djorg
New Member
Joined: January 2010
Posts: 14
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Post by djorg on Aug 19, 2015 11:24:55 GMT -5
Hi! I've been working on gathering, washing, and organizing laundry for about two weeks now, and I'm at the point where I have to start getting rid of stuff. Not enough space. I am struggling with how many things to keep - linens in particular. Sheets, towels, pillows, and blankets to start. I'll be dealing with clothes afterwards.
We are a family of four, two kids and two adults, with one guest bed. Pillows and blankets especially take up a lot of room in the closet. DH and I are blanket incompatible - I use one big fluffy one and he prefers 2-3 thin ones layered. So we have 4 in use on our bed (ridiculous). The kids use one each. Also, DH uses a new towel each day (not sure if this is normal/standard or not). I think the kids and I together use about 6-8 a week.
I would love some input, or I'm sure someone has discussed this before... but I haven't found any threads to read.
Thanks.
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Post by seashell on Aug 19, 2015 11:33:49 GMT -5
I found a link to a thread called "Changing the bed sheets" but I can't get the link to work. Maybe someone can help me or maybe you could do a search for that title thread.
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Post by bobolink on Aug 19, 2015 11:52:12 GMT -5
I have one set of sheets and 2 towels. I wash them once a week or so. I have a summer blanket and a winter blanket plus a couple of throws I can use if it gets super cold in my room. But I may be on the extreme end of minimalist in this regard. I know that some people like a fresh towel every day but that seems excessive to me.
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Post by joyinvirginia on Aug 19, 2015 12:29:58 GMT -5
Two sets of sheets for each bed. We use same towels for one or two weeks. As long as you hang up the towel to dry after using, no need to change every day.
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Post by Arid on Aug 19, 2015 13:27:19 GMT -5
I'm definitely *NOT* a minimalist! I keep 3 sets of summer-weight sheets per bed and 3 sets of flannel sheets per bed. That doesn't even take into consideration the blankets . . . !! I keep 3 sets of bedding per bed because this allows for: one set on the bed; one set as "emergency back-up" (if someone gets "sick" for example); and one set in the laundry. (Although, in all honesty, I can say that I do a pretty decent job of keeping up with the laundry; so, I don't have sheets waiting to be washed all that often.) Fortunately for me, I have a LOT more storage space available to me than most people have. Also, we use a clean towel every time that we shower or bathe. Arid
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Post by dtesposito on Aug 19, 2015 13:54:31 GMT -5
Djorg, you have to take into account a few things, not just what you customarily use, but how often you do laundry and how easy it is for you to do it (for example, are you a stay-at-home spouse with a good quality washer and dryer at home? Or do you work full-time and have to use a laundromat or building laundry area?) Also, how much storage space do you have for this category of item?
Figuring out your storage space is something that most of us didn't think about when we had way too much stuff, but it's really the key to paring things down. If you ask yourself--do I want to keep all these? You'll probably say yes. But, if you have only one small linen closet to keep all your linens, and right now things don't all fit in there so they're cluttering up your bedroom or bathroom or laundry room, part of the answer is that you have to pare down to fit your storage. You have to do this with all your possessions, otherwise you'll always have too much stuff around the house.
So, if you have plenty of storage space you can keep more, if you have limited storage space, you might have to do laundry more often (or not use as many towels, which might or might not go over well!) Or, if you find that many of the sheets and blankets just sit on a shelf and never get used, you won't miss them anyway!
If you're home and have laundry machines at home, you can get by with less because you can usually wash the linens and put them back on the bed the same day. So 2 or 3 sets (as Arid says, one emergency set) for each bed should do fine.
You can try designating your storage space, then as you wash things, fill it up with the best things, the ones that you know you want to keep. Hopefully when the storage is full you'll feel you have enough and can get rid of the rest.
Diane
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Post by Di on Aug 19, 2015 14:30:22 GMT -5
I am not a minimalist either, I have at least 2 sets of sheets for each bed. I have multiple blankets and comforters because I like to change the look of rooms fairly regularly and I can't just keep going out and buying new. My rule of thumb is to store IN THE BEDROOM, extra sheets and an extra blanket. I sometimes keep an extra comforter in the room. I have as many towels as I have room to store. I use one if not 2 clean towels daily (and technically, the towels I use are called bath sheets-- they are the size of a beach towel) I also have multiple pillows but they live on each bed. Right now I think I have 6-7 on just my bed.
For me, this is not too much because they all have a "home" If I had less space, I would have fewer.
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Post by dayeanu on Aug 19, 2015 15:46:32 GMT -5
I have two sets of sheets for each bed, plus a couple of spare sets. I do this because my beds are all the same size, and no matter how sick one might get (how many times the bed might need to be changed), I can always pull extra sets from the other bedrooms. I probably have 8 sets of sheets for 3 same-size beds.
If the beds were not all the same size, I want an extra set or two for each size.
I also keep a package of disposable, waterproof bed pads, which I used for my mother's bed when she was sick. Those things are wonderful and a life-saver!
I have probably 6 or 7 sets of towels, plus extra white bath sheets for swimming, etc.
