Simplifying Laundry

One of my two least favorite household chores is doing the laundry. My other dreaded chore is doing the dishes, probably for the same reason. You never seem to be done…even for a little while. Just when the sorting bins, the washer, and the dryer are empty, you look at your dear family and realize that the one thing making them acceptable to be seen in public today is the very thing that will end up in the laundry pile tomorrow…clothes!

Over the years, I’ve tried a variety of methods for taming the out-of-control laundry monster that grew out of our family’s petty need to cover various body parts on a daily basis. My favorite time of year was summer because I could let the kids run around in nothing but a diaper when they were small. Unfortunately, they grow up so quickly and so do their laundry piles.

My Mistakes

Once a Week – I tried doing all of the laundry once a week. Do you have any idea how many Saturdays I’ve lost to fluffing and folding? At the time, our household consisted of two working adults, one school-aged child, and one younger child that went to day care every day. Everyone would get out of their work and school clothes the minute they walked in the door every afternoon. Those two outfits a day combined with pajamas, bath towels, kitchen towels, bedding, and anything else I can’t think of right now took a full eight hours or more to wash, dry, fold, and put away.

Stockpiling the Folding – I’m not sure why, but I don’t like folding clothes. Therefore, I would avoid folding by stockpiling the clean clothes under the guise that I’ll fold them all at once while watching a movie. That rarely worked. Either I would never actually get around to that movie and folding marathon, or I’d spend more time watching the movie than folding the laundry that I’d only get one basket done. Then the clean clothes would sit until I felt I had enough time to fold all of them. In the meantime, crazed mobs wrapped in towels and dripping wet franticly tossed the pile in search of favorite shirts, missing socks, and illusive unmentionables, endeavoring to get out the door fully clothed thereby avoiding being arrested on the way to work or school. The “clean” pile didn’t stay clean for long and only added to the next laundry day’s mountain.

Buying More Clothes – Yes, I am guilty of buying everyone more undies rather than tackling the laundry pile, buying myself an extra week of freedom, which really only amounted to bigger piles of laundry in the future.

Changes

Honestly, the only way of taming the laundry is to do the laundry. However, there are a few things that can make the task a little more pleasant and a lot less overwhelming.

One Hamper – When I was doing laundry once a week, everyone had their own hamper. Going to a single family hamper was one of the best changes I made. One hamper for a family of four fills up quickly, which brings me to my next change.

Empty the Hamper Everyday – Taking the dirty laundry to the laundry room daily is a great chore for a child.  

Sort the Laundry Immediately – Sorting the laundry everyday let’s you know which loads are ready for the washer. Sorting a smaller pile of laundry everyday is a lot less overwhelming than sorting an entire week’s worth of laundry before you can even start. Also, this is another great chore for a child.

Wash at Least One Load of Laundry Everyday – The laundry is already sorted. You know which load is high enough to fill the washer. Why wait? Get it in the washer…even if you’re heading out the door for work or school. Just don’t forget it’s there!

Set a Timer – If you are home when you start that load, set a timer to remind you to push that load to the dryer or to hang it out on the line. You might have to stop and think for a minute to remember why you set the timer, but you’ll eventually figure it out. This is especially helpful for me in the summertime when I have to get the laundry on and off the line before the daily afternoon thunderstorm.

Shake Out the Wet Clothes – Clumps of wet clothes take a long time to dry. Shorten your drying time by shaking out those wet things. If you dry your clothes on a clothesline, shake out those pant legs and shirt sleeves.

Fold and Put Away the Load Immediately – I’m still not the best about folding the laundry immediately. I take that back. I’m very good about it these days. However, the child whose chore it is to fold the laundry is bad about folding it immediately. A single load of laundry, even whites, does not take long to fold and put away. Dealing with laundry in smaller amounts daily is a lot less overwhelming than dealing with the monstrous mountain that accumulates quickly when you’re not looking. Also, clean laundry quickly becomes dirty laundry when left alone for too long.

Dry Bath Towels Between Showers – I drove my mother crazy growing up because I took a fresh towel for every shower. In fact, I took two, one for my hair and one for the rest of me. It never occurred to me that the towels were only wet, not dirty, and only needed to dry out before my next shower. Sometimes I’m a little slow. Providing a hook, a towel bar, a door knob, or some other convenient place to hang bath towels out to dry really saves on the laundry.

Thanks for stopping by! Although I’ve pretty much streamlined our laundry, I still have a day now and then when four to six loads of laundry have to make it through the machine in one day, such as the day after the kids come home from camp or after a vacation or after certain people clean their rooms. However, for the most part, these little tips and tricks have really saved me time and stress. What are your favorite laundry secrets??

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Betty

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