Admittedly, I’m a reforming laundry addict.  While the rest of my house might be in utter shambles, so help me, the laundry is under my complete control (or maybe it’s the other way around. I’m not sure).  For years, I wouldn’t even let David help with the laundry.  Everything had to be done a certain way and I was such a freak about it that it was just about a full time job.  With 6 people in our house the laundry can easily be overwhelming, but over the past several months I’ve been letting some things go and creating a new “laundry system” that seems to be working out really nicely.  Here are 10 ways I’ve simplified my laundry routine:

1.  We bought the largest capacity washers we could find.  When we moved, our other washers stayed with the house and so I got these babies.

Ahhh. I do heart my Whirlpool Duets (laundry area makeover coming soon!!!). Yes, they were a little more expensive, but I can actually wash a set of sheets and a load of towels all at the same time.  I have probably cut at least 5 loads of laundry a week simply by doing larger loads. Plus, they use much less water.

2.  I created a schedule and stick to it (most of the time).  For example, I wash all of Callie and Lily’s laundry on Sunday evening, put it back in their hamper and they fold it and put it away on Monday afternoon.  I absolutely will not wash their stuff again until the next Sunday.  This simple change has made a world of difference.  A) It cuts down on the number of things they put in the hamper that aren’t dirty because they know if they put it in there it won’t be washed until the next week and they know the more they put in there, the more they have to fold and put away. B) It also ensures they clean up their room on Sat or Sunday afternoon because if it doesn’t make it in the hamper, oh well. Ellie is Monday, Tuesday is for towels and Charlie, Thursday is for mine and Dave’s, and Sat. is more towels and anything else random that needs washing.  (You notice I actually have two days I don’t do laundry, which is amazing).

3.  I wash each room’s stuff separately.  I used to sort everyone’s laundry all together and do several loads of darks, several loads of lights, etc.  and then I’d have to fold it, sort it back into baskets for each person’s room, and then put it away.  I never felt like it was done.  I’ve found it’s a lot easier to do each person’s separately, put it right back in their room, and let them fold it and put it away. No more having to sort out who’s stuff belongs to whom (and no more of my stuff ending up in the girls’ drawer).  Plus I feel like I can say something is DONE for the week.  It just feels better that way. 

4.  I left space on each rack of the closets to hang up the stuff that I hang to dry.  This way when I hang it up to dry it’s already put away. 

Ellie's laundry drying in her closet

No more hanging it up to dry where it would stay for days until someone (me) decided to put it away. It dries right there in the closet - and makes the closet smell like fabric softener. Note – you do have to leave plenty of room for the clothes to have space between them or else they won’t dry and will end up all funky but I just left about 2 feet right in the center of the kids closets and for mine I left about 1 foot at the end of each category of clothes (pants, tops, dresses, etc.).  Once the things are dry I just slide them over with the other stuff. 

5.  As an extension of the above – As I take things off the hanger to wear I move the hanger over to the empty “drying” space so when I’m ready to hang something to dry I don’t even have to hunt for a hanger.  It’s right there.

6.  Clorox 2.  A little pricey but I’ve found this to be a huge load saver.  Instead of doing a load of pinks each week, a separate load of whites, etc.  I do each person’s in two loads – Light and Dark – and use clorox 2 in every load except towels (where I use regular bleach).  It keeps colors bright, prevents fading, and gets stains out.  Amazing. I’ve been using it for a month now, and haven’t had a single thing fade onto something else in the wash.

7.  If something is ruined. It’s ruined.  I used to spend so much time on stain removal.  Granted, when the girls were all younger, everything had a stain, everytime they wore it, so I kind of had to or else they only wore it once.  Now, if something has a stain, I spray it with spray and wash and wash it.  If it doesn’t come clean it’s relegated to play wear.  Maybe that’s wasteful, but time and energy are too valuable to spend hours over a chocolate milk stain.  I doubt when they grow up their going to praise me for my excellent stain-fighting skills.

8.  I don’t do odd socks anymore.  For a while, the odd sock basket was a chance for the kids to earn money (about .10 for every pair they matched up) but now that I do all of the laundry in their room at once, every sock SHOULD have a mate when I wash it.  If it doesn’t, it means you didn’t put it in the basket like you were supposed to and I just throw them away if they don’t have a mate.  Yes, wasteful, but since I started this new rule, people have been checking under their beds and in the closet before laundry day and we’ve only had a few casualties. AND I no longer have an odd socket basket that has to live in my closet. Life is too short to be spent on socks.

9.  I often only run the dryer once for two loads of laundry.  This saves a TON of time and energy. Since I hang up most of the denim, pants, skirts, and tops to dry (see #4), each load that goes in the dryer is much smaller than the load that went in the washer and the capacity of the dryer is bigger than the washer.  I transfer the first load into the dryer, let it hang out for a bit while the next load washes, then I just dry it all at once.  The washer will wash a load in about 15 minutes but the dryer takes about 45.  This way, I don’t have to wait on the dryer to finish.  I spend about 30 min. washing the two loads and then another 45 drying that one big load.  Plus I estimate I’ve cut at least 5 times the dryer runs a week.  I have no idea how much energy that saves but I figure it adds up somewhere.

10.  Laundry is not allowed anywhere but the laundry area or the room it belongs in.  It only comes downstairs to be washed and then goes right back up.  When we moved in, I made a rule that laundry WOULD NOT be allowed in the den.  So far, it’s stuck.  It’s so much easier to put away if it’s folded in the room it belongs in.  I don’t know if this necessarily makes things easier but I don’t have to look at it all the time so it makes me happier.

So tell me, what are your laundry tips/tricks?!  I’d love to hear what works for you!

I’m linking to www.ohamanda.com as part of Top Ten Tuesday and www.wearethatfamily.com for Works for Me Wednesday.