It is a stormy weekend in New England and I’m hoping you find yourself with a surprise rainy free day to tackle some projects in your house. (Or just lie on the couch. That’s cool, too.)
As part two of the clothing topic, today we are attacking laundry. Obviously clothing and laundry are a chicken and egg story. They go hand in hand and we know the clothes came first. Have you ever REALLY stopped to let yourself ponder that cycle though? The amount of clothing and linens you own determines the total amount of laundry you can have.
So- the clutter lady (ME) is automatically going to tell you that step one to getting your laundry under control is to get rid of a bunch of clothes. (and sheets, blankets, and towels.) You have too many. I promise. Go back and read the Clothes blog entry.
By the time I had my third baby, I was well on my way to being an aspirational minimalist. Kids come with a lot of stuff and I was a stay home mom who was DROWNING in stuff. My two littles were both girls and the amount of cute girl clothing circulating in the universe is astronomical. In addition to the stuff I bought or they received as gifts, people also loved to pass their kids’ clothing on to the next victim(ME). Clothes were everywhere and I had two cuties who loved to dress up and change outfits multiple times a day. #blessed
It eventually dawned on me that the real challenge to laundry was the final step-the putting away! If we’re being honest, the machines do most of the real WORK, right? Trying to put clothes away into drawers and closets that were already overflowing was ridiculous so it just perpetually lived in baskets.
Now - I have to be honest. I actually don’t hate laundry. For a few years in my twenties, I lived in an apartment that required hauling all my (and my oldest son’s) laundry to a laundromat. He still remembers sitting there doing homework waiting for our clothes to finish. We became friends with the weeknight attendant at the mat. Her name was Mo.
When I got married and my husband and I bought our house, I was SO EXCITED to do laundry at home, I swore I would never complain about laundry again and -for the most part- I have kept my word. I hated hauling laundry back then and I truly appreciate (read WORSHIP) my Maytag washer and dryer that have now been serving me for YEARS under my own roof.
Tips for making your own laundry situation more tolerable:
1) I repeat: Declutter your clothes and your kids’ clothes. Clothes that don’t fit your current sizes of humans should leave. Clothes that your kids are growing into can live in storage, but limit the amount to the very best stuff. You may also find it simplifies your life to set up seasonal rotation of wardrobes and get out-of-season clothing out of the way. It creates more space in your closet and drawers and keeps your kids from trying to wear shorts in January. Underbed storage is nice for this because it is still relatively accessible on the first hot or cold week of the new season. The seasonal swap out day does create a bit of work, but I think it is worth it for the daily simplicity. Plus, it creates a situation where you are forced to reevaluate and declutter when the swap is happening.
2)Consider doing laundry by person instead of category. You never have to sort again. Every person gets their own basket. Wash, dry, and put it back in their room. My opinion is that color sorting isn’t really that necessary unless you are washing a brand-new red sweatshirt/t shirt, etc., but you have to follow your own heart. Extra tip: buy each person only one or two solid colors of socks and use a permanent marker to indicate to whom they belong. Patterned socks are cute, but make your laundry situation about a million times harder. Baby bibs are nice in a laundry bag so the Velcro doesn't stick to everything else. Another mesh bag for tiny baby socks increases your chance of them all emerging from the dryer together.
3)If you have trouble remembering to return to the washer/dryer, set an alarm on your phone when you start the load and then only press snooze- do not turn it off- until you actually get back to the machine to transfer the load to the next stage of the process.
4)When you remove a load of laundry from the dryer, take two extra minutes to just lay the items flat or neatly in the basket instead of shoving them in like you are stuffing a Thanksgiving turkey. I’m not saying you have to fold everything perfectly. Folding is great if you have time, but just laying them out keeps everything from wrinkling while it is waiting for its next stop.
5)As mentioned in one of my earliest posts, reconsider how perfectly imperfect everything needs to be folded in your drawers. Your goal in life is BETTER with simplification, not perfect. You and your laundry are a work in progress. You are in a stage of trying things out. Nothing has to be set in stone and your systems can always be modified. Having things cleaned and back in the room where they belong is vastly better than living with 10+ loads always waiting to be washed.
6)Able bodied people should be responsible for as much of their own laundry process as possible. Yes - even little kids. They can learn to put things away and take over more of the steps as they grow. Don’t let your kid head off to college and be the one to call home asking for help. That’s sad. My big kids have been responsible for their own laundry for a long time. They absolutely have run out of underwear and febreze “fluffed” things in the dryer for wearing a second time. These are valuable lessons in responsibility and I don’t feel bad about it. If they are having a particularly stressful or busy week, I’m always still around and happy to help them out.
7) You only need one back up set of sheets for every bed in your house. You only need a couple bath towels (three at most) per person. I will die on this hill. Personalize your towels by color if needed. If the owner can’t handle tracking their own towel(s), they have a lot of tough life lessons ahead. Separate your “yucky” clean up messes type towels and beach/pool towels from your bath towels. Most houses I visit have more blankets, linens and towels than they will ever use in five decades. Just buy a few of the nicest quality you can afford. *Side note on stomach bugs and extra sheets: If you run out of sheets for a particular bed during illness, you can use an ill-fitting sheet or blanket on the sick bed during the laundry cycle. The linens police aren’t going to come arrest you.
You may be thinking I am crazy. Who spends this much time thinking about clothing and laundry? They answer is I DO! It’s literally my job to think about how people like you can simplify and streamline your life so you can have more time to do the things you love.
Some households do better with one dedicated laundry day and some prefer a laundry-is-always-happening kind of cycle.
My last comment is the tough love part of this laundry lesson. You might be thinking, “Clutter Lady - You don’t know my life!!! This house is insane.” I’m not disputing that, but the fact remains: existing as a human on this planet involves certain cycles and laundry is one of them. We wake up, we wear clothes, we use towels and linens. If you took on the responsibility of other teeny tiny humans and furry pets, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DO MORE LAUNDRY than a single chick with a goldfish. No matter how much you want to lie on couch saying, “It’s all too much!” and pretend you are Scarlett O’Hara, these facts remain.
I’m always here to help declutter, evaluate, and set up your systems.
Now go throw a load in the washer or declutter your kid’s sock drawer. :)
