Before I read this, my laundry system went a little something like this. I had one general laundry basket that was kept on the girls' side of the house in their bathroom. All of their clothes, towels, etc. went in there. I kept one basket in my bedroom/bathroom for mine and my husband's belongings. Everything else (dishtowels, blankets, sheets, etc.) got thrown on the laundry room floor until I could get to them. Inevitably, what ended up happening was I would get so overwhelmed because I was trying to wash, dry, fold, and put away all the laundry in the house in one day. If I didn't, I felt like it was out of control, which it usually was. Maybe you can identify with me here.
I just happened to be aimlessly searching organizational blogs when I saw her laundry system. I decided to give it a try. I have a link to hers above, but I will tell you what I did, basically the same. I gave each person their own laundry basket and labeled them with their names to be kept in their bedrooms. I then labeled the one in the bathrooms "Towels".
From there, I assigned everyone a day of the week in which their laundry would be done. Which, of course, I typed up real cute, put in a picture frame, and hung in the laundry room : )
My schedule is as follows:
Sunday: Rest
Monday: My husband's clothes and sheets
Tuesday: My clothes and all towels
Wednesday: 1st Child
Thursday: 2nd Child
Friday: 3rd Child
Saturday: Miscellaneous
Now, you may be thinking what I was thinking...that you never have an empty laundry basket and you are never actually "caught up" on your laundry. And you're completely right...
Except I was never really caught up on my laundry anyway. So, now it's just "organized chaos"! How I have ran this show for the past week is simple. On Monday, I gather my husbands basket and carry it to the laundry room. I run his clothes through, dry them, fold them (no sorting I may add, they're all his clothes!), and put them away. While his clothes are in the dryer, I pull off the sheets and start those in the washing machine. When the sheets are done, I'm done for the day.
Tuesday, I do the same routine with my clothes and all the towels. Let me say again, folding and putting away is now so simple because the clothes are already sorted.
Wednesday, I get the laundry basket from the assigned child, wash, and dry and hand the basket of UNFOLDED clothes to that child. That child is responsible for folding and putting them away. If you have younger children, it will take practice. My three year old was able to quickly fold her own clothes and put them away. They weren't folded exactly how I like them, but 1) it was one less thing for me to do, and 2) if I fold them and put them away, they will become unfolded anyway when they are digging for clothes to get dressed, therefore, becoming unfolded again...(I'm sure you can relate to this as well)
Thursday and Friday go the same as Wednesday. Except, I do not make my 9 month old fold her clothes. I tried, she couldn't do it : ) So, one of the lucky older girls gets to fold the baby's. This week it was the one that needed more practice.
Saturday is for anything that just needs washing before Monday, like making sure my husband has clothes for work. Or something that is needed for church on Sunday.
Something that was also helpful for me was I am now keeping a small wicker basket just inside the laundry room. If I get a dirty dishtowel, I throw it in there, as opposed to on the floor, and wash any dirty ones that are in the basket on the next load.
I have only done this schedule for the past week, but I can tell you that it was so less overwhelming! If you are feeling overwhelmed by your laundry, this may help! Less time on laundry, is more time spent loving your family!
Good Idea. It is only two of us and I still don;t get through.
ReplyDeleteI tell you, this has been fantastic! I'm going on week 3 (or 4??) and it has really worked out great!
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