Guest post from Jenae of I Can Teach My Child
Doing the laundry is one of my most loathed household tasks. Actually, I don’t really mind doing the laundry… it’s the folding and putting away that I especially dislike!
Laundry is also an ongoing task that never has a definite ending. By the time you have all your loads folded and put away, there will inevitably be another few garments waiting for you in the hamper.
However, laundry doesn’t have to be as complicated and time-consuming as we make it out to be. Here are three simple tips that have helped me streamline the laundry process in our home.
1. Find a laundry schedule that works for you.
I do laundry one day each week. I’ve found this works much better for our family to get it all done in one day rather than doing multiple loads throughout the week. Plus, since I need the dryer to do the next load and get it all done in one day, this holds me accountable to putting the laundry away immediately instead of letting the loads sit in the dryer for a few days!
I know many people who prefer to do a load of laundry once a day. If that works for you, great!
2. Use mesh bags for socks, underwear, etc.
More than any laundry-related task, I dislike pairing and folding little-kid socks! I began using mesh wash bags this fall with the advent of sock weather and it has revolutionized my laundry-doing life!
Now, I hang a mesh bag for each child close to his hamper. Instead of throwing the socks in the hamper with everything else, I put them in their mesh bag. When laundry day arrives, I secure the drawstring, throw it in with the laundry, and dump it into the sock drawer when clean. No pairing or folding needed!
3. Ditch the laundry basket.
When you remove clean laundry from your dryer and put it into a laundry basket, you are creating one more potential place for laundry to sit before it gets folded and put away.
Instead of using a laundry basket, grab the load with both arms and move it immediately to either your bed or the children’s beds. That way, the laundry must get folded before bedtime. Obviously, if you have to climb a flight of stairs to put laundry away, you’ll need to use a basket. Just make sure to dump it onto a bed once you get up (or down) the stairs.
These small, simple changes have made a huge impact towards my productivity when it comes to laundry.
What are your favorite laundry tips or shortcuts?
Jenae is a Master-degree holding former first grade teacher turned stay-at-home Momma. She loves finding creative ways to save money, spending time with her family, and sharing fun activities on her website I Can Teach My Child.
Wow!! After reading these posts, I’m feeling like Ms. Lousy Lazy Mom!
Toddlers doing their own laundry from start to finish and putting all their clothing away, too! Really? I’m barely keeping my own head above water, with working, dealing with 3 kids with differing abilities, and doing it alone, on little to no support. Don’t know how you “super moms” do it!
Having a large family (6) I do 3 loads of laundry daily. One of my children’s chores is to bring their dirty laundry to the utility room and put it into the appropriate baskets. Darks, Whites (bleachables) and special treatment (I have a plastic bin on top of my dryer for this). I get my “mechanical maids” working while we start school. When each load is done, I bring them to our dining room and fold while giving instructions or tests. After it is folded, each of my children take a pile up to their rooms or to the linen closet. I also do any ironing that is needed, while giving instructions or tests. I call this “parallel processing” 🙂
I enjoy folding laundry in the t.v. room. I can relax and fold clothes while I watch a favorite show.working while taking a break at the same time is quite productive and enjoyable.
I love the idea of the mesh bag for the socks! That is awesome. I’m going to have to give that one a try!
I like your suggestion of the mesh bag for kids socks. I am going to try it. Thx!
We are lucky to have a medium size laundry room with just enough room at the end for a big metal shelf, each person (there are 5 of us) has their own shelf with a med size basket. Clothes are folded as they come out of the dryer and put in the appropriate basket, socks are tossed on top of the dryer. The kids usually get dressed in the laundry room and occassionally puts their clothes upstairs. Everyone has a different brand of socks so the matching is easier (it seems to me anyway, no one here wants to share socks – yes, we have issues!) Towels stack up on top of the washer until I tell someone to put them away.
Getting the kids to help! I have a toddler who LOVES to do laundry. So it’s family time and cleaning time all rolled into one.
My Mother-In-Law is totally Anal Retentive and OCD with most of her household tasks and living with her was very difficult for me because well… my mother was a slob and she raised a slob.
HOWEVER, she has the best method of doing the Laundry I have ever seen. It worked for her and her 3 kids, and it now works for myself and my husband. It makes EVERYBODY responsible for the laundry, and one person didn’t get stuck doing it. She started doing this once the kids were old enough to reach the lid to the washing machine.
1. The minute you leave the bathroom, your dirty clothes go with you and straight into the washer. There is a basket on top of the dryer for whites only.
2. The next person comes along and discovers the washer will be full when they add there clothes. They start the washer.
3. The next person comes along to add their clothes and sees that the dryer is done. That person was the unlucky person who got to sort and fold the clothes.
(she used a signal method to tell the next person about the clothes in the dryer. Either the washing machine lid was left up or the laundry room door was closed). You knew the signals or she went absolutely nuts on you for ignoring them.
Since I came along, I made the addition of keeping clothes hangers to the laundry room. That way everything was hung up the minute it came out of the dryer and no one has to argue over how someone else folds.
I also love the idea of separate mesh bags for socks that someone else posted. I’m kind of surprised my Mother-In-Law didn’t implement that practice too.
oops..
Step 3 is actually step 4.
Step 3 should be. Next person comes along and sees the washer is full of wet clothes. They transfer the load to the dryer and start the dryer.
One tip that I learned from the Duggar Family (from TLC’s 19 Kids & Counting) was to have a sock & underwear tub for each child. It has really cut down on the “I can’t find any socks or underwear” syndrome! Now that they’re getting older, they also keep things like belts & deodorant in their tubs as well.
Not sure if mentioned…but I don’t have hamper to carry around either. I have one of those big oversize beach bags or even one of those ikea type shopping bags you can buy for a $1 and I use that to schlep the laundry around the house. It doesn’t take up space. I do keep one big wicker basket for the family laundry.
