Laundry is a never-ending cycle that can create a lot of family stress. Having a streamlined process for getting it done can help. I use the following method and no longer resent laundry day!
Decide what day(s) to do laundry
In my house, I do kid laundry on Monday and parent laundry & linens on Tuesday (towels every week and bed linens every other week). Consolidating laundry into two days – instead of throughout the week – creates less overall work.
Skip the sorting
To reduce active work time, everyone in my home has their own clothes basket (in their room). I wash each person’s clothes separately, removing the need to sort clothes before and/or after washing.
I use mesh laundry bags to keep items separate, such as socks, bras, and face masks. This reduces time searching for sock matches and protects delicate items.
Use folding boxes
Getting laundry done is one task, while folding and putting clothes away is another! Based on the Marie Kondo approach for folding clothes, I fold the washed clothes and arrange them vertically in a plastic box big enough for a week’s worth of laundry for one person.
The benefit of this approach is you never have piles of clothes falling over and it doubles as a carrier for kids to take clean clothes to their room. My older kids then take out the folded clothes and place them into their drawers in the same arrangement.
Hang more, fold less
If folding everything takes too much time, consider hanging some clothes. For my older kids, I primarily use folding boxes for pajamas, pants/shorts, and underclothes. I hang blouses, dresses & rompers. After washing, I lay these items on top of the folded clothes and my kids hang them up.
This general approach has reduced the amount of time it takes to complete laundry and it creates age-appropriate ways for my kids to help.
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Clear storage box
Mesh laundry bags
Louise says
These are great ideas! I have been separating by person because my clothes are so different from Brett’s. It makes it so much easier! I am still working on applying Marie Kondo, so this is really inspiring!
Stephanie says
I’m glad! The folding method is really helpful and surprisingly sustainable.
Kristi says
Wow, I have a lot of room for improvement! I gave up sorting a decade ago (by color), and I have kind of given up on folding since everything winds up dumped in a drawer anyway. I love the idea of the mesh bags and having a bin!
Stephanie says
Yeah, my mom always sorted by lights and darks but that was always too much for me. The bins have actually been really handy.