Laundry SUCKS. Clean laundry that is put away, however, is the greatest thing ever. How do you keep your laundry piles under control and not lose your mind?
A friend of mine told me recently that she hates laundry (don’t we all), so she buys her two boys the same pajama sets… like 7 of each set in one size… that way she doesn’t have to find the matches while folding. GENIUS! haha. Find a system that works for you! Here are some options, and things that have worked for me.
1) My favorite way to do laundry so far is to combine all clothes (minus my husband’s… see option #2) and all blankets and all towels. So for our family of 4, this separates into 4 baskets: Dad’s clothes, other clothes, blankets/sheets, and towels. Then, once everything is washed, separate everything! (I either wait until there is enough for a load, or until we have no more clothes to wear 😂) So now I have a basket of the clean clothes (or usually a giant pile on the couch, let’s be real here), and I start sorting it by person. For some reason this makes laundry easier for me to actually conquer the mound. Seeing each pile and splitting up the task into a bunch of mini tasks makes it easier for me to feel motivated to get the clothes folded and put away. You can either fold each pile, then put away each pile… or fold a pile and put it away, then fold another pile and put that one away, etc. Make sense? That’s how I do it and stay somewhat sane!
Here are the baskets I like to use, especially while pregnant! Someone gave one to us as a wedding gift with some Tide and Shout wipes and spray, and it was one of my favorite gifts because it was so practical and has held up for almost four years now. I’ve tried generic brands throughout our marriage, and nothing compares to Tide and Shout, seriously.
2) Another option is to sort your laundry as you put it into baskets at the end of each day. Get a simple basket for each person/type of laundry (yes, even separate yours and your husband’s) and pick a day of the week to wash and put away each basket. For example, Monday is for kids’ clothes, Tuesday is for towels, Wednesday is for parents’ clothes, Thursday is for blankets/sheets, etc. Although I haven’t been successful in following a schedule like this, HERE is a post about cleaning/chore schedules to keep your house in order without stressing about doing everything in one day!
Now, to explain the husband’s basket… If you have one of those angel husbands that puts his laundry in the basket – no problems – WHERE DID YOU FIND HIM?! Okay, just kidding, I love my husband… but for goodness’ sake – PUT THE CLOTHES IN THE BASKET, I DON’T CARE HOW SEMI-CLEAN THEY STILL ARE!! haha SO, the only thing that I have found to help my sweet husband find the laundry basket is to put one just for him right beside where he gets into bed at night. Yep, he has his own basket right at his feet so that when he strips down, hopefully the clothes just fall straight into the basket 😂 and if they don’t, he ends up picking them up himself because now they’re in the way of him walking to his bed. marriage hack you guys. best decision I’ve ever made.
3) My last option I’ll suggest is to put everything in one basket and sort it before you wash it. I grew up kind of doing it this way (I should add here that I do not separate colors 😬. I probably should, but it saves me some energy and I only do it if I have new clothes that might bleed and need to be separated… I usually put those in with towels because I don’t care if my towels get stained.) Anyways, I grew up sorting dirty laundry before washing it, and I just don’t prefer it that way now. I would much rather put it straight from the basket to the washer than sort through the stench – especially on the farm with Dad’s stinky work-outside clothes and a potty-training-toddler’s clothes. Speaking of potty-training-toddlers, while potty training, I kept a basket in the bathroom strictly for dirty chonies (I don’t even know where that word came from, but it means underwear for all you new folk), and I now use Downy Scent Boosters to keep the laundry smelling clean instead of smelling like pee. For more on potty training, check out some tips HERE.
Now, do you do laundry like me? Or do you have a system that works better for your family? Do you chew ice while folding, or listen to music, or even watch a show to keep you distracted from your accomplishments? Or does your husband do the laundry? Comment below what works in your home!