I do this too! After two women I know broke their leg carrying laundry on stairs, I switched to something I could throw over my shoulder. It makes it so much easier. I use large utility totes or a big llbean beach bags.
Also, my kids wear white socks on an everyday basis. Each gets one brand. One kid wears Childrens place, the other old navy. They still have rubber treads with the brand on them, so it does reduce matching since almost any 2 match.
I also use a bag. We had a diaper pail with a big liner (we used cloth) so I turned it into the laundry pail. It is great cause the kids can just thump it down the stairs. Currently my 5 year old sorts the laundry.
Three things have simplified my laundry routine:
1. We don’t fold undies anymore. Who cares if they get wrinkled! The kids (4, 7, 9) just throw theirs into their bin/box. My boys are fairly close to the same size, so they share socks/undies. They don’t mind and it simplifies life.
2. My kids don’t have dressers. They have cubbies in the closet for jammies, undies, & socks. Their jeans stack on top. We hang everything else. It’s quicker than folding and allows them to shuffle through their choices without wrinkling everything.
3. Instead of sorting by color, I sort by weight (i.e. drying time) and by whether or not the load needs to be hung immediately to avoid ironing or whether it can finish tumbling while I go to bed.
I love the mesh bag idea for my kids socks! Brilliant!!! Thank you!
i put a tension rod, the kind for a shower, in my laundry room and keep hangers on it. it helps when I take things out of the dryer and hang it immediately. Also, I love my 3 bin sorter. I wash when a bin is full. I keep a basket in the laundry room for lost socks.
Loved hearing everyone’s ideas! We are a small family of 3. I do most of the laundry, sorted by white linens, light clothes, dark clothes, and dark linens. I don’t have a set schedule, but try to keep on top of it during the week to avoid having to do it on the weekend (but will if needed). I have 2 sets of sheets for each bed, but often for ours I will wash the sheets and put them back on the bed to avoid having to fold them (not every time, though); this is not as big of a hassle for the twin bed.
I generally hang or fold most items as I remove them from the dryer. If I am in a hurry, I will lay t-shirts, etc. flat in a stack to fold later, but do not prefer to stuff everything in a basket as this seems to create a lot of wrinkles (and I rarely iron).
When I was first married, my husband did more laundry, so my system was to put anything I didn’t want in the dryer, such as underwear, sweaters, etc. in a mesh bag, even if it was not delicate. My husband knew to hang dry anything in a bag.
We are fortunate to have a guest room, so that tends to be our staging area for clean clothes, although we are generally good about putting them away promptly.
I also do my laundry one day a week. I do all of the sorting and folding in the laundry room. I keep a “boombox” with an audio book borrowed from the library in there and that is my treat for sticking to the laundry. Every time I do a load, I turn on the story and listen while I work. In between loads, the story calls me back. I also have my sewing machine in the same room and sometimes do mending or other projects in between loads and while I listen to the story.
I pin all my socks with safety pins. I keep safety pins in a small container right by my laundry hamper. I pin my socks by pairs immediately when I take them off. Then I throw them in the hamper. When they come out of the wash they are already paired and I do not lose socks anymore. I just buy the medium size safety pins at Wal Mart.
Iron? Not me! Not sure our iron even works! And I have a built in sure fire reason for putting my clothes away…..cats! Many many cats! If I leave clothes laying around, clean OR dirty, they invite themselves to sleep on them! Cat hair likes to weave itself into clothing! So I have laundry bins in each bathroom and my daughters room. I sort as I go. Then wash and dry and fold while the clothes are warm. Then out them away. The cat issue fires me to get it done! Except for the occasional late washing of towels or blankets that stay in the dryer until the next day for a fluff and food!
Very interesting to read everyone’s posts!
I LOVE the mesh bag idea for socks! My kids are very close in age and wear the same type of socks much of the time. This is a great idea to keep theirs separated. They usually separate, match and fold their own socks but this would make it easier for them.
I do laundry one day a week because if I don’t, it will drag on throughout the week because I know I’m a procrastinator lol. I lay each load on top of the bed when done, then fold and put them away all at once when they’re done.
I enjoy doing my kids laundry – they bring me their dirty clothes. However, if I have to pick up any dirty clothes off their floor their is a $1 laundry fee for each item (deducted from their allowance) and if I find an item in their pile of dirty clothes that has been clearly washed and folded and thrown back in with the dirty clothes there is a $2 re-laundry fee! I also, like others, have a basket on the washer for mismatched socks – we attempt a match-up about once a month and if no match is found they get reallocated to other duties (dusting clothes, etc).
It’s only my husband and me right now. I do laundry once a week and I do an average of 3 loads per week (1 light/white, 1 dark, and 1 of either towels or sheets – I alternate weeks). I usually do 2 loads on Wed. and 1 load on Thursday.
I fold the laundry on our bed as soon as it’s washed and dried. I used to put my husband’s away, but at some point, I quit doing that. His drawers are such a mess so I let him deal with that.
We have a 3 compartment sorter in our room and it’s on wheels, so I just wheel it into the hallway where I throw the clothes in (we just have the washer and dryer in a closet-no laundry room at all).
I do not iron. I think I’ve used my iron 3 times in 3 years (and never for clothes, either!). We buy clothes that won’t wrinkle easily. As soon as the clothes come out of the dryer, I fold them or hang them up. My husband is a pastor and wears a suit or Dockers/dress shirt 5-6 days per week — and I think he looks pretty spiffy! 😉
I think it’s all about finding a system that works for you. Clean clothes are a priority for me, but not to the point that I let them consume my life. I’m sure my laundry routine will change over time, too!
LOL…If I pile them on the bed, I just move them somewhere else to get in bed. It’s definitely the folding and putting away that I dislike a lot. There are 3 laundry baskets of clothes in the corner of my room that haven’t been folded and put away.
