Do You.. - Tacoma,WA

Updated on June 30, 2012
K.P. asks from Tacoma, WA
60 answers

My question yesterday got me thinking about other things we do for our husband's or wives, and so,

Do you do your husbands (or wives) laundry?

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So What Happened?

A lot of responses again, I love it! So interesting to see again what people do and dont, and the majority of you do, do the laundry.

My husband does do laundry quite often for us, which is great! But for the majority I do the laundry because he works all day, and then has school a few times a week too, so he doesn't always get a chance. I dont mind doing the laundry, it's no biggie. I wash all the towels together, and then all else gets washed together unless it's my hubby's work clothes. They get really grimy after working all day.
Then like a lot of you, we sit down and fold all the laundry together after he's home and our son's in bed, and talk about our days etc.

I just want to say that, I *KNOW* that some of you are under the thinking that he's a "Grown man" just the same as the lunches question. It's true, he IS a grown man, but when he has no time to wash his laundry because he is gone all day then I think (and he) its nice of me to do his laundry along with all the rest. It's just a nice, and appreciated thing. I am a SAHM and I do think that YES it is my JOB to do the housework, and appointments and all else, and believe that doing his laundry is part of that.

No one ever said we were trying to be their Mother's. We are their wives and I think that part of *my* personal wifely duties to him are packing his lunch and doing his laundry :) He does SO much that I dont or cant. Like fixing the car, vacuuming, and not to mention he is my ultimate spider squisher!!! So to me washing his laundry and doing a few other niceties make me feel good to do for him.

Like I said before though to each their own :)

Featured Answers

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

I do the laundry. My husband leaves the house at 0615 every morning and doesn't get home until 1900. So no. I'm here. I'm not going to ask him or make him do the laundry.

My boys help out. They know how to sort and put the laundry in, start the washer and dryer. As well as fold and put away. They are part of the family and help.

5 moms found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

Ahhhh TF Plano/Allen! That dry cleaning service would solve so many problems. It is difficult to get there after 7 am or before 7 pm. Must find that!

4 moms found this helpful
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D..

answers from Charlotte on

Yes - he's not good at laundry. He does most of the cooking. I'm not good at cooking. I've got the best part of the deal, hands down. (Though he might think he has the best part of the deal - eating my cooking is probably a chore!)

LOL!
Dawn

4 moms found this helpful

More Answers

F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

No. My husband does ALL of our laundry. I haven't touched it in over 5 years! Our kids are getting older so they are now learning to do their own, but hubs is in charge of teaching them. =)

I do all the cooking. Everything else is shared between me, hubs and the kids. =)

9 moms found this helpful
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M.M.

answers from Dallas on

Why wouldn't one person do all of the laundry? If each is doing their own - isn't that a HUGE waste of resources (water & electricity) not to mention products (detergent/dryer sheets)? Kind of senseless to me but I am very active in preserving the earth the best I can in my little part of world. To each his own though :)

8 moms found this helpful

X.O.

answers from Chicago on

I do all the laundry.

My MIL will only wash her own, and only by itself. She gets weird about washing men's and women's clothes in the same load. Um, hello, lady, they're just your hubby's undies, and you ARE an ob/gyn, and have seen thousands of women's nether regions, so what's the deal? Odd, huh?

7 moms found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

I do the laundry, everyone folds and puts away their own laundry. Troy and I do ours together. awwww

6 moms found this helpful

B.K.

answers from San Francisco on

yes,both of us, whoever gets to it first
B. k

5 moms found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

I do everyone's laundry.

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K.M.

answers from Kansas City on

I do about 80% of the laundry. I don't mind...I try to do a load a day to keep up!

4 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Yes I do all the laundry in the house, including daughter's.

Daughter usually gets hers downstairs and I will do it, get it folded or on hangers and she takes back up stairs.

I also have a dry cleaning delivery service that stops by on Tuesdays and Fridays for pick up/drop off. Most of hubby's shirts and pants are custom made and I send his golf shirts as well. I also send my good stuff to the cleaners.

