The ultimate guide to laundry
As promised….
I'm not going to tell you that with a great system, laundry will be a joy. Likelihood is that it won't. Ever. But I will tell you that with a great system, laundry can be a smoother, more efficient and less overwhelming chore. The key is making a schedule and setting yourself up for success.
Laundry schedules
As nerdy as a laundry schedule sounds, it can make all the difference. By creating a (realistic!) schedule, it breaks up the work, so that you don't end up doing five emergency loads at the end of the week. It gives you peace of mind, so that you don't wake up in cold sweat in the middle of the night because you’re not sure you have any clean clothes for a big work meeting you have in the morning (show of hands, who’s lost sleep over laundry 🤭). And it makes it less likely that you'll push it off, to the point that no one in the family has any socks.
Rule #1 of making a laundry schedule (or any schedule really), it HAS to be realistic! I cannot stress this point enough. There is no point creating a really intricate, really ambitious laundry schedule that has you waking up three times in the middle of the night to switch loads - it just won't happen, and then neither will the rest of the schedule. Come up with a practical schedule and then take it down another notch; make it really practical and easy to stick to. Another rule when making a schedule is that it has to work for YOU! Before making your schedule, think about you. Your lifestyle, your personality, who you're doing laundry for etc. For some, they'd rather pound through all the loads in one day and know they're finished for the week. Others might rather do one load a day, everyday. Some could choose two days a week to designate as laundry days…you get the point, there are plenty of options, and you need to find the one that works best for your life and feels the least overwhelming to you.
Setting yourself up for success
Set up your home in a way that helps your laundry situation. For example, if you're one of those people that would rather do laundry one day a week, then ensure that everyone has enough clothes, underwear, PJ's etc. to last the week. And that doesn't mean 7 of everything, because the week that you’re running a little late, everyone will be out of everything. Make sure everyone has at least 8 (or even 9) of everything so that you've given yourself a little leeway and hopefully will avoid full scale panic if you're a little behind. If you're open to hiring a little help, hire someone to come once or twice a week and fold laundry for you. It might sound a little unnecessary, but take it from me, it can make a huge difference! If hiring someone isn't an option and you don't have the time (or willpower) to sit and fold, then set up your closets for that (see this post to read more about that). There are so many little things you could do to make laundry more manageable and more efficient.
It's a changing world
Our lives are constantly changing and we have to change with it. So just as bedtimes, morning schedules (and anything else we think we've finally got down pat 😉) changes with our family’s needs, so must your laundry system. You have to make sure to adapt your laundry situation to fit your life NOW, not your life 3 years ago when you originally set up your system. As soon as it stops working as efficiently as day 1, reassess and adjust.
Tips and tricks
Tip #1 Divided laundry hamper! Best. Invention. Ever. That way, your laundry gets divided as you put the clothes into the hamper and when it comes time to put on a load, you don't have to start separating out the whites…they're ready to go.
Tip #2 Buy a good drying rack - you want one that can hold a lot of laudry but that doesn't take up a whole room. The last thing you need is to have done all your laundry but have nowhere to put it….(I highly recommend this one).
Tip #3 If you've got too much for one load - split the load into 2, but sort it by dryer and non-dryer clothes. That way one whole load comes out the washing machine and goes straight into the dryer without having to sort post wash.
Have a great day and happy washing (or at least efficient washing 😉),
