Oh, Wise Queens of Laundry!

[simka2]

How do you do it? Especially, if you have a large family. What routines have you found that keep the laundry monster at bay? :D

 

...and after you have washed and dried it, but don't have time to fold it, where is th ebest place for a laundry pile? (I know I probly shouldn't have a pile, but I'm taking baby steps ;))

 

I bow to your infinite wisdom. :bigear:

[missmoe]

Still trying to figure this one out! :bigear:

[KS_]

...and after you have washed and dried it, but don't have time to fold it, where is th ebest place for a laundry pile? (I know I probly shouldn't have a pile, but I'm taking baby steps ;))

 

 

 

I don't have a big family, but I try to do all of our laundry on the weekends because the electricity is about 1/3 the cost, so I do a lot of laundry in 2 days. One of the best things I've found is to fold dh's and my laundry as I'm taking it out of the dryer, and put the folded clothes into a laundry basket. That way it's folded and won't get all wrinkled, but I can take a couple days to put it away. I would do that for the kids' laundry too, but they're in charge of getting it folded and put away as soon as it's done. The bath towels get hung back up right away and the only laundry I leave in a pile (in a basket) is the kitchen towels and hand towels.

[mysticamethyst]

For me I do one kids clothes a day, this usually equals 2 loads a day. My kids wear close to the same size so this helps me not have to spend a lot of time figuring out what belongs to who. I do laundry every day except Sunday. If I can't get to folding it stays in dryer till I can refluff and then fold.

What is hard for me to stay ontop of is the girls trying on outfits then not hanging failed outfit back up; more often than not it ends up in laundry basket.:glare:

[cougarmom4]

Well...my lifelong goal has been to find the end of the laundry hamper...and it has yet to happen. :D

 

I've been trying to figure it out, too and I think I finally found a little system that might work. I put up some shelves in my laundry room and got a bin for each family member, wrote their name on the bin. When the load is done in the dryer, I fold it right then and put the folded clothes into that family member's bin. Then they happily put their clothes away when asked.

 

Doesn't always work...but that's the plan!

[texasmama]

Well, you've come to the right place.;)

 

I have laundry down to a science. Do you have a laundry room? If so, then you need to make it into a "laundry center". I have a smallish laundry room with a sink. I hung shelving units (cheap and easy - from Walmart) to hold detergent, hangars and to hang up the hanging items. I found that when I had a "laundry pile", it piled up to the ceiling...so I have eliminated it by hanging everything which is hangable right out of the dryer. My teen washes her own clothes, but I do the laundry for the other five of us.

 

I have three laundry baskets in my laundry room, two small ones for the dirties (lights and darks separated into each) and a large, tall one for the clean, non-hanging items. I frequently go through the kids/mine and dh's closet and take empty hangars into the laundry room so there are always plenty there. I do laundry, hang to dry on plastic over the door hanging thingies what I don't want in the dryer, then dry the rest. From the dryer, I hang all the hanging clothes and I have a place to hang mine and dh's and the boys' clothes (they share a room/closet) - so I am grouping clothes by the place they will be going. I put my littlest dd's in a specific place, too. I take the boys' non hanging items (socks, underwear, pants, shorts) and sort them on top of the washing machine, where they stay until I put them away periodically (typically calling the boys in there and handing them things to put away). I put littlest dd's non hanging items (socks, underwear, pj's, shorts, pants) on top of the dryer.

 

I put all other non hanging items into the "clean basket". This includes mine and dh's underwear, socks, dh's under dress shirt t shirts, towels, kitchen towels..hmmm, I think that is about it. When it gets fullish, I carry it into my bedroom and sort and fold on our bed. Most of the laundry is staying in that room so it works.

 

This system works for me because nothing is ever horribly wrinkled as it would be if it were put from the dryer into a pile to wait to be folded. I put things away as I have time. I do laundry whenever there is enough to make a load of either whites or darks. The only places for dirty laundry are my closet (tall hamper) and the laundry room. It simplifies things for me. The laundry room is right across from the boys' room so they put their clothes in there. I will look for pics of my set up...I posted them awhile back on another forum because someone made the mistake of asking about laundry so I went into my spiel.:D

[kristavws]

I do laundry every.single.day. If I don't it just seems to take over. Like the previous poster, anything that gets hung goes straight from the dryer to a hanger. My dh intentionally did the rods in the closets low enough so that the boys can reach them, and hang up their own clothes. All of their socks, underwear, and pjs go from the dryer to a large basket. When it is full, they sort it and put it away.

