How to do Laundry - Daily Life By Design

Laundry for most homes is the biggest never-ending chore. Just as you finish the load of whites, some family member comes in with a white t-shirt that was left behind at the bottom of a backpack, the trunk of the car, the back of a closet, or who knows where. So even before you’re finished putting away the clean laundry, the cycle beggings again. Here are some tips for organizing the laundry and how I fit the laundry into my cleaning schedule so that it doesn’t become a complete day of mountains of clothes and household items to wash, dry, fold, and put away. In my opinion, clean laundry that is left on a corner chair or in a laundry basket does not count as done! For me, the laundry is not completed until it is put away, which means in the drawers or the corresponding closets.

Organizing the Laundry

First step Organize – This is getting the dirty laundry organized. A hamper in each family member’s room eliminates dirty clothes on the floor or in the corner of the bedroom. We have a hamper in my daughters’ room and a double hamper in the master bath for me and my husband to share. Plus, we have a decorative hamper in the cabana bath for the pool towels, and finally four in the laundry room (one for whites, one for colors or brights, one for darks, and one for household items such as placemats, cleaning rags, kitchen towels, etc. You can also use a laundry sorter instead of individual hampers in the laundry room. I like sturdy open weave baskets for the ones in the bathroom and bedrooms; this lets air circulate. Look for nice sturdy ones that stand upright; this helps it look neat, instead of something that flops over or plastic that may not look as aesthetically pleasing with your decor. As for the hampers in the laundry room, I prefer to use hampers instead of a laundry sorter, because they are more decorative with my decor, I also prefer for the hampers to have lids, this helps make the laundry room look neater and less cluttered. I have linked a few from Amazon to make it easier for you to shop.

Second step Sort – At some point in the evening ( I do this when I go to the room to change into my pj’s), use your laundry basket gather the dirty clothes out of the bedroom, and bathroom hampers and sort them into the baskets in the laundry room. This action will take you less than five minutes, and it sets you up for the next step.

One Load of Laundry a Day

Step three do ONE load of laundry per day (if you have 6 or more in your family you may have to do TWO loads per day). I work from home, so I put in the ONE load of laundry before I begin breakfast. It is the first thing I do when I step out of my bedroom in the morning. This way by the time I have gotten everyone out the door and I’ve come back from walking the dogs, the wash has finished and is ready for the dryer. Since we have reached the drying portion of the laundry, I am going to mention that I use wool dryer balls.

Wool dryer balls will naturally soften your clothes without using harmful chemicals, they eliminate wrinkles while drying, they are eco-friendly, last for about 1,000 loads, and reduce drying time by 25% per load; and if you like scent in your laundry you can sprinkling them with your favorite essential oil.

But I digress, let’s get back to the laundry. As I was saying once the laundry is finished washing I set the dryer and go about my morning (breakfast, daily home routine, etc.) By the time I am done the clothes are waiting for me in the wrinkle-free setting of the dryer. It takes me about 10 minutes to fold them and put them away. I place my daughter’s folded clothes on her bed for her to put away when she gets home from school. Notice I said on her bed (this lessens the chance of a laundry basket to be left sitting in a bedroom for days waiting to be put away). If you work outside your home and don’t have time in the morning you may want to do your laundry when you get home from work. You can do it while you prep dinner maybe, set the washer as your first step when you walk in then before you serve dinner you set the dryer and by the time you are done with dinner, the clothes will be ready and waiting for you to fold and put away. By doing laundry this way, it doesn’t become overwhelming. Folding and putting away clothes is where you will spend most of your time, maybe 15 minutes instead of hours, if you were to try to get all the laundry done in a single day.

Laundry Schedule

The final step to this is the schedule, my schedule for the laundry is as follows:

Mondays: one load of clothing (darks)
Tuesday: one load of clothing (whites)
Wednesday: one load of clothing (colors)
Thursday: Bath Towels
Friday: *Bed Linens ** for me this takes three loads, one for sheets, one for the blankets, one for the quilt
Saturday: one load of house items (kitchen towels, placemats, cleaning rags) NOT THE BATH TOWELS and one load of pet laundry if needed

* The way I do the bedding is; I strip the beds and while linens are being washed I vacuum the mattress and let it air out. When bed linens are done drying, I place them back on the beds, no folding needed and no wrinkles on sheets.

** My bed is a king size and the linens are very large so it takes me three loads, you may have a smaller bed and might only need two loads.

woman holding folded clothes in her hands

How to fold quickly

Take clothes out of the dryer then separate into piles according to types: shirts, t-shirts, shorts, pants, socks, etc. Fold one pile at a time, by doing this you develop a rhythm and work faster. The secret to neat folds is to give each item a hard shake and do your folding on a hard surface. After each fold run your hand over it to smooth out the crease before you move on to the next fold.

Bonus Tips

Do not use fabric softener on your towels; it will reduce the absorbency of your towels.
If you have pets; before you wash their bedding or towels, or your bedding if they share your bed, toss the item in the dryer for 10 minutes on a reg cycle. By doing so you will be catching the bulk of the pet hair in the dryers lint tray instead of it in your washing machines drain pipes, hens avoiding clogs.
After you are done using your washing machine leave the door open so that the tub can dry-out, this will help prevent mold.
Once a week clean your washing machine, I do this after I wash the cleaning clothes for the week, run an empty washer with a cup of vinegar, on a hot water setting, some machines have a tub cleaning setting, when done make sure to wipe the inside of the rubber gasket. This will eliminate funky smells caused by residue build up from detergent and fabric softener. Make sure to leave the door open so the tub can dry out before your next wash
To reduce wrinkles use the Permanent Press setting on the dryer. This setting has a cool-down period at the end of the cycle, so it helps reduce wrinkles.
Do not overload the dryer – clothes need space to tumble freely; this helps clothing dry properly and also helps with wrinkles.

water splashing inside a washing machine drum

Conclusion

By breaking up your laundry routine and doing a little every day, it becomes easier to manage and fit into a busy schedule. It turns into a task that you can accomplish and check off your daily to-do list while you are doing other chores, instead of it being a large monotonous, boring all day event.

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