laundry ? For family of 7

[3and3]

I am having a hard time keeping laundry up. My family room which is next to the laundry room is always filled with laundry in baskets that needs to be folded and put away.

 

Lately, I have been having older dc 10, 9, and 7 yo sort out their own clothes and put it away, but it doesn't get foled just thrown in drawers. Then I go in their rooms and they are hanging out of the drawers, on the floor, and just laying on top of the dressers.

 

My clothes, dh clothes, twins clothes never get put away we literally live out of baskets. And finding towels is done the same way. Any suggestons?

 

Also, we live in a 2-story house and the laundry room is downstairs and I am always dressing the twins downstairs because their clothes are always in baskets in the family room. This is driving me crazy!:tongue_smilie:

[Coffeetime]

I am having a hard time keeping laundry up. My family room which is next to the laundry room is always filled with laundry in baskets that needs to be folded and put away.

 

Lately, I have been having older dc 10, 9, and 7 yo sort out their own clothes and put it away, but it doesn't get foled just thrown in drawers. Then I go in their rooms and they are hanging out of the drawers, on the floor, and just laying on top of the dressers.

 

My clothes, dh clothes, twins clothes never get put away we literally live out of baskets. And finding towels is done the same way. Any suggestons?

 

Also, we live in a 2-story house and the laundry room is downstairs and I am always dressing the twins downstairs because their clothes are always in baskets in the family room. This is driving me crazy!:tongue_smilie:

 

Just accept it. You will never, ever, ever be caught up on the laundry. :tongue_smilie:

(Can you tell I'm in the same spot you are?)

[Bang!Zoom!]

I used to be a full-time housekeeper for a family of 7.

 

It's not possible to keep up, even with staff in the house doing it for you 9 hours a day. Cut yourself some slack and train them as you go. :)

[Jennifer in MI]

I have a system that has worked really well for us. I bring the laundry down every single day. I have two baskets on the floor of the laundry room - darks and lights. I sort the main laundry into those baskets.

 

If one is full (usually one/day), I throw it in the washer. We hang our laundry to dry, but if we didn't, I'd transfer it right away as it finishes (or assign it to a child).

 

Then, as soon as it's done drying, fold. I have piles of our folded clothes on a table in my laundry room. As soon as one starts to get big, I tell that child to go get it and put them away.

 

Works well for us!

[Remudamom]

I think you can keep up. All your children are old enough to get that job done. You have to train them. Stay on them and teach them how then follow through. The effort is well worth the payoff.

[rwjx2khsmj]

I'll tell you my system and you can determine if it would be of any use to you at all.

 

I do a load or two of laundry each day. In my laundry room I have a laundry basket for each child. I fold clothes as they come out of the dryer. As I fold clothes I put each child's clothes in the appropriate basket. When the basket gets full (usually about twice a week) I call them to come get their basket, put the clothes neatly in their drawers and return the empty basket to the laundry room.

 

If they don't return their empty basket I know they haven't put clothes away. Not having a laundry basket to put clean, folded clothes into prompts me to follow up pretty quickly.

[Ellie]

I don't have a large family, so take my comments with a grain of salt. :-)

 

Although I do have friends with large families who manage to keep up with the laundry, so maybe I've learned something by osmosis, lol.

 

With my own family, I fold and put away everything except children's clothing, and I do it as soon as I empty the dryer, regardless of what else is going on. Household chores just need to be taken care of, KWIM? They are as important as Official School Stuff.

 

Perhaps y'all could make it a family thing: The clothes come out of the dryer, you all fold everything right now, and then you all go upstairs and put things away.

[CalicoKat]

I used to be a full-time housekeeper for a family of 7.

 

It's not possible to keep up, even with staff in the house doing it for you 9 hours a day. Cut yourself some slack and train them as you go. :)

 

Bless you for saying this! I just spent the whole morning folding laundry. Baskets of laundry needing folding because we don't have time to do it as it comes out but we need to keep pushing it through!

 

I've been ruthless with the kids clothing limiting how much they have and recycling & throwing out the old, ripped torn, and stained as I go. I have a tall laundry basket with a black garbage bag next to my dryer for this purpose. I just toss it in there. The bag is black because no one can see what's in it and go fishing!

 

I truly don't know how I did before with a small laundry room. It takes a quarter of the basement to contain the laundry right now. Of course we've done a few extreme things like putting their dressers down there. When we fold it's right into the drawer.

