Build a Laundry System!
February 1, 2010 by Nikki
Recently I asked my readers, “what is your biggest organizing challenge?” Laundry fell into the top 2 headaches we have in running our households!
We all have it and most of us dread it!
To eliminate the nagging feeling of when is the laundry going to get done… Think about creating a system for your laundry. Creating a system means creating a schedule.
Here are a few ideas to get you started!
- Decide on a schedule - do you prefer to do laundry during the week or leave it for the weekends? There are pros and cons for each. Doing a little each day means having your weekends free. On the flip side waiting until the weekend, means you do not have to worry about it during the week. Some like to do a little bit of laundry everyday. Others have designated days for different loads. For example; Mondays- towels, Tuesdays – adult clothes, Wednesdays- children’s clothes. The point is to have some kind of schedule you can follow as a guideline. This will not always be the same every week as schedules change, but it’s a good starting point.
- Once you set a schedule, make sure your family is aware. If you have decided Friday is the day, make sure all of the laundry is in by 8am! Family involvement will help maintain your system. More on this later.
- Do laundry from the beginning to the end. This does not matter if you haven chosen one day or every day of the week. Finishing from beginning to end means all clothes washed that day are put away. By making it a priority to complete the loads means you will not accidently leave anything in the washer! And your utility area will stay neater and be more organized!
- Make sure each family member has their own hamper. To eliminate some of the sorting, do the laundry by family member rather than putting all the clothes together. First load belongs to Suzy, second load belongs to Johnny, and so on. Buy hampers that are divided into sections. Teach your family to put the whites in one section, darks in another. It can eliminate you from doing all of the sorting.
Quick Tip: Some will say to start your washer before you leave for work, and then when you come home, put in the dryer. Well, I am one to not recommend this. About 2 years ago, we had a flood in our house due to the washer machine. The water never stopped filling up. I was home, so I lucky caught it in time to where it did not cause too much damage..I can’t even imagine if I was not home, what the outcome would have been. My tip: Run all of your appliances, washing machines, dryers, and dishwasher only when you are home!
What is your system at home? Do you have something to share? Believe me, mom’s all over are looking for ideas! We would love to hear yours!!
NEXT BLOG POST: Getting your family involved in helping with the laundry!
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Great tips Nikki! This is one area that is not a problem for me, but I know it is a common issue for mom’s I work with too! Thanks for addressing it and giving some practical tips!