Tips For Faster & Easier Laundry Days

It wasn’t that my laundry room was too small. 

Actually, it was bigger than any I had previously had. It was nice and roomy, and had a large sink to scrub and soak really dirty clothes in. It even had lots of cupboards and plenty of counter top space.

But week after week, I struggled to get the wash sorted, washed, dried, and sorted again, before trying to fold everything and put it away. 

We did have a large family, but I couldn’t believe that there wasn’t a better way to manage laundry for a family our size.

Who wants to spend all their time in the laundry room? And, how was I supposed to get the cleaning and cooking and everything else done that goes with a family when I was spending so much time in a laundry basket??…? Know what I mean?

Frustrating. Discouraging. Depressing. Overwhelming.

My laundry room looked awful. Terrible describes it even better.

There was clean laundry piled on the counter top as high as it would go without falling off and every laundry basket I had was filled to the brim with clean clothes. There was so many dirty clothes on the floor in the biggest heap and jumble it took an hour to just sort everything. 

The shirts very seldom got ironed, and looked like they got dug out of a cave by the time the boys wore them.

And the socks. Oh my goodness. We had more unmatching ones than matching. I think.

So, what was I doing wrong?

I can’t even remember where I got the thought, but it must have been sent from God.

Of course! Why hadn’t I thought about it before now?

I packed up the babies and diaper bags and anything else we would need, and took off for Target.

We bought each person in the family a soft, round basket, to hold all their dirty clothes and then another one that was a little more oval shaped and larger than the first one and had sections to divide underwear etc from pants or t-shirts.

I wrote their names on each basket, and I placed each basket either in their bedroom or the bathroom where they shower daily.

The big baskets to put their clean clothes in I kept in the laundry room because I had space to put them there but if your laundry room is too tiny,  you might want to put their clean clothes in a dresser drawer in their bedroom. The reason for this was, when I had a nursing baby or a lot of little ones this was so much handier and easier to manage than trying to get everything to everyone’s separate room. And also, we were short of enough drawer and closet space for everyone’s clothes. So, in order to make everything flow, you must be flexible and willing to do things differently.

And so now, I had to teach all the boys to put their dirty clothes in their dirty basket each time they change into a different set of clothes. That doesn’t always get done, but they have been very good in keeping that up.

So when their dirty basket is full, they either bring it to the laundry room for me to run through the washer, or run it through themselves.

Yes!:) They all know how to run the washer! That is one thing I taught each child growing up.:) 

Their whole load goes into the washer and straight into the dryer and when it comes out it’s all sorted and we know whose it is so now we know where it’s supposed to go.

Now, as each load comes out of the dryer, it’s folded and put in it’s designated place. The shirts get ironed or hung up as they come out of the dryer.

Their best shirts I will wash with some of my clothes on delicate because of all the dirt and grease etc that is on their farm clothes.

I also bought 2 large plastic baskets on wheels at Wal-mart that we use for dirty towels. Those sit right outside the shower doors in each bathroom and after each one is finished with their towel, it goes into the designated basket for towels only.

Now,  you’re probably  wondering if every  laundry day is all breeze and sunshine at my house now that I’ve found such a neat plan?

No. Unfortunately, it’s not.

I wish it were. 

But life gets in the way, and trips pop up, and other deadlines. 

My laundry piles up, and the laundry room has that cluttered look.  Again.

But it’s not like it used to be. Of course, my baby is older, too, but in general, laundry isn’t near as dreaded a task in my house as it used to be.

It’s so much faster and easier if everything’s sorted before I wash it. And it’s always sorted.

Except on bad laundry days. 🙁

Are you having a bad laundry day at your house?

Like, a bad hair day? 🙂

I know exactly how you feel.

Tired. Frustrated. Overwhelmed. 

Cheer up! Life doesn’t need to be this way!

Find what works best for you, and, if what you’re doing now doesn’t work,  Change your strategy!

Simple as that. 

You don’t need to spend a lot of money. With a little extra planning, you’ll save a lot of time!

See you in the Laundry Room! 🙂