 

And the lovely vintage laundry shoot! I can't do without that ever again. If I have to I will cut a hole in the floor. It is really nice not to have laundry on the first floor ever. :D

[Remudamom]

I do one odd thing that seems to make it easier on us. I don't fold any shirts. All shirts go on hangers no matter what kind of shirt they are. Next to my washer and dryer I have one of those hanger things on wheels that you can buy at a Walmart or wherever. I always have empty hangers hanging on it. Shirts come straight out of the dryer and right to the hangers, no chance to get wrinkled. Hung up immediately then when the whole load is folded it's all put away right away. Kids can definitely hang stuff in their closets. If they can't reach get a chair.

 

If we have any dirty laundry we do it. I don't care how little, I can't stand laundry piling up. Ellie is right, I always had to have a clean house before I could teach. It's just as important and makes everything run smoother. Once you get into the swing of it you'll wonder why it took so long.

[jennsmile]

I recently followed a friend's advice. Each kid gets their own hamper and I have taught them how to wash their own clothes. At this point the only thing I try to wash with mine is their white Sunday shirts. We also do towels all together. I do help the 3 yo fold his clothes but everybody else is on their own. Still working on the kinks but it has helped. I now only need to worry about DH, new baby and myself, towels, diapers, and my sheets.

[Lisa R.]

I found an invaluable laundry tip on these boards awhile ago. Folding laundry takes *a long time*. I wish I could give the poster credit, but I don't remember who they are.

 

Go and purchase lots and lots of white plastic hangers. Get some with clips for pants and jeans. Make sure you have a pole in your laundry room high enough for hanging. For example, while I have a small laundry room, there is a metal pole attached above the washer and dryer. I wish it were longer, but it works.

 

When the dryer is done, all clothing that can possibly be hung up gets put on a hanger. Even tee shirts or things you wouldn't normally hang up. These clothes on hangers get put directly in closets. This also saves time in putting away the clothes.

 

Then, you're only left folding undies and socks.

 

It's sooo much more efficient. Less wrinkles too.

[Janie Grace]

I love those of you who said it isn't possible. I'm sure for some people it is, but for many of us with big families, it is that thing that always tells us we're losers. I refuse to believe it anymore! I am more than neat drawers and empty baskets!

 

I'm not against improving in this area, of course -- I'm just loving the grace in this thread. Good luck to you, OP. I hope you get some helpful tips. I'm :bigear: too.

[Mom25girls]

We're a family of 7 and laundry has been a non-issue the past few years. DISCLAIMER: It's much easier because my girls are 8,9,10, 12 and 18.

Each of the girls has an assigned day (easy with 5 weekdays and 5 girls), and I supplement with bath towels, kitchen towels and "Mommy/Daddy clothes." IF you're only washing one person's clothes in a load, the need for sorting clean clothes is eliminated and the job is much easier! Washer, dryer, laundry basket and put away. I try to do 3 loads per day (because I like to take at least one day on the weekend off). Good luck finding a system that works for you but don't give up!!!!

[MamaCoop04]

I do 1-2 loads a day, every day (now mind you I'm still dealing with little clothes) and as soon as it's done drying I fold and put into assigned baskets. Every morning, before kids eat or get dressed, they have to get their basket (or I take it to them) and they put their clothes away. I help the littles get their stuff put away right, and eventually they learn. I really don't care if it's wrinkled, so stuff away :) This is a must though, it must be put away every morning or it piles up and they don't want to do it all the way or it get really sloppy by the bottom of the basket. HTH.

[3and3]

I have been able to keep the laundry going I do about 2/3 loads a day, but I just never get around to folding. My laundry room is small just enough room for washer, dryer, and 1 large laundry basket. I currently have a large basket upstairs for bringing dirty clothes down which gets done every morning.

 

I have thought about keeping twins laundry downstairs in den and putting shelves in other closets to make it easier to put it away.

 

I do have baskets for each child just can't keep it in laundry room so everything spills over to family room.

[kamom]

Family of five here, but we did this with a family of eleven and it worked.

 

Set up a hamper for darks, lights and towels, in each bathroom, if you have room. I have one dark hamper and one light colored hamper. This will eliminate all sorting. Have one day that you throw in the towels, one day the lights and one day the darks, just keep rotating. This way you won't be handling everything in one day.

 

Example. Monday- empty out the towel hamper, Included in this hamper could be sheets. Fold and put away as soon as it comes out. Or have one child that folds the towels at a certain time that day.

 

Tuesday- throw in the light colored basket, have someone resposible for folding those when they come out.

