Laundry Mondays....Getting Control of your Laundry

I used to hate doing laundry and would leave it all to do on "laundry  day".  I always thought that was how it needed to be done because that was how my mother did it.   Of course when I first started doing my own I still had a wringer washing machine and a clothes line. It was supplemented with double laundry sinks though so I considered myself very lucky, but it still took a whole day to fill the machine and wash all those clothes starting from the whites to the darks then emptying and filling again to rinse.  Then sometimes it took a few days to get everything out on the line and dried. Of course all those wrinkled items needed to be ironed.  Does anyone else remember this.



Laundry doesn't have to be a monumental task.
Today I have a matching washer and dryer and it makes me smile when I go into the laundry room to put a load through. Remembering the old way always makes me very grateful for what I have now. 

Doing Laundry now
 

I guess if you never experienced a laundry day like that, you might not realize how easy it should be now.  Notice I say  "should be".  That's because I'm always hearing how people have let it pile up until they are overwhelmed with the task of getting it done.


If you want to get rid of huge piles of laundry you need to get get rid of laundry day. We create dirty laundry every day , but it doesn't take a whole day to get it clean.  Follow my laundry posts over the next few  weeks   and maybe you won't hate laundry any more either.  And on your day off from work maybe you can find something more enjoyable to do.

Lets start with sorting. It's such an important step. If you don't sort your clothes when you wash them, they will soon look dingy, colours will run or fade and that shirt you just loved when you bought it won't be so great any more.  A long time ago I just threw all my dirty laundry into one big pile and then it took ages to sort and made a big mess on the floor when I did the wash. Not any more. Everything is sorted all the time now.

This is what you need to do. Find a central space in your home to keep at least 3 baskets for continuous sorting. Ideally this would be the laundry room but the bottom of a small closet or a space in an upstairs hall will work if that is what you have.  Use one for whites and pastels (make sure nothing will run), one for darker coloured clothes  and one for towels,underwear and socks.  Do a quick round up once a day from bedrooms and bathrooms and toss items into the correct basket.  Better still get each family member to put his or her own clothes into the right basket.

Get the whole family on board by putting their own clothes in the bins

Now you have all the laundry sorted and you haven't even started yet.  See how easy this is going to be. Maybe not if you have  a mountain of laundry to do before you start your new system, but if you  do have a mountain of laundry that's a really good indicator that you need a new system.  Just saying.
























If you want it to be even easier , teach each family member to put their own laundry into the sorting station.  Of course older children should be doing their own,  but you will probably  have to help those little fellows for a bit until they get the hang of it, otherwise you might find a weeks worth of clothing under the bed or in the toy box. 



Here are a few laundry sorting stations that you might like, but picking the system that is easiest for you is the key to actually making it work.

With just a few shelf parts you can put together this simple system for your laundry baskets.


































A good simple and cheap system just using baskets and labels can be found here.
























This slide in system created by welcome to the nuthouse is really great because it doesn't use up a lot of space.   I would put castors on it though for easy moving.















OR
You can buy a six pack of these baskets from Amazon and create your own system.



or maybe this system from Vileda found here.

















Which ever system you choose, just remember that by using it faithfully you can  make your laundry task much much easier.

Find   Part 2 here to see what to do with your nicely sorted laundry.
and Part 3 here to see the finish line.


Update:  If you have a talented builder in you life you could build this  Dresser Sorting Station. Click on the link to get full instructions

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what you think of todays post.