How to finish the laundry

Here’s the thing… I am not the best person to be giving advice on washing clothes.  I tend to shrink things and forget to spray on stain remover and put things in the dryer that were supposed to be line dried.  I know there is a hand wash selection on my washing machine, but I don’t know what it does.  And I have never understood what all those little symbols mean on clothes tags.  However, I can give advice about getting the laundry finished.

The best thing to do in order to finish your laundry is to set a laundry schedule.  Make Mondays the day you wash sheets or make Fridays the day you wash your whites.  Here is my laundry schedule:

Sundays: Towels (2-3 loads)

Mondays: Sheets (3 loads)

Tuesdays: Hubby’s work clothes (1 load)

Wednesdays: Darks and whites (2-3 loads)

Thursdays: The girlies’ clothes (2 loads)

Fridays: Workout clothes (1 load)

With this schedule, I can get my laundry finished each of these days, whether I am working all day, or the kids have practice, or I have a ton of errands.  And if I know that I cannot get a full load finished on one of these days, then I don't bother starting it.  I just add it to another day. Also with a schedule, you aren't constantly thinking about when you need to do laundry. You either plan to wash that item of clothing or not.  

Next, take the clothes out of the washing machine as soon as possible.  Letting  them mildew means you have to wash them all over again, wasting time and money.  Then, take them out of the dryer as soon as it beeps, toss them in a basket, and go directly to your closet.  Folding and hanging the laundry takes less time than you imagine.  I timed myself the other day to see how long it took to fold and hang one load of laundry. It took me 5 minutes.  Plus, you have the added bonus of needing to iron less.  (My kids think the iron is for fuse beads, and not for clothes.)  Try to remember that since dirty laundry just keeps piling up;  it's better if our clean laundry is not in piles too. 

Also, my girls each do one load of laundry a week.  My oldest does her own laundry, and my youngest is learning to help do hers.  They check that zippers are up, that snaps are closed, and spray for stains; then, they toss everything into one load.  Whites, darks, hand wash, whatever.  I am not very worried about their clothes looking fabulous after the wash; these are kids that have new stains I can’t even explain on their clothes by 7am.  As long as they don’t look super dirty, and they smell nice, people generally think they are clean enough.

Being able to start and finish a load of laundry from beginning to end is such a relief.  Clean clothes won't taunt you as you walk by them in a pile, and no one in your family will ask you if a shirt is clean or dirty. If it's dirty, it's in the hamper (or sometimes near the hamper on the floor, if you are a member of my family), and if it's clean, it's put away.