 

Wed- darks

 

Thurs- towels again

 

Friday- lights

 

Saturday- darks

 

Hope this helps. My Mom loves it too. They still have three at home. she has one day for pants/jeans too.

[Remudamom]

I love those of you who said it isn't possible. I'm sure for some people it is, but for many of us with big families, it is that thing that always tells us we're losers. I refuse to believe it anymore! I am more than neat drawers and empty baskets!

 

I'm not against improving in this area, of course -- I'm just loving the grace in this thread. Good luck to you, OP. I hope you get some helpful tips. I'm :bigear: too.

 

Not saying you're a loser. You just need to figure it out. We have five kids.

[Barb_]

Here is how we handle it:

 

Oldest kids (15, 17, 22) are trained to bring down their clothes, wash, dry, fold and shelve as needed. If your older ones need extra training, you can lump them in with how I handle my youngers.

 

Younger kids (12, 10, and 6) are each assigned a day. The 10 and the 6 share a room, so their day is Monday. During morning break, I call for them to go up and separate their clothes into lights and darks, bring down one load, and put it in the washer. The 10yo knows how to start the washer. In an hour or so I call for them to rotate the laundry. They will not remember it if I don't mention it. One puts the load in the dryer and the other brings down the remaining load and shoves it in the wash. I remind them to start the machines. Separating and starting the machines will need teaching and checking in the first few times, but they catch on quickly. When the dryer buzzes, I call for the older to pull the clothes out and separate into his and hers while the younger puts the last load in the dryer. The 10yo folds her clothes, and the 6yo helps me fold his. When the clothes are folde, I hand them each a pile and say, "Put this in the underwear drawer...AND THEN COME BACK...Put these in the pajama drawer...AND THEN COME BACK" If I don't specify, they disappear :tongue_smilie: Soon the load is done. I do the same for the second load. Then laundry is done for the day.

 

I do the same thing for the 12yo on Friday because she has ADHD and needs more supervision and training for her age than most kids. The older kids are allowed to do laundry on any weekday they wish, but if I needed to, I would assign each a day and supervise them closely as well. Wednesday mornings we do towels but I follow the same routine...kids gather and start the loads, I remind them to reboot (or sometimes I'll do it myself), we fold together, and then they do the running and reshelving. On Saturday and Sunday, the laundry machines are mine for towels, my laundry, and the little one's laundry. Although I'm beginning to train her occasionally too.

 

Laundry almost never gets away from us, but I would never be able to keep up alone. The kids are perfectly willing to help, but since there are long lags between tasks, it's easy to lose track and get behind. With close supervision, they are able to do most of the work themselves.

Edited March 1, 2012 by Barb F. PA in AZ

[Janie Grace]

Not saying you're a loser. You just need to figure it out. We have five kids.

 

Oh no, I didn't mean anyone HERE says I'm a loser... I mean that my laundry "speaks" to me and says "you'll never be on top of me, you loser!" :D

 

I do need to figure it out, you're right. I have 5 kids and most of them are too young to really help (besides putting away). But I know I could be doing better than I am.

Edited March 1, 2012 by Janie Grace

[mariposa]

Have your husband do it! :001_smile:

 

After watching the laundry pile up every week, my dh volunteered to take over on this. He did it this past weekend (and he did it ALL including getting everything put away) and now he's handing it right back to me! But I do think that I'm going to be getting more help from now on (or at least fewer questions about what's going on with the laundry!).

Here are a few more serious thoughts:

1. I agree with those who have said that you'll never be on top of it - and I really appreciate the grace to fail at it!

2. I really prefer to have 2 marathon laundry days a week rather than laundry going every day, but I can see how that would be helpful. I'd go crazy if I had laundry going all the time, though. I like to just focus on it 2 days and well into the night.

3. I have greatly simplified my kids' clothes - and told them that they need to wear pants more than once if they're not dirty (which is easier to enforce if they don't have any pants to wear when they're lazy and just toss them in the laundry basket).

4. I let my kids watch something on tv in the afternoon and fold all their laundry - each one does their own, and they all do kitchen linens and towels. They love it.

 

Good luck!

Sarah

[Bang!Zoom!]

My legs hurt all over again just thinking about that job...it was in a three story home with a basement.

 

Seven people all with individualized schedules who changed three times a day..school uniforms, ski outings, vacations, sports schedules, tons and tons of dry cleaning three times a week for the professional work/career stuff, not to mention what would happen if an illness hit the house....:glare:

 

Those folks were busy from 3 a.m. till 11 p.m. every day.

