If you struggle with getting laundry done, you’re not alone. Lots of people procrastinate when it comes to facing a mound of dirty laundry. Like anything else in life, doing a little bit each day is way easier than doing six to eight loads on a weekend. Procrastinating on laundry has a ripple effect and may impact your storage and bedroom more than you think. I often see people buying clothes instead of doing laundry because let’s face it, it’s more fun to shop then do household chores. The problem then arises when the number of clothes doesn’t fit inside the dresser and closet in the bedroom. A typical underwear drawer isn’t meant to hold thirty pairs of underwear. Thus, the problem spiralizes downward into a deeper laundry abyss.
Reconsider your laundry habits by implementing one of these tips into your routine.
- Assess the container, hamper, or basket that is currently supposed to hold your dirty laundry. Is it large enough? Is it easy to use? Does it make transporting laundry easy if you wash your laundry off-site? Are there two compartments: one for darks and one for lights?
- Keep your kids’ clothes separate, with their hamper or laundry basket. This teaches them to take responsibility in their room, managing their dirty clothes. Further on in these tips, you will read that I recommend doing each kid’s laundry separately.
- Designate a separate basket, bag or hamper for dry cleaning and items that need to be hemmed. Keep this separate from your regular dirty laundry. This will make it easy to grab and go when you need to take a trip to the dry cleaners.
- Keep a garbage can inside or near your closet. Receipts from shopping and the plastic dry cleaning covers need to be tossed. Remove the dry cleaning packaging after bringing it home. Believe it or not, even though the plastic is clear, it prevents you from quickly getting dressed or seeing all your options. You’re also less likely to wearing something you need to unwrap when you’re in a hurry in the morning before work.
- I know you may rebel against official “laundry days”, but consider assigning family members a specific day of the week. It keeps laundry separate, saving you time having to sort it, making it less likely to lose or mix up clothes, and it teaches routine to family members. Good habits are always positive in the long run. The benefits of keeping a more structured laundry system outweigh the tendency to procrastinate. You will never run out of clean laundry. You will never have more than one to two max loads to do at any given time, and as the kids get older and when they are off on their own, it has taught them a valuable life skill and positive habit.
- Divide the duties between family members. Awhile back, my husband and I laid “ground rules” for laundry. His job is to carry down to the laundry to the washer and dryer in the basement. I do the wash, fold in front of the TV and then he helps me put away the clean clothes. The routine and system work for us. Figure out who doesn’t mind laundry in your family and give it a try. What could work for your family? I understand it might mean handing the laundry off to someone outside your family all together, but if you want to save the money consider one of these tips.
- Ditch missing socks. Pay the kids for each matched pair or only keep the high quality, expensive socks if you’re waiting around for the other one to show up.
- Keep your laundry room or laundry floor area clean and tidy. Regularly wipe away lint and soap rings made from detergent. If clean laundry accidentally drops on the floor, it won’t cause stress if the floor is clean and clear.
