Laundry used to stress me out and I felt like I was trying one laundry system after another. Since it stressed me out, I would avoid doing laundry for as long as possible. I would let the piles grow and grow until we were all out of clothes. Then I’d finally have to tackle this now daunting task. It was nearly impossible to get things under control, and it was something that weighed on me day in and day out.
Something as simple and mundane as laundry shouldn’t be the bane of your existence! So I knew that I needed to find a better way of doing things…
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Finding a Laundry System that works for our family
Our family didn’t have much of a system when it came to laundry. Everyone would throw all of the dirty laundry into one big pile. I would wash it all, and then I would have to sort it all out by person before putting it away. I didn’t separate colors or anything like that – I just threw arm fulls of clothes into various piles around the house.
One day, I was sitting in the middle of a huge pile of laundry simply sorting clothes. I wasn’t folding them or putting them away. I was just separating the clothes and creating smaller piles for each person in the family.
It dawned on me that I could easily eliminate this step in the laundry process. I could save time and sanity with a simple change in our laundry routine.
I wouldn’t have to sort out each family member’s clothes if I never mixed them to begin with! I never sorted laundry by colors anyway, so why not do loads of laundry sorted by person?
Here’s the new, simple laundry system:
- Each person has their own laundry basket. I then also have one for bathroom towels and wash cloths, and one for kitchen towels and rags.
- When a basket fills up, I wash it! No need for crazy, overwhelming laundry days where I feel like I need to wash several loads in a row.
- When that person’s laundry is clean, it goes back to their room. Sometimes it’ll sit there unfolded, but at least I know that all of the clothes in it are clean and belong to that person.
- When I have a small chunk of time to put away laundry, I can tackle one person’s laundry without feeling like I have to stop mid-task.
- I always know where a certain item of clothing is. If my son is missing a particular shirt, I know that it is in his laundry pile. (Then I can also quickly know whether it’s clean or dirty).
- It is easy for everyone to put their own clothes in their own baskets. When my husband needs a certain outfit for work, he can do his stack of laundry without having to dig through everyone else’s.
I have been doing laundry this way for a few years now, and the system still works so well for me! It just feels so much more manageable for me.
This same solution might not work for you, but I encourage you to brainstorm and figure out what will work for you! Get creative and simplify these never-ending chores 🙂
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