Thanks for the tip about the mesh bags for socks! I love it! I am horrible about folding socks, I just really dislike doing it! I hang all of my clothes up. It doesn’t matter if it is in the summer or in the winter, I have clothes lines hung up both outside and in my basement. It depends on the week but sometimes I am able to do laundry once a week or sometimes I will do it a couple loads a day. The only thing I dry is the towels. It seems to work for us, but not everyone.
Laundry is one of my “pet peeves”! BUT to make it more enjoyable, my 3 year old helps me! She will put the wet clothes in the dryer for me (I hand it to her of course 😉 but she loves it! She puts her clothes up as well. Her socks, panties and pj’s! Also helps put her towels and rags in the bathroom! She is an awesome helper!
Great ideas! We too will sleep under a pile, move piles to various surfaces/rooms, etc. I just started doing laundry once or twice a day for 5 of us – one mesh laundry basket for clothes (everyone’s) and one in the garage for linens. It seems to be much less overwhelming for me to break things up like this and keeps my hubs from having to frantically search for his uniform items every morning. 🙂
Haven’t read all the comments so this may be a repeat of what many others have said. I used to hate laundry until I started making my kids responsible for putting their own laundry away (they are 11, 8 & 7). Each child has their own laundry basket for clean clothes. They are located near my dryer so as I fold items straight from the dryer, they are immediately placed in each child’s basket. I also have a closet rod hanging directly above my dryer where I immediately put the hanging clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer (I group each child’s clothes together). I give them freedom as to how often they put away their clothes. If they want to come to the laundry room each time they need an outfit, that is their choice, as long as I don’t run out of room for clean clothes. Being less strict has saved me a lot of headache. Plus, when they ask where an item of clothing is now, I can honestly tell them it is either in the dirty clothes hamper, their clean clothes basket, their closet or they have misplaced it. It’s no longer that I have misplaced it when putting it away 🙂
I’ve found doing one load a day keeps our laundry mess down and helps me stay sane. I have 3 kids (3, 2, and 5 months) and the two older kids help by matching socks for me!
I agree! A load a day, keeps the chaos away 🙂 I gather all clothes on Monday morning, sort and then do one pile per day (they get put in one of those laundry sorters after being separated into piles). This way, everyone knows when the jeans or shirt they wore last week will be clean to wear again.
I hang clothes outside if it’s going to be above freezing for the day’s high (on our clothesline) and if it’s too cold for that I hang them on drying racks indoors so I have to wash almost every day or as soon as I have enough for a full load. I have my 2 yr old put clothes away after we fold them together and it almost always all gets done the same day, unless it’s on the indoor drying rack and then it’ll be the next day.
So I guess my tip is to do a load as soon as you have enough and just get in the habit of finishing the load (putting away, folding) that same day.
Sometimes, the hardest part of laundry is to just go do it! It’s great to read about laundry tips and tricks, but sometimes, you’ve got to stop reading and just do it! That’s my hardest part of getting laundry done.
Ditto on sorting by person not by color esp kids clothes. It helps if you try not to buy any red clothes. I dont fold or sort socks or underwear or kids play clothes just dump them in a drawer everythIng else goes on hangers. I dont iron ever. Towels get done separate due to the lint. My husband does his own clothes Yay!
Everyone who shares a room has a basket. Clothes come out of the dryer they are immediately thrown into the owners basket. No sorting later. That seems to be the draw back for me, the having to sort & pile, etc.
Then whoever the basket belongs to takes it to their room to fold (Or not, as my children often do) and put away! 🙂
When I still had children at home, I had a basket for each child and one for my hubby and myself. When a load was done in the dryer, I stood at the dryer and folded and placed into the appropriate basket. Then, when finished doing laundry for the day, I carried each basket to the appropriate bedroom. When the children were small, I put the clothes into dresser drawers. As soon as they were old enough, it was their responsibility to put them away. Folding at the dryer makes for the entire job to be done quickly.
I’m a single mom of three small ones, and laundry is easily my most daunting task. Step 3 doesn’t work for me….I’ll sleep under the laundry.
Here’s how I keep it easier:
Sort by like items, not by color. Towels & washclothes; kids’ clothes; my clothes; jeans. Whatever works best that week. It’s easier to fold that load, and then all those things are done and put away.
I don’t worry about color unless I have something new that might bleed over.
My favorite way of doing laundry is that I gather, sort, wash and throw compelted loads in the dryer and my husband folds and puts away. Ditto for our dishes.
Dryer Tips:
1.Keep an old towel in the dryer at all times. It will absorb some the wetness on the clothes and they will dry faster. I use an old beach towel. Make sure it is not fraying or has any holes in it.
2. Shake out clothes as you put them in the dryer. This makes it easier for the heat to get to them. It also helps with wrinkles if you smooth the permanent press such as pants before drying them.
3. Cut dryer sheets in half. I got an extra large box of them over 18 months ago and I am still using them. I only put them in some of my loads like permanent press.
4. If your clothes are almost dry when taking them out, put on hangers and hang on the back of a chair or anywhere they will stay up. These will usually dry orvernight or a few hours depending on the season.
Thats it these are easy and I believe they save me money but I have no way to actually measure it. 🙂
It’s for sure the putting away for me.
My kids have started dressing themselves from the baskets.
I’m totally trying the dump it on the bed idea.
Assign the children to put their own clothes away, starting today 🙂 From the age of 3 everyone puts away their own clothes at my house. They also do all the folding (3-4 loads before breakfast every day).
3 and 5yos fold washcloths and cloth napkins, and put them away, plus they put away their own things.
7yo and 8yo fold towels, pants, underwear, match socks.
10yo hangs up dresses, skirts, and shirts for all of the children.
This week my 1-yo decided she wanted to fold the washcloths and rags by herself (in fact she insisted on it! She took them all away from her 3-year-old sister!) Turns out she can do it!
The only putting away I have to do is to put my own clothes from the bed (where the children put them after they fold them) into drawers.
I cook breakfast while they do laundry, and then we eat.
Here’s how we use the lingerie bags to sort socks in our home.
