Ivy says:
For many, keeping up with laundry is their Achilles’ heel when it comes to housekeeping. I know that it sure is mine. It seems that whenever I manage to get caught up, there’s a new giant pile lurking somewhere 5 seconds afterwards. So I share with you some of the strategies I’ve picked up over the years to keep the laundry monster at bay. And I know some of our lovely home eccers who don’t have trouble with the laundry will jump in with their own helpful hints.
Make it easy on yourself- limit the amount of clothes you have. This is a hint Heather’s shared with me at least 40 million times. “But I’m a clothes horse,” I tell her. “I can’t help it!” She tells me I’ll always have trouble with the laundry, then. I can dig that. Now, I do take that somewhat to heart- all the ill-fitting, permanently stained, ugly clothing is removed as soon as possible. It’s especially important to deal with kid clothes, since they grow out of things so quickly. If you’re saving clothes for another kid, box them up and put them away somewhere.
Put off season clothes away. Speaking of boxing things up and putting them away, it’s summer. Put your winter clothes away. In the winter, do the opposite. This might not be necessary if you’re living in a house with only adults, but I can tell you, if you have kids, this saves piles of time. It’s June 16th and I live in Tennessee. I just washed a pair of winter gloves. Why? They didn’t get put away and I’m sure one of my kids was playing with them and tossed them in the laundry pile. Arrrgh.
Get a system going for your laundry. Some people like to wash once a week. Some people like to wash every day. Decide what sort of person you are, and stick to the schedule. Right now, I’m a fan of washing once a week. Monday is my laundry day, and that’s what I do all day on Mondays. Come heck or high water. If you’re an every day sort of launderer, then make sure you do at least one load every single day. (More or less, depending on how much laundry you need to do.)
Fold and put away immediately when the dryer buzzer goes off. Don’t mess around. Not only will you end up with wrinkly clothes, but also clothes are more likely to sit in your washer if you have a load behind it. Ewww. Smelly clothes. It wastes time and water and energy and, and, and. Just suck it up and deal with the dryer right away.
Go ahead and spend a little more for a laundry detergent scent you love. Of course, if someone in your house is allergic, forget that idea. But if you can, get a scent that you find absolutely wonderful. It makes laundry just that much better to do. Plus, your clothes will smell fabulous. Bonus!
If you’re behind, make laundry your priority. Whenever I get behind on my laundry, I just plow in and do laundry until it’s all finished. Sure, that new pile will spring up in no time, but being caught up feels soooo good. And by “plow in and do it til it’s all finished,” I mean DAY AND NIGHT. This is a little harder in the summer when it’s miserably hot, but you let it get behind, pay the price, ha!
Sorting got you down? Shout Color Catcher to the rescue! Man, I hate sorting laundry, so I really just don’t anymore. Instead, I put clothes in (excepting towels, which have to be washed seperately due to fabric softener issues and delicates, for obvious reasons) until the washer’s full enough and then toss in a Shout Color Catcher. I’ve not had a single pink sock since starting to use these. I think that’s totally worth the extra cost.
Keep your laundry area clean. Nothing makes you want to do laundry less than a dirty laundry room. My laundry room also happens to be the best place for cat boxes. So before I go in to do laundry, I clean the area well. I keep a push broom in the laundry room to push stray cat litter out of the way throughout laundry day.
OK, now it’s your turn: Tell me, Home Eccers, what are your laundry strategies?
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I’ve always been bad about sorting. In our house the washing machine IS the hamper. However, I have borrowed a method from my mom for putting them away. I had my DH put a counter by the dryer, and there is a basket for each person. I fold the clothes as they come out of the dryer and stack them into each person’s basket. At that point all bets are off. If your sock drawer is empty… go get your basket, cause Mom’s not delivering.
oh, LAUNDRY! *grumble grumble* I love the tip about folding everything into each person’s basket that arctic gypsy shared – I will have to try that!!! I tend to be a once a week laundry girl, but then I am overwhelmed by the amount of laundry that needs to be put away. So no strategies…. just looking to soak up others’ advice!
When a load gets left in the washe, adding a generous splash of vinegar to it, plus detergent, and re-running it will eliminate the mildew smell.
I use to use a 4 part sorter but that thing held 3-4 loads in each bag. Soooo, I bought 4 seperate laundry baskets, they each hold 2 loads a piece. My DH built shelves for them. Now whenever a basket gets full I do two loads and I’m done. Of course, being a family of 4 and 3 of those being male, the system doesn’t always work but it works better than what I had before.