Edited May 7, 2011 by kristavws

[Crissy]

I don't have a large family, I am only homeschooling one now, and my small-business workload is light this time of year, so take this for what it's worth.

 

I have three baskets that laundry is sorted into as soon as it comes from the bedroom or bathroom: white, light, and dark. When a basket becomes full it gets washed.

 

I try to run a load first thing in the morning, so I can fold it and get it put away before I need to get in the kitchen to cook dinner.

 

I taught my boys at a pretty early age how to get a load into the wash, measure the soap and check the machine settings. If I am busy and there are a couple of loads that need to be run, I can ask one or the other to switch out the laundry. They know this means to move the stuff from the washer to the dryer and pick one of the full (already sorted) baskets to put in the washer.

 

My very least favorite part of laundry is the putting away part. I don't know why I hate it so much, but I do. To prevent piles from being left because I am avoiding the chore, I fold laundry on my bed. I have to put it away before I can crawl into bed at the end of the day.

[Tap]

There are 5 in my family. Ds16 does a lot of his own laundry but if he has a pile on laundry day I toss it in with ours. Dh and I often have 2 sets of clothes a day due to work uniforms and then at home clothes. We live in the PNW so layering is the only way to stay appropriately dresssed for the varied temps through the day. This makes for lots of laundry.

 

 

I do laundry one time a week and often have 9 loads including towels.

 

I sort by color and make appropriately sized piles for my machine (combining as I go to get full loads).

 

I wash each load and as it comes out, I lay it all flat on my bed, except for dh and my pants that get laid on the ironing board so the legs can dangle and cool down without as many wrinkles. I also hang up all of dh's and my work shirts right out of the dryer, the rest are hung up later, but I care more about those being wrinkle free.

 

As the items come out, they are each laid in piles for each owner. In a seperarte stack, at the top of the piles, are socks and underwear for each person.

 

When I am done, I hang all of our items and dd4s, and fold the very few folded items we have. DD4 puts away her items like socks, undies and Pjs (her only folded items).

 

DD12s and DS16s are dropped off in their rooms or they come pick them up off the bed. I do not put their laundry away for them.

 

By having it on my bed, I make sure to get it all put away before dh goes to bed. By having it all on one day, I don't have to think about it any other day. We all have enough clothes to go well over a week, so we aren't running out by the end of the week. I occasionally run a load of towels during the week if I need to but very, very rarely do I do clothing. When my son was swimming competitively we did a few loads of towels mid-week, but the kids helped me to keep up on them.

Edited May 7, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[amyinva]

Each bedroom has a laundry basket, a nice looking one with a lid. Every morning, DS8 gathers all laundry and carries it downstairs to the laundry room. He sorts it into the 3-section laundry sorter (dark, medium-whites, and towels). I do at least 2 loads almost every weekday. I will combine towels and medium-whites if not enough for a full load. I have a large plastic laundry basket, and a small one right by the dryer. MOST IMPORTANT PART: I never take the laundry out of the dryer without folding/hanging it. Socks & underwear go in small basket for kids to sort. I fold into the large basket or put on hangers (I have a small clothing rod there). Things that must be ironed go on the ironing board and I iron them at naptime. End of the day, kids take into the appropriate rooms and each person puts his own away.

 

The trick is a kid MUST bring all dirty laundry down every morning, and I will repeat NEVER take a single item out of the dryer without folding/hanging it.

[Sue G in PA]

Oh TexasMama...pics please? :D I've yet to tame the monster. I just made friends with it. :lol:

[texasmama]

Here are pictures of my laundry center.:D

 

 

[simka2]

WooHoo! :party:Who'd a thunk I would be so excited about a laundry thread!!!! ;)

[AK_Mom4]

My system is in a bit of disarray as we are keeping the puppies in the laundry room and they enjoy removing laundry from baskets, but....

 

Normally, every bedroom has a laundry basket (I share with DH). When they want clean clothes, they bring down the basket and start the first load. When they were little, I washed the clothes. When the clothes come out of the dryer, they are folded and put back into the basket to be put away by the owner. DH's work clothes get hung up on the rod above the dryer. If I don't have time to fold, there is usually some kid hanging around who cna handle it and get the next load started.

