The Laundrette of Mum and Dad Is Open for Business
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Everyone wants their house to be clean and tidy and there always seems like a million and one jobs to be done. One job that is never completed is laundry. No matter how many loads are done there is always more in the basket, some questionable as to whether it even needs washing again at all. You may also be of the understanding that when your child(ren) move(s) out you won’t be required to wash their clothes anymore but you could be mistaken. It would seem that children who have moved out require the laundrette of mum and dad for longer than thought with uni students bringing clothes back, children who have moved out only to return with work, gym casual clothes. So what are the excuses or reasons as to why they are still bringing their clothes home?
The top 3 reasons in the UK for why people still had their parents to do their washing in their 20s are
- 20% said ‘mum enjoys doing it’
- 19% said ‘I was struggling to keep on top of it’
- 19% said ‘i dropped it off because I was busy’
On average, a family washing machine is used 260 times a year which equates to 5 days a week. How much of that washing though is from family members who no longer live with you or only come home on weekends. You may find yourself inundated with washing that may be from your uni students, children who have moved out to return back on the weekends or once they have run out of clothes to wear and maybe feel like the laundrette of mum and dad. With some children now relying on their parents to help well into their 30s the doors may not be closing any time soon with 11% said they still rely on mum and dad to do their washing regularly. With 54% of people asked who live at home admitting that their mums still did their washing.
Offering some guidance to children when they live at home could be one way to prevent the potentially unwanted clothes arriving on your doorstep. Here are some tips that may help your child become more confident in their clothes washing:
- Separate darks from lights but also fabrics. Eg. Wash lace on its own, or avoid washing satin with things lie jeans as the zipper can cause snagging
- Ensure you are washing on correct temperatures
- Fed up of losing a sock or two, but laundry bags with you put delicate items in and keeps them together
- Unbutton shirts, take socks out of jean legs, do zippers up and make sure tops and shirts are separated.
- Never wash items that need to be dry cleaned
- Sort a stain out before the wash, blotting it not scrubbing it
By teaching them some tips and tricks whilst they are at home it may help build their confidence in the washing department, may mean you get some help around the house or when they come to move out they may only require parents help with one load a week.
But, washing is seen as one of those jobs that never truly seems done. It could seem overwhelming to have bags and bags of it arrive on top of your day to day laundry and it’s not surprising when 65% of young people admit to still relying on mum and dad to help with washing. Having one day a week where your children can bring home their washing (if they live close enough) or asking them to ring and tell you in advance can prevent any misunderstandings. By having some family rules in place it may ease the load. This could be necessary as research by Beko has shown that children are happy to travel to drop their washing off with mum and dad with the most people willing to travel up to an hour but between the ages of 20-29
- 21% would travel up to 30 minutes
- 38% would travel up to an hour
- 19% would travel up to two hours
- 12% would travel up to three hours
With children being happy to travel considerable distances to get parents to help with their washing it is easy to feel like a laundrette at times, but a well deserved thank you with a smile or even a box of chocolates shows the appreciation and makes it all worth it.
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This content is brought to you by Jessica Foreman.
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