 

I worked from 7 a.m. till 4 p.m. in that house - cooking, cleaning, laundry, yardwork, everything - you name it. I was an "extra mom" and they honestly needed one "Mom" for every floor.....

 

I admire her for outsourcing everything they did. Today, her children are all grown and out of the house, it's just the two of them and I bet she still has a housekeeper or home based personal assistant, probably two actually. She had her priorities in order, and groceries, cooking and cleaning weren't on the short list for the household for her to handle with her goals.

 

I know she also had staff at her job doing a lot of what she did, and of course so did her husband. Domestic anything wasn't on her radar.

 

I guess if it were me and laundry was driving me insane, I'd look into double duty clothing & simplicity. Jeans can be worn more than once, clothes that do not need "fussing" or special treatment for starters.

 

If you do iron and fuss, I'd go for top of the line helping machines like a professional presser, steamer and let that investment pay for itself in made up time.

[myfunnybunch]

I mean that my laundry "speaks" to me and says "you'll never be on top of me, you loser!" :D

 

:D

 

Yeah, when the laundry starts talking back to you, you've got a problem! :tongue_smilie: I'm pretty sure mine is down in the basement plotting....First take over the basement, then the house, then....Hopefully our laundry piles never get close enough to join forces.

 

Cat

[KrissiK]

Just accept it. You will never, ever, ever be caught up on the laundry. :tongue_smilie:

(Can you tell I'm in the same spot you are?)

 

:iagree: I kind of have a continual pile of clean laundry on my bed (we do have a one story house, so I'm walking by my bedroom often) and I'll take 30 seconds, fold a few things, put them away and go on. That kind of helps. The older 2 kids do all their own laundry and I just make sure I watch them when they put them away to make sure it's done sort of right. Otherwise, it is a battle.

[Beth S]

With seven in our family here, the main improvement here was getting the kids to wear the same play clothes for 3-5 days.

 

I only fold my dh's clothes. All the rest are laid in the drawers. All boys undies + sox are each in a jumble in a drawer.

 

I do one load a day, which usually keeps us up. I think about laundry EVERY morning before breakfast, and every evening after supper. Where is the clean stuff? Do we have enough darks or lights to do a load?

 

But I'd rather do laundry than clean the bathrooms!

[T'smom]

I don't have a large family but one thing that has helped me is to not sort it. Everyone has a hamper in their room and their stuff all gets washed together. Sometimes we're rooting through laundry baskets to get clean clothes- but at least you know what basket it's in!

For my 4 yo, I fold his clothes into 'outfits' jeans, t-shirt, socks and undies. I put them in a closet organizer with the days of the week. I can make sure that nicer clothing is put in the days that we're going somewhere and he's not digging through a drawer to get socks leaving clothing strewn all over this room in the process. When I get it done- it helps a LOT.

I also do marathon folding sessions while watching a favorite show on netflix! That helps too, I can almost look forward to it!

[Citrusheights5]

Honestly it never ever ever gets done. In my house with six littles I've had my dhdo laundry. It is his chore. He does it all on a weekend. Folds and washes and stacks it on our bed in piles that are never right. My daughters jeans end up in my closet etc.. But then sat night we all tromp in pick up a pile and put it away. If you end up with someone else's stuff hand it to them. I put away the 3 year olds, dh does ours and other 5 do their own. Every sat after we've cleared our bed he lays down and declares..... Only 4 loads left. Lol.

[KrissiK]

I don't have a large family but one thing that has helped me is to not sort it.

 

I don't really sort, either. Unless it's really delicate or something. Pants/jeans go in one load, shirts in another and underwear in another. That's all the sorting I do.

[myfunnybunch]

My laundry is in the basement. I used to be completely overwhelmed by the amount of laundry. I've got a young man who is, at 9, just now outgrowing bedwetting, which certainly doesn't help!

 

Some changes I made that have helped:

 

Teens are responsible for their own laundry. I will wash towels (and occasionally, as a favor, bedding). If there is family laundry in the machine, they must move it to the dryer and put any dried laundry in a basket. They wash, dry, and fold their own clothes. They are also responsible for washing bedding. Same with our exchange students.

 

I pared down the younger kids' clothing. Each kid has one drawer for pants and shirts. If all clothing does not fit in the drawer, I go through the drawer and donate, store, or put in the rag basket any extras.

 

Boys' hamper gets taken to the washer daily....by one of the boys. Any wet bedding is taken to the washer as a part of morning bed-making. I wash it first thing in the morning. All hampers are emptied on Saturday as a part of weekly house cleaning.

