Simplyfing Organization: Laundry

Posted on April 2, 2008

Everyone has their own system for doing the laundry. Some are highly effective and some just add to the sense of clutter. I am the first to admit that I don’t use my highly effective system all of the time, but when I do I find that laundry really doesn’t seem that much of a chore. Also, keep in mind that I am only doing laundry for 3, so my system may not work for people doing laundry for more.

With that disclaimer-here is my highly effective laundry system:

1) Have a laundry sorter in your bedroom so you can separate your clothes into darks, mediums, and whites as you take your clothes off instead of taking additional time sorting. This works so well for us, that I even bought another separate hamper for my shirts that need to be washed on delicate, and Chloe has her own laundry hamper in her room since all of those clothes also need to be washed on delicate. Those of you with older children, there is absolutely no reason why your kids can’t have a laundry sorter as well, it will start teaching them how to sort. It should also be expected that clothes do not belong on the floor! My sister and I talked about this with her youngest, Sabrina tends to just leave her clothes where they fall.

2) Pick a day for you to do all the laundry, and this means every step: washing, drying, hanging and folding. I find this is a good day for a movie marathon, so when the clothes start coming out of the dryer, I can sit on the couch watching movies while I fold and hang clothes. In the time it takes to fold and hang, the next load is usually ready to come out of the dryer, so there is very little “down time.” In our old house, our washer and dryer were upstairs, so it worked perfectly to just fold and hang clothes in the room they should be in anyway. However, now I do it downstairs in the family room, because a majority of the time I am folding and hanging, Chloe is napping and I am always terrified of waking her up. If you can fold and hang in the room where the clothes live, that’s best.

3) As I am folding and hanging, I sort the clothes into their categories: socks, underwear, t-shirts and pajamas all get folded and placed in the laundry basket I use to transport clothes, then John’s long sleeve shirts, short sleeve work shirts and jeans get hung, my nice shirts get hung. When I take the clothes upstairs to put them away, it takes me less than five minutes to put them in the drawers where they belong, because they are already sorted.

4) Involve your kids as much as you can with the laundry. At this point with Chloe, she just pushes the buttons on our washer and dryer, I let her help me put the clothes into the washer, and I have her put her dirty clothes into her hamper. But as kids get older, its a great way to involve them in chores, especially matching socks or folding towels and washcloths. And if you have drawers and closets organized, its easy for your kids to put their own clothes away, as I said above, it takes less than 5 minutes of their valuable time.

Even if this system won’t work for you…the key with any system is that the clothes should be in and out of the washer and dryer and put away on the same day. If you are in the habit of stacking clothes, or leaving the clothes in the hamper then I am sure you also find the clothes stay there for days and continue to add to the clutter in the house. (I am guilty of this same offense on occasion, but I really try to follow my highly effective system as much as busy schedules will allow.)