Making Laundry Easier

Making Laundry Easier

To keep my laundry under control, I do at least one load a day. There are many days where I do more. (With six people in our family, we go through a lot of clothes every day!)

Here is how I do my laundry & make it as easy as possible!

Before I started, I bought four cheap laundry baskets at Wal-mart. I let each of my kids decorate them any way that they wanted to. (I actually have six because I bought one for my husband & I, too, but don’t use them often). These are the FOLDING baskets- they do not take place of the dirty-clothes basket. These stay stacked up in the laundry room until I am ready for them.

To begin, I don’t sort them into lights & darks. I do wash the whites separately, but we like to use bleach, so I have to do them alone. We wash whites every day because we use washrags & towels instead of paper towels most of the time, so we go through a lot of them!

The colored laundry just gets thrown in together. I know that most people separate, but it doesn’t bother me to do it this way & its way faster!

I also always pre-treat stains. I just spray the stain as soon as I see it & then throw it into the laundry basket until I start a load.

Rule #1- THROW A LOAD IN AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP. This will get you started on your day (you should have already made your bed & gotten dressed!) 🙂
Rule #2- As soon as it is done (BEEP!!!), put it into the dryer.
Rule #3 Take it out right away to avoid wrinkly clothing (don’t make yourself more work by ironing later- take it out as soon as its done!) This one gets me every time! 😉

In my room I have the basket ready to go. I also have kid hangers in a pile & adult hangers in a pile (I keep these in a basket in our hall closet for when I need them). Other times, this is our kid’s chore… to get them for me. It was my chore, too, when I was little.

When it is done, I like to take mine into my bedroom while I fold it (I put the TV on the today show & start folding).
I used to fold from the dryer, but I hated standing in there- I am a multi-tasker!

I have four kid baskets. As soon as I fold one of their shirts or clothing items, it goes into their basket:

I then take their basket into their room & put them beside their dressers.

Our older boys (4 & 6) just do it by themselves. (Read Age-appropriate chores & teaching them to be responsible adults)
Our 2 year old needs a little help.
I put away clothes for my husband, myself & our baby.

It doesn’t take long & that’s it. When they are done, they take their basket back to the laundry room & stack them up. They are ready for the next day.

Total folding & putting away time: 5 minutes