There's way too much laundry in this house. I can wash it all, but then the pile sometimes likes to hang out in the family room for a while and get jumped on. I'm tempted to just start throwing it back into drawers not folded, especially all those little underwear. It all gets undone anyway when my kids dig through looking for Star Wars shirt, soft pants, or cutie pj's (all Jackson, by the way).
So what do you do, all of you who are better housekeepers than I? (Yes, that's pretty much everyone reading this . . . ) Any good shortcuts you use?
10 comments:
When I start feeling overwhelmed with laundry I:
1) Get rid of clothes. Toss the stuff that's yucky, put in storage the stuff that's too small, give away the stuff that I no longer want.
2) Set a schedule for doing laundry. I know how often I can get a full load of something, so I set days to do that type of laundry. Today I'm doing whites. I can hold off on darks until Thursday. And I try not to leave clothes in the dryer or in a pile. As soon as they're done I fold them as fast as possible, not really neatly either, just trying to get it done and put away.
Laundry is my least favorite household chore, so I try to spend as little time on it as possible. This works for me! Good luck and may the force be with you.
You just reminded me that I have a load in the dryer. I'd much rather get all the laundry done at once. I usually have 3-4 loads a week.
I fold the laundry, but the kids put it away. They even hang up the shirts. Timothy can't reach the closet bar, so I have to hang them, but he puts the shirts on the hangers. I never fold kid underwear. I don't really fold PJs either, just kind of stuff them in there. It's all doing to get messed up anyway.
When I pull the clothes out of the dryer I do take time to lay shirts flat so they don't get wrinkled before they get hung up - more important for mine and Aaron's shirts. I hate ironing. We hang up shirts because we don't have enough drawer space for shirts, and the shelves are not accessible for the boys.
Laundry day is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you didn't get it in the basket, mommy isn't going to pick it up. I fold it, and they put it away. They pick out their own underwear and fold it if they want to, I don't.
Want to make sure the laundry is always put away, picked up, etc? Refuse to put laundry away that isn't yours, do not wash it if it's not in the basket, do not wash it on a non-designated wash day. They will learn that if they want clean clothes to do their part. They will come looking for clean clothes when they can't find any.
Good luck, from a hypocrite laundry mom. :) (We have a pile of unfolded laundry right now...reading your blog was more important).
I do what my mom did--do laundry all day and lay it out on the back of the couch as I go. If it doesn't get folded during the day (and it usually doesn't), I use it as an excuse to sit in front of the tv after the kids are in bed and fold as I watch.
And Larissa, I think you're a better housekeeper than you think you are--at least you care, right?
I've stared making my kids step up a lot more with their clothes.
On a good week: I hang up all the shirts so they don't get wrinkled. But all the boys pajamas and underwear and socks I just leave in the basket and let them "fold" them and put them away (and no, they are not folded so much as bunched up before thrown in the drawers). They also have to hang their own towels back on their hooks. Kids laundry I do at least one load a day, so they have a little bit to do every day.
It is a chore that they can do really quickly, so they don't seem to complain too much, and I sure like having someone else do it. Then I do mine and Zak's and sheets and everything in one day. I let a few loads stack up on the couch and then fold it all at once (usually while watching a movie).
So that is the way it works around here. (I can say this because I know you won't come stop by my house anytime too soon and see that it really only runs this smooth probably one week out of every month, and that right now I have two loads sitting on my couch waiting to be folded. I also thought reading your blog was more important)
Ohh Laundry!!! I believe it to be a decease that grows and grows!!!
I like to ("LIKE TO"- didn't say always do) do laundry on Saturdays (your Monday) and I do blacks first then light colors then whites.
I do it that way because I start in the morning and the whole fam knows that day is cleaning day anyway. I start after Elena goes to school and David goes to work. The little one helps me load and move to the dryer.
-Then I fold it right away when it comes out, because those are Dave's work clothes and the other option would be **hold on, puking here*** IRONING!!! also there aren't as many dark clothes as light ones so it doesn't take that much time.
-Then I do lighter colors and by then Nani is home and Victoria is napping, so we watch a show together while I fold.
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Then I do whites and those stay in a basket until after bed time when I turn on the TV and watch some meaningless makeover show while I fold the whites.
Some times when time is short I fold what must be fold/hang right away (David's slacks,shirts) and little things go in a basket and the stuff that might wrinkle I just lay flat on another basket. I leave them there until night time when I watch some other deep-cleaning TV show and fold away.
I think the key it so be determined or terrified of the consequences of not folding :-)
Well....I do have it good in one way...John does all the washing. Oh, I do a load here or there...but he does the bulk. But we hang dry everything, so he can wash loads faster than they dry.....than it is left up to me to fold and put away.
SO.....I have at least 6 loads of laundry in a pile in the bedroom. Darn. Wish I had some kiddos to help me with it.
I've got to set up a TV upstairs to watch and fold. I think that is the only way I'll get through it.
I don't have any answers for you. I struggle with it too. 4 little people's socks for a week is enough to fill a whole load. I think I will always struggle with it and I've come to peace with that! :)
Mmmm. Good question and I like the ideas you've got. Our bishop jokes with us that we've become the 'always have laundry going' family. My only trick I sometimes follow is if it's out during the day I try and make sure it's put away that night. Something about starting fresh each day is helpful. We also hang everything except undies and socks which I think works pretty well...then you don't have to worry about folding and refolding. Once it's hung, it's hung! Unless of course you play hide and seek in the closet and it all comes down again.
One of my dearest friends told me one day, "Wendy, you'll never reach laundry nirvana, someone is always wearing something and getting it dirty."
I tell my kids it's OK to wear the same jeans 2 days in a row and PJ's until they get dirty. I do towels every other Monday and Wednesday I plow through and do about 4 loads and just start it as soon as I wake up and it's usually all done and put away by dinner time.
You really just have to find what works for you. Good luck.
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