I like reading about everyone else’s laundry strategies, so I thought I’d add mine. This is what works for us right now. We cloth diaper, so the diapers get done every other day; I don’t really consider them part of the laundry. For the rest, I like to do laundry every other day. I consider it a treat to have our couch, washer, and dryer empty (don’t ask me — I’m crazy) so I strive to put everything away on laundry day, except for what may still be wet hanging up. I like the author’s sock tip; I may try that. For now, my four year old is the sock matcher and folder. Everyone’s darks get washed together. Whites are a load by themselves. And towels and jeans get washed together. I fold on the couch in the living room, and I try to make myself do it anytime the TV is on. 🙂
We just started using lingerie bags for socks and I absolutely love it! I hang one bag on each bedroom door and wash the bags when they are filled.
I am expecting child #10, so I have a lot of laundry.
The kids empty hampers on Mondays and Thursdays. Then two of them sort the laundry and move it into the garage. After I wash it, I sort it into piles for the kids to fold and put away. Each child has his or her own pile. (I often have my daughter help fold towels and the 4 yo’s clothes.)
I have nine boys, so I put one mark in all of the oldest boy’s clothes. As his clothes get passed down to the next boy, I just add a mark to it. This way it is easier to tell who the clothes belong to.
To help sort socks, each child only has one kind/brand of sock and no children whose feet are similar sizes use the same brand as another child with a size close to theirs. I do my boys’ boxers/underwear that way too. (For ex., boy #1 has the same brand of socks/underwear as boy #4. Boy #2 has the same brand as boy # 5. Their sizes are so different that it is easy to tell whose is whose.)
I have used the mesh bags for socks, but only my daughter regularly uses them, so I have a smaller basket just for socks. I have children assigned to sort socks into piles twice a week and then the kids put their own socks away.
I got lost in the math problem–expecting child #10… have nine boys… your daughter does a particular task. Read it three times and I still can’t figure out how it’s not child #11 on the way. 🙂
#10 is a boy. Sorry for the confusion.
I’ve tried just pulling stuff out of the dryer and dumping it on a bed/couch and then folding and putting it away all at once, but I find it I do that, it tends to wrinkle. Now, the only thing I hate worse than folding and putting away clothes is ironing them.
I usually fold each load as it comes and depending on my mood and where I decided to fold that day, I’ll put it away all at once when it’s all washed, or I’ll put it away after each load. I have been doing the majority of the laundry on one day and it’s working well enough. I still have to do a single load a few times a week to keep caught up though.
I guess I’m the odd one out here! I do the boys’ laundry on Tuesdays. They sort it and put the baskets in the hall. I do a load of whites (hot water) and usually 2 loads of darks. I fold all clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer. They get separated into each boys’ laundry basket for them to put away. I do DH’s and my laundry on Thursday. We usually have a load of whites, permanent press lights, perm press darks and sturdy darks, like jeans. Again, everything is washed, dried, folded or hung right away. DD22 did her own laundry from age 13 on Saturday. The other household laundry gets done once a week on other days: bath towels, kitchen towels, sheets, etc. (each in its own load). I never feel overwhelmed with laundry. It’s always caught up. Everyone knows what day to have their laundry ready and they know to take their baskets to their room at the end of the day.
I keep hangers right by my dryer, when the load is done, I hang items that need to be hung up right away and then just transfer the hangers right to the closet! Cuts down on wrinkles and ironing too!
When dh and I discovered this trick years ago, laundry became infinitely easier! Everyone in the family is responsible for bringing their empty hangers to the laundry room. As soon as the clothes come out of the dryer, they’re put on hangers, and everyone takes them to their rooms and hangs them up.
We also have a laundry basket for each child and one for dh and me, so all clothes that don’t need to be on hangers go into their respective baskets. We keep a sorting hamper for lights and darks in the laundry room. Both kids end up with changes of clothes in their school and activity bags, so it’s easier to throw clothes straight into the laundry room hamper. Before the hamper, the clothes were strewn about all over the laundry room and living room. The kids do their own laundry, but we all have an agreement that we’ll throw whatever is in the laundry room hamper into the wash if there’s room in the load.
I love the sock in the mesh bag idea. I’ll have to implement that one!
I bought **stacking recycle bins** to put in the laundry room as laundry sorters. They take up lots less floor space than the traditional sorters. They are marked for darks, lights, whites, towels, and delicates. The kids put their dirty clothes in the appropriate bins. Hubby and I have our own set of pre-sort bins in our bathroom closet (Our bins are trash cans – because they are taller than baskets, it’s less visual mess and I can put more in the same amount of floor space.)
I fold clothes coming out of the dryer and put them in each person’s basket. Everyone is responsible for taking their basket and putting away clothes.
I do one load of laundry per day. The kids have their own laundry baskets for clean clothes and they are required to put away their own clothing (in the correct place) when the laundry is finished each day. It’s still a lot of work but having them help out makes it a bit easier 🙂
I’m with you: the hardest thing is putting the clothes away! (Well, when I’m pregnant it’s hauling the clothes up 2 flights of stairs and THEN putting them away, but that’s what strong manly husbands are for, right?)
I love your comment about not folding/pairing socks! This is my husband’s method since before we got married. He just bought a couple huge bags of socks, all one color, so if he picks two random socks out of the sock drawer they’ll automatically match. Now I think he has 2 colors of socks: white athelic socks and black dressy socks for work, but we just have two small sock drawers for him (one for each color sock). It’s a lot easier to seperate two piles of socks and dump them in the drawers than mate every sock. I still mate my own socks, though, because I don’t really wear socks often and I’m more picky about that sort of thing than my husband.
I also don’t fold my husband and kids t-shirts and sweats (I do have to fold all my stuff in drawers, but most of my stuff gets hung up anyway). If wrinkles matter (hubby’s dress shirts for church and work), they’re hung up in the closet. But baby and toddler clothes won’t stay folded anyway, and who really cares if their jeans/sweats and t-shirt aren’t perfect (I’m just happy if they aren’t covered in spit up, potty accidents, or other dirt and grime).