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☼.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

I do all of the laundry, he does all of the barbecuing on weekends. Works for me!

4 moms found this helpful

L.U.

answers from Seattle on

Sometimes. If I have the time. I have three kids and they all need a lot from me. Especially in the summer. I am lucky if I get their laundry done and mine! The only things I wash for him are the cold water/hang dry stuff. That's just because mine and his together makes a full load. Other than that, he is on his own. He is a GROWN man and can do those things for himself.
Being a stay at home mom, to me, does not mean that I am in charge of my husband's stuff as well. It means that I am in charge of the grocery shopping, the cooking, the homework, soccer practices, play dates, doctor's appt, dentist appts, paying the bills, naps, laundry, cleaning, and anything else that pops up. It does NOT mean that I am in charge of my husband. He married me to be his WIFE, not his mother. If that were the case we would have divorced a long time ago. I am not a mother to a grown man...been there...done that...no fun.
L.
(it's just weird to me. So often as SAHM's we talk about how hard we work in the home and how hard the husband's work outside of the home. That a lot of men get home and relax while the mom is still dealing with the kids and bathtime and bedtime. Why don't we ever ask...when your husband get's home from his full day of work does he do your laundry? Does he make your lunch? We are both working full time jobs...his just pays in cash and mine pays in smiles and dirty diapers)

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R.R.

answers from Dallas on

I do most of the laundry - I also fold it, and will set his on his side of the bed. He jokingly says "thanks for starting my laundry" and then puts it away. I don't mind washing clothes or folding, but I really hate putting it away.

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M.C.

answers from Colorado Springs on

This question intrigues me. I'm honestly baffled by it. It would have never occurred to me not to do it. I love doing this for him. I iron everything, too. I like him to look well-presented when he is out. He provides so well for us, loves us an incredible amount, would die for us in a heartbeat. Why wouldn't I bless him this small way? I think it is one minor way that shows him how much I love and care for him also. I also do all the cooking, unless the kids are helping. The kids and I do the cleaning. He would help, but he works very hard providing for us, and it is not a burden to me at all. To be fair, I am a SAHM, so I wouldn't think anyone would expect differently.

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M.B.

answers from Austin on

When I didn't work outside the home full-time, I did everyone's laundry..... when I started working, the older kids were taught to do their laundry, including hubby.

4 moms found this helpful

I.W.

answers from Portland on

I do all the laundry. I like doing it myself :-)

4 moms found this helpful

E.D.

answers from Seattle on

Well, I suppose that depends on your definition of "doing the laundry".

If you mean, wait until the laundry piles into a mountain that verges on avalanche, then, wash it all and leave it in a clean pile for another few days (or weeks...hey, I gotta scope out enemy territory before the grand attack), and THEN, after everyone in the house is wearing their last clean (mismatched) socks and (ugliest, stained, mismatched) shirt, I fold it and put it away (while complaining),then yes. I do the the laundry.

My husband's tried before. He doesn't have as much of an eye for organization (read: he doesn't notice the difference between my underwear and the children's dresses) as I do. So I fired him from the job. And we make do with my domestic abilities.

I am basically Martha Stewart. What can I say, it's hard to fill my shoes.

4 moms found this helpful

K.A.

answers from San Diego on

Yes, I wash and dry the laundry of the entire family. BUT he will most often carry it downstairs to the garage for me and will carry the basket upstairs a lot of the time for me. We all help put away laundry, doesn't matter who's it is, if you know where it goes you can grab it and put it there to get it done ASAP.
He is more solely responsible for the dishes in exchange though.
We divide chores so there are things that each of us is solely responsible for, although we will take over if it really needs to get done right then and there and the other is tied up.
He does his fair share of housework as does everyone in the family (within age limitations-the 3 yr old is expected to do different things then the 11 yr old and 8 yr old), I just feel safer doing the laundry so the clothes don't end up fitting the dolls instead of us LOL
I even check everyone's pockets before throwing them in the wash and everything!