 

I wash and dry laundry during the day, every day. I just pop down to the basement for the few mintues it takes me to change loads over, and leave clean unfolded laundry sitting in the baskets. I fold in the evening after the boys are in bed. If dh is sitting with me, he will help with sheets and towels.

 

Each boy has his own laundry basket. I put their folded clothing in the baskets and they put them away as a part of their morning chores.

 

:grouphug:

 

Cat

[Janie Grace]

With seven in our family here, the main improvement here was getting the kids to wear the same play clothes for 3-5 days.

 

This is part of my issue... we live in the country and every time they wear anything outside, it's dirty. I think my laundry has doubled since we moved. Wearing something twice (let alone 3-5 days) is almost impossible.

 

Plus we have two bedwetters.

[Bang!Zoom!]

You guys are making me feel guilty.

 

:lol:

[LucyStoner]

Get the kids in on their own laundry as young as they are able.

 

Get rid of the extra clothes most of us have. I realized that I had a pile of laundry BUT most of our drawers and closets were full. Now we only have as much as fits in one dresser for the boys and 1 dresser for me and my husband plus 1 small closet. This means that if there is a pile of stuff to do, there is space to put it away. If there are more clothes than you can store, part of the storage cycle becomes those hampers of unwashed stuff and baskets of washed stuff. If your drawers and closet are mostly full, then your hampers and baskers should be mostly empty.

[thessa516]

I do one odd thing that seems to make it easier on us. I don't fold any shirts. All shirts go on hangers no matter what kind of shirt they are. Next to my washer and dryer I have one of those hanger things on wheels that you can buy at a Walmart or wherever. I always have empty hangers hanging on it. Shirts come straight out of the dryer and right to the hangers, no chance to get wrinkled.

 

:iagree:

 

I do a load or two of laundry each day. In my laundry room I have a laundry basket for each child. I fold clothes as they come out of the dryer. As I fold clothes I put each child's clothes in the appropriate basket. When the basket gets full (usually about twice a week) I call them to come get their basket, put the clothes neatly in their drawers and return the empty basket to the laundry room.

 

If they don't return their empty basket I know they haven't put clothes away. Not having a laundry basket to put clean, folded clothes into prompts me to follow up pretty quickly.

 

:iagree: Everyone has their own - I bought these from Target.

 

Go and purchase lots and lots of white plastic hangers. Get some with clips for pants and jeans. Make sure you have a pole in your laundry room high enough for hanging. For example, while I have a small laundry room, there is a metal pole attached above the washer and dryer. I wish it were longer, but it works.

 

When the dryer is done, all clothing that can possibly be hung up gets put on a hanger. Even tee shirts or things you wouldn't normally hang up. These clothes on hangers get put directly in closets. This also saves time in putting away the clothes.

 

Then, you're only left folding undies and socks.

 

It's sooo much more efficient. Less wrinkles too.

 

:iagree: We hang everything we can. No wrinkle, just a little folding. The folding gets put into the individual baskets, and those get put away once or twice a week.

Edited March 1, 2012 by thessa516
added more

[Bang!Zoom!]

Okay, okay, I have a load of whites going, are you happy now? (in my best sarcastic mommy voice..) lol :lol:

[Coffeetime]

Oh no, I didn't mean anyone HERE says I'm a loser... I mean that my laundry "speaks" to me and says "you'll never be on top of me, you loser!" :D

 

I do need to figure it out, you're right. I have 5 kids and most of them are too young to really help (besides putting away). But I know I could be doing better than I am.

 

:D

 

Yeah, when the laundry starts talking back to you, you've got a problem! :tongue_smilie: I'm pretty sure mine is down in the basement plotting....First take over the basement, then the house, then....Hopefully our laundry piles never get close enough to join forces.

 

Cat

 

:D My laundry talks to me, too. And it isn't very nice, either.

 

It's also prolific. I swear, it breeds and reproduces. There is no other explanation....

[stripe]

I'll tell you my system and you can determine if it would be of any use to you at all.

 

I like your system only I'd prefer they fold some of it themselves. But it sounds clever.

[Janie Grace]

Okay, okay, I have a load of whites going, are you happy now? (in my best sarcastic mommy voice..) lol :lol:

 

Haha! I threw on a load, too, thanks to this thread. :lol:

[extendedforecast]

I also have a family of 7 and we had the same problem of clothes being thrown in the drawers and closet, as well as clean clothes getting mixed in with dirty clothes because the children did not put away their clothes when asked. This is the method I use that has solved that problem:

 

We do laundry one or two days a week, usually sometime between Friday and Sunday.

