Vent! Not doing laundry does NOT add to my simchat YT

juggling

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 1:56 am

I'm going to be the outlier here. I have no cleaning lady, we don't have a ton of clothes, I've never in 25 years done laundry on chol hamoed. And we aren't wearing smelly clothing, either.

I will admit I am a little more chilled, in general. The piles of dirty laundry get shoved out of sight and I don't think about them, and they don't bother me. Laundry before and after chag is a big chore, but I do enjoy the freedom of no laundry during the chag.

In terms of clothing, I always make sure everyone has enough underwear to get through a week and a half of no laundry. It's not our minhag to wear Yom tov clothing during chol hamoed, so we need enough weekday clothes for chol hamoed, and enough chag clothes only for YT. Generally sukkot and pesach are in seasons where you can use both long and short sleeve shirts (at least where I live) so we are drawing on two seasons' wardrobes. My kids are older now, but even when they were growing there always seemed to be enough clothes left from the previous season, or from hand-me-downs, that I didn't need them to have more than one or two new things to get through chag. Again, it may be due to my more chilled personality, I don't need their clothes to all be brand-new or perfect.

(To be fair, since we live in Israel we don't ever have a chag with 5 days of YT clothing, at most it's 3 for the week.)

amother

Tomato

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 1:59 am

I'm not trying to be judgemental but I don't understand the "I do XYZ because it's not good for my mental health to not do it" when it comes to halacha. It's not good for my mental health to have to prepare everything I might need for shabbos by light bentching, I find Fridays super stressful- but I would never dream of just doing things on Shabbos anyways!

I agree with the amothers who said AYLOR and you may be surprised with what is permissible. And if you did ask a shailah and were told washing your own clothes on CH'M is ok, good for you! But just doing it on your own cuz of your mental health seems a lil risky to me...

ETA, I'm finding my anon username funny as I may get them thrown at me! Lol

juggling

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 2:12 am

I think a lot of it really is what you're used to. Growing up, my mother's policy on laundry was that she had a laundry day once a week. She rarely, of ever, ran a load when it wasn't laundry day. For holidays or the nine days she would adjust her laundry schedule accordingly, and it was understood that there was no washing laundry during those times.

I think people who have cleaning ladies who do laundry, or those who would never let the laundry sit for more than a day, have a harder time with the thought of skipping laundry for a week plus. But, as others have pointed out, there are real halachot involved here, and it's not only about how it makes us feel.

amother

Candycane

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 2:15 am

tweety1 wrote:

So do I. But for the time being its making me resent yt. I have a small laundry room. My hampers are full now everything is going on the floor. I despise it like crazy. I wash what I must have but it can't be folded. It's a disaster

You can't fold laundry???

amother

Lavender

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 4:25 am

There's always room for laundry, because the laundry is coming from somewhere. Before it was laundry it was clean clothes. So now there's an empty spot where the clothes were.

Super gross laundry (ex anything that has baby bodily fluids) gets washed. Mildly gross laundry (dirty socks) goes in the hamper. Clean linens get moved into the mostly-empty clothes closet and then regular laundry gets stuffed in garbage bags and put into the linen closet.

Anon because it's a little weird. But it keeps my laundry hampers from overflowing.

Simple1

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 4:41 am

tweety1 wrote:

Why can’t it be folded? I thought the Halacha was only with washing clothes. I feel folding is in the category of cleaning up, (but I never asked so I could be wrong)

amother

DarkGray

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 9:55 am

People living in ey are not really experiencing the same issue. Extra days yom tov makes a very big difference. It's 9 full days of clothes needed. Not all of us have so much clothes for our family. And, no, I can't have my kids wear underpants 2 to 3 days in a row...

amother

Floralwhite

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 10:39 am

interesting how many pple here say they do laundry on chol hamoed and yet when I asked this question in 9 days "if you actually have enough laundry for 10 days" most pple said they have enough and don't wash. guess it's different people responding.

justforfun87

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 10:45 am

amother Lightgreen wrote:

I hope everyone who is doing laundry has asked a shailah. It’s not about simchas Yom Tov or how anyone feels. This is a halacha (same as any other halacha).

But really is it halacha? Or is it a minhag?

amother

Lemonchiffon

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 10:48 am

amother Floralwhite wrote:

Difference is we need a ton of Shabbos clothes now.

amother

Stone

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 10:48 am

justforfun87 wrote:

But really is it halacha? Or is it a minhag?

Technically you can only do certain melachos on chol hamoed the rest are not allowed. I didn’t look into laundry curious if it would fall into the category of a necessary need for the day. But then maybe you can wash the items you need to wear just that day. I wonder if you can wash things you don’t need.

amother

Canary

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 10:52 am

I have my kids make 2 piles. Underclothes and regular. If we run out of clothes I buy one more. But it doesn't usually happen. I did wash my 2 year olds underwear that she soiled because that's disgusting. But I agree, not doing laundry just means right after yt I have a ton to do. Not helping simchas yt. I know plenty of people who wash children's clothes as in the children who get food and dirt on it. The way many people on this site talk, they have enough clothes for yt without laundry.

juggling

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 11:00 am

amother DarkGray wrote:

Right, I realized someone would call me out on the fact that we have fewer YT days, so it's a bit easier. But we did this in chul, as well. Because halacha. I didn't say it's not challenging, but with proper planning it can be done.

Underpants, of all things, should not be an issue. Keep a few of the pairs that are getting ratty, or purchase an extra package in honor of the holiday. Really, underpants aren't expensive and don't take up that much drawer space.

During the 9 days we need 10 full days of clothes, we plan things out to make it work.

If your issue is YT clothing, then it requires a bit more planning.

giftedmom

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 11:08 am

amother Floralwhite wrote:

Same thing on nine days. We wash for kids and can add to the loads.

belovedaz

Sun, Oct 08 2023, 9:58 pm

Don't take my word as halacha but I told my dh that my clothes is like the kids clothes cuz guess who is making me dirty!?!? Dd wiped her hands on my skirt one day, wiped her face in the next outfit.... I have enough for one outfit each day of yt but not if I'm changing multiple times cuz she spit up, leaked, or my toddler came over with sticky hands.....
So I wash my stuff that I need for yt also. But I'm admitting that I sort of gave myself this leeway.

amother

Cantaloupe

Sun, Oct 08 2023, 11:04 pm

I do laundry. I can't handle the chaos afterwards and the laundry build-up. I also do laundry during the 9 days. I'm just not at a level right now to hold by this. I used to be, but life gets complicated and I just can't anymore. Crying

amother

Peony

Sun, Oct 08 2023, 11:29 pm

Floral white, yomtovim are completely different from nine days. During nine days I'm willing to wear the same shirt two, even three days in a row if I'm home and not going out in society. Or I'll wear a cleaner shirt to go out and wear a less fresh one when at home. On YT and chol Hamoed I can't do that. And I have very few Shabbes outfits, basically two skirts and two blouses for shul. And if there's a kiddush or we eat out and something gets on one of them, that one is out of commission for the rest of the Chag unless I wash it. I don't have nine days worth of "nicer" clothing. I don't wear Shabbes clothes on chol Hamoed but neither am I going to wear the same old skirt and ratty T shirt that I wear on a regular day and that works just fine for the Nine Days. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.