A Simple Way to Keep Up With Laundry

If you feel like you will NEVER conquer your laundry pile, try adopting this routine into your daily schedule. Read this simple tip for how to keep up with laundry!

Do you feel like you're always behind on laundry, or forgetting you even put laundry in the washer or dryer? This post will give you tips on setting up a simple routine that works for your family. #allfreeclear ad

When it comes to simplifying, one of the things I've struggled with the most is laundry. Thankfully my husband handles his own laundry, but that still leaves me with the never-ending laundry needs of myself and my two girls.

My old, ineffective laundry routine went something like this:

Throw in a load of laundry whenever I notice the hampers getting really full, or we're out of clean socks.
Forget about the laundry until the next morning when one of the kids complains of having no socks.
Put the day-old wet laundry into the dryer, telling myself it doesn't smell that mildewy. Tell the girls to borrow my socks. Wait, I don't have any clean ones either? Send them to school without socks.
Forget that the laundry is in the dryer until the next morning when the kids ask about the socks again.
Attempt to fish out two matching pairs of socks from the dryer for the girls to wear to school, hoping they won't notice that they're still a tiny bit damp.

As you might guess, this was not exactly working out well for me. Not only did it result in a lot of last-minute scrambling, but it wasted my time.

I decided I needed an actual laundry routine that would allow me to do several loads throughout the week, and have time to actually wash, dry, fold, and put away each load in the same day, start to finish.

My new, simple laundry routine:

Throw in a load of laundry EVERY weekday morning after the kids leave for school.
Put the laundry into the dryer when the kids get home from school.
Fold laundry when it's done drying (which is usually when the kids are doing their homework).
Have the kids put their own laundry away when they're done with homework.

This exact routine won't work for everyone's schedule or lifestyle, but the basic principle of it can be applied to any situation.

How to Create a Laundry Routine that Works for You:

The key is to have "laundry triggers," which are specific times throughout the day when you're reminded to put the laundry in, dry it, and take it out. Your daily triggers could be after breakfast/lunch/dinner, before work/after work/after dinner, or after school/after practice/watching TV.
Choose 3 set points each day when you wash, dry, and fold/put away the clothing. After a week or so, it will become a natural part of your daily routine and you won't even have to think about it.

When I was throwing laundry in at various times on various days, it was so easy to forget about it when I got busy with other things. Now that I have a routine in place, it's a lot easier to remember.

Do you have a laundry routine in place? Do you prefer to do a lot of loads at once or space it out throughout the week? Let me know in the comments.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Kimberley

Friday 30th of September 2016

Loved reading your blog, now if I could just get through our mountain of clothes ONCE I'd feel accomplished.

Do you happen to have suggestions for someone like me who doesn't have the washer/dryer set-up at home? There is a laundry room on-site, but half the time I go down there all the machines are full, and their hours are not my hours. My in-laws let us use their washer and dryer, but I try to keep that at once or twice a week so I'm not imposing or driving too terribly much. Also, there's always the laundromat, but how embarrassing is it to take a whole car's worth of clothes there? I'll tell you: pretty embarrassing.

Anything you've got helps. Thanks for the tips!

Kelly

Sunday 1st of May 2016

Recovering perfectionist ... that's me, that's me. And i definitely need a better laundry routine. Especially one where mine and the kids gets put away under a week after it's cleaned and folded.

Morgan

Friday 22nd of April 2016

I definitely have your "old" routine going on, for the most part. I'm SO bad at folding laundry in the dryer and even worse at putting away folded clothes. Right now we don't usually have enough laundry each day for a load since my boys are little, but I know that in a year or so it's going to get out of control - I love the routine you set up!

Alyssa

Thanks, Morgan! It took me 9 years to figure out my routine, so don't feel bad about your chaotic routine! :) I feel like I need to put a disclaimer on some of my posts that says "Don't try this at home, if you have really little kids." LOL. It's only been since my daughters started full-time school that I have any semblance of order in my home.

Kristal

Wednesday 20th of April 2016

I do laundry once a day as well, so much easier then having to do it all at once. Makes the job much smaller.

Carolyn

Tuesday 19th of April 2016

Okay, so you're "old" laundry routine is basically my "only" laundry routine! I do like the idea of doing it the same time every day. Going to have to try that one because we are overflowing with dirty clothes here. #client

Ha! That was my only routine for many years, too! One thing that finally forced me to change, besides the lack of socks, was my girls having activities where they have to wear certain clothes (dance, gym, school t-shirts, etc). It seemed like whatever they needed was ALWAYS still in the hamper, wet in the washer, or half-dry in the dryer, and it drove me crazy enough that I was finally forced to make a change. :)