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C.K.

answers from Miami on

I do all the laundry. Every once in a while, he helps fold if I am doing it while we watch a tv show or movie together. But I don't mind, because when he loads or unloads the dishwasher, he doesn't just do his dishes he does them all. When he writes out the bills, he doesn't pay just "his" part and when I cut the grass, I don't just cut "my part". Our marriage is a partnership and we split the chores up.

3 moms found this helpful

K.I.

answers from Los Angeles on

I do all the laundry, so yes, I do my husband's laundry!

~He is in charge of cleaning all 3 of the bathrooms though...which is awesome so I don't care about having to do the laundry and everything else! Ha!

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J.G.

answers from New York on

I do mine and the kids (they're still little), plus everybody's sheets and towels. But hubby does his own. Thank goodness!... because he produces a lot of sweaty gym clothes!

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L.D.

answers from Dallas on

Yup. And he does my dishes.

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T.M.

answers from Redding on

Which ever one of us is less busy is the one that gets laundry duty.
My husband is not afraid of the washer and dryer, but has wrecked some of my stuff, so I have to be careful to put some things in a spot where he wont accidentally put them in with a normal load.

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H.M.

answers from Dallas on

Not usually. Normally either my husband or my oldest will do the laundry. There has only been a few times in the last few years that I have done it. And my oldest usually folds them too.

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❤.I.

answers from Albuquerque on

Yes, I do everybody's laundry (reminds me, I need to put another load in now, lol). Our clothes get thrown in the same hamper anyway so it would be kind of wierd to take his out and wash only mine. His work clothes are kept separate but I usually wash those too anyway. Funny story, my mom was over and it was when we were newly married, I ended up washing his wallet so I had to lay everything out to dry. So my mom says something to the effect of, "well maybe he should wash his own laundry".

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J.S.

answers from Columbia on

I do all the laundry.

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M.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

yes I do. But I'm old school. Picture Ms.Cleaver, only with lots of tattoos and piercings. ;) we delegate the work this way, if the job is outside in the garage or basement, its his territory. If its inside the 2 main levels of the home, thats my jobs...lol. Hey, it works. I don't usually mow and he usually doesn't change a light bulb.

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F.M.

answers from San Antonio on

Hubs would say that yes he does laundry.

But we all know that cramming way too many clothes in the washer, turning it on, adding soap, and walking away is NOT "doing laundry." He will let it sit for a whole day. Then _I_ will put the load in the dryer and then fold it then put all the clothes in the right rooms, right drawers.

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J.C.

answers from Anchorage on

Yes, I do all the laundry and most of the cooking and cleaning, but I am a stay at home mom. When I go back to work it will once again be 50/50.

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A.C.

answers from Washington DC on

all our laundry gets mixed together so it all gets done. The two older kids can and do know how to operate our washer and dryer (both are high efficiency models. The washer goes by weight of the clothes in it for how much water it uses) so if they need something washed before the rest of the laundry gets done (track uniforms for example) they can do a small load so that they have those ready asap.

I however HATE doing laundry, so when others are willing to do it .. I let them. Hell I ENCOURAGE them to do their own damn stuff. Folding is the worst part for me ... it absolutely KILLS my back to fold clothes.

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B.M.

answers from Pocatello on

I do all the laundry and everything else in the house! Yes If I ask my hubby to help out he does, but I feel that if he works all day and I stay home all day with the kids then my job is the house work. So I cook, clean and yes do all the laundry.

2 moms found this helpful

A.R.

answers from Houston on

Chores are an even split at our house. Typically I sort, wash and dry all the clothes. Then my husband helps fold and put away our clothes and our toddler's clothes. My stepdaughter is in charge of folding and putting hers away.

For other chores it is a similar divide to speed things along. I cook while my husband sets the table and washes dishes afterwards. I mow and clean the flower beds while he uses the weedeater and blows off the debris. (If only he would stop sneaking up on me with the silly weedeater. I wind up taking a leg full of stinging trash nearly every time.) He takes out the trash and recycling bins while I bring them in and wash them when needed. He does pool duty and ironing, though. I refuse to iron and I'm terrible at it. In exchange I take care of mail and bills. We figure both of us would rather be doing something else so by tag teaming the chores, we get to those other things faster and with a splash of company. We've had some good conversations while folding laundry. Besides no one winds up feeling like the resident slave with the even split.

