Laundry

When I first got married, it was just the two of us and I was able to manage the laundry pretty well.  Later, after our son was born, I became a stay-at-home mom and it somehow always seemed to be an uphill battle to stay caught up.  My husband has worked jobs where he had uniforms 5-7 days of the week so that should have lightened the loads.  However, our daughter was born a little over a year after I decided to stay home, and the laundry battle got worse.  I was very convicted about it several years ago and decided to come up with a plan that would keep me caught up.  Before I tell you my "laundry rules" that I have established in order to stay caught up, I will tell you that this is an ongoing process, but I have not been "behind" with laundry in several years.

Laundry:

(1)  I do not search for dirty clothes from my anyone.  They know where things that need to be washed should go and if it is there it is washed.  If it is not there, it remains dirty until I wash again.

(2)  I have a three compartment laundry cart where everyone knows to put their laundry. The three are for "colored" clothes, "light" clothes, and "special" clothes.  If they need special attention or have special instructions, they go in the "special" compartment.  

(3)  Each compartment holds an average load.  When the "colored" or "lights" get full, I wash a load.  If there is anything in the
"special" compartment, I take care of it as soon as possible.

(4)  I put the clothes in the dryer as soon as they finish washing.

(5)  As soon as they are dry, I, or somebody else here, takes them out, puts them in a basket and takes them upstairs.  They are placed on my bed and as soon as I have the time I fold them and ask everyone to get their stack.  My biggest rule is that I do not go to bed with unfolded laundry.  

(6)  When we go on vacations, I spend the last morning at the laundromat washing, drying, and folding all the clothes except for what we are wearing home.  I have it ready to put up when we get home.

(7)  Finally, I have found out that with this system, I usually wash one load a day.  We are a family of 4...two adults and two teenagers.  There are some days that two loads are required, but if the compartments are full, I wash no matter what.  Once a load is washed, it is dried, and it is folded and put away before I go to bed.

Laundry can get overwhelming.  It is something that many moms find to be the hardest part of housework to keep up.  I hope that my tips have helped you.  If you are already behind, I have one last suggestion:  Take one day to get caught up and then stay caught up.