Laundry question for all you organized moms..

[dtsaos]

Help! I'm so overwhelmed by laundry! It's me, hubby, son 5, daughter 3, and new baby girl (3 wks old). Can anyone give me some tips for how to organize the laundry and get it done more efficiently. I just can't seem to keep up with it. Thanks!

 

[Alicnwondrln]

yeah i do laundry for 4 people 2 and would love to know

 

[slo]

I am married to a wonderful DH and I have a 6yr old DD and a 17 month old DD. I am pretty darn organized when it comes to laundry.

In my laundry room I have several tall kitchen garbage cans that are used strictly for laundry. One is for darks, one is for reds, one is for hot whites, one is for baby items (because I double rinse those), and one is for soft colors. I know that when the garbage can is full - then that is a load of laundry.

I sort my laundry every other day from the big hamper in my room (used by whole family) to the garbage cans downstairs. There are some days I may do 1 load of laundry, and there are days I may do 3 loads of laundry.

Another thing I do, is I put a load in the washer right before bed and let it sit in there till morning, and then I put it in the dryer first thing. This helps too.

I started this system when I went back to work after my first was born and it helps alot because I am still working full time. I hate being bogged down with laundry. I would rather do one load a day, then 7 loads in one day.

Good luck with this and congratulations on the new baby!!

 

[sweet angel]

I do laundry for 3 people. I try to do it twice a week, Wednesday and one weekend day. Sometimes I separate it all out, sometimes I throw it in by person. With a new infant, you might want to try to do a load or two a day...unless you use special detergent for her clothes.

 

[cubsfan]

First of all, I would advise...get someone to help! Laundry is much more fun if two people are involved. Secondly, don't try to rush through it and get it all done at once...DH may be more inclined to help if it's spaced out over the course of a couple of days. Thirdly, if you don't feel good, don't do it, it can wait.....nothing worse than doing laundry with someone with a headache. Personally, I don't know what all the fuss is about.....I kinda like doing laundry.

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

We each have a hamper in our closet or bedroom. Every Friday evening or Saturday I have everyone bring their hamper to the laundry room. I have three baskets in the laundry for the dirty clothes that I sort. All of the darks go right into the washer (if there is too much for one load, I just pile the overflow on the floor in front of the washer and do a second load of darks.) I then sort the lights into one basket, the whites into another and the linens into another. I then do the loads over the course of Friday evening and Saturday. Each of us also has a laundry basket for clean clothes (MY dh's pet peeve is using the same laundry basket for the clean clothes that I used for the dirty clothes) which I return folded to everyone's closet or bedroom. I will admit that I am not so prompt getting the clothes put away.

If I had a baby in the house and was using the baby type detergent, I would probably keep a hamper in the baby's room and do loads on an as needed basis throughout the week.

 

[huey duey & luey]

I have a laundry organizer that is seperated into 3 one for whilte, lights and darks. I have a separate basket for the kids clothes. I do at least 1 load a day depending on which basket is the fullest. I wash dry fold and put away That way I never fall behind, and it isnt too overwhelming. This is for a family of 5

 

[transparant]

Sorry...no advice here. I've got 6 kids ranging from 14 down to 4. I've basically given up on laundry organization. I live in the laundry room. In fact...my brother in law just stopped by the other day and said "Geez...every time I come over here you are in the laundry room" then he turned to my kids and said "You guys ought to install a nice TV in the laundry room for your mom to watch" LOL!

 

[disykat]

I actually like doing laundry several loads at a time whenever I know I'm going to be home for a long stretch. If I just throw a load in occasionally I tend to forget about it and let it sit - if I do several loads at once it all gets folded and put away because I need the dryer for another load. I consider folding laundry to be a tv watching activity so I pick a night when I plan to watch some.

 

[sweet angel]

One other thing, I don't put anyone else's clothes away...just my own. Everyone else is perfectly capable of putting their own stuff away.

 

[Randi]

Just a safety reminder: never leave your dryer running when no one is home. I also make sure mine is off before I go to bed. I have read that house fires can often be traced back to a dryer that malfunctions.

 

[twinmomplus2new]

Hello, I am a laundry addict.... I do the wash every single day. Family of 5. One laundry basket everything goes into one basket and I seperate it at the Machine. I Also keep all my hangers downstairs by the dryer. I no longer iron anything. I pull it from the dryer and hang it directly on a hanger. Even the little kids clothes. The only things in the dressers are socks, underwear and jammies. I will admit to being a little insane about it, The clothes the kids have worn that day are washed and dry by the time the time I Go to sleep for the night, That way It doesn't get bad out of control.

 

[gr8tpanther]

I don't think there IS a solution for laundry!!! Oh wait, yes there is, HIRE someone to do it for you! Hmmm, guess I ought to start buying some of those laundry tickets so I can one day afford to hire someone to do my laundry

UGh, I hate laundry!!!!!

 

[dtsaos]

Thanks for all the replies so far guys-at least I don't feel so alone anymore! Huey, Duey and Luey, that sounds like a system that might work for me. Anything that gets too involved is sure to fail at my house. Transparant, that sounds a lot like my life, except that I think I do an equal amount of dishes too! We actually just installed one of those under the counter radios/cd players in the kitchen because I feel like I'm always in there cleaning or preparing food and drinks for the kids. My husband thinks I'm complaing, but I'm really not-I'm just trying to get some helpful hints. Slo, thank you.

 

[minnie56]

every day and still do!

A dozen pieces of light and dark a day make it easy work!!

Not so much to fold either! If you keep on top of it, it isn't nearly so overwhelming!

 

[poohtown]

i used to be over-whelmed too. (it became a lot easier when I started making my kids do their own laundry...but they were older. The oldest started when she was 11 and the youngest when she was 9. But before that I found a couple things that did make it easier for me.

1. I got rid of the hampers and replaced them with smaller laundry baskets.

2. Each basket is designated for 1 type of laundry (whites, colored, etc.)
So each person put the right laundry in the basket (or else...)

3. I stopped waiting for the laundry to "pile up" and started doing smaller
loads. Makes it easier for putting it away too.

4. I try (and this is hard sometimes) to put away the laundry as soon as it's
done. I'll sort and each person has to come get their own. Sometimes
the kids would do this job if they were home.

 

[clh2]

1. I got rid of the hampers and replaced them with smaller laundry baskets.

2. Each basket is designated for 1 type of laundry (whites, colored, etc.)
So each person put the right laundry in the basket (or else...)

We do this also. We store the baskets in our closet, and as we place our dirty clothes in the basket - we sort as we go. This saves tons of time when we are ready to do laundry. If I have a couple of minutes left in the morning, I can through a load in the washer before I go to work. I set the delay on the machine, and the clothes are ready to put in the dryer when I get home from work.

 

[kikipug]

Just a safety reminder: never leave your dryer running when no one is home. I also make sure mine is off before I go to bed.

If I didn't do that, no one would ever have clean clothes!

 

[dtsaos]

poohtown, I think that's the main problem-I hardly ever have a chance to put all the laundry away.

Kikipug, I agree.

 

[janette]

I'm horrible with Laundry but don't leave the washer or dryer on when we aren't home. Dryers are a major cause of house fires & a broken washer hose can do major water damage. One of my nieces had major damage to her house from this and ended up having to move temporaily while it got fixed. Not worth the risk.