Ummm…..please tell me I’m not the only person who’s carried clean clothes from bed to the couch before going to sleep! Great idea in theory, but I guess being pregnant and working full-time is my excuse. Maybe after this baby comes and I’m a stay-at-home mom the laundry will be folded and put away each night before bedtime – at least that’s my husband’s dream! 😉
Been there, done that! Except remove “couch” and insert “dresser” “back in the laundry basket” or “any available surface because I’m dang tired!”
And I’ve gotta shout out to another pregnant working mom!
Oh my gosh. It’s so exhausting. This is my first and I had no idea what it would be like. I used to come home from work and cry because I was so tired. I went and got a mono test that was positive, so I figured that’s why I was so tired. A week later I took a pregnancy test and THAT was positive too! Ahhh!! I’m much better than I was, but nowhere near my pre-mono/pregnant self.
Oh…I’ve done that one too, many times! But thinking about having to move it twice (to the couch and then back again to fold) makes me rethink just leaving it there. 🙂
Change Bed to couch and then Couch to bed…when company comes…Almost all the ladies I work with do the same thing. You are NOT alone.
I appreciate everyone’s input. The routine that works best for me is to do a load first thing in the morning. While my coffee is brewing, I head to the basement and throw a load in. I have distinct piles for every family member’s clothes on top of the dryer and next to the dryer on a small counter. I simply take the load from the dryer and fold it as it comes out of the dryer and put it the correct person’s “pile”. I also have one laundry basket for towels and one for socks. The kids fold the socks & towels once a week. We also only put clothes away once a week, usually on the weekend. Having a set day to “put it all away” encourages me to get it done on time! I know it wouldn’t work for everyone, but I really like my schedule. I also have a wonderful hubby who will oversee the “putting away” regularly, and who does extra loads if needed on the weekends :).
My kids each have their own basket for clean clothes. I never personally remove them from the laundry room unless we are changing seasons.
I air dry just about anything. I hang shirts and jeans on hangers and hang them up all around the bedrooms. I also put folded items on bed to dry. It makes me put it away before bed, saves energy, makes the house smell amazing, and it helps make clothing last longer and keeps it from getting wrinkled. It is easier to do in the summer, but in the winter it isn’t bad if you have a sunny room or day.
I don’t have anything exciting to add about the laundry days (I do one load per day because I can’t stand dirty laundry laying around), but since we’re talking laundry, does anyone have tips for getting smells out of hubby’s shirts…in the underarm area? It doesn’t seem to matter what detergent I use. I googled this, and am now trying spraying vinegar on them before washing. Any secret tips out there?
Try mixing vinegar and baking soda (watch out for the reaction, obviously). Once it’s done “fizzing” rub it on the underarm area. That might help. 🙂
Wash it in gain. My brother went to marine corps boot camp several years ago and the only thing that would get the stench out of the clothes (they don’t really wash them that well) was gain.
When my husband would return from the “field” or deployment I poured in TONS of fabric softner… :o) took the smell out. I think Some of them I ended up washing twice. ALSO Apple Cider Vinegar is WONDERFUL! We did cloth diapers with our children and every other wash we would add ACV to the rinse. No more SMELLY issues. Hope that helps.
Try the Tide Sports….it really helps with my running clothes.
I teach my kids to help with laundry from a very young age. They can’t do it all at first, but when you teach them in age-appropriate chunks, they get used the idea of working around the house, and you never have a big, overwhelming job to teach them. They can remove clean clothes from the dryer, move washing machine clothes to dryer, and put a pre-sorted load into the washer from the age of 1 or 2 with help. They can do those jobs by themselves by 4. My 9 year old can put in the laundry soap and start the washing machine. My 7 year old can start the dryer. Additionally, my 7 and 9 year olds fold all the socks, underwear, and towels. With 4 kids 9 and under, the only job I do is fold the actual clothes and sort the laundry. And I’ve even had the older ones start sorting out loads of just towels or just socks and underwear, so I only have to sort the clothes.
I taught my four year old how to fold wash clothes, get her panties laid out straight, and she puts in the soap and gets the dryer sheet for me. She loves helping!
I have 6 ages 10 and under. I only hang up mine and my husband’s shirts. The children do all the rest of the hanging and folding.
My 1-year-old helped me put clothes in the dryer today, and this week she folded the washcloths by herself.
I have 5 pop-up hampers in my closet for the children to sort their own laundry every day (I just sort mine as I take them off), so it’s easy for me to wash it whenthe hampers are full. (every day or every other day). Everyone brings their sheets to the laundry room, or the towels if I ask for towels. I just do the washing (I like to check for stains) and put things in the dryer.
The children put away everything except for mine and my husband’s shirts. For my things and my husband’s things, they jsut put them on our bed, and we put them away. They put away all of their own things, towels, etc.
Makes laundry super easy for me. . . even with 2-4 loads every day.
We also do all of the folding/hanging before breakfast, so it’s done by 7:30. I will still wash and dry after that, but it gets folded or hung up the next morning I do hang up mine and my husband’s shirts as I take them from the dryer). I sort the clothes as I take them out into hang-up clothes (10-year-old’s job) and clothess to be folded (everyone else).
My greatest two laundry tips….We have a small laundry room but I was able to move all 3 of my sons clothes in there, so saves me lots of time because I put away as I fold. The other thing, I determined that one reason I don’t like folding laundry was I ended up with so many piles for each person and I never had enough room (a pile for shorts, shirts, underwear, etc). Now when I wash I wash like articles, cutting down on my piles and making me feel like folding is not so huge. (IE, I wash jeans/shorts with pajamas and underwear and then I wash shirts/sweatshirts with socks and towels…yes, I wash everything on cold and have never had a problem with colors running.)
