Taking control of your laundry

Jan 28, 2012 8:00 AM by Christina Holt

Posted in Home / Organizing & Cleaning

Create a laundry schedule

One of the best ways to take control of your laundry and prevent a pile-up is to make a laundry schedule.

Daily laundry schedule: Gather all dirty clothes in the morning (from your entire house if you have a small family or designate specific days for each family member if you have a large family). Start the wash first thing in the morning, transfer the clothes to the dryer midday or after work and then fold and put the clothes away later that evening.

Two-day laundry schedule: Like the daily schedule, gather all dirty clothes in the morning, then transfer the clothes to the dryer after work or later that day. Run the dryer, removing and hanging all clothing that wrinkles easily. Leave the rest for the following day.

Weekend laundry schedule: The weekend laundry schedule is a little more flexible. The only rule for the weekend laundry schedule is to get the laundry washed, dried, folded and put away during the weekend days.

Sort and prep dirty laundry

Laundry sorter

Follow these handy tips to cut down on the time it takes to do laundry.

Sort all of your dirty clothes before starting the laundry process.
Keep a clothing sorter in each family member's room or bathroom to make sorting easier.
Make sure all your dirty clothes are right-side out before placing them in your sorter or laundry basket. This step ensures that clothes get cleaned better during the laundry process and makes it easier to fold and put the clean clothing away.
Keep a separate basket for stained clothing and treat those items immediately.

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Tip

A laundry schedule works extremely well when you have children old enough to help with chores or for children who have weekly chore charts.

Dry-cleaning day

Check with your local dry cleaner to see if they offer pick-up services. Some dry cleaners offer this service for a small fee.

Designate a day just for dry-cleaning. This prevents a pile-up of work clothes or other items that need to be dry-cleaned on a weekly basis.

Get the kids involved

A good way to instill responsibility in your children is to involve them in weekly chores such as laundry. Laundry is a great chore for kids as it has multiple steps and can become a family activity, can be added to an older child's chore and responsibility chart and can help younger children practice coordination.