Ugh, laundry
I have no problem getting it washed and dried, it’s the folding and putting away that I have trouble with lol. I do a load or two every day or so (and the occasional marathon washing session when I get behind), but then the clean laundry just piles up at the end of my bed until I finally break down and spend a few hours putting it away. I’ve at least made that a bit easier by having all of our clothes in one closet. Our walk-in closet is big enough to hold the clothes for all 5 of us, so sometimes I just take a basket of laundry into the closet, sort it into separate piles on the floor for each person and then put the stuff in the corresponding drawer. Oh, and one more thing I do to keep it as easy as possible is I don’t fold my kids’ clothes. they get unfolded the first time my kids grab something out of the drawer so I don’t bother lol, as long as the shirts and pants have their own spot it all works out just fine.
I’m moving on Friday to an apartment with a washer/dryer! This is my first since living with my parents 6 years ago! ZOMG!!!!!!!!!!
I hate sorting laundry too. We have a 3-compartment laundry basket, so we sort as we put it into the hamper. Saves time, and I can easily see which load needs the most attention first.
The three are: colors, whites, special (maybe a load of jeans, etc.).
I have a separate hamper for my baby’s clothes, and kitchen towels go into a bucket in the kitchen to chill out until I do towels.
I do laundry once a week. First I clean the laundry room, mostly just scoop the cat boxes and sweep the excess litter off the floor. Then I sort the laundry, usually blacks, blue jeans, whites, pink/red/purple and blue/greens. This is also when any pretreating takes place. The radio is on while this is going on, BTW. All underwear goes in whites. Then I wash. Socks, underwear and towels go in the dryer. Once dry it gets dumped on the bed in the guest room, where it is sorted, folded and put away. Everything else goes on drying racks in the guest room. One to two days later all the clothes are dry. I remove from racks, fold and place in piles, then put away. I do sheets and towels on another day.
When I was in college here is how I did it: two separate baskets, one for whites and one for colored. Usually it took about 2 weeks to fill up, but sometimes I just did a load every other week. Since we had two washers and dryers, it all got done at the same time! Then i hung up the stuff that needed hanging, and threw the rest on my bed (the only place besides my desk to sit in the room) so it was sure to be folded before the day was over.
At home, my mom does the laundry because she doesn’t like how I do it. Although we are in charge of taking it to our rooms and folding underwear and socks….they just get thrown in a basket after they are taken out of the dryer! Laundry gets done once a week, towels every 2-3 weeks and sheets whenever we remember
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Systems for doing laundry are the key.
I live in a small apartment with a portable clothes washer, because of this, I have to be VERY careful about when I do laundry – not only does it have to be during daylight hours because of the potential noise issue, but my loads are typical half as big as a standard load.
Here’s my system…
1. Sort by TYPE of clothing – undies, shirts, pants, etc.
2. Determine which pile is largest.
3. Sort out the whites (I can’t use a color catcher), and if there’s enough to do a full load, toss it in.
4. Most types of laundry can be done together, so if it’s not big enough for a full load, toss a like-fabric in… IE: With undies, cotton shirts. With jeans, bathrobes.
5. One load a night until none of the piles are large enough to do on their own OR none can be combined to do a full load.
Also, I hang all of my laundry, so it’s a huge note to self to remember to take it OUT of the washer when it’s done and get it hung up.
My issues with laundry all center around the fact that my machines are located in the garage, which is now my husband’s workshop/machine shop/hobby area, and thus is always FILTHY, with no way to keep anything clean out there. I also can’t hear the machines to be reminded to swap loads or pick up the last one from the dryer. I have issued an edict that included in the remodeling plans for this house, a high priority item is to create an inside laundry area.
My system starts with a huge collapsible mesh “cylinder” basket I use exclusively for moving laundry. I strongly recommend getting one of these – they’re light, tough, easy and comfortable to carry, hold 3-4 loads of laundry, and fold flat to store when not in use.
Having a well-organized closet and adequate dressers with assigned locations for clothes really takes the chore out of putting away. Ikea sells small nylon storage boxes that fit exactly into most of their dresser drawers, so each drawer is easily organized. Before I had “resources,” I did the same thing with a thrift store dresser and an assortment of salvaged cardboard boxes.
I’m usually pretty good about keeping up with laundry – mainly because I don’t have enough clothes to let it go too long…
I also sort by type of clothes, not color, and use those color catchers – I love those things.
I’m a 2-3 loads twice a week girl. When I’m working during the school year I’d do laundry on my days off (I work MWF). Now that it’s summer I haven’t figured out my laundry schedule and it’s killing me!
One thing I recently started doing is sorting the laundry upstairs before taking it to the basement. It’s hard for me to run downstairs to sort with my two sons – so I sort the laundry in the upstairs hallway – and carry down one load at a time – and then take the other loads down also. This sounds confusing, but it’s easier than bringing the boys downstairs while I carry all that laundry down.