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S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

I do all of the laundry. My husband doesn't sort it right, wash it at the right temperature, or fold it properly. I do ask him to carry it up and down the stairs for me if he is around, and once I fold his laundry I leave it for him to put away himself.

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C.M.

answers from St. Louis on

We do each other's laundry. Since hubby is home during the week, he'll usually start it and leave for me to put away (since he doesn't like that part) and then on the weekends I will do the rest.

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M.G.

answers from Seattle on

Yes I do his laundry along with the children's during the school year and my own. My oldest does my son's and her own laundry now that school is out. My husband will do some laundry occasionally but typically just leaves it in the dryer or washing machine so I prefer to do it.

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C.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I do all the laundry in this house. Its kind of my "thing" I guess :) Plus my husbands work clothes are disgusting and I don't like them combined w/our non-work clothes in the wash-my pet peeve.

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A.R.

answers from Dallas on

I wash anything that makes it into the laundry room. I will take my clothes to the laundry room, and some household linens, but that's it. I wash & fold all laundry and put away my laundry - everyone else has to put away their own, hubby puts away household linens.
I used to wash all hubby's laundry, but when he got lazy about hanging stuff up (most of my laundry hangs) I stopped taking his stuff to the laundry room. Took him 3 months to realize his stuff wasn't getting washed as often as it had been, and he still hasn't figured out that I'm putting away all my own stuff and not taking his clothes from the closet hamper to the laundry room, lol.

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J.A.

answers from Indianapolis on

We both do laundry when it needs washed. Everyone's clothes are thrown into 1 hamper. It's as arbitrary as cleaning the floor.

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J.F.

answers from Bloomington on

I wash it, dry it, and fold it. He puts most of it away. When it gets piled up fast, we'll do several loads in one day and we'll both work on it.

Every chance I get, I make the 2 y.o. and 4 y.o. put away what they can. They like helping, and they need to learn how to do it.

Down the road, the girls will either do their own laundry, or seriously help with it if it is done as a family.

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J.E.

answers from Erie on

I do all the cleaning, so yeah. We live in an apartment with no washer/dryer, so it's off to the laundromat every friday or saturday night for me! Can I just say how thankful I'll be when I finally get a house with my own washer and dryer!! Oh the little things...

:)

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A.M.

answers from Phoenix on

I HATE doing laundry, but alas I do do it. My husband washes his own because they are so dirty and covered in sick hospital germs so he doesn't want any of us to touch his and that's one less load I've gotta do!

I'm hiring for someone to come in and do my laundry if any of you awesome housekeeper's are interested in part time work :)

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J.V.

answers from Las Vegas on

I do all the laundry. Now when it comes to my son's clothes I do his separate from mine and my husband's clothes. Just easier when it comes to putting everything up.

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K.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

and again it's a yes.....i do 99% of the laundry for the household. i like my clothes done a certain way. my husband will do his work clothes if need be but not on a regular bases. he will and enjoys going to the laundry mat on an early saturday or sunday morning to take the comforters in and wash them. but for the most i do the laundry!!!

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C.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Yes, I also wash his clothes. I do all the laundry. Sometimes he will help me fold it though :) I don't mind doing it because the few times he has done it, he left a chapstick in his pocket. He will also bring it upstairs for me.

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S.G.

answers from Chicago on

Of course. I always do the laundry.

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S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

yup.
but not my kids'.
haven't done their since they were tweens.
and dh is perfectly capable of doing laundry (and does if for some reason i don't get to it.)
but since he's working and i'm not, i do the laundry (which i don't mind) AND iron his work clothes (which i loathe.)
:) khairete
S.