 

Folding right out of the dryer is my key to staying on top of things.

[texasmama]

In the third picture down, you can see one white t shirt hung up. That is the place which holds mine and dh's hanging clothes. The boys hanging clothes go in the middle of the shelving unit (which are two units hung side by side...did it myself;)). Littlest dd's clothes are hung between the empty hangars, which are sorted with the kids' hangars on the right (boys use the smallish wire ones and littlest dd uses the small plastic ones) and mine/dh's on the left. I have a small trash can in there to toss out lint, trash which falls out of pockets, etc. This is not a superlarge room, as you can see so I have had to make the most of the space.

[texasmama]

And no one is allowed to make fun of my overly excessive stockpiling of All Free and Clear.:lol: It was on sale...and I had coupons.;)

[simka2]

So, for all of you who are saying to put the laundry pile (if any) on my bed...that means I have to make my bed huh?:tongue_smilie:;)

 

Maybe I am a hopeless case! No, actually I think I can do this maybe I should post before and after photos of my laundry situation. :D

[Susan in TN]

Each bedroom (that's 4 bedrooms, 2 people in each) has it's own laundry day. The "room" is in charge of it's own laundry. They are required to bring the laundry down, get it into the washer and then dryer, and bring it back up to their room by the end of the day. Much less sorting and at least the clothes are getting back to their original owners. Sometimes things get added from other people, but it's a minimum. We often do an extra load on Sat. for misc. items. I do help with the 8yo/4yo laundry, since they have a hard time reaching the buttons and often need help sorting their clothes between them without major conflicts :glare:.

[Remudamom]

I do at least three loads every day. Three loads is very light. I've got a big laundry room so it's a bit easier.

 

Make sure a kid goes through the entire house everyday and brings all the laundry to you.

 

Sorting baskets.

 

You have to fold everything right out of the dryer. Right then. Not later. Then make someone put it up immediately, even if you are the someone.

 

We hang all shirts. Even tees. The only shirts that don't get hung are white work tees that go in a drawer in the laundry room.

 

I've got a big rolling hanger thingy from Walmart in the laundry room so I can hang shirts immediately.

 

Big table in there to fold other things.

 

In the end, you just have to work your butt off and keep at it. My girls are a big help but the boys are still cavemen. But if I or the girls walk by laundry and don't change it, start it, fold it or put it up there is trouble.

[Mejane]

Well, I don't have a large family, but I find if I don't do one load each day it still gets away from me. So it's like this each week: lights, darks, towels, sheets, lights, darks, misc. Works for us.

[simka2]

I don't have a big family, but I try to do all of our laundry on the weekends because the electricity is about 1/3 the cost, so I do a lot of laundry in 2 days. One of the best things I've found is to fold dh's and my laundry as I'm taking it out of the dryer, and put the folded clothes into a laundry basket. That way it's folded and won't get all wrinkled, but I can take a couple days to put it away. I would do that for the kids' laundry too, but they're in charge of getting it folded and put away as soon as it's done. The bath towels get hung back up right away and the only laundry I leave in a pile (in a basket) is the kitchen towels and hand towels.

 

This intrigues me. Have I missed something about the way electricity is priced?

 

Someone please educate me! :D

[Crissy]

This intrigues me. Have I missed something about the way electricity is priced?

 

Someone please educate me! :D

 

Some areas have off-peak usage pricing. Usually after some late hour in the evening and on weekends the cost is less.

We used to have that sort of pricing, so I'd be running the washing machine and the dishwasher at 10pm.

[Tap]

So, for all of you who are saying to put the laundry pile (if any) on my bed...that means I have to make my bed huh?:tongue_smilie:;)

 

Maybe I am a hopeless case! No, actually I think I can do this maybe I should post before and after photos of my laundry situation. :D

 

If you start with the first load being your own sheets, you can wash and dry them, and have the first load out of the dryer going back onto your own bed. That way, you are more inclined to make your bed (at least on this one day) and when you go to sleep, you have a nice fresh bed and all the laundry done too. :)

Edited May 7, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[Ellie]

Fold/hang clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer. It's a hard habit to develop, but it is SO worth it.

