How I Keep Up With Our Laundry

Laundry is one of those things … Some people like it, some hate it, some ignore it, some obsess over it. Here’s the thing though –  EVERYONE has to do it (unless you’re wealthy enough to hire someone to do all of it for you of course). Ignore it, let it pile up and take over your closets – it still needs to be done.

Here’s where I’m at. I don’t love laundry but I don’t hate it. Putting clothes away annoys me for some reason. I truly detest ironing and find as many clever ways as possible to avoid it. Most importantly though – I almost never let it get behind.

This wasn’t always the case. In the past I would wait as long as possible to do my laundry. I have no earthly idea what nonsensical reasoning was telling me that waiting to do my laundry all at once, in one miserable marathon session, would make it easier, but that was exactly my habit. In college I could go through $15 in quarters in one day, trying to catch up my laundry. I think that’s pretty typical for a 19-year-old. I’m not 19 years old anymore though and I’m guessing that you’re not either.

As a former laundry piler, I’d like to offer a few tips on how I keep our laundry under control.

Have a place for dirty laundry

You can’t be mad at your husband for leaving his dirty socks on the floor if there isn’t an accessible place for him to put them. Where should your kids put their dirty bath towels? Make it easy on your family members and yourself by having designated spots. I have one hamper in my daughter’s room, two in my room and one in the laundry room that’s for towels, napkins, rags, etc. This works well for me. Find out what works for you.

Avoid catch-all spots

We have a glider in our bedroom that always seems to have something thrown on it. It was in a convenient spot where it was easy to toss things. I moved the glider and made a decision that nothing was going to be on it. Every time an article of clothing ended up there, I threw it on the floor. Maybe that doesn’t sound any better to you but for some reason, I’m much more apt to pick things up off the floor rather than off my bed or the chair. I have a point to all this – if you have a catch-all spot where clothes pile up in your room, do something about it.

Have it sorted

I don’t like to handle dirty laundry any more than I have to. With kids in the house the dirty laundry can be pretty icky sometimes (I assume the same applies if you have teenage boys?). So, I sort-of pre-sort. For instance, the hamper in the laundry room that holds towels, dish cloths and napkins – only holds those things. When it’s full I toss it all in the washer. No, or very little, sorting required.

In my bedroom I have a green hamper and a white hamper. They fit nicely in the closet, out of sight. The green hamper holds all the colors/darks and the white hamper holds the whites/lights. Again, when a hamper gets full I just take it to the washer and put it all in.

Put it away

Earlier this week I found myself in an annoying spot – I’d gotten a little behind on my laundry. It’s unusual for me to be that behind so I determined to spend the whole day catching it up. I had 6 loads of laundry. 6 loads of laundry makes a LOT of folded piles. As I stated earlier, I don’t like putting laundry away. However, I purposed beforehand that I wouldn’t get behind on the putting away and that I’d try to have one load put away before the next was dumped on the couch. By the end of the day I’d done it – all of the laundry was washed, dried, folded and put away. I thought to myself – I like keeping up with it MUCH better.

Let me tell you friends, it feels good to be caught up on laundry on a regular basis. I’m not perfect at it but I’m much better than I used to be. How do you fare? Is laundry the dreaded chore that’s always behind or have you found a way to manage things that works for you?

As a side note, I found a blog a little while ago about all things laundry called Mama’s Laundry Talk. It’s cute and definitely worth checking out!

Why I do what I do ~ I think dentists need to change what they are called to something a little more kid-friendly. Chloe is going for her first cleaning tomorrow. I said, “Chloe, tomorrow you get to do a grown up thing and go with Mama to the dentist!” She started crying. I asked if she knew what the dentist was. She said, “No, but I don’t want it!” Oh boy … I can see this is going to go well.

photo by .j.e.n.n.y.Have you liked Domestic Cents on Facebook yet?

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Tagged as: Cleaning, Family Life, Managing Time