I’ve spent some years soaking, scrubbing, rinsing, wringing and putting up clothes to dry by hand, sometimes in rainy weather and sometimes with insufficient water during a dry spell. Now using a washer and dryer is actually a fun experience and I remind myself of the ‘old’ days when doing laundry seems like a chore 🙂
Great perspective to keep in mind! Thanks Ann!
Call me crazy, but my biggest sanity saver when it comes to laundry is to NOT sort it. Whites, darks, towels, sheets…they all go in together. The only exception is delicates. If I have a new item of clothing that’s a bright color, I keep the lighter items out of that load, but otherwise there’s no rhyme or reason. I haven’t had an issue yet nor have I ruined anything. Letting my husband anywhere near the laundry room…now THAT’S when problems start happening! 🙂
Me, too! Today’s load had everyone’s clothes from yesterday, plus I had room for 2 towels. I rarely buy “new” clothes, so bleeding dyes isn’t an issue. I put delicates in a lingerie bag and toss it all in together. My mother would probably cringe in horror, but it works for me.
I wash everything together too! I used to separate whites, but we just don’t have enough of those to make a full load before people start running out of socks. It does make things easier!
I gave up sorting, too.
Except I do sheets/blankets on their own.
I have started doing the same with my kids’ laundry. My mom thought I was crazy when she came to visit and saw my system, but it works for me. Before, I was washing everyone’s clothes together based on color, but then one day I was sorting all of the children’s tiny clothes with our clothes, based on color, and I thought, “This is silly! Why am I unsorting the kids’ clothes just so that I’ll have to sort them back out after the laundry’s done?” Now I do a load for our son’s laundry, a load for the baby’s laundry, and two loads (whites and colors) with my husband’s and my laundry together. I’ve never had a problem with colors bleeding! When my children are a little older I plan to have them do their own laundry from start to finish.
I don’t sort either, except for doing the linens together (mostly because they make a full load on their own, and I change the sheets all at the same time). It never made sense to me why people do baby laundry separately. It all uses the same detergent, and it all gets clean, so it all goes in together! My mom thinks it’s crazy, but it works for us.
I do several loads throughout the week, but about half of those are just cloth diapers.
I also do not sort by color! I have never had a problem!
I only sort by person. I try to do one load a day. I put it in the washer on my way to work and in the dryer when I get home. I then fold it after dinner. Each child has a laundry basket and when they bring it to the basement, it gets washed. They are then responsibel to put it away.
I also keep a large bath towel in my dryer to help speed up the drying process. I hang almost everything out in the summer. I lvoe taking ti off the line and having it ready to go!
I, too, don’t sort anything anymore. I got the tip from my sister….who realized that since we were washing everything in cold anyways….it didn’t matter what colors went with each other. Huge time saver and makes getting a full load easy!
Agreed
I totally agree with you that folding and putting away laundry is about the worst chore (aside from bathrooms, that is). I have found that when I do a load of laundry each day it doesn’t pile up on me and I feel more in control of the laundry. I have my kids pitch in and put away their laundry so I am only responsible for folding and putting away my husbands and my laundry. I do agree that when you simplify your chores and find a system that works for your family life runs so much more smoothly. Thanks for posting this article, I enjoyed reading it.
Typically, I do laundry twice a week…on Tuesdays and Fridays, and I wash bigger items (rugs, slip covers, pillows, etc.) once a month, or as needed. Our main bathroom has two large closets that weren’t really being utilized to their fullest potential. So, I converted one into a kids’ closet. I have 3 children who are 3 and under, and I was getting a little overwhelmed with dragging their laundry to three different rooms. Now, I can take all of their laundry to one spot and pop their clothes into their respective closet organizers. Not only does that make putting laundry away more pleasant for me, I also have their clothes handy in one spot so that I no longer have to search for outfits in three different rooms.
Thanks so much for the sock tip! Just yesterday I had the BIGGEST sock mating party. So many socks finally found their true love again! With three little ones (and a hubby who seems to lose dress socks) this will make my life so much easier. Onther simple idea that for some reason I couldn’t come up with it on my own, THANKS!
We do laundry twice a week. One way to make laundry day more fun is to choose a day where you know a certain show you like to watch is on in the afternoon (or save a good online show to watch on that day to ‘reward’ yourself). I do all the laundry in the morning and early afternoon, dump it on my bed as it comes out of the dryer, and I actually look forward to my 30 minutes of folding since I get to take a ‘Mommy Break’ and watch my favorite show while I do it. Bonus: because I don’t want to miss my show, I am extra diligent about getting all the laundry done in the first half of the day.
I have fond memories of coming home from school on Thursdays and finding mom on the couch surrounded by piles and piles of folded laundry, watching the last 5 minutes of a tear-jerker movie (our local station played classic movies every afternoon from 1 – 3 and laundry room was just off the Family room so she could keep the laundry going without missing the show).
I do that too, I’ll grab 3 baskets worth of clothes and go through the shows on the DVR.
I usually do the kid’s laundry separately. And when I get totally overwhelmed I even sort by kind of clothes. It speeds up the folding and putting away. Usually I have enough pants to do just pants. And sometimes when the laundry mountain is high enough I can separate my shirts from my husband’s. I also like to wash my bath towels separate from smaller hand towels. It makes for a nice easy load to quickly fold and put away.
#1 Tip: Teach the kids to do their own laundry.
I have stickers on the control panel of my washer & dryer, so my kids know which buttons to push. They can begin doing their own laundry start to finish around age 6.
My almost 6 year old loves to put the clothes and soap in the washer. He knows which 3 buttoms to push to get it going and stands in awe while it starts.
Now that he has this interest, I’m going to encourage the moving to the dryer and put away part. So far, he does his socks, underwear and towels for his bathroom.
Yea, only 1 1/2 years left 🙂
We do the exact same things as you listed! The only difference is that I DO let it pile up in baskets until it’s all done. Then I fold it all at one time, on my bed, of course, and put it all away at one time. (My hubby does NOT so he makes constant repeat trips throughout the day.)
