Tips for dealing with a basement laundry room?

[Moxie]

Our current home has the laundry room right off the kitchen and dining room. We school in the dining room so I am available to switch and fold all day. I ususally do 2 loads/day, sometimes more, sometimes less.

 

Our new house has a laundry room in the basement. We will do school on the first floor and all the bedrooms are on the second floor. I'd love to hear how other big families get laundry to the basement on a regular basis, keep up with it when they aren't physically right there and then get it all back up to the bedrooms.

[Ottakee]

My first thought is to train your oldest 2 to be laundry "runners". Once you sort the clothes they might be able to switch loads, start the new load, and bring up the clean clothes to be folded.

 

That said, I think that my main floor laundry in our new house is just about my FAVORITE thing.

[Tenaj]

Switching the laundry in the basement has just become a normal quick job during the day at our house. I usually do at least three loads a day (actually in the winter with everyone wearing heavier clothes on Mon, Wed and Friday I usually end up doing four loads). I usually start one load in the evening after the youngers have had their baths. That way in the morning I can throw it into the dryer and start the next before school. Then at our mid-morning break I can switch it out again and then again before lunch. That usually leaves me just one to do in the afternoon.

 

I fold clothes upstairs on our bed because that's the largest flat service in the house and I can keep an ear on the kids. I've tried using the ping pong table in the basement but I end up needing to settle fights upstairs so it becomes counter-productive. I stack folded clothes in columns per kid on our bed and at 5 p.m. (which we call five 0'clock clean-up) everyone makes sure their clothes get put away. I do dh and mine and the youngest. With the college kids I have made the concession of carrying theirs back to their rooms just because their schedules are strange sometimes.

[KungFuPanda]

Our current home has the laundry room right off the kitchen and dining room. We school in the dining room so I am available to switch and fold all day. I ususally do 2 loads/day, sometimes more, sometimes less.

Our new house has a laundry room in the basement. We will do school on the first floor and all the bedrooms are on the second floor. I'd love to hear how other big families get laundry to the basement on a regular basis, keep up with it when they aren't physically right there and then get it all back up to the bedrooms.

 

 

It will be exactly the same as now plus an additional 30.8 seconds per load. (I just timed it for you) The difference will be mainly psychological if you have to go down into a dungeon-like unfinished basement. Perhaps thinking of it as a stairmaster will help? I do SO wish my laundry was up near my bedrooms.

[Julie Smith]

My kids have the job of bringing the dirty laundry to the basement. They dump it out and throw it down the stairs. Then jump on it and kick it along the hall to the next stair case and throw kick it down that stair case.

 

I bring it up, and in theory fold, hang, put it away when watching tv.

 

If I'm behind on that part and watching tv Dh will 'help' and carry it up and dump it on me while I watch tv. - The whole time chanting, "I am helping!" while our boys dance around him laughing.

[dsmith]

Our laundry is in the basement, and we are in the attic, which means 3 flights of stairs for us. My in-laws are on the second floor. We have plastic hampers that we keep in our room and down by the machines. When one fills up it goes down. When we do a load I will either fold it in the basement (we have a rec room down there) or dh will bring it up and fold it in our room. My in-laws bring their dirty laundry down each day and toss it on the landing for me to trip over and eventually bring down to the basement, or let it collect on the floor in their bedroom or the bathroom, in which case they will fill a laundry basket and ask us to bring it down. I will bring their clean laundry up for them, and they usually fold it in the living room. We will then bring it up to their bedrooms. They also have a lot of clothes that they will not dry, so the whole house will have laundry hanging all over, lol. I will only buy clothes that can go in the dryer.The whole situation is not ideal, and the hampers are kind of large and bulky. It is difficult to get them around the stair chair on the main stairway. Lately, dh has been doing all of the laundry of Sunday and I will do a load or two during the week as needed. I love a man who does laundry! He cooks too!! :hurray:

[KungFuPanda]

Our laundry is in the basement, and we are in the attic, which means 3 flights of stairs for us. My in-laws are on the second floor. We have plastic hampers that we keep in our room and down by the machines. When one fills up it goes down. When we do a load I will either fold it in the basement (we have a rec room down there) or dh will bring it up and fold it in our room. My in-laws bring their dirty laundry down each day and toss it on the landing for me to trip over and eventually bring down to the basement, or let it collect on the floor in their bedroom or the bathroom, in which case they will fill a laundry basket and ask us to bring it down. I will bring their clean laundry up for them, and they usually fold it in the living room. We will then bring it up to their bedrooms. They also have a lot of clothes that they will not dry, so the whole house will have laundry hanging all over, lol. I will only buy clothes that can go in the dryer.The whole situation is not ideal, and the hampers are kind of large and bulky. It is difficult to get them around the stair chair on the main stairway. Lately, dh has been doing all of the laundry of Sunday and I will do a load or two during the week as needed. I love a man who does laundry! He cooks too!! :hurray:

 

 

I ha e to negotiate my son's stairlift, but I use regular laundry baskets and put them on my head to get around the chair. Keeping the chair at the bottom and folded gives me a little space than when it's parked at the top.

