Laundry tutorial

 

(This cartoon is by Dave Walker.)

Does your laundry room look like this? In the quest to save you from "Mount Washmore", I'd like to share a few things that I've learned along the way. Some of my good habits can be attributed to The Flylady. This routine works for our family of 4, but you may need to adapt it as you go if your family is larger. If you have girls, you will have to adapt as well. I don't have piles of pink clothes to mess with!

If your laundry room floor is piled up, you'll have to deal with that first. Set aside a whole day to get rid of the pile. Use this time to sort and purge what's left in the dressers and closets. As you fold and put away, purge stuff that doesn't fit.

Step 1

If you have "piles of laundry" issues, I can almost guarantee you that you own too many clothes. Sort through and get rid of stuff. Ideally, your kids should have 10 outfits. They need 8 for every day wear, 1 good set for more formal occasions and 1 set of "play in the mud clothes". The purging solves a few problems for you. Your children now have fewer choices. Someone else was blessed with your gently used stuff and you now have no excuse about laundry. They will run out of clothes! While you're at it, put a tub or basket in the laundry room for items that need to be donated. Throw out holey socks as well.

Step 2

Examine your system. In our house, the kids have 2 hampers in their room, one for each kid. This is the type of hamper I use. I found these at Ikea, but I've also seen this type at Target. When you want to wash the contents, grab the handles and take the whole thing to the laundry room.

This type of hamper is less successful because it has a narrow opening. You want the kids to get the laundry in the hamper!

In our closet, we have 2 hampers. One is black and one is white. When you take off the clothes, you put them in the proper bin. No more sorting from the pile on the floor! If you are picky about your laundry, you can add a 3rd bin for permanent press.

I wash each kid's laundry separately and our whites/darks separately. This way I don't have to sort it when I fold. It goes from the hamper straight into the washer, into the dryer and back into the drawers. While I was purging their clothes, I got rid of all white shirts. (except the ones they sleep in) This way I can wash all their clothes together without sorting them. I also bought them 12 identical pairs of socks. I can throw the holey ones out and no matching up all those socks because they all match! I know all the blue toe stripes are Max's and the green ones are Aaron's.

Step 3

A system, sort of. Each night before I go to bed, I check hampers. I can see what needs to be washed because the hampers are getting full. I put a load in the washer before I go to bed. First thing in the morning, throw the load in the dryer.

During the course of the day, run one more load. (2 loads per day, every day) Each load is folded and goes directly to be put away. I am down to 1 laundry basket. If I put it in a basket, I won't put it away. 1 basket serves as a reminder to me. PUT IT AWAY!  No more sorting through baskets trying to find something. No more leaving clothes to wrinkle in the baskets!

If there are no hampers that look full, I wash a load of towels. On Wednesday of each week, I wash bedding. Sheets come off of beds to be laundered and go right back on the bed. No folding of sheets and no exploding linen closet. I have back up sheets in case of disaster. I also have 1 set of flannels for each bed. (it's cold up here!) The kids have duvets with covers, so I don't even put top sheets on. I just wash the covers.

That's it. It really is simple. Be consistent, follow through and put it away. Two loads every day so it doesn't pile up. Less clothing equals fewer choices and removes your ability to procrastinate. No more Mount Washmore!