I think one of the best ideas is to have a fun place to do laundry. No matter the size of your space, make it fun and colorful and a place you enjoy being. I recently remodeled our laundry room and it has made all the difference in my attitude towards this chore.
http://gabrielsgoodtidings.blogspot.com/2011/06/laundry-room-transformation.html
I love your re-do!!!
That’s so cute! My mom’s utility room in their old house was painted a cheery yellow too, it’s great to lift spirits.
It’s a nice idea, but my machines are in our unfinished basement. I tried adding a colorful rug, at least, but it got wrecked.
We are on an energy plan where we can’t use major appliances from 3-6, so trying to do all the laundry in one day won’t work for me. Our dryer takes forever, unfortunately. I do 1-3 loads a day depending on what day it is (I know I must do my daughter’s uniforms on Wed and Sat) and what bins are overflowing. Doing it a little every day helps me to stay on top of the folding, too. The older kids are responsible for folding and putting away their own clothes and the towels.
We take off our clothes and put them directly into laundry baskets, so when the basket is full, in it goes. So easy.
I love the mesh bag idea, though! Thanks for sharing!
You need to be sure your dryer vent is clean all the way to outside of your house. Our goofy vent goes up to our roof, so it is very hard to clean. We recently had a chimney sweep clean it out and it is amazing how much better our dryer works! Plus, it was so dirty that it was a fire hazard!
Have you tried doing an extra spin cycle on the washer before drying? It cuts drying time way way down.
No, I didn’t even know about that. I will try it, thanks!!
add a large dry bath towel to each load and it helps dry faster. I have one that lives in my dryer.
I heard a tip from a friend that I thought was worth passing on – her kids are teenagers, and she has them safety pin their socks together when they take them off. They stay matched in the washer and dryer. Haven’t tried it – my kids are little – but it works for her!
Those are some well-trained teens! My kids prefer unmatched socks so I don’t even try.
Same here! I haven’t figured out why they like to wear two different socks, but I hardly ever match them up anymore.
I was a youth minister for almost 10 years (recent SAHM! Yay) and I can tell you it’s a trend right now. 😉
My husbands mom made them do this…they all hated the safety pin thing…and I would find them all over the place with my 3. Gena, I only “Match” my thigh high’s, and black socks (for work) other than that all like socks are work miss matched…I figure if someone has an issue with it then they are MORE than welcome to my house to match socks! Plus all 3 of my children find miss matched socks easier to find in the and more fun to wear.
I actually like doing laundry, although the putting it away part is sometimes a problem. 🙂
What works wonderfully for be is one of those sorting hampers. One bin for whites, one for colors, and one for my husband’s work clothes and my stuff that doesn’t go on the dryer. Other than separating the Darla in the color bin I don’t have to sort. This system makes it easy for my husband to do laundry too as he’s not worried about ruining any of my clothes. This may not work for everyone depending how your house is set up but we have one bathroom, right by our bedrooms, and it works beautifully. Best purchase I ever made.
I also find it helpful to have only one laundry basket so you’re forced to put things away. Although I have considered each family member having their own basket when my kids are old enough to put away clothes on their own.
Ha ha autocorrect. That would be DARKS. Not Darla. I don’t know any Darlas. 🙂
Lol! That was a funny typo!
HaHa! So glad you clarified that..I read it 3 times trying to figure out what Darla might be a code word or acronym for!!
Ha ha … please dont separate the Darla’s they will be very sad! =)
I was trying to figure out what darla was code for!! 😛
OH Beth THANK you so much. I said the word Darla in my head over and over. Thinking oh my word? Is it a special part of the Laundry Sorter who for a bit I thought was a real person! Then the Darla part of the laundry sorter and I am way too confused lol. I thought maybe it helped your husband know which clothes of yours not to dry. Please remember little ones always want to help and mimick. I am not Sure if it has ever happened but little ones can fall into the washer.(Stool) I heard a story on Oprah about a woman washing her car. She then went back with her 1 1/2 year old to hang clothes. Minutes later toddler was gone and found in the bucket of water to wash car with. Drowned. Just saying. I’m too over protective but you never know! Darla. Whew. Lol
We do adult laundry once a month. Yup, once a month. Sounds crazy, but we’re both in grad school, work full time jobs and have two kids. For us, doing a ton of laundry one day per month and putting it all away that same day works a lot better than doing one load at a time. Insane, I know, but it works for us :).
For the record, we both have a ton of clothes, so we’re able to pull this off. I do kid laundry about every other week.
Now, I do laundry once a week (an average of just 3 loads a week) for my husband and myself.
Before we got married, I did laundry once every 3 weeks! I married my husband and he promptly (like, within 3 days of getting married) informed me that he needs laundry done once a week. “Ok honey”…so, I do it once a week now. 🙂 I absolutely refuse to do it any more often though, and he knows that!
I love the idea of mesh bags…I was just thinking about how to solve our “sock” issue, we have 6 boys and we just have a sock basket, the boys pair the socks. I think I am going to hang a mesh bag in our laundry room for them! I find dirty socks everywhere! I recently have found some basic directions for doing laundry, Hung them on the inside of the door where the laundry soap is. I am trying to teach our 3 oldest how to do their own laundry, at least help out. They are 14, 11 & 10.
I, too, love the idea of the mesh bags. With kids at 5, almost 4, 2, and Miss About-to-Appear, I just can’t seem to get a handle on all of the socks. Thank you, Jenae, for a BRILLIANT idea!
Jen – I just wanted to say that I think it’s great that you’re teaching your 3 oldest kids to do laundry! That is such an important life skill, that teens don’t learn all too often.