[Parrothead]

Here everyone chucks their dirties down the basement stairs. Periodically someone wades through the pile to sort and wash. On a good day I do 1-2 loads depending on if I have enough whites. On bad weeks dh is schlepping up and down stairs all day dealing with it on Saturdays. He will be happy tomorrow to find today was a good day and he has only on load to to tomorrow.

 

Now dd is in for a surprise shortly. The washer will be empty and she still hasn't brought her clothes from her second floor bedroom. She will be doing her own laundry today.

[Tree Frog]

Our new house has a laundry room in the basement. We will do school on the first floor and all the bedrooms are on the second floor. I'd love to hear how other big families get laundry to the basement on a regular basis, keep up with it when they aren't physically right there and then get it all back up to the bedrooms.

 

When we moved in to a house that was like this, I decided it was time for my kiddos to do their own laundry. The youngest was 6, the oldest 11. They were able to navigate the stairs without problems as long as they did their laundry on a consistant schedule. If they waited too long and had too many clothes, dh or I helped them carry the load upstairs. (Sometimes they had to take the laundry downstairs in multiple loads so they wouldn't trip going down the stairs.) Could your older kids do their own and perhaps one of the younger's laundry? That would leave you to wash your and dh's laundry, plus whatever needed doing from around the house (bath and kitchen towels, etc.)

[kwickimom]

We added a laundry chute in a closet and its been the best thing ever. I have labeled baskets down stairs- COLD wash only, whites, towels, jeans etc. and I go down first thing in the morning and sort whats been tossed down and then throw in a load. I head down at lunch to switch and at night to bring up whats done. Mostly I do a load a day and then one day a week I do whatever needs done weekly (towels, bedding etc)

[Thia]

One floor house, laundry in basement. Six people.

I have a basket in the bathroom and everyone puts their dirty clothes in there. In the morning I check it. If it's full, I bring it down and start a load of laundry. I go down during lunchtime, at the latest, to put it in the dryer. It comes back upstairs when I need to bring something down there or the next day when I start another load. Sometimes the laundry does back up b/c I'm busy with other chores. As pp have said, it's just a mental thing to remind myself to do laundry. Laundry and the dishwasher are the two starting points for my day and I frequently "start the day over" and go back to those points. They ground me and my day when things get crazy. Once I bring it up, it stays in the basket until I fold, every other day or so. Kids stuff goes in another basket and they care for their own stuff from there. I use my bed to fold everything else and put it away. Yes, this method requires several baskets. Right now, I use about 5, the basket stays with the load.

[MAIMOM]

The last house we lived in had the laundry in the basement and that is the year everyone started doing their own laundry. I wash everything on cold so they do not have to check water temperature. The only clothes they do not do are Sunday clothes and sweaters/sweats. Their jeans, tshirts and undergarments all go in together. I gave each child a day to do their laundry and that worked good for us. I would just check with A on Monday to see if her laundry had been done and then with B on Tuesday to ensure he was doing his.

[sbgrace]

We moved to a laundry in the basement from a home that had it right off the kitchen too. I do think it's mostly psychological. It really doesn't take much more time. I don't have a huge family but I'll reply anyway.

 

What we've done is have all the dirty laundry go into a basket in the bathroom so it's in one place. I really think a laundry shoot would be terrific but we don't have a good set up for that. Before I just ran laundry like an assembly--next please--as I could easily know when it was done and start the next whatever. Now it's just set into routines in our day. Certain points in the day are always, or nearly always, laundry switch outs.

 

We're finishing the basement into living space now and I'm going to have a family closet with much of our non-hanging clothes down there I think.

[ksr5377]

I just wanted to add that I LOVE having my laundry in the basement. The thought of a laundry room right off my kitchen that any visitor could see would have me panicky!

