreputable, discard it right then and there and don't bother laundering. In a few weeks you should be all spiffied up , but you'll still have to keep an eye on the clothes on a regular basis to catch them as they deteriorate.

SRS

Sun, Oct 26 2014, 11:20 pm

I think that by accepting this family member's financial help and unsolicited advice you are opening up yourself to more offers and more advice. I'd say thank you but no thank you. If it is all the clothing in your home that isn't looking great, it could be your machine. We recently replaced our machine and everything is looking nicer. But my boys clothing is always getting ripped and stained. Boys are just rough on clothing. I am currently operating under the assumption that nothing from my older boy will ever make it to my younger boy. So I buy good clothing 2nd hand or take hand me downs, and I basically am happy to toss it or pass it on if it survives and the next boy in line will get his own 2nd hand clothing. That way everyone looks relatively nice, but I'm not spending massive amounts of time trying to fight every stain they put on their clothing or patch up pants.

ra_mom

Sun, Oct 26 2014, 11:30 pm

amother wrote:

I think the way to tackle this is to hire your cleaner to come a second day during the week.
This way she can wash laundry both days, and white the machines are running, she can pretreat the next loads as well as split the cleaning of the house between those two days.
You would still need to be involved to 1. make sure your children wear bibs and aprons while they eat, 2. you would need to throw out clothes that are too stained when you take them out to dress your children and realize they are no longer viable, 3. teach her how to remove stains (we can help you learn), and 4. sit with her each season for a few minutes and make pile of what stays in closet for coming season, what gets put away for another season/child, and what gets thrown out.

imaima

Mon, Oct 27 2014, 2:25 am

That's what I do:

- spread laundry through week ans don't have a laundry day, that would be too overwhelming.
- have a dumping bin where I put all things that are too small from all children. At the end of a season I go through it, sort it and put away
- I think there are always deals in stores, so it is cheaper to get a new shirt than pay money to have a stain removed, which might still not happen. Some stains just stay.
- for the next season, buy coordinated outfits and not separates for your kids. This way they won't look disheveled. Use the money of your nosy relative.

abound

Mon, Oct 27 2014, 2:47 am

zaq wrote:

I like this idea! Also if your budget is not high enough to send out all your laundry only send out colors and light shirts and pants. Dark (navy, black, brown, grey), underwear, socks and towels you can do at home.

SRS

Mon, Oct 27 2014, 7:47 am

Before spending money I'd really think about whether or not your children are the types of acquiesce to looking good because you can spend the money on help and all of that, but it might be in vain. I'm really not sure how some of the parents do it marching their children out in designer matching outfits, always eating neatly in bids, and all that. Not all children will wear a bib because it bothers their neck. I have a child that must just go wild with any art supply at school. I can send said child in the nicest clothing and it will get stained and ruined even with a smock. I have another child that has strong preferences and simply will not wear sweaters for example. If your boys are budding athletes you can kiss any pants goodbye.

Some basic steps like finding a laundry system that works, making sure you have a machine that holds a large load and doesn't wrinkle everything should help. Buying darker shirts and clothing that doesn't shrink funny or wrinkle so easily and tossing stained clothing will go a lot way. But I'd think twice about spending your money and especially someone else's money in hopes that you will turn a regular kid into a fashion plate.

sky

Mon, Oct 27 2014, 9:21 am

I keep my regular cleaning lady about 1.5 extra hours a week for help with laundry. This includes linen. I do the laundry myself. And she folds. I like putting it away so I do that, but I know she does put away in other people's house. When that is done you have to expect some mistakes between clothing in drawer.
Personally I don't buy my kids clothing that needs to be ironed, but if I did, she would also iron.

I do about 3 -4 loads of laundry twice a week on the days when she comes and she folds it all. I also strip a few beds of linen before she comes and wash that as well and she puts it on the bed for me. Or if she is here long enough she will take it off when she arrives, I'll throw in in the wash, and she will put it back on before she leaves.

For organizing it may make sense to hire a professional organizer twice a year when the seasons change (around pesach and succos). The first time it may be a big job but after that it is probably just maintenance.