This 5-part series may inspire you to organize and simplify your home. It’s a new year and a fresh opportunity to clean up, clean out and develop ways of storing and managing your stuff
Week 4 – Learn to love your laundry
Wash. Dry. Fold. Repeat.
It’s the job that never ends. You gather it, sort it, wash it, dry it, fold it and put it away. Then it starts all over again.
A few easy tips may help you to get ahead of it, or at least keep up with it.
Each member of the family can have their own laundry basket. No sorting afterwards wondering what belongs to who.
Buy all the same socks for each person. Providing you can find a sock you love to wear, if all your socks are the same pairing is easy! Singletons (that is when one sock is missing from a pair) simply become “spares” rather than outcasts.
If you have a large family designate a washing day for each person. Post their day. It is their task to take their laundry to the washer on their day. Depending on their age they can wash their own, get some help or an adult can wash it. This teaches a lot about personal responsibility. Kids can fold from a young age. It does not have to be perfect.
To avoid washing an item multiple times, use a stain remover spray, the sooner the better for best results.
When you clean the lint out of the dryer, save it to make fire starters. Simply stuff the lint into a used toilet paper roll.
Minimize the number of shower/bath towels, particularly if you have teens, by assigning everyone a hook for their towel. A large towel does not have to be washed every time you bath or shower.
Use cold water except for bedding, towels and heavily stained work clothes.
Overusing laundry soap can create so many suds that they actually trap dirt which goes back on the laundry. If your front-loading washer smells stinky that may be the result of too much soap. Use less. If the smell persists run a hot water cycle with 2 cups of vinegar.
If your whites are looking a little gray it might mean you need to use hotter water. It may also be caused by overloading the washer.
Using a dryer sheet or fabric softener helps to reduce winkles. Remove the clothing as soon as they are dry and fold them or hang them up right away.
Prepare the laundry. It takes just a few seconds to “unball” the socks or unroll sleeves.
Environmentally conscious? Yes, we all try. Dryer balls can take the place of dryer sheets. They reduce drying time, fluff and separate items and can be used up to 1,000 times. Use a half cup of vinegar in laundry that is especially “aromatic.” Hang your laundry out to dry.
We may not love doing the laundry, but it feels great when it is all put away! Then begin again.