 

I sort my clothes thusly: all-cotton whites (because I add bleach of some kind, and polyester yellows if you use chlorine bleach; this load includes all-white cotton dish cloths and wash cloths--I only buy white wash cloths); all other clothing (if more than one load's worth, then randomly sorted, not by color or lights and darks or anything); towels; bed linens (which is weekly).

 

By the time dc are 10ish-12ish, they should be able to do their own laundry.

 

Some of my friends who do laundry daily start a load first thing in the morning, every morning.

[Audrey]

I don't have a large family, but it helps me to designate different loads for different days. Monday is sheets and towels, Wednesday is whites and any cold or delicate wash stuff, Saturday is the rest.

[purplemama]

I try to most important stuff out of the dryer right away and hang it up on a plastic hanging rack right next to my dryer. I can't do that all the time, though. Our laundry room is my garage. I enter through my kitchen. I just keep clothes there until I have time to fold it. My older children, fold towels, washcloths, socks and underwear, and I just leave those for them--usually get folded the same day. I fold clothes that haven't been hung up when I don't have anything else to do...usually while waiting for my kids to finish some school work or at night when I just need a few minutes to unwind...yes, it relaxes me and I do it in dim light in my living room so that I can relax before bed.

 

Jennifer

[KS_]

Some areas have off-peak usage pricing. Usually after some late hour in the evening and on weekends the cost is less.

We used to have that sort of pricing, so I'd be running the washing machine and the dishwasher at 10pm.

 

Exactly. I also could do my laundry after 7pm in the evenings, but I'm trying to unwind in the evenings and don't want to be doing laundry. So I run about 10-12 loads over the weekend and am done for the week :)

[Brenda in FL]

I try to wash one load per day. It works best if I put the clothes in the washer the night before and program it to start i the morning. Then sometime during the day, I transfer them to the dryer. I fold in the evening while watching something on TV or netflix.

 

If I have a pile to fold its always in the family room. (If I wait a couple of days to fold - no problem - time to watch a movie!!!)

 

I don't always get it all put away - but it will be folded ad in baskets.

 

Next step - is to get the kids more involved in the process.

 

Oh - I have a 3-section laundry hamper - so the dirty clothes get sorted as they are put in the hamper.

[Janie Grace]

This thread is a godsend! I have been totally overwhelmed by the laundry monster in my house. My set-up right now is every room has a basket, every room's clothes are washed on a different day. NOT WORKING AT ALL.

 

This is because a couple of my sons wet their beds. That means pajamas/sheets in need of washing. They also have sports clothes that need to be washed more promptly than once a week. I am constantly fishing stuff out of baskets that is "dire" (boys need baseball shirts! baby needs pajamas! Dad needs underwear!) and creating random combination loads. It's driving me insane.

 

I am so guilty of not folding as stuff comes out. I still don't really understand how you do this if you are doing several loads per day. How do you just stop everything and fold? I feel like I am going ALL DAY LONG.

 

Also, those who hang up all shirts -- how do your little kids reach their shirts in their closets? I have a couple who wouldn't be able to reach hung stuff. Why do you hang t-shirts instead of fold them? I'm intrigued.

 

ETA: I think I'm going to try the baskets in the laundry room thing... everyone brings their dirty clothes to the laundry room every day. Do 2-3 loads per day. I have plenty of room for baskets in there.

[Tap]

Also, those who hang up all shirts -- how do your little kids reach their shirts in their closets? I have a couple who wouldn't be able to reach hung stuff. Why do you hang t-shirts instead of fold them? I'm intrigued.

 

Thanks!

 

These help..

 

Ours is a solid bar down below (not divided like the one shown) with metal rods that connect the two.

 

We hang everything because drawers get messy and take up a lot of room. My kids don't have dressers. I build shelves into thier closets that fit baskets. The baskets are used for pjs, underwear, shorts and socks. Every thing else is hung up.

Edited May 7, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[Tabrett]

The magic age is 10. When my oldest dd turned 10 she started doing her own laundry. She had a day where the laundry room was all hers. I plan on doing the same with my other dc.

Why 10? At 10 you are tall enough and old enough to do all your laundry by yourself. It only take mom once or twice to show you how to run the machines.

[KS_]

 

I am so guilty of not folding as stuff comes out. I still don't really understand how you do this if you are doing several loads per day. How do you just stop everything and fold? I feel like I am going ALL DAY LONG.

