We all have the dreaded laundry day when the ritual of cleaning the clothes in the house takes over our day and seemingly our lives leaving us wanting to come up for air. Piles of clothes lurk in corners, and randomly strewn clothing lie in wait to be redistributed to its rightful place. Why do we hate laundry day so much? Because it takes FOREVER! Also, it never ends, because we are constantly dirtying up things that need to be washed.
Well, I can’t make laundry go away, but I can offer some tips to at least help it seem like less of a nightmare. Here are 5 of them to get you started.
1. Designate A Laundry Station (and stick to it)
You may be thinking, well duh, but even when we have a general drop for dirty laundry, oftentimes clothes still get thrown on the floor, laid on top of the dresser or table, etc. so, it may be difficult to distinguish dirty clothes from, “will wear again.” To prevent this particular instance from happening, It would be better to hang back up the clothing you are wearing if you plan to sport it again before it’s laundered. This way otherwise clean clothing won’t be unnecessarily washed.
How do you stick to a laundry station? Do what makes sense for your family. It may work well to have one laundry station for everyone to drop off soiled clothing, or it may be better to have each family member have their own laundry basket(s) in their bedroom. The trick is to be consistent and give reminders when old habits start kicking back in. Maybe offering some kind of reward system for kiddos who manage to keep their clothing in their specific bin will keep them motivated until it becomes second nature. Overall, ensuring everyone knows where to put their dirty laundry will help keep it contained in prospective bins and not strewn about the house.
2. Separate Dirty Laundry Right Away (when possible)
Laundry day can be arduous with all the sorting that goes on before they ever see the inside of a washing machine. But if you can separate lights from darks and delicates from regular washes as they go into the bin, you will be able to cut out most of the sorting time that goes along with washing and drying your clothes. There are many laundry baskets out there that have divided compartments already built- in for lights and darks to be sorted. Some will even say laundry right on the basket or have “lights” and “darks” embroidered in the fabric. If you are crafty, you could DIY a clothing basket, or just label what you already have to single out your loads with ease.
You could also cut down on loads if you do double duty. For example, my son and I both have sensitive skin and can be bothered by certain detergents’ dyes and scents, but I like the way certain detergents smell. In order to be kind to my skin yet get enjoy a freshly laundered scent, I may wash certain clothing such as intimates with some of my son’s laundry with an all-clear detergent, and wash other things with fragrance. This way I’m keeping these items separate without creating more loads of laundry. Similarly, I will wash dirty sneakers with cleaning towels or throws to reduce cleaning time and the noise sneakers would make if washed alone.
3. Elicit Help From Family Members
Get your family on board with the laundry day plan. Make sure everyone knows how and where to sort the laundry to make it easiest for everyone. Have children who are age-appropriate launder their own clothes, or at least put the clean clothes away. You could start by including them in the routine by watching and helping you do it until you think they are ready to handle a load on their own. They will be more likely to enjoy helping you do something that they are already familiar with.
4. Learn To Fold Correctly
I know it’s easy to half- hazardly fold clothes and shove them in a drawer to save on time, but it creates a slew of problems. Drawers get stuffed quickly when clothes are wadded up, so what doesn’t fit in the drawer, gets thrown on the dresser, chair, or piled up somewhere. Also, the clothes that were stuffed in the drawer will now be wrinkled when you get them out which means ironing time. This just adds one more step in the whole laundry mess. No one’s got time for that. We are trying to cut down on laundry time, not create more steps. And honestly, wouldn’t it be nice to open your drawer and be able to see all the contents without having to pull everything out and search through it?
Having laundry folded and put back correctly will make retrieving your clothes so much easier. I personally love the Konmari Method for folding. Our clothes look so nice and neat every time you open the drawer, and you can see what you have at a glance. It did take a few tries to get it down to a science, but since I started folding clothes this way, it has stuck! When I first decided to try this method, I thought it wouldn’t last long, but now, I can’t go back! I love how it looks too much. The results greatly outweigh the few more minutes it takes to condense the folding.
5. Do A Load of Laundry A Day
A load a day will keep laundry days at bay. I know many people have one day a week that is designated as “laundry day” and there is nothing wrong with that if that ultimately works best for you. But I would encourage you to consider adding at least one more day to cut laundry time in half. I find that if I do at least one load of laundry a day, I don’t get behind enough on laundry to warrant an entire day to get caught up. The bonus is being able to cross something else off my list. I don’t know about you, but I get satisfaction in seeing things get accomplished throughout my day, and on occasion, I’ve been able to say, “well, at least I got some laundry done.” Also, and this is important, fold or hang clothes up immediately after they get out of the dryer. If they stay in the basket too long, you risk rifling through clothes baskets for something to wear instead of finding them in your closet or dresser where they should live. This is another reason why it’s a good decision to do a load a day as it saves time in the long run. Putting the clothes away right after laundering them puts an exclamation point on laundry day and fills you with relief for a job well done.
"A good system shortens the road to the goal."
