Tired of never finishing the laundry? These simple tips will help you catch up. Reduce laundry overwhelm.
As parents, we all have to deal with tons of laundry. It’s a rare family that doesn’t have a Mount Washmore hiding in their house somewhere.
Now that it’s summer, I’m trying to stick to my plan of just doing laundry once a week to keep our house cooler. We live in the Pacific Northwest, and in the summers, it’s actually not that rainy, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to line-dry some of our things to keep the temperature down in our house.
Even though we’ve switched to laundry day instead of daily laundry, I still feel like laundry is something I’m always trying to keep up with. I’ve researched ways to make it easier, and I came upon these unique laundry tips that have actually made a difference in my laundry struggle.
Tips to Reduce Laundry Overwhelm
- Have a central location for all dirty laundry. I did this when my kids were younger, and it saved us a lot of time. Our laundry room was close to our bedrooms, so it made sense to set up our system this way. Instead of going from room to room and gathering hampers, all of the dirty clothes were in one spot. Now that my children are older, they have laundry baskets in their own rooms that they’re responsible for.
- Organize your laundry room. Laundry room organization can typically be done in a day or less. It’s well worth the upfront effort to get your laundry room functioning the way you want it to. One of the nice things about organizing a laundry room is that it usually stays organized for a while, and doesn’t need a lot of maintenance to keep your organizational systems running. Read: Laundry Room Organization You Can Do in a Day
- Start a daily laundry routine. Doing one load of laundry each day is a lot more manageable than doing a huge laundry day every week. If you can make it work with your schedule and lifestyle, try to do one load each day. Go here for more tips on starting a daily laundry routine.
- Simplify your detergent. We started using laundry pods when our children started doing their own laundry. This made it easier for them to start a load of laundry on their own, and we didn’t need to worry about spills. I’ve recently switched from pods to detergent sheets. They work just as well as the pods and take up a lot less space in our laundry room.
- Replace your dryer sheets with a reusable option. Dryer balls made of wool do just as good of a job as dryer sheets, and they last for years. I think I’ve had mine for 5 or 6 years, and they still don’t need to be replaced. Keep them in your dryer, and you never have to remember to put dryer sheets in again. And, you don’t have to buy them anymore!
- When you move clothes from the washer to the dryer, remove each item from the washer one at a time and shake it out. This helps to keep clothes from getting tangled and twisted, and results in fewer wrinkles. It seriously works.
- Completely finish one load of laundry before starting a new load. I thought this would slow me down, but it’s actually helped me to keep my laundry room neater. The idea is that you should not start a new load of laundry in the washer before you completely dry, fold, and put away your first load of laundry. This is especially helpful for people who do one load of laundry each day.
- Let everyone in your family be responsible for their own laundry. In the video above from Real Mom Real Solutions, she shares how her 13 children do their own laundry, and put everything away. It’s a great system with a lot of good ideas you could implement with families of any size. Be sure to watch the video above, or you can go here to watch it on YouTube.
- Reconsider how you put away laundry. I’ve seen a lot of YouTubers keeping all of their clean clothes in baskets in their laundry rooms. We don’t have enough space for that, but we do keep a lot of hanging clothes in the laundry room for easy access. We also keep socks and sports uniforms in the laundry room. If you can work out a way to have fewer clothes to put in dressers or closets, it will make laundry a lot easier!
- Remember to clean the lint trap. Make this part of your routine. Before you start a load in the dryer, check the lint trap and clean it out. This makes your dryer run more efficiently and helps prevent fires.
- Load your washing machine with clothes and laundry detergent at night, and start it in the morning. This makes it easy to start a load of laundry in the morning – just push start after you grab your morning cup of coffee! If you’re using liquid laundry detergent, it’s better to add it right before you start the laundry instead of letting it sit overnight.
More Laundry Tips and Hacks
- Wash towels on busy days – Towels are easy to fold, and they don’t get wrinkles as fast as regular clothes. Give yourself an easy laundry day when you know you have a lot going on.
- Use a sock basket instead of matching and folding socks. Go here to see how we use our sock basket.
- Use cold water. Did you know that modern detergents are designed to work just as well in cold water as they would with hot water? Experiment with only using cold water, and see if you notice a difference. If you switch to only using cold water, you’ll save money on your utilities, and you won’t have to worry about changing the water temperature settings when your kids do their own laundry.
- Wash linens on the weekends when everyone is home. That way everyone can help put sheets and blankets back on their own beds.
- Air-dry delicate garments and bras overnight. By morning, they’re usually dry enough to put away.
- Add vinegar to loads of laundry that have bad odors. Even though vinegar also smells bad, the odor will go away by the time your clothes are dry.
More Laundry Ideas
Do it In a Day: Laundry Room Organize & Reset
Create a Laundry Routine That Works for You
What to Do When You’re Overwhelmed By Your Home
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