 

 

 

I really don't think it takes that much longer to fold as I put the clothes in the basket than it does to just pile them in. I just grab an item out of the dryer, fold, put in basket (that's sitting on top of the dryer), repeat. I do just throw the socks in w/o matching at this point because the kids' laundry isn't mixed in with mine and dh's and so it's pretty easy to match socks as I put the other folded items away later.

[Janie Grace]

These help..

 

Ours is a solid bar down below (not divided like the one shown) with metal rods that connect the two.

 

We hang everything because drawers get messy and take up a lot of room. My kids don't have dressers. I build shelves into thier closets that fit baskets. The baskets are used for pjs, underwear, shorts and socks. Every thing else is hung up.

 

Those are cool. I like the baskets idea. Do you hang jeans? Don't they fall? Do your kids REHANG stuff that is still clean? It's all I can do to get them to stuff clean things back into drawers. Sorry for all the questions -- I really, really, really want to find a system that works. This is the issue that may eventually cause my nervous breakdown. ;)

[texasmama]

I am so guilty of not folding as stuff comes out. I still don't really understand how you do this if you are doing several loads per day. How do you just stop everything and fold? I feel like I am going ALL DAY LONG.

 

Also, those who hang up all shirts -- how do your little kids reach their shirts in their closets? I have a couple who wouldn't be able to reach hung stuff. Why do you hang t-shirts instead of fold them? I'm intrigued.

 

ETA: I think I'm going to try the baskets in the laundry room thing... everyone brings their dirty clothes to the laundry room every day. Do 2-3 loads per day. I have plenty of room for baskets in there.

 

I do 1-2 loads per day. My littlest dd can reach her clothes, but we are a tall family. ;) You can get a device which hangs on the existing rod and makes the bar shorter for little ones to reach. I hang everything that I can possibly hang. We have room in the closet to do so, and it keeps things from getting wrinkled. I only toss in the "clean basket" the things which don't need to be hung. I stopped folding underwear years ago, btw. I just toss it in a drawer. It really doesn't matter.;) I fit in laundry here and there in my day. It takes maybe 3-4 minutes to clean out the dryer, hang the hanging clothes and sort the rest. I sometimes leave during a short homeschooling break to go deal with the laundry.

 

My dh works out, and my boys get really gross and sweaty outside so we end up with extra laundry on those days and stuff that doesn't need to sit for a week or it will mildew. That is why I wash everyone's clothing together whenever we have enough to make a load. I try to get it started first thing in the morning, but I will do it whenever I have a chance.

[Janie Grace]

I really don't think it takes that much longer to fold as I put the clothes in the basket than it does to just pile them in. I just grab an item out of the dryer, fold, put in basket (that's sitting on top of the dryer), repeat. I do just throw the socks in w/o matching at this point because the kids' laundry isn't mixed in with mine and dh's and so it's pretty easy to match socks as I put the other folded items away later.

 

So when does sorting happen? Are all the kids' clothes coming out of the dryer at once? I feel like folding is a big job b/c it involves looking at tags sometimes and making piles for each kid.

[Cera]

I don't have a large family so ignore this if you want. I have found that I don't fold the laundry if I have somewhere out of the way to pile it. I have started folding/hanging everything as it comes out of the dryer. I put a bar above the dryer that I keep stocked with hangers and then each of us has our own laundry basket (I color coded the handles with paint). I refuse to fold all the laundry so whoever is closest when the dryer buzzer goes off is recruited to help. It gives me a little one on one time with that person and the job goes quickly. Once a basket is full that person has to empty it and return it to the laundry room.

[Sue G in PA]

Cool! THanks, Texasmama! I love your set-up. My laundry room is also my office/schoolroom and it would sure be nice to have shelves and a place to hang clothes.

[Janie Grace]

My boys get really gross and sweaty outside so we end up with extra laundry on those days and stuff that doesn't need to sit for a week or it will mildew. That is why I wash everyone's clothing together whenever we have enough to make a load.

 

YES. This is why I need to switch to your system. I have boys your boys' ages, plus two more! My laundry situation is beyond nasty.