 

The kids sort what isn't already sorted, and they help load, transfer and unload the clothes as necessary.

 

I fold everything. The kids help put away community items, such as towels, dish rags, etc. DH and I put away our clothes and the two little ones' clothes.

 

The older kids' clothes are held aside until I have inspected their rooms, bathrooms, dressers, and closets. If all is satisfactory, they get their clothes to put away on the spot. If not, they must have their areas tidy before they can have their clothes. In the past, one child went through almost all her clothes before she had no choice but to clean her areas in order to get her clean clothes. She was told that if it happened again, I would reduce her clothing by half, since she didn't seem to be able to handle so many clothes. It has never been an issue since then.

 

Laundry gets put away as soon as it is folded. The kids' clothes that are set aside are put neatly in laundry baskets in my closet until they are ready to be distributed.

[LostSurprise]

This is what works for me.

 

I personally enjoy the time away, so I don't mind folding. I take my laptop in my room on Mondays and Thursdays and watch a period drama (Downton Abbey!) or something while I fold and put clothes in the boys' individual laundry baskets. Its easy for me to put my and dh's clothes away while I'm in there.

 

If this doesn't work for you, I would recommend making laundry folding part of entertainment. The kids can watch television while folding their clothes 2x a week. This is easier to do if you limit screen time (woohoo extra tv!!) but could also work without that.

 

My boys have 'put away laundry' on their chore lists for Mon., Thu., and Sat. I do spot checks. If they don't have it done they don't move on to any electronic entertainment (video games, movies, tv) until they do. There are days/weeks I'm a little less careful than others...and this doesn't mean they put their clothes away neatly...but the system works most of the time.

 

Older kids (12+) can do their own laundry if they can't/won't follow my schedule. My 13 year old does his own laundry on Saturday while he cleans his room. To him, that's easier then trying to remember to get things in his hamper every day. :tongue_smilie: I only wash clothing in hampers.

[butterflymommy]

I am almost always caught up with laundry for a family of 9. I am a pretty lousy housekeeper so if I can do it, anyone can. This is the system.

 

We have a large plastic storage bin which is the central laundry deposit. Clothes from here are put in garbage bags and carried by oldest DS or me to the basement. I turn the bag inside out so it can dry and put the laundry from the dryer in the bag. Back up the stairs, contents dumped on sofa, ALL kids age 5 and up help sort and put away. They don't have to fold perfectly but everything must be put away (nothing tossed on floor or beds). Towels have to be folded in perfect 4ths and stacked-- the one thing I am a stickler about.

 

I wash everything together without sorting on tap cold. The only problem we have is with old towels which can get lint on dark clothes. Generally this comes off in the dryer. If you hang dry, wash towels separately.

 

I am only putting away clothes for myself, baby, and sometimes husband. Anyone 5 or older can handle putting away clothes, and older kids can be assigned putting away clothes for a toddler.

 

I need to do 2-3 loads a day to stay caught up. hth!

[2squared]

Yes, it's possible to get on top of it. It is fun? No.

 

Isn't that the truth?

 

Highlights of our system:

*All dirty laundry is carried to the laundry room every morning by the 5yo & 7yo.

*I wash all of it every day. I usually have 2-3 loads/day. I dump it into the washer without sorting anything.

*Throughout the day, I dry some and reload the washer. At the end of the day, I hang dry the rest.

*All the dry clothes go in a basket in the living room as I reload the washer.

*I fold everything while dinner is cooking.

*The kids put all clothes away. Everyone except for the 1yo helps.

*Repeat the next day.

 

I also store clothes in strategic spots where they are most often needed. The 5yo's & 3yo's underwear go in the bathroom so they are available when they change out of their evening pullups. The 3yo's clothes are in a drawer in my bedroom since she likes help changing sometimes. All socks are kept by the front door since the kids only wear them when they wear shoes. Their one church outfit is kept in a drawer in my bedroom. Sports clothes are kept in sports bags.

 

Except for my 9yo, the kids only have one drawer for clothes. I don't hang up anything.

Edited March 1, 2012 by 2squared
`

[cjzimmer1]

 

I do need to figure it out, you're right. I have 5 kids and most of them are too young to really help (besides putting away). But I know I could be doing better than I am.

 

I used to think my little were too little to fold neatly. However, my kids taught me otherwise. When My oldest was 5-6 I had him folding pants (sweats) because I didn't really care if they were that neat or not. Well, he didn't like the job because he had to fold his and his brothers pants. So oldest taught younger brother to fold his own pants. Younger brother was only 3 at the time. I never would have had the patience to teach a 3 year old to fold and since "big" brother was teaching him, little brother thought this was really neat.