I am actually already teaching my four-year old how. I place a step stool by the washer and turn the water on. She dumps in the soap and then counts out the three cups of water to dilute the fabric softener. I then hand her all of the smaller pieces to load in the washer while I “sneak” the larger or heavier things (like my hubbie’s jeans) around her. We’ve talked about balancing the load, like colors, sequencing…all kinds of things (and we often name the clothing in Spanish as well as whose it is as that is my day job). She will also help throw it in the dryer, pull it out and take care of her own (some does end up tossed on her bed for Mommy but I won’t complain). During the nice weather, she will hand it from the basket to me or try to catch it and put it in the basket for me (it is worth a few stray blades of grass if she misses). Right now this is fun for her and it makes it a little less painful for me. Hopefully by the time she realizes that this qualifies as housework it won’t be such a big deal!
I keep 2 laundry baskets in the bottom of my closet…one for whites and one for darks. This simplifies the sorting process, and when the basket is full, my load is ready to be tossed in the wash.
This is what I do too, but I have a third, for towels!
Similar here too. Except the white’s basket is in the bathroom, darks are in the bedroom – don’t have a closet large enough for multiple laundry baskets.
My husband and I use a laundry sorter…this way we can always tell what needs to be washed. We do generally try to only do laundry once every other week with the exception of towels. If you can ensure you have enough clothes/socks/underwear to last two weeks and believe it or not the task isn’t nearly as bad as you would think. The laundry sorter helps the upfront issue of when does the laundry truly need to be done.
We do the same, a basket for whites and one for darks. My kids are old enough to do their own laundry. THANK GOD! I wash on Wednesdays and I dump the clothes on the bed and fold them while I watch tv and put them away if I want to be able to have somewhere to sleep! I also buy only the same brand socks, so all I have to do is mindlessly find and fold. They’re either his or mine.
I am starting to feel..umm annal. We sort whites, dark, khaki (which includes brown, orange and yellow), and we do Reds (which includes pinks). I use a basket that has 3 compartments and there is a basket in the bottom of the linen closet for a color. I have 3 children 6,7, and 8. They each have 2 chores a week and rotate out. They all know how to sort the laundry, and add the soap in, as well as start the washer and dry. They are also in charge of matching up the socks and switching over laundry. All of my children were encouraged to start helping with all chores as soon as they could walk and by kindergarten were expected to help sort, load, and switch laundry out. Laundry is a chore NO one likes….including me, and it is the folding and putting away that we are bad at. In fact my dog enjoys the fact that at lest 3 days out of the week there is a nice pile on the couch for her to lay on. I will be trying the Put your panties (or underwear) and socks in the mesh basket thing. I LOVE this idea. we have a sock basket and It is ALWAYS full. Thank you so much for the idea and OHH we do at lest two loads a day.
OHH forgot to mention that my oldest knows how to fold all her clothes and so does my middle. My youngest is getting. They are all responsible for putting their clothes in the hampers as well as putting them away. I do end up going into their rooms about every other month and reorganizing their dressers…I only do this when I start hearing (mostly from my middle) that they cannot find this or that…which means that it is SOME WHERE in the dresser and they just didn’t look (imagine that).
Good tips.
I make the kids match the socks.
I have no problem leaving clothes in the dryer until the next load forces me to fold them! But then I always fold them straight out of the dryer and makes piles for each person on top of the dryer and nearby ironing board. When the pile are about to topple, then I (and the kids) put them away. I really hate putting clothes away, and I find it more efficient to put them away once a week or so, instead of after every load (horrors!). Plus, people often just go straight to their piles to get their laundry – lessening how much needs to be put away! If I had I real laundry room with lots of space, we’d keep all our clothes in there and never keep them in the bedrooms!
I was just getting into the “do one, and only one load a day” routine, when all of sudden that wasn’t enough. So sad. Now I have to do 2 loads a day some days.
Oh My, the clothes just get bigger and bigger… my kids are now 15, 17 (20 year old does his own wash but the ones still in high school have a lot of homework and activities.) With some care, we just barely fit into “one load a day” for the four of us. But, only by stretching out use of towels and sheets, as well as sturdy clothes such as jeans and hoodies.
Oh, and I forgot – I only wash towels on Tuesdays and Fridays.
And like OP, I use two laundry baskets on the floor of the master bedroom closet to sort and collect laundry – one for colors and one for whites.
I buy the same socks for all my boys, so they share – that way I don’t have to pair them OR worry about which kid gets which one. The only exceptions are sports related items of course.
My boys are also responsible for laundry. We do one to two loads per day, and the chore rotation schedule we have includes a week of laundry. One of the three of my boys didn’t want to do everyone’s laundry, so he does his own. Works for me! Thus he only rotates through two weekly tasks instead of three.
My number one tip is to not wash everyones clothes together. If you are folding and have to take clothes and towels to 4 different rooms it is just a pain. Do one persons laundry at a time and then go to that room to fold it and put it away right away. Kids can easily bring a toy or two into each room with you as you fold.
Agreed. I do one child’s laundry on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. Ours on Thursday and Friday. Occasionally a stray piece gets in another’s load bit for the most part much easier to put away.
I would say, if you ARE doing multiple people’s laundry in the same load (ie. I do all our whites together, because we don’t have a lot) – quickly sort out into a basket per room. Then you can bring the clothes to the appropriate room to fold and put away.
Out of all the family chores, laundry is one I actually enjoy, most weeks. I do agree with the author, establishing a routine is key. I started many years ago doing laundry on Monday and Friday. Works for my family. I have everyone bring their basket to the laundry room and I sort loads. At the end each dryer cycle I sort back into respective baskets. When it is all finished, everyone retreaves their basket and puts away their clothes. Putting away laundry is one of the first chores I teach young ones! I keep a basket on the dryer for “socks without friends” and periodically match them up. It is a great thing to do while chatting on the phone. Doing laundry always makes me thankful that the Lord has provided so well for my family!
I like this idea! My son isn’t old enough to help much yet but he does a little bit. (He’s only 3) I also feel thankful when doing laundry …for the washer/dryer in our house and for all of the clothes we have!
Liz, he is definitely old enough. My two year old is great at folding towels and pants. She also goes and puts away the babies clothes and her own. It helps me out a lot. I sit and fold, while she runs things to the other siblings 🙂