Organizing Laundry to Save Time

Laundry is a simple fact of life. If you wear clothes, you have laundry! Organizing laundry and how you manage it can help make this chore less burdensome.

Laundry Room

When we bought my current house one of my dreams was to have a real, actual laundry room, in the house. Ahhhh... it would have been wonderful. Organizing laundry would have been so pleasant. No running down into the basement or garage or the building's laundry room or driving to the laundromat... things I've done in the past. I wanted a warm cozy clean laundry room. Well, I got a laundry corner in the garage, but at least it's not down a bunch of stairs. I shouldn't complain though. I have a nice washer and dryer and it's still very convenient for doing laundry (though a little chilly in the winter). I feel for those of you who do the laundromat thing, especially if you're washing for more than just yourself.

Laundry Supplies

To help with organizing laundry, keep all your soap, fabric softener, and stain removers together. If you have to travel with these supplies, a nice little caddy with a handle would be good. If you have a laundry area in the home, then a nice shelf or cabinet next to your machines will be perfect. Make sure you don't run out of supplies. Be sure to add them to your shopping list when you start to run low. Buy them in bulk when they're on sale to save money. You will also need to keep a small garbage can near your machines for small trash and lint from the dryer. A small basket or container is nice as well for putting small treasures in when you find them in the pockets of clothing.

Hampers and Pre-sorting

Putting a laundry hamper in each bedroom helps greatly with organizing laundry. In my bedroom where there is the most laundry with my husband and I, I have two hampers, one for light colors and one for dark colors. No need to separate colors later. It also makes it super easy to see if there is enough lights or darks to warrant washing a load. The kids each have a laundry hamper in their rooms that they have learned to put their dirty clothes into. I still have to sort their lights and darks but isn't not a big issue. If there is enough darks in my hamper to warrant a load of laundry, I just grab the darks out of their hampers and go!

Kids Hampers

My children are learning the art of organizing laundry too. I put a hamper in my son's room when he was three and he was thrilled! In fact, I think it's causing me more laundry because he loves to put his clothes into his special hamper! But the good part is, he's learning to take some responsibility. I am still working on teaching him how to turn his clothes right side out before he puts them in the hamper though, and teaching him that not everything needs to be washed after one wear. That will make me a happy Mom!

Daily Load of Laundry

Part of my laundry organizing strategy is that I do a load of laundry every day. I have just found it to be much less stressful than trying to do seven loads of laundry on one day. Doing it all on one day is simply too overwhelming and time consuming. Doing a single load a day is much easier. And much easier to fold and put away too. It actually takes very little time. Now, I understand that those of you without a washer and dryer in your home, it's not feasible to go to the laundry mat every day. But if you do have laundry machines, try doing a load every day. You will also find that you don't need to shop for as many clothes. Since most clothes are clean on any given day, there is always something to wear. My kids don't go through half of what they own anymore. That leaves more drawer and closet space, as well as a smaller clothing budget! If you currently have a mound of laundry to catch up on, just start with one load a day and you will get through it. Once you do, keep it up and you will be happily amazed!

Go All The Way

What I mean is, don't just do the laundry half way and let it sit. That's how those piles of laundry start in the first place. Get it washed, dried, folded, and put away. You just have to make the effort to do it. And at only one load a day, it's quite a minimal task. My kids sometimes help fold. My 4 yo. loves to flip and fold the shirts, and my 23 mo. old loves to help put the clothes into the drawers. This chore doesn't have to take you away from the family. You can all work together as a team and make that one load of laundry even more of a breeze!

Where are you going to put all that neatly folded laundry? Here are some additional suggestions on how to organize your closets and how to fold and organize your dresser drawers.

If you're looking for items to help you get that laundry room or area better organized, take a peek at this page of home organizing products for laundry.

I hope these suggestions for organizing laundry help you out. There is no way of getting around it unless you hire someone to do it for you! In fact, I'm off to take a load out of the dryer and put it away right now!