 

So now, all kids start folding and putting away at age 3. At that age it's simple stuff like kitchen rags and towels (I had to rearrange my drawers so this stuff was in the bottom drawer and easy to reach for little ones). By age 5 they are folding bath towels. Since those get stored above the washer and dryer, they just put the stack on top of the machines and I put them away the next time I walk in there. By 6, they can fold underwear, pants and tights. By 8 they are responsible for folding and putting away everything except hanging things since they can't reach them and I prefer not to encourage the use of climbing aids since it always seem to lead to them using it for a bad idea later on.

 

By 11 or so, my oldest took over sorting and folding my shirts and mine and my husbands socks.

 

It's quite nice now. I put stuff in the machine, kids switch to the dryer, unload dryer and sort. I hang up my skirts (I don't wear pants and kids are folding my shirts), lay my husband's neatly on the bed (he is responsible for hanging his own stuff because he is very picky how it's done. If he didn't care, I would do it myself) and fold my undergarments.

 

Yes there dressers aren't always neat. If I find stuff hanging out, I make the offending child empty it all out and re-fold EVERYTHING and reload the dresser. The kids only have to go through this a few times and they learn, especially if I'm spot checking it.

 

The worst is the 3year old's dresser and she just grabs things out and throws them back if she doesn't want that item. Her dresser is a mess. I've chosen to just overlook it. She will get older and be able to keep it straight herself but not yet and it's not worth my aggrevation to straighten her dresser multiple times a day.

[AdventureMoms]

My secret currently is that I do not fold the kids' clothes. Mine are all too young to be of much help (the 3yo "helps"). I have 6 stacking laundry baskets in my (small) laundry room. I throw everything in the washer together (except diapers) at least once a day (usually before breakfast) then toss everything in the dryer at some later point (usually when DD is using the potty). There's always a load in the dryer, as I pull it out I sort it into the appropriate baskets (DD's room, twin room, moms room, upstairs stuff (towels & sheets), downstairs stuff (dishrags and cleaning stuff), and diapers). When a basket gets full, I put it away. At least once a day I try to grab the most full basket and get it to it's destination. I fold my stuff, DW's stuff, sheets and towels. I hang most of the kids decent clothes in outfits. Everything else (underwear, socks, onesies, tights, legwarmers, pajamas, etc) goes in drawers, unfolded. Diapers never leave the laundry basket, I just grab them out of the basket as needed.

[stm4him]

I am in charge of the laundry in my house and it sometimes overwhelms me too if I get behind. Its often the linens that kill me when all the sheets and blankets need to be washed, etc. I am trying to accept now that I have to do 2 to 3 loads every day (we have 6 children). No matter what. Like dishes. (Although I am blessed to have my daughter and husband doing those).

 

The boys have a laundry hamper in their closet and the girls have one in theirs. There are three sorting compartments. I rotate through the boys, the girls, and then ours. It takes me one or two days to get through their stuff. I try not to do laundry on Sundays. Something that helps is that I fold right out of the drier and put any clothes that are for the children ages 3 and up that don't get hung up in their personal little basket for them to put away daily. I hang up anything that needs to be hung up, but this is often where I have a basket of stuff to hang up that I don't get around to for awhile. I put the laundry away at night usually.

 

The other thing I hate is socks! I've decided there are more important things in life than matching socks! My boys wear the same size so they share. Their socks have the word hanes in green on the toes. I buy Old Navy or Target socks for the little girls that say the size so there is no mix up there. And my oldest has the word hanes in blue letters on most of hers. Mine have pink and my husband's are easy to tell. Some days they have to dig in a basket and find their own matches which drives my husband nuts but everytime I try to get one of my kids to match socks it turns into a disaster that looks like a tornado went through. We pick our battles, right?

 

I also try to make sure each kid has like 2 weeks of clothing to wear so they almost never completely run out of clothes....lol.

[Melissa in Australia]

I have a family of 7. I do one load of darks every day, and a load of whites every second day. I line dry. the wash is brought in right at dinner time, and I fold it in the morning while I am teaching the children. I find it great for having races with ds8 ( who takes sooo long to do his schoolwork). the races go along the lines of if I fold 10 things before you have the next math problem done. I get to tickle you, if you beat me you get to tickle me.