[Tap]

Those are cool. I like the baskets idea. Do you hang jeans? Yes, we hang it all. Once the kids are in about size 6, the jeans are folded over the hanger. When they are little, I buy the hangers that have the little clips on them. Walmart has an affordable kid version of these, plastic hangers with removable clips. I like the removable clips because sometimes we move the clips around based on how many items we have to hang. The clips are also great for clipping tights to a hanger.

Don't they fall? Nope. I do make sure to buy kid size hangers for the littles. They switch to full size hanger around 10yo-ish.Do your kids REHANG stuff that is still clean? For the most part. I try to teach them to hang clothes inside out that have been worn for a while, but are still clean (that is what I do in my own closet LOL) so they will know what is fresh and what isn't. BUt, they really don't care and just throw everything back on a hanger.It's all I can do to get them to stuff clean things back into drawers. Once they are taught to hang clothes, it isn't hard to do. Really, folding takes more coordination than hanging. Just teach them to lay the pants on the floor, slip on the hanger to half way, and then pick up the hanger. Another trick is to teach them to put a shirt on the floor and put the hanger up through the bottom hole in the shirt, not the top. By using the floor, or the bed, they aren't trying to hold the item and the hanger at the same time. Sorry for all the questions -- I really, really, really want to find a system that works. This is the issue that may eventually cause my nervous breakdown. ;)

My kids were taught to hang laundry at about 5yo, 'mastered' by about 6 or 7yo. (as well as a 6 or 7 yo will hang clothes LOL)

Edited May 7, 2011 by Tap, tap, tap

[LBS]

I have a huge pile, in front of the washer and dryer. It defeats me often. I have tried mass folding in front of the TV. I've tried disciplining myself to doing what my organizing books tell me: wash-to-putaway only, don't start it if you can't finish it. That's hard, its so tempting to load washer and dryer one last time.....I do pull hot things out of the dryer and hang, as its running, ideally. I divide into several types of loads: bleachable, light colors, medium colors, reds, jeans, khaki pants, jeans....obviously I have lots of laundry.

 

My best idea is that I had shelves built over and on wall above the washer/dryer. Each person has about a two foot section of shelf where their folded items go. When their space is full (its marked, too) they must come and unload it, and take it to their room and put away, as well as grab all hanging items. I like doing laundry, esp since I put a little DVD player in there, to catch some space-out time, but both big kids learned to do it, and have done fine at college. KISS tip is to use Greased Lightining as the all-purpose pre-treat. Amazing stuff. You can even put enough in to do a load if you run out of regular detergent, and clean the laundry area, while you wait. Ha.

 

My next idea, is to clear a bunch of rarely used pots and pans out of the pantry/laundry room, and put a shelf system in that will hold 4-5 laundry baskets. This way, each person can bring their own laundry down and sort (jeans, white, light, dark) OFF THE FLOOR! Now that would be wonderful.

[Koerarmoca]

I spilt like this

sunday- sheets/blankets

Monday- dd2/dd5

tuesday- dd9/dd12

Wed- dh/me

Thursday kitchen linens/towles

friday/saturday- off

 

I sort and stain treat, dd12 washes, dd9 drys, I fold and everyone puts away.

[KS_]

So when does sorting happen? Are all the kids' clothes coming out of the dryer at once? I feel like folding is a big job b/c it involves looking at tags sometimes and making piles for each kid.

 

At this point, I'm getting away w/ one load per child (minus jeans) and I don't sort their laundry into colors. I haven't had any issues with colors bleeding or anything. Their jeans get put in with the rest of the jeans. If for some reason they have too much for one load, I'll throw the extra few items into another load, but generally don't mix their laundry with any other laundry so I don't have to sort out which clothes belong to whom. If they didn't have enough for a full load (or if I was doing laundry more often), I would probably just wait til there was enough for a full load so I didn't have to sort out their clothes.

 

For the rest of the laundry, on Saturday morning, all of dh's and my laundry gets taken downstairs to the laundry room where I sort it before I start the loads. These loads only contain his and my clothes, so when I fold it as it comes out of the dryer, I put his stuff on one side of the basket and mine on the other :) His dress work clothes are a separate load that I do hang after they're dry.

