Taming the Laundry Beast
I'm fortunate in that it's mostly just the three of us that live here and produce dirty clothes. Well, Sonny Boy was here recently too ... but he leaves in 2 more days (sob).
We do go through a LOT of clothing though ... and that generates quite a bit of laundry for just three. Hubby has his work clothes and then his gym clothes ... and trust me, those need washed after each wearing.
I have my work clothes and then my after work clothes, gym clothes, depending on what I do after work. And those get washed after each wearing ...
Princess has HER work clothes (and as a cook, they MUST be washed after each wearing) and then her numerous items that are worn throughout the following 2 or 3 hours she's out of work. What is it with girls, grown mini adults that they STILL wear 3 to 4 outfits a day?
There, now you have a visual of the amount of clothing. Dare we go to the towels? Kitchen, baths, cats, etc. O. M. G.
Before you know it, there could be a laundry monster in the house. YIKES.
But never fear ... I have a few rules that I follow to keep it under control. Only occasionally does it rear it's ugly head (now, for instance with the holidays, extra people in and out, etc.) and I know how to get it back in it's little cage.
1. Don't let it pile up. EVERYONE must have their laundry in the laundry room, in the CORRECT hamper/basket. I am not going to sort out the dirty clothes ... they should be sorted the moment they hit the laundry room. It takes time (and I'm still training!) to get everyone to spot their own clothing. I do not spot unless I know there is something there ... irritating that everyone still whines to me about stuff like this =D So, if you can instruct your group to spot treat when they dump the clothes in the correct hamper/basket, you have one up!
2. Make certain days laundry days. No, you don't have to wash ALL of it in one day. But make Tuesday a dark day and Friday a white day. Breaking it up makes it more manageable. Because the end goal is to do that load of laundry from start to finish NOW.
3. Move clothes to dryer immediately. And then remove from dryer as soon as the bell tolls. Seriously. Don't let the clean, beautiful smelling clothes sit in the dryer til tomorrow night. Wrinkles are NOT your friend.
4. Fold, iron and PUT AWAY immediately. The kids put away their own clothes. I fold. I iron. I put away mine and Hubby's. The kids get their basket with nicely folded clothes. IF they leave those clothes in the basket where I need to go hunt the basket down the next laundry day, they hear about it. I put all that work into it, you better do your part =D.
I do have a laundry room, which shares space with the cat box. And a few other miscellaneous items (bread maker is under the cabinet, cleaning supplies, sewing machine and such in another cabinet) ... and it can get clutter-y. I make it a point every few weeks to go in and clear out the clutter and organize ... it makes doing the laundry a little more enjoyable.
Yes, I do line dry quite frequently. When moving the clothes from washer to dryer, a lot of my work clothes are pulled out and hung on a clothes rack in the guest room. Occasionally I'll be ambitious and line dry the WHOLE load, and while I've not been doing this much lately, if the electric bill gets to high, I will go back to it. My only issue with doing this is that the laundry is not 'complete' til the next day or so and if I've got other chores slated, well, that just makes more work for me then. Trust me, if I didn't work full days and half evenings (that extra job is taking my time) I'd be all for it, but not lately.
So there you have it, my four simple tips to Tame the Laundry Beast. Definitely Works For Me! How about you? What are you doing to keep it under control?
Oh, and PS: You can get 4 100oz bottles of Tide Laundry Soap for $47.88 and knock the price down to $40.70 if you sign up for Subscribe and Save (I did this recently, first shipment will be here on Friday because honestly, the cheapest I've seen a 100oz even with a coupon is $14) ... you can select how often you want the shipment to come and I've done it every 4 months ... BE SURE TO LOOK FOR AN ADDITIONAL $2.00 OFF at bottom of page.
We do go through a LOT of clothing though ... and that generates quite a bit of laundry for just three. Hubby has his work clothes and then his gym clothes ... and trust me, those need washed after each wearing.
I have my work clothes and then my after work clothes, gym clothes, depending on what I do after work. And those get washed after each wearing ...
Princess has HER work clothes (and as a cook, they MUST be washed after each wearing) and then her numerous items that are worn throughout the following 2 or 3 hours she's out of work. What is it with girls, grown mini adults that they STILL wear 3 to 4 outfits a day?
There, now you have a visual of the amount of clothing. Dare we go to the towels? Kitchen, baths, cats, etc. O. M. G.
Before you know it, there could be a laundry monster in the house. YIKES.
But never fear ... I have a few rules that I follow to keep it under control. Only occasionally does it rear it's ugly head (now, for instance with the holidays, extra people in and out, etc.) and I know how to get it back in it's little cage.
1. Don't let it pile up. EVERYONE must have their laundry in the laundry room, in the CORRECT hamper/basket. I am not going to sort out the dirty clothes ... they should be sorted the moment they hit the laundry room. It takes time (and I'm still training!) to get everyone to spot their own clothing. I do not spot unless I know there is something there ... irritating that everyone still whines to me about stuff like this =D So, if you can instruct your group to spot treat when they dump the clothes in the correct hamper/basket, you have one up!
2. Make certain days laundry days. No, you don't have to wash ALL of it in one day. But make Tuesday a dark day and Friday a white day. Breaking it up makes it more manageable. Because the end goal is to do that load of laundry from start to finish NOW.
3. Move clothes to dryer immediately. And then remove from dryer as soon as the bell tolls. Seriously. Don't let the clean, beautiful smelling clothes sit in the dryer til tomorrow night. Wrinkles are NOT your friend.
4. Fold, iron and PUT AWAY immediately. The kids put away their own clothes. I fold. I iron. I put away mine and Hubby's. The kids get their basket with nicely folded clothes. IF they leave those clothes in the basket where I need to go hunt the basket down the next laundry day, they hear about it. I put all that work into it, you better do your part =D.
I do have a laundry room, which shares space with the cat box. And a few other miscellaneous items (bread maker is under the cabinet, cleaning supplies, sewing machine and such in another cabinet) ... and it can get clutter-y. I make it a point every few weeks to go in and clear out the clutter and organize ... it makes doing the laundry a little more enjoyable.
Yes, I do line dry quite frequently. When moving the clothes from washer to dryer, a lot of my work clothes are pulled out and hung on a clothes rack in the guest room. Occasionally I'll be ambitious and line dry the WHOLE load, and while I've not been doing this much lately, if the electric bill gets to high, I will go back to it. My only issue with doing this is that the laundry is not 'complete' til the next day or so and if I've got other chores slated, well, that just makes more work for me then. Trust me, if I didn't work full days and half evenings (that extra job is taking my time) I'd be all for it, but not lately.
So there you have it, my four simple tips to Tame the Laundry Beast. Definitely Works For Me! How about you? What are you doing to keep it under control?
Oh, and PS: You can get 4 100oz bottles of Tide Laundry Soap for $47.88 and knock the price down to $40.70 if you sign up for Subscribe and Save (I did this recently, first shipment will be here on Friday because honestly, the cheapest I've seen a 100oz even with a coupon is $14) ... you can select how often you want the shipment to come and I've done it every 4 months ... BE SURE TO LOOK FOR AN ADDITIONAL $2.00 OFF at bottom of page.
I am with you totally on the laundry routine.I follow a similar plan. Just let me find out he teens threw clean laundry down. I'm still training with thw pre-treating too! I just love Tide. I have tried to use cheaper or make my own a million time and good old Tide wins EVERY time!
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