[Geo]

I do one odd thing that seems to make it easier on us. I don't fold any shirts. All shirts go on hangers no matter what kind of shirt they are. Next to my washer and dryer I have one of those hanger things on wheels that you can buy at a Walmart or wherever. I always have empty hangers hanging on it. Shirts come straight out of the dryer and right to the hangers, no chance to get wrinkled. Hung up immediately then when the whole load is folded it's all put away right away. Kids can definitely hang stuff in their closets. If they can't reach get a chair.

 

If we have any dirty laundry we do it. I don't care how little, I can't stand laundry piling up. Ellie is right, I always had to have a clean house before I could teach. It's just as important and makes everything run smoother. Once you get into the swing of it you'll wonder why it took so long.

 

 

 

Ha! We do this now, even with only 2 kids. There was no need when we had 5 or 6 at home...I have/had a daughter who loved to do laundry AND fold it. By golly, she even put it all away in drawers. The hanging shirts solution developed a few years after my laundress moved out on her own. It does work, and eliminates ironing.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Geo

[Tarreymere]

I do laundry every day. Well, actually the laundry gets done everyday. I supervise and give orders. I bring out the laundry for Dh and I and our bathroom stuff. The kids bring theirs to our laundry area in our mobile home every day. I don't remind, I give orders. All of the kids age eight and up can load and start wash and swap to the dryer. All kids can fold (my youngers started around age 3 or 4 with folding) and put away. It doesn't have to be perfect.

 

Each kid folds his or her own stuff. Each kid puts his or her folded stuff in his or her dresser. If it isn't neat in the proper drawer the infraction gets treated just as if the room was messy and the consequences are the same. We have a zero tolerance policy for bedrooms. It was necessary but I won't go into details. You would have nightmares.

 

We tried having each kid have a laundry day but that was a bust. They couldn't handle the responsibility and it was affecting the rest of us. I refuse to have a laundry pile in my house. Now it is just part of the morning routine to bring out the laundry. They bring out the laundry from their bathroom every day also. I tell one unfortunate soul to start a load. I don't sort and I don't care if whites get a bit gray. Heck the only white clothing items I buy are socks. They can live with grayish socks. Although they don't actually wear socks ever anyway so who cares. All I want is that washer filled up and running.

 

The laundry area is two steps from the table we do school at. Later another unfortunate soul will be delegated to swap. And so on....dried clothes go into baskets sorted by family member and those unfortunate recipients get to fold and put away their own clothes during the school day. Terrible, I know, but servants are sooo expensive these days!

 

Keeping up with the laundry daily means that on the weekends I can order the crew to bring out their sheets, and we can get all those throws they cuddle up under washed as well as some couch cushions and odds and ends. Honestly some days the clothes still have body heat on them when they get tossed in the washer. Hmm.....maybe I should change my name to The Washer Nazi......

Edited March 2, 2012 by Rainefox

[TammyinTN]

Seriously...I would put the kids to work on this project. I rarely do laundry now that our oldest daughter is home or dishes for that matter. They put on music and take care of both for me. Life is good!:D

[NancyNellen]

I think you can keep up. All your children are old enough to get that job done. You have to train them. Stay on them and teach them how then follow through. The effort is well worth the payoff.

 

:iagree: Yes!

 

My oldest 3 do their own laundry. For the rest of us I just toss a load in first thing in the morning, switch at lunch, and fold when we are done with school. I NEVER put unfolded laundry in a basket and leave the laundry room. I learned early in my career that it would never get folded. I simply stand at the dryer and fold the laundry as I pull it out. Shirts get hung over the banister in piles by room (little boys/Mom & Dad). At evening chore time the kids are responsible for hanging up the clothes in the proper closet.

 

It CAN be done. It just takes diligence and proper training of the offspring :lol:

[NancyNellen]

I can't STAND dishes in the sink and clothes piled up, so I do laundry every day. If I don't, the stupid cats pee on it... It DOES help in making sure I keep up!

 

This is my, too. Except instead of cats I have 2 dumb dogs who will drag it all over the house and chew it. Especially underwear. :confused:

[Miss Cornelia Snook]

I wonder, do those who fold straight out of the dryer, have pedestals for their machines? I am not so blessed, and I can't squat or kneel by my dryer long enough to do that! I pull it into a basket, take it to the family room, and try to fold ASAP so it doesn't wrinkle.

 

I'll soon be having my fourth child, and my eldest is a very consistent bed-wetter. We already have a huge laundry burden, it seems to me, I am somewhat tempted to use disposable diapers for the baby, just to save a couple of laundry loads a week!