We use one set of towels a week, Hang to dry between each use. But I buy the 18 count packs of washcloths, so we can have a clean one for each occasion
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Post by CaringFriend on Aug 19, 2015 18:41:28 GMT -5
Hi! I've been working on gathering, washing, and organizing laundry for about two weeks now, and I'm at the point where I have to start getting rid of stuff. Not enough space. I am struggling with how many things to keep - linens in particular. Sheets, towels, pillows, and blankets to start. I'll be dealing with clothes afterwards. We are a family of four, two kids and two adults, with one guest bed. Pillows and blankets especially take up a lot of room in the closet. DH and I are blanket incompatible - I use one big fluffy one and he prefers 2-3 thin ones layered. So we have 4 in use on our bed (ridiculous). The kids use one each. Also, DH uses a new towel each day (not sure if this is normal/standard or not). I think the kids and I together use about 6-8 a week. I would love some input, or I'm sure someone has discussed this before... but I haven't found any threads to read. Thanks. Hi djorg, and welcome! I have two sets of sheets per bed. When I strip the beds and wash the sheets, they go right back on! The spare set is stored within each bedroom, not the linen closet. I have at least 2 quilts per bed - two beds have plaid patchwork quilts each, 3rd bed has a floral patchwork quilt. I also have Christmas quilts for each bed which I use from Nov. 1 to Feb. 1. I have a flannel blanket stored in each bedroom with the spare set of sheets. Each bed has 2 bed pillows and a spare set is in my walk-in closet. If I didn't have that nice size closet, I would store each pillow in a bedroom or have no spares at all. If you ever consider getting new towels/wash cloths/dish cloths for the bathroom or the kitchen, let me suggest getting white ones for all. I recently read an article describing the one trick a woman used to reduce the amount of laundry. She doesn't need to have a large supply of towels and cloths like she previously did because she can make a load anytime of white underwear, bath towels, kitchen towels, kitchen&bath cloths. She uses bleach in those white loads. In a different article regarding having no room for linen storage, a woman kept the spare set of sheets for each bed between the mattress and box springs, in flatter folds, of course. When our son was still living at home + we had an adult nephew living with us, I had my husband place a towel rod on the back of each of their bedroom doors. Hubby and I used the towel rods in the bathroom and the two "boys" simply took their towel with them when they went to shower, then hung it in their room to dry. I placed a fresh hand towel in the bathroom daily - to be used after using the toilet and washing/drying hands. That kept the towel laundry under control. After all, their bodies are clean when they are drying after a shower. Those were washed and replaced weekly. Hoping something I've shared will help. CF
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Post by dayeanu on Aug 20, 2015 0:33:29 GMT -5
Also wanted to mention that I keep a roll of paper towels in the bathrooms.
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Post by Unswamping on Aug 20, 2015 1:16:30 GMT -5
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Post by lesaulerouge on Aug 20, 2015 4:23:33 GMT -5
No, changing towels every day is not in my opinion in any way normal at all. We have one bath sheet each and I wash them when I think of it and when I don't have enough to fill a laundry load, or any other washing that needs doing etc, maybe once a week, maybe slightly less. They get dried in between, but let's face it, they get used to dry our own clean body after a shower - how dirty can they get? I have a towel for hand washing in the bathrooms, that gets damp, dirty and yucky and I change that every couple of days. I have a fair fees spare towels because we get family staying, but a set of bath sheet and hand towel per guest is enough I feel.
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jeweltea
New Member
Joined: August 2015
Posts: 61
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Post by jeweltea on Aug 20, 2015 6:26:49 GMT -5
I have one set of summer sheets and one set of flannel sheets. I got rid of all the others and just wash them and put them right back on the bed. As for towels, I also got rid of a lot of them too. I have two that I use all the time and wash them about once a week. I have a few others but not many. As for blankets, I have two regular weight blankets and one wool blanket. In the summer, we just use one of the regular weight blankets, in the fall and spring, we use two and in the winter, we will put the wool blanket on and both of the regular blankets.
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Post by imamess on Aug 20, 2015 7:09:52 GMT -5
I have one set of summer sheets, one set of winter flannel sheets and one set for 'emergencies'. I usually wash my sheets and put them right back one, but sometimes stuff happens.
I do have several quilts, some vintage and sentimental, more for winter use and I do have a storage problem. I have a wardrobe but it makes everything smell musty and I don't know what to do about the smell.
I use one towel per week and hang it up to dry after my shower If your DH had to wash all those towels, he might change his mind about one per day. When my DH worked contruction many years ago, he would come home so nasty, wash 'at' his face and hands before supper and really dirty the towel, so I used more towels then and bought darker colors that could be washed with his work pants in hot water (I use a laundry mat). So I think it depends on the individual situation about the towels. I would talk to your husband about just why he wants a clean towel every day and if he really needs one.
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Post by seashell on Aug 20, 2015 10:31:55 GMT -5
Unswamping, I think the one I had found was more recent, but the information was about the same. There have been plenty of good suggestions in this current thread. Thank you for finding a good link.
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