Organizing Your Laundry
Organizing Your Laundry By: Janet L. Hall
Does it seem like your laundry is multiplying:
Fear not because you are not alone! Paper, toys, and laundry are
usually on the top of all my home clients’ list of causing chaos
and frustration. According to The Tide Clothesline? at
http://www.clothesline.com the average household washes 7.4
loads – about 50 lbs. - per week and the average load contains
16 items. They go on to say that in a typical household, more
than 6,000 articles of clothing are washed each year!
I’d like you to ask yourself and answer the following questions;
I hope these will help you in evaluating your situation. I have
added suggestions and some thoughts for you to ponder on after
the questions.
1. Who do you do laundry for? 2. Who can do their own laundry?
If you’re washing for everyone in the home and you have
children/spouse that can reach the knobs on the machines, ask
them for HELP.
? Teach them to be responsible for their clothing and show them
how to sort, wash, fold, and put away. ? Post washing and drying
instructions near the machines. ? Develop a schedule for family
members that can wash their own clothes.
3. What kinds of clothes are piling up—children’s, towels,
sheets, etc.? 4. What help can you get from others?
? Assign and limit 1-2 towels to each family member per week. ?
Wear clothes more then once. ? If you have children that are too
young to do their own laundry, teach them to sort clothes and/or
fold towels, underwear, socks. Depending on their age, don’t
expect it to be perfect but praise them for their help. ? Show
children where “their folded” items go (make it easy for them by
storing those items in bottom drawers).
5. When do you prefer to do laundry? 6. When do you have time to
do laundry?
? Decide if you prefer to do laundry in the morning, in the
evening, during the week, or only on weekends. ? Pick a day and
time that you’re not going to be constantly interrupted or
tempted to “play”. ? Place yourself on a schedule and system if
you can’t get help. ? Time yourself and your machines cycles;
sort, wash, machine or line dry, fold, sort and put away to help
you determine how much time you need for each load. ? Wash, dry,
and put away by person or room.
Sample schedules:
Stay at home two loads a day schedule: If you stay or work from
home try starting a wash load in the morning while the coffee is
brewing, throw that load in the dryer or hang at lunch time, and
start another wash load. Right before or after dinner, take the
dried load out and put the other load in. Fold while dinner is
cooking, watching the news, or waiting for pages to load on the
Internet. Get the last load out and fold before going to bed.
Make sure you put each person/rooms in a sorted pile to make
putting away quicker and more efficient. (My mom use to use the
couch, bed, or a table to fold and sort onto, she would then
pile the piles into the basket by person and room and distribute
them on our beds for us to put away).
Away from home one load a day schedule: If you go out to work
you can try throwing in a wash load before going to bed at night
and tossing them in the dryer before leaving for work. As soon
as you walk in the door, get them out of the dryer and fold
while you’re checking your phone messages or email. Put away
before retiring for the night.
7. Where is your washer/dryer located? 8. Where does everyone
put his or her dirty clothes? 9. Where do you like to or would
like to fold clothes?
? Your washer and dryer might not be located in a convenient
place, such as the basement. More and more builders are starting
to place these machines in hallways, kitchens, and even
bathrooms. If you have the funds and space, you might look into
relocating your machines. ? Install a laundry shoot in the
bathroom closet or area that is convenient for everyone to use.
If that isn’t possible, designate a place for everyone in the
home to put his or her dirty clothes. ? Find a place in the home
where you are comfortable and have plenty of room to spread out
and sort/fold clean clothes.
10. Why are you responsible for everyone clothes?
You are the only one that can answer this one
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