Growing up, I never thought too much about doing my laundry. In college, I went to my grandparents’ house every other weekend to wash my clothes. When I was living on my own after college, I brought it to the laundromat down the street and had them wash, dry, and fold. When I got my washer and dryer in my apartment, I did my two loads (one light and one dark, of course!) and didn’t think anything of it. It was easy, not a big deal.
Then I became a parent when suddenly it was laundry that seemed to take up all of my time, and at that point, I only had one kid! Add two more kids (twins!) into the mix, and I threw all caution to the wind and just dealt with the fact that laundry had taken over my life, and I had to drop any sense of control I thought I needed.
It turns out that I can only stand to have baskets of laundry all over my room for a finite period of time. Spending three hours on a Saturday folding and putting away everything I had washed the past few days wasn’t cutting it either!
So, I came up with a few simple ways to tackle that never-ending laundry battle that (usually) keeps everything in check.
1. My husband does his own laundry.
I don’t think this needs much explanation. He takes care of his stuff, and I never once worry about it. He also typically handles the towel loads. (He also does most of the dishes and makes the kids’ lunches, but enough about him!).
2. Declutter your closets and drawers.
Fewer overall clothes to wash leads to fewer loads of laundry. I know it seems counterintuitive, but if each person in the home only has enough clothing for one load a week, you’re doing fewer loads than if you waited to do piles of laundry every couple of weeks.
I don’t know about you, but I am not someone who has time to store clothes seasonally. I am also lazy. All clothing is present in drawers and closets all year round. I wrote a great post on decluttering that you can find
here!
3. Once clothes are folded, do not put them in a laundry basket. Put them away.
The
laundry basket is another term for “black hole” in this house. As much as I think I’m getting ahead of it, I need to resist the urge to have a “laundry day” unless I’m sure I can hack it and follow through. But let’s face it, laundry marathon days seem like a great idea until I get distracted or bored or the kids interrupt me. Then everything is washed and dried, but it sits in baskets for three weeks!
For me, laundry is much more manageable when I do a couple of loads from start to finish, rather than a marathon eight-load day.
I do my best to wash clothing by person (i.e., my son’s clothes all go together), but sometimes, I don’t have enough light-colored clothing for a full load, so I throw everyone’s things in at once.
4. Better yet…fold clothes in the room where they go!
When I don’t make it to having separate laundry loads for each person, I put all of the clean clothes together and separate them into piles by bedroom (or linen closet). I then move each pile to that person’s bed, fold it/put it on hangers there, and then it’s super easy to simply put it in the closet or drawer. This is my favorite method to follow.
5. If having your kid(s) help makes life easier for you, let them. If it doesn’t, it’s ok to let them “help” another time.
My oldest is nine. Although he doesn’t have as many responsibilities as I did when I was nine, he’s old enough to do his fair share around the house. He is responsible for gathering his laundry from his room, bringing it to the basement, and putting away his clothes after I clean them and put them on his bed.
I am by no means perfect about laundry. I have three baskets staring at me as I type this, but if I followed my own advice, I’m sure I’d be on top of it all the time!
I would love to know how you tackle the laundry battle! What works for you?