[Jayne J]

My biggest help in keeping up with laundry was getting rid of about half of all the clothes my kids owned. Seriously. I was inspired by this blog. If you scroll about 1/2 way down, on the right is a section headed "Happy Home: Laundry Organization" which has a Worksheet link (I think it is titled Clothes Management or something like that). Although I wasn't as extreme as she was, I really weeded out a lot of clothes. We also have a daily "Is it *really* dirty?" inspection during which we pull out/pick up all the things that they only wore for a little while (church clothes, pjs, the pants they wore for 15 minutes before deciding they wanted shorts instead, etc.) These are folded/hung and put away. Everything else is carted to the laundry room and sorted. I generally start laundry on Friday and finish up on Saturday, but with the return of the warm weather, I tend to hang things on the line to dry and so I do a few loads whenever the sun in shining.

 

As for folding, well....

[kalanamak]

How do you do it? Especially, if you have a large family. What routines have you found that keep the laundry monster at bay? :D

 

...and after you have washed and dried it, but don't have time to fold it, where is th ebest place for a laundry pile? (I know I probly shouldn't have a pile, but I'm taking baby steps ;))

 

I bow to your infinite wisdom. :bigear:

 

I dump the hot laundry out on hubby's kingsized bed, and I do then fold whatever needs to be folded right off or it gets wrinkled. I drape the towels over the end and spread out the sheets over the back of the couch, so they don't get wrinkled. Then, I zip back to fold as soon as I can.

Hubbys can fold while they watch TV, too. :)

[Shellydon]

I wash 3 or 4 loads each day. I pile the cleans in a laundry basket and fold at night after the kids have gone to bed. I have never been able to master folding as it comes out of the dryer. If I did that, we'd miss chunks of school and the 2 yo would destroy something.

 

We are a family of 6.

[2squared]

Laundry is one of the things that works in our house. Our system is a little different than some of the others that have been mentioned. Here are some of the highlights:

 

• The kids have a very limited wardrobe. They each have 1-2 drawers for their clothes, and they don't have anything hung up. They all have closets in their rooms, but the closets don't have hanging rods so they couldn't hang clothes even if they wanted to.
  
• We store clothes where they are needed. My 3yo uses one of my dresser drawers for all her clothes since we still help her dress in the morning. The 3yo & 4yo keep their underwear in the bathroom. The dc's socks are stored in the entryway.
  
• Out of season clothes are stored in tubs in a shed. I brutally purge after every season, and I pass on hand-me-downs as soon as the season is over.
  
• We have three laundry baskets in the house: bathroom, upstairs hallway, and laundry room.
  
• I wash and dry (dryer or hang dry) all the laundry every day. I don't sort anything.
  
• I fold clothes every other day. I fold on the dining room table so they have to be put away before we eat dinner. The dc put everything away as a pre-dinner chore.
  

 

[NancyNellen]

I pop a load in every morning, switch at lunch and begin a second if I need to. Than when school is complete I fold load #1 and pop load #2 into the dryer. As soon as it's done I fold it (hate, hate, hate seeing all my clean laundry wrinkly - so I never do piles). My kids put their laundry away during chore time before dinner.

[Carrie12345]

My laundry "room" is a closet (thank goodness the Duets stack!). Our main laundry hamper is right around the corner the closet forms, which is conveniently located in front of the bathroom and in between the kids' rooms.

 

If something doesn't go in the hamper, it doesn't get washed. Dh has learned that lesson the hard way. :tongue_smilie:

Otherwise, I throw a load in every morning, with additional loads as-needed or when I have a few extra minutes. I "sort" straight from the hamper.

 

I pile each persons clothes on the back of my couch (near the closet) and yell "Come and get it!" Then I put the little boys' clothes away myself. My clothes and dh's clothes tend to stay in baskets in our room, since ours is the only upstairs bedroom and we never seem to get around to putting things away properly up there. :001_unsure:

[SonshineLearner]

I'm gonna check back on this :) We, so far, have a laundry monster. BTW, I had my first problem ever with laundry just now.. red something made the whole load of hots... pink... Including my husband's socks!!! Oops....

[Ginevra]

We are a family of 5. I do laundry twice a week, generally Wed and Sat. Each bedroom has a laundry basket. I sort darks, whites, reds and delicates. Sheets and towels are usually washed on the weekend.

 

As the clothing comes out of the dryer, I fold and sort it on my bed. Each child gets their basket back with the clean clothes; they put them away (in theory) ;).

 

This system works fine for us.