Things seem so peachy the first week back to school. New books, new supplies, new planners. Then the 2nd week starts up and I know what happens in my house. I look around and holy cow it's a mess. And the laundry. Oh the laundry. Once I heard a story about a mom who bought new socks and underwear for her family because she was totally overwhelmed with the mountain of laundry in her basement.
One google search for laundry tips and your head will be spinning with all the ideas. I watched an online video series on laundry/meal planning/dishes. She recommended doing only one load a day from start to finish. Wash in the morning, switch to dryer at lunch, fold in the afternoon and put away after supper. This might work for smaller families, but for my large family one load a day just won't cut it. Seems there's always an extra load of beach towels or bedding or throw rugs.
From collecting dirty laundry to washing to putting away, I'm going to share the ONE trick that has helped me keep on top of the laundry. I'm not saying you need to adopt my way, but if laundry is causing you a bit of a quandary I encourage you to think through the steps, search out laundry hacks, make a plan and follow it for 2 weeks. Then make changes as necessary. We modern homemakers really have it easy in the laundry department. Yes, we have more clothes and fabric items in our home than in the olden days, but we also have machines to do the work of laundering - no feeding clothes individually into the wringer washer. When we put clothes into the washer we get to walk away and do other things like reading lessons or spelling tests.
The Laundry Trick - FOLD THE CLOTHES STRAIGHT FROM THE DRYER
When I hear the chime signaling the end of the drying cycle I DO NOT grab a laundry basket. I open the dryer and fold the clothes placing them in piles on top of my front loaders. I have 9 piles, one for each person in the family and each person has their spot. I arrange them from oldest to youngest: myself, husband, Emily, Nick in the back and the other 5 kids in the front. That leaves me space on the far right for sorting socks, folding bibs, friends' forgotten items, etc. I fold all day as needed and then put laundry away at the end of the day, typically while the kids clean up supper dishes or just after putting the little ones down to bed.
Towels and washcloths are all washed together with bleach, placed in a basket and folded at the dining table. I usually grab the closest, able child for that job.
Folding right from the dryer has allowed me to stay on top of laundry (for the most part) even with a large family, even while homeschooling. When I used to put the clean clothes in laundry baskets it was so easy to transfer more laundry to the dryer. Pretty soon I had 4 baskets of clean clothes to fold and it felt overwhelming. One load folds up in about 10-12 minutes. 4 loads? Takes Forever!
Folding Clothes Straight From the Dryer Works For Me
Works For Me Wednesday is a linky party hosted by Giving Up On Perfect.
Oh, laundry, why don't you EVER END?! :) Your tip is spot on. If I fold right away, I stay on top of the Laundry Monster. But if not...well, let's just say I'm very familiar with the sight of laundry piled up on top of the dryer! Thanks for linking up with WFMW!
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