Se7en + 1 are Airing their Laundry on the Expresso Show…

Did I ever mention that blogging can take you to some interesting corners of the world… well a couple of weeks ago the breakfast show, Expresso, contacted us. They were looking for a blogging family who didn’t mind sharing their dirty laundry. With a family of ten we sure do have laundry… but to be honest, we are just a little too busy with life to spend our days doing laundry.

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Luckily they weren’t after our actual laundry, just a lifestyle that creates laundry… hiking, great outdoors, volunteering… we fitted the bill and they came and shot their snippet last week. We will be on the Expresso Breakfast show sometime, maybe tomorrow morning (Wednesday)… When you see a slot, with a popular laundry detergent, then look out for us!!!

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For months I have been saying that we need a massive tidy up and then for months we have been putting it off, well… there is nothing like knowing that you will have a few TV cameras in your home to make you do something of a cleanup. We had a grand scale clean out of galactic proportions… sorting, tossing, tidying… surfaces cleared, closets sorted, and even the garden got a “it must be spring face lift.” By the time the film crew arrived we were all a little bit spent in the neatness department… the first thing they asked was, “Could we get a bit dirty, maybe some baking?” There was a hushed silence from the gang… and they headed outdoors to do a little gardening instead, and a bit of hiking on the mountain behind our house.

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The Truth About Laundry

I know that with a family of ten, folks think that we spend our lives doing laundry… we don’t. In fact the green person inside of me can’t do laundry every single day… just the thought of all that water and all that electricity, means that we make a conscious effort to do the least possible laundry that we can. (And if we are talking about green detergents, then I also want the least packaging and eco-friendly chemicals… why would I want to pour the water down the drain, when I can use it as greywater, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog post.)

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We do have the biggest washer we could find when we bought it and only ever wash a load when it is completely full. So when someone has laundry they pop it into the washer, there are no laundry baskets around the house. I usually check the washer before I go to bed and if it is full I turn it on. Nope I don’t spend hours sorting it into lights and darks, just everything in (sorry mom). I am fairly convinced that our modern washing detergents are quite capable of coping with the figuring out which clothes need more of an effort than others.

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It is really only once the washer is finished it’s load that the real work of laundry begins for us and then I have a team of laundry elves. The first person up checks the washer and if there is a clean load ready to hang then they take the washing out the washer and sort it into piles of tops, bottoms, socks and so on… and then one person hangs the shirts, one person hangs the trousers and… it is a well oiled machine!!! At the end of the day, the same team brings the laundry in, and our shirt person folds all the shirts, the trouser person all the trousers and… This all happens on our dining table, so all the piles of laundry have to be packed away before we can set the table for dinner.

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That’s it, in a nutshell… I have a feeling laundry for a family of ten is a whole lot easier than laundry for a small family, simply because we have a team of helpers. Not to mention that after spending a week or two in Lesotho a couple of years ago I became very grateful for my first world washing machine… if you had to take all my appliances away, except one… then I would keep the washer. I’d live without a stove, a fridge, in fact I would love to live without a toaster… but I never ever want to live without my washing machine.

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It’s been quite a while since the gang were on the Expresso Show… fun times, I tell you!!!

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9 Replies to “Se7en + 1 are Airing their Laundry on the Expresso Show…”

  1. Well, how interesting to hear that despite a big difference in our family sizes – we do laundry quite the same. I do NOT sort (the only exception being I wash baseball uniforms alone) and we put our dirty laundry in the washing machine too. I only do laundry on Sundays and Thursdays, as I’ve found that’s the best time so that there’s always clean uniforms for my husband.

    And HOW EXCITING to be on the Expresso Show! Way to go, gang!

  2. Hay Christi… yup, my guys are really excited about being on the show… and so good to find another mum who just hasn’t got time to even think about sorting laundry!!! Hope you all have a great week!!!

  3. I love your system. The only thing I sort is the white polo shirts that they wear for school. I want those to last long enough to pass down all three children and still be white. The rest is fair game! How exciting to be on TV. I bet you all had fun. I can just imagine the stony silence after the baking suggestion.

  4. Oh Sid, You made my day… My kids gave me a splendid day… I won’t say it was off, but it was good!!! Thank you so much for always remembering!!!

  5. Oh Cheryl, fun times… I think If I had school uniforms to pass down I would be particularly precious about them… especially if they were white polo shirts. That is a challenge… It was great fun to have the team over for a shoot and even better that we got a totally spring cleaned house to go with it!!! Hope you have a fantastic day!!!

  6. I loved looking at the past pics – how CUTE were your BABIES!!!!

    I sort…. but interestingly when we’re on holiday I just toss it all in together. But we only do laundry when the load is full. I’m very much a water nazi because of the drought yes, but I always was a greenie 🙂

  7. I know Marcia… the cuteness, and just how on earth did I get anything done… And I cannot express my craziness about wasting water!!!

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