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K.L.

answers from Savannah on

I do most of the laundry in our home, just because I am the one who is at home more often. I do it on my own schedule though, so if my honey needs work clothes cleaned, he will occasionally do them himself.

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J.B.

answers from Rochester on

yes. in fact...i am doing it now.

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J.B.

answers from Boston on

When we did laundry at home, whoever did the laundry on any given day would do all of it. We haven't done laundry at home in a couple of years due to issues with our septic system so my husband usually does it all once a week and the laundromat and I do the grocery shopping. Every now and again we switch it up of one of us is busier than the other.

When we can go back to doing it at home, the two teenagers will be responsible for their own laundry and then whoever is doing laundry for the rest of us will do it all (mine, my husband's and the two little boys').

Whoever does laundry folds and puts on each person's bed to be put away. I don't iron anyone's clothes, ever. My husband and oldest son are more than capable of ironing a dress shirt if they need one and my husband is in charge of dressing the younger boys for holidays and special occasions so he irons their stuff when needed.

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M.S.

answers from Seattle on

From yesterday: I don't make my husband's lunch. He doesn't need to take a lunch to work. If he needed one and asked me, I would. I do, however, make my child's lunch for work. And I always made the kids' lunches (and their friends' if they wanted them) for school, while they were plenty capable of doing their own. I make an awesome lunch and I seriously don't mind! My 18 yr/old has a chronic illness which can cause her not to feel like eating or even preparing a meal. But I know what she likes, what she needs, what she's had the past few days...and if I prepare it for her, I know she'll eat it. On her really sick days, I just prepare a 'surprise', the right combo of food and drink that I know she needs or will eat. It's complicated, but I know even better than her what she needs. I don't think I would do the lunch thing for an 18 yr old if I didn't feel I had to, although I really, really don't mind.

Today's question: I wash and hang dry the laundry myself. My daughter folds everything that doesn't get hung to dry: underwear, smaller towels, napkins, etc...I'm a maniac when it comes to laundry-in fact, I felt like doing laundry on Monday, but I knew Wednesday was going to be the hang outside all day day, so I saved it up for then. My laundry never backs up. There are plenty of times when I have asked people if they possible have any more or are you sure I can't wash those jeans for you-so I can have a full load. I only wash a full load.

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S.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

I wash, because my hubby works 10 hr shifts and I am home all day and it doesn't take long to throw clothes in the washer. My hubby helps when it comes to folding, but is not allowed to put away anyone's laundry but his own because then I can never find things! He keeps thinking our 5mnths old pants belong to our three year old (He even put them on his once. How he didn't notice how tight they were was beyond me!)

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A.F.

answers from Fargo on

We separate our laundry into loads by color, not by gender, so it stands to reason that we do laundry for each other.

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V.C.

answers from Dallas on

My husband sometimes works up to 70 hours per week. I just work a few hours outside the home. So I do most of the laundry. One of my son's chores is to put away all the laundry except for my things.
Laundry is one of the few household chores that I don't hate!

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A.C.

answers from Atlanta on

I do the kids' clothes, all my own, and my hubby's cottons. He is responsible for his work clothes, because I heard, "Honey, do you know where my *fill in the blank* shirt is? I wanted to wear it today. What do you mean it's in the laundry?" LOL. It's been working out really well for us.

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J.K.

answers from Phoenix on

.

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M.2.

answers from Chicago on

Yeap, I do everyone's laundry (sort, wash, fold and put away)!

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H.L.

answers from Portland on

I do the laundry (a load a day), but lately my husband does the dishes a majority of the time...loving it!!

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K.B.

answers from Cincinnati on

What Ephie said, except my husband has never done ANY laundry.

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P.N.

answers from Denver on

Nope. Thirteen years ago, we both did all laundry that needed done. Just gather and go.
Until I found out that he was picking through the laundry when he needed things washed, and only doing his own, while I was just separating whites and darks and doing whatever needed done.
I put a stop to that right then and there. I told him if he liked doing just his own so much, then he could do his own forever. Havent' touched it since, and he doesn''t do mine.

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