I’ll be honest – doing the laundry used to be my least favorite chore to tackle. I felt like I was constantly drowning in dirty clothes, and that was before I got married and had kids. Now that we generate enough laundry each week to outfit a small militia, I had to figure out a way to make laundry work a little better in my house – and, thankfully, I did! It wasn’t without trial and error, but I finally found a system that works for my household.
Feeling overwhelmed by your laundry situation? Here are five rules I swear by to stay on top of laundry:
Follow the one touch rule
I first heard of the one touch rule several years ago, and since then, it’s revolutionized the way I maintain my home. The idea is incredibly simple – put things where they belong the first time so you won’t have to touch them again. It can be applied to all kinds of things that are prone to cause mess and clutter, but it’s especially helpful where laundry is concerned. The one touch rule means making sure all dirty clothes end up in a hamper – not tossed on the floor – and move straight to the wash from there.
Label your hampers
Finding and sorting laundry to wash was taking up way too much of my time, so I changed it up and found a way to streamline the process. We don’t keep a hamper in each bedroom. Instead, they stay in the laundry room where they belong. I have a hamper for towels, whites, colors and denims, so when it’s time to load the washer, I can just grab a hamper and dump it in – no sorting required. If your little ones are too young to read, label your hampers with a picture to show them what should go inside.
Dedicate time
For ages, I felt like I was constantly doing laundry. I’d throw in a load to wash whenever I felt it was necessary – which was nearly every day. I thought laundry was going to drive me crazy, so I found a way to make it a little more manageable by tackling the bulk of it at once. Sunday is now laundry day in our house, and everyone knows it’s all hands on deck when it’s time to fold a clean load or put things away. I’ll wash a load of laundry during the week if it’s absolutely critical, but otherwise, it can wait!
Don’t buy stuff with weird washing requirements
There was a time in my life where I was in love with floral, flowy blouses – you know, the delicate ones with lace details. Not anymore. Those tops always needed to be washed by hand – and I just don’t have the time for that. Now, I check the tags for washing requirements before I make a purchase. If it needs to be dry-cleaned or hand-washed, it goes back on the rack unless I’m absolutely in love with it.
Have a place for lost socks
For ages, unpaired socks were a big problem in my home. Socks without a pair just went back into the drawers they came from. The idea was that the other one would eventually find its way back into the same drawer – but even when that happened, they rarely found each other.
Now, I’ve attached some clips to the wire shelf that hangs over my washer and dryer. Unpaired socks get clipped up and remain until we stumble upon their counterpart. This simple solution has seriously cut down on the number of mismatched socks in my home.
By putting these measures in place, I was able to transform the laundry from my most dreaded, most time-consuming chore to one I don’t actually mind, too much.
Do you follow any of these rules in your home to keep laundry manageable? If not, which do you think would make the biggest impact in your home? Leave a comment and let me know!
Angela says
I enjoy all your helpful tips 😉