As I continue the with my theme of organization this month, I would like to share my system for laundry.  I read and hear about so many families who struggle with laundry….countless stories of clean laundry piled on couches, in favorite chairs, and on beds.  On my worst laundry days, I may have one basket of clothes that need to be dealt with.  Here is what I do…

My current dirty clothes sorting using specifically labeled baskets.

My old laundry system with bags and stands

First, I have an organized dirty clothes sorting system.  For years, I used mesh laundry bags on pvc pipe stands.  Each bag was for a different type of laundry.  Now, I have laundry baskets specifically labeled for each type of clothes.  I do have a great sized laundry room now, but even in other homes when I didn’t, I have always found a place to organize my dirty clothes.

My basket for socks, undies and pjs

Second, I have a very specific laundry schedule.  Here is what I launder and when….

• Monday — A load of socks, undies and pjs and a load of jeans and denim
• Wednesday — A load of delicate darks and a load of delicate lights. These are items that I always wash in cold water and hang or lay flat to dry.  Most of these clothes are Emily’s or mine.
• Friday (during the day) — sheets and towels.  With my sheets, I have 2 sets.  As soon as I get up on Friday mornings, I thrown last weeks dirty sheets in the washer.  The sheets currently on the bed get taken off and stored in a basket for the week.  This way I get freshly laundered sheets on my bed and not ones sitting in a cabinet all week.  Plus, I don’t have to fold a fitted sheet which I can’t do any way!  😉
• Friday (after school / weekend) — A load of regular lights and a load of regular darks.  (In all honesty, I would rather not do any laundry on the weekend, but when JoeJack comes home with gym clothes that need to be cleaned and returned on Monday, I have little flexibility.  I usually get those loads started as soon as he comes home Friday afternoon).

That covers everything I wash week after week.  Of course “special circumstances” arrive from time to time and I deal with those as needed.

The benefits of having a specific washing schedule….

1. I know everything gets washed every week.
2. The family knows what day to expect laundry.
3. It helps me provide specific laundry related chores for my kids (I will cover kids chores on my next blog)
4. Laundry is never an all day, overwhelming task!

But, probably the greatest laundry help is what I do after the clothes are washed!

Clothes ready for Skywalkah, JoeJack and Emily to put away.

I hang up 90% of the clean clothes in my house.  Almost everything goes directly from the dryer to a hanger to a closet.  The only clothes in my home that are folded and stored in drawer are: socks, undies, pjs, swimsuits and grungy clothes used for dirty projects.  I have hung up every article of clothing of my kids since I brought them home from the hospital.  (Actually, before they were born, I had all the new clothes hung and waiting for them to grow into.)

I made a one-time investment in hangers.  Sweetums and I have white, Emily has girl colors, JoeJack has dark blue and dark green, and Skywalkah uses yellow hangers.  For some reason I can’t explain, I hang all of Sweetums’ pants and jeans on black hangers.  My crazy self is a little bothered about the fact that Emily and JoeJack’s hangers are not all one color.  I guess I can live with it since they stay in their closet and not mine.  🙂

So my typical laundry routine is…wash, dry, immediately hang up.  But, let’s all be honest here. We all know that sometimes the dryer buzzer goes off and we “can’t hear” it.  So, I throw a damp, clean washcloth in with the clothes and run the load again!

The only items that get thrown in a basket to deal with are the items not hung.  I will be honest, there are some weeks where members of the family are digging through the basket for clean socks, but I’m ok with that!  😉

I know some people feel like kids should do their own laundry.  That doesn’t work in my house.  I do, however, make my older kids responsible for certain loads at certain times.  I want to make sure they know how to use the washer and dryer.

Now if I could only get a handle on all those non-school papers in my house…..

What is your best laundry tip?