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Pamin OZ
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| Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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Has anyone here cut down on the amount of clothing their family owns?
I'm wondering how washing works out. Things would have to be washed more often, wouldn't they? Does this turn out to be a pain, a tradeoff or a non-event?
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Pam in Sydney
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/paminoz/
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 9:27am | IP Logged
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We are still working on the cutting down of clothes.....I think it will mean more washing, but maybe smaller piles. Also even if clothes wear a bit in the washing my kiddos are still growing......as in growing out of their clothes every few months.
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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amyable
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We are in the middle of this too, although the amount we have seems to vary wildly with children growing at different rates and various hand me downs coming now and then (and there is the small matter of the twice yearly consignment sale that I love and typically go overboard at...  )
We wash clothes every day but Sunday when I'm on the ball. Due to the colors of our clothes it usually translates to light loads 2 days in a row and then a dark load on the third day, repeat ad nauseum 
I actually LIKE doing laundry this way. It is much more of a daily, routine, non-event than when I have let it go for one reason or another and have 3 loads plus diapers to wash and put away. It seems so much more manageable to me as a daily task.
Right now I do feel like we are overflowing with clothes, and I want to pare down more for the new year. Somewhere on 4Real I had posted our goal of how few outfits I wanted to keep, lets see if I can find it.
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The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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amyable
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| Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 10:08am | IP Logged
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Found it:
How many clothes do my girls need
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Amy
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Rachel May
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| Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 10:24am | IP Logged
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About a year ago I found a huge thread here on this topic and went with the most minimalistic advice--4 (everyday) outfits per child. You can see how this looks for one child in reality on the thread that Amy linked to. Bill and I are are working this direction also, but of course, pregnancy and Army uniforms complicate things a bit.
Bill faithfully does 2 loads of laundry a day, I am less faithful about folding, and one of the kids puts everything away once I've folded.
With the change of seasons and things that creep in, I still find that the kids have more than 4 outfits each so this is a goal more than a day to day reality. When there is a huge backlog of clothes that need to be folded, I know it's time to go through everyone's drawers and get rid of things. The other day I found 12 pair of pants in Charles' drawer....Honestly!
ETA: I guess the answer to your question is really that we were doing so much laundry anyway, it is a non-event or a bit better than it was. 
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Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 11:04am | IP Logged
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Pam,
I always feel like I'm trying to cut back on the amount of clothes we own. 
I'm not sure if I wash more often or not. It's all a blur.
I put hooks up in the kids bedroom, and if the clothes are still relatively clean from the day, they get hung up to re-wear the next day. They get one towel per week. With a new baby in the house, you're always washing though - so that would skew everything. I only purchase one, maybe two sets of "church clothes." It has been working out.
I don't think the smaller amounts of clothes has been my problem. I've got to come up with some kind of better laundry arrangement in general, especially before this baby comes!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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mama251ders
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| Posted: Dec 31 2007 at 11:20am | IP Logged
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I am really bad about this. I have 3 daughters and they all have way too many clothes. Every time I think about paring things down, it makes me sad. We try really hard not to be materialistic in our household, but I love to see my girls in beautiful clothes of all different kinds. I shop mainly at garage sales and second hand stores and then we ask for new clothes as gifts. Although, that place of evil known as Target (aka by my husband as the place where all our money goes!) always has cute clothes at cheap prices and I always give in. There are so many other area of my life that I am working on right now that I figure this one can get put on the back burner for a while! I did weed out some clothes the other day for a family whose house totally burnt down the week before Christmas. I can get into it for a good reason like that!
Blessings,
Betsie
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Minimal clothes and washing