But one thing that I always do – on the days I’m doing laundry – I start the first load right when I wake up and am usually done by lunchtime – so that gives me naptime to fold, sort, and put away.
i woke up one morning and my arms were killing me it took me a a few minutes to figure out why — i had used a saws-all to cut a hole in the floor under my bathroom sink/cabinet for a laundry chute — the piles of laundry in the bathroom were now a childs chore to open the door and dump the cloths down the hole into a pile next to the washing machine — it worked out perfectly!!
Like Arctic Gypsy i have baskets that the cloths are sorted into after they are washed and if you need clean cloths you know where yours are go get them yourself
oh yeah and while you are at it (this is for the older children — do your own laundry 
the older children also are each assigned a day where one of their jobs is to do their own laundry, my youngest child helps me with the rest of the laundry as she learns how to do it, and when she is about 7 or 8 she will take over doing her own laundry — i don’t bother with teaching them about bleach yet — maybe when they are teenagers
I find folding cloths comes easier if i’m taking them off a laundry line then from the dryer
all clean socks are placed in a tub between the washer and dryer unsorted / unmatched — socks are just to irritating to deal with — it’s an ADD thing
i’ve also found that if i run a cycle in the morning and a cycle at night i can keep up on laundry — a cycle being sort what’s in the dryer, put the load from the washer to the dryer and turn it on, start a new load in the washer
not much strategerie here – i just try to do at least one load a day. Priority goes to DH’s clothes. He has only 2 pairs of pants right now (until I get the third one repaired) so I just have to make sure he’s got clean pants.
My biggest stumbling block is actually putting things away before they’re needed. Yell at me some more, please, Ivy. I’ll get it eventually.
When our 4 kids were at home, I did at least 2 loads a day ….. and the struggle was always folding them right away. How I hated it when 2 or 3 or 4 loads piled up on the couch to be folded!
I’ve learned to fold as soon as they come out of the dryer. THe big difference for me was buying a table for the laundry room on which I can sort and fold. Plus laundry baskets for each person, to carry clean clothes upstairs.
But just recently, when 2 adult kids were still with us and I was doing laundry for everyone plus the 19 year old who is in college, I rebelled. I called a family meeting in the kitchen and told everyone, including my husband: I expect you all to do your own laundry. I wil do my own and the towels, sheets, etc……. but your clothes are your responsibility.
FREEDOM! After 26 years of being the family laundress, with only occasional help (the kids and I would have sock and underwear folding parties in front of the TV when they were young) ……… no more. Yippee! Now it’s a breeze.
Don’t give up hope, sisters …….. your day will come!
At our house each person has a day. I try to make sure they get in, do their laundry and get out in that 24 hour period. It’s hard, to get them to get it out of the laundry room.
We have hampers that keep it in in their rooms. They sort it in the laundry room. They wash colored clothes, towels, and sheets (every other week). They leave whites and I do one load of those a week.
We hang everything, including shorts and that helps to get rid of stuff.
THe secret is to make sure the person of the day stays on top of it and gets there stuff down and running even if they have to be away from home.
Sunday: Mine and Dad’s sheets,
Monday: My clothes
Tuesday:#3 clothes
Wednesday: #2 clothes
Thursday: #1 clothes
Friday: Dad’s clothes
Saturday: rugs, curtains, dog beds, etc.
I bring each laundry basket down to the basement. I sort (warm/cold/jeans/whites) into large fabric laundry containers. After I put the first wash in, I set the timer on my oven for 30 minutes. Once it beeps, I go down to the basement, take the load out of the wash and into the dryer. Back upstairs, I set the timer for an hour. Once it goes off, down to the basement I go. I get the clothes out of the dryer and onto the sorting table; then put the next batch of wet clothes into the dryer. I fold and sort the first load; then fill up the washer with the third load. I keep this up until all clothes are washed and dried. Setting the timer keeps me from forgetting that I am doing laundry; also, I have found that by keeping the dryer going cuts down on “cold time” and my clothes dry faster by the end of the process.
When it’s spring/summer, I adjust my process by skipping the dryer and head out to the clothes line. All the wet clothes are on the line by noon; by 6 or 7 I am out there taking the dry clothes down. I find it is easier to take our 3 laundry baskets outside, and fold and sort into the correct basket as I go.
I’m still determining what my strategy will be in the new house, but your advice to use those color catchers might very well change my life. Seriously. I have my 1st color catchered load chugging away right now.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
ugh, laundry is the worst. It's even worse when your dryer is broken like mine is