[speedmom4]

We actually turned our basement laundry room into the kids' closet as well. I was so tired of going up two flights of stairs all the time and then finding their clothes on the floor. I saw that the Duggar family had a family closet where the washer/dryer were and I thought it would work for us. So I got four laundry organizer racks and brought all of their dressers downstairs. It has been great. The other benefit is that their closets are able to house toys or a desk depending on what that child wants/needs.

 

Good luck!

Elise in NC

[KungFuPanda]

Here everyone chucks their dirties down the basement stairs. Periodically someone wades through the pile to sort and wash. On a good day I do 1-2 loads depending on if I have enough whites. On bad weeks dh is schlepping up and down stairs all day dealing with it on Saturdays. He will be happy tomorrow to find today was a good day and he has only on load to to tomorrow.

Now dd is in for a surprise shortly. The washer will be empty and she still hasn't brought her clothes from her second floor bedroom. She will be doing her own laundry today.

 

Do you also yell "Laundry Chute" as you chuck things down the stairs? Its more fun that way.

 

We actually turned our basement laundry room into the kids' closet as well. I was so tired of going up two flights of stairs all the time and then finding their clothes on the floor. I saw that the Duggar family had a family closet where the washer/dryer were and I thought it would work for us. So I got four laundry organizer racks and brought all of their dressers downstairs. It has been great. The other benefit is that their closets are able to house toys or a desk depending on what that child wants/needs.

Good luck!

Elise in NC

 

I have this recurring fantasy of building a house where the bedrooms center around a laundry room. Clothes drawers and closets open into the bedroom AND the laundry room and each room has it's own hamper/chute thingy that puts dirties into the laundry room. Dream with me, Ladies.

[Parrothead]

 

 

Do you also yell "Laundry Chute" as you chuck things down the stairs? Its more fun that way.

 

No, but when we were thinking of buying this house we looked at several ways to get the laundry on the second floor or to put in a dumb waiter specifically for laundry.

[rgrin]

I have several things in my laundry room that keep things more efficient (read: less time on a different floor from the kiddos!):

- Labeled hampers - One each for whites, lights, reds, and darks. Yeah, we have a lot of reds, so it gets it's own. Bedding is removed from the bed, washed, and immediately put back on, so no need for a basket for that. The hampers nest to save space.

- Individual baskets - I found small colored laundry baskets (about the size if a milk crate.) Each person has their own, and another one for the "house" (towels and such). They are small enough that my youngest could carry his up the steps when he was only 4. And they also nest to take up very little space.

- Closet rod - we installed a closet rod by the drier and keep all extra hangers there. We don't have a lot of drawer space, so pretty much everything that can be hung is up on hangers.

 

 

Our routine:

8:00 - Each morning, everyone is responsible for throwing their laundry down the steps, kicking it the rest of the way if needed. I head down to sort it all, and the boys rotate who comes down to help sort. I choose the two fullest hampers to wash for the day, and nest the other partially-full hampers so they're out of the way for the day. The first load is started.

 

10:00 - Transfer 1st load into drier, dump 2nd hamper into the wash. (I use a phone alarm to remind me, as I tend to forget. :o )

 

1:00 - Remove 1st load from the drier. As each item is taken out, it is either hung immediately on the closet rod or placed into the owner's laundry basket. I don't fold. I don't match socks. I don't turn right side out. I hang or drop it into the basket. The 2nd load is moved into the drier.

 

3:00 - Remove 2nd load from the drier. Once again, each item is hung or dropped into the basket. At that point, I call the boys down to help. We all carry our own clothes on hangers upstairs (I get mine and DH's) and hang those in our closets. Then we march ourselves back down grab our individual baskets (I get mine, DH's, and the "house" basket) and carry those upstairs. We put our own PJs, socks, underpants, etc. in our individual drawers, scour the closets and dump our empty hangers into the now-empty baskets, and stack the baskets at the top of the steps. Then we work together to fold and put away the contents of the "house" basket. I take the individual baskets and empty hangers downstairs the next time I'm heading that way. Then the hangers and baskets are there ready for me to use tomorrow.

 

 

Okay, that may be more than your looking for, but... oh, well. Laundry is stressful enough without steps. Limiting my time downstairs through these tools and methods and having the boys help where they're able is what makes the biggest difference for me. Well... plus the phone alarm to remind me to do it all!

[Rosyl]

I set a timer to remind me to change the laundry over. I can't hear it upstairs, so I forget about it. It helps to know at 8, 10, 12 and 4 the laundry needs rotated. The habit overcomes the psychological barrier.