Laundry Made Easier

Do you have trouble staying on top of laundry?  When you finally get around to it, do you have any idea of what’s where, or what’s even clean anymore?  Laundry happens to be my least dreaded chore, mostly because I’ve implemented the tips below like my life depends on it.  ;) 

1) Purge your clothes.

The first and most important thing to know when it comes to laundry is that you must have your clothes paired down to a manageable level.  If everyone in your house has exactly as much as they need and only items they like and actually wear, then doing the laundry becomes a lot less painful.  So first PURGE, then you can move on to the steps below.

2) Establish a routine. 

The second most important thing when it comes to laundry is having a routine.  Most people who are totally overwhelmed by their laundry have no routine established around doing it.  Even if you have a big family and have a ton of laundry each week, you still need to decide when and how it is all getting done.  

I do 2-3 loads of clothes on Monday and 1-2 loads of towels and sheets on Tuesday and that’s it.  I enjoy bulking it and getting it all out of the way at once.  But if the thought of that much at one time overwhelms you, try a load every other day until you figure out your sweet spot.

3) Establish a system. 

This means the specifics about how the laundry gets done, i.e.,  each family member brings their dirty laundry down and tosses it on the floor in the laundry room (note: this is not a good or sustainable system).  Here is a really simple system I used in my laundry room.  If laundry is dirty it goes in a basket in front of the washing machine (or in it if the machine is empty).  If it is in front of the dryer or in it, it is clean and ready to be folded.  There it is--simple!  But that’s all it took to take some of the confusion out of the laundry world in my house.

Here is another idea for a system:  Two separate kinds of laundry baskets (different color or material perhaps) and designate one for dirty and one for clean.  Alternatively, you can get labels for the same baskets and try that.

4) Do it often

If laundry is an overwhelming and daunting task in your house, maybe you aren’t doing it frequently enough.

5) Actually put it away.

 Mind-blowing right?  Don’t let laundry sit around (unless it is in the specific room where it belongs).   A pile of laundry can take an organized space and make it look cluttered very fast.  If you can’t keep it in the laundry room while it is in process, at least move it to another area (unused guest room perhaps).