I’m hoping we can have a little meeting of the minds today. With the arrival of the twins quickly approaching, I’m feeling the need to bring some organization into our house—fast. One area that could use some improvement is our laundry situation. This is how thrilled I currently feel about the whole process:
It’s tedious, spanning over several days and by the time I’m finished, it’s time to start again.
free printable here
I confess I’m not a laundry sorter. I don’t sort by color, I don’t sort by kid. It’s all thrown together, which makes the folding process a chore in itself. Little white socks are my worst enemy. With five kids, I’m wondering if each one should have his/her own basket, and then I wash just that kid’s clothes when individual basket is full. . .
I also don’t have a designated laundry day. It’s more like survival mode. When you’re out of underwear, momma washes your underwear. (Although I’m looking for good advice, please tell me I’m not alone!)
I’m lucky to have good storage in our laundry room, but I’m definitely not taking advantage of it. Reorganizing those cabinets is also on the “to-do” list.
Alright, those are my laundry confessions. Feel free to share yours, or any great tips you have for becoming a more efficient “laundress.” I would be especially interested to hear from those of you with multiple children if you’ve got this all figured out. . .
I try to do at least one load daily, otherwise I will have at least 10 loads on Saturday! I have an island in my kitchen, which makes for a great folding space while kids are eating breakfast. My mom taught me how to kind of drape clothes on the sides of rectangle laundry baskets when you take the clothes out of the dryer - this helps keep them from turning into a wrinkled mess before you get a chance to wash. I wash kids clothes separately from mine and my husband's. I usually have a dark load and a light load (we currently have 3 with the 4th due in about 6 weeks).
ReplyDeleteFor socks, the best tip I've heard is putting each kids' socks in one of those zippered mesh lingerie bags. That way they all stay together. You would probably want each kid to at least have their own hamper to keep the socks sorted before you can bag them.
I do the same mesh bag thing with all of our socks. It works great and I never have to accuse the washer/dryer of eating a sock :)
DeleteI do the same mesh bag thing with all of our socks. It works great and I never have to accuse the washer/dryer of eating a sock :)
DeleteYou are not alone - laundry is my nemesis! I don't have a laundry day, because I do laundry pretty much every day. My mom used to do all of her laundry at once and have a clean laundry room as a result. My laundry room on the other hand, ALWAYS has dirty laundry. It's truly an endless job.
ReplyDeleteI have seen some moms buy all of the same socks for their kids (assuming they could wear the same size), and just toss them all in a basket for the kids to grab them and go.
I have three kids. I put at least one load in each day with the exception of Saturdays. I also don't worry about sorting colors from whites for the most part, except if I am washing something really nice obviously. And I don't wash by family member. Here is my tip on the sock issues: buy each family member a different style sock. When they come out of the dryer, sort the socks by style. Take each pile and dump into a designated sock drawer in each person's dresser. Let them pick out two matching socks in the morning. Not matching socks and folding them together saves a BUNCH of time for my family of five!
ReplyDeleteI hate folding. I will put in a load of clothes, transfer to the dryer then just procrastinate on the folding of that one load for days, meanwhile more and more clothes are piling up to be washed... Finally I forced myself to just remove the clothes from the dryer and keep the process moving, piling all the loads of dry clothes on my bed as the day goes on. Then I have to fold all the clothes at the end of the day so I can clear the bed and go to sleep. What makes this work for me is that I'd rather endure the pain of folding than push them off onto our bedroom floor and wake up to that mess the next day. So, all that being said, I think you have to analyze what part of doing laundry that you hate the most and come up with some way to trick yourself into doing it.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere about using the mesh bags - just hang one on the back of each of your kids' bedroom doors, and they put their dirty socks in there, then go around gather those bags, wash them, put the clean socks in their dresser and start over.
I have four kids ... I don't do one child at a time, because I am a sorter, and with the big front loaders I feel like I am wasting time and water if I don't fill it. But I have my kids bring down their full baskets (they are not huge, so little ones can help) and I have 3 large baskets in my laundry room, clearly labeled towels, whites and colors. They are in charge of sorting. I know when one basket is full it is time to do a load. I, too, try to do at least one complete load a day or I am in big trouble! We have a sock basket ... it is the death of me!
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to get things under control (though I only have 1 babe so far) lately and I think I've hit something that helps me. The idea that something is always waiting to be done overwhelms me, so I've made a "schedule" of what I'll wash that day (i.e. lights and towels; baby and darks; sheets). Then when that's done, I don't have to worry about the other loads that are waiting because they will have their day! I also use the lingerie bags for the baby socks and it's very helpful to keep those little things together and I imagine helps even more when there's several little ones!
ReplyDeleteI do all my laundry over one or two days but it does sometimes feel like by the time it is done, it is time to start again once you add in sheets and towels.
ReplyDeleteI only have two kids but I grew up one of three. My mom had a laundry basket for each of us and she washed everything together but when it came to folding she sorted into the baskets and then we were required to put them away.
I also heard once, don't fold things like pajamas. Just throw them in the drawer.
I have 4 kids, 3 of them filthy boys. Sorting by person has changed my life!!! We have a multi-level home with bedrooms on different levels so that is one reason it is easier, for the dreaded 'put away'portion of laundry. But also, I dont have to figure out whose is what (with twins and kids with similar sizes). And the mesh bags for socks is great! I do that as well and I will even put that in a bleach load. Then when it comes out, just hand it to each kid and they do their own socks.
ReplyDeleteAnd kids 3 and older have to help put their things away.
And typically I do 2 loads per day.
Someone told me long ago that laundry was just as unending as God's love and it made it more pleasant for me to think about!!!
ReplyDeleteWe do laundry one day a week and all the kids do their own. I have three kids ... 7, 10, and 15. When we started they needed a lot more help than now!!! They sort, they wash, they dry and they fold. I supervise the putting away. This has worked for us for a number of reasons but by far they are very aware of changing clothes = more work for them!!!
I also read recently that a mom had a bucket for each child's socks. She would place them in after the dryer and the child was responsible for finding a pair when they needed them!
xoxo mpm
"I confess I’m not a laundry sorter. I don’t sort by color, I don’t sort by kid. It’s all thrown together, which makes the folding process a chore in itself. Little white socks are my worst enemy. With five kids, I’m wondering if each one should have his/her own basket, and then I wash just that kid’s clothes when individual basket is full. . ." This is what I do and it is awesome. I have three kids and they tote their basket to the laundry room when it's full. They almost never have any whites so I just wash it all togther (minus a white or two pulled out) and then take the basket back to their room for them to put away and hang. My 9 year old and 7 year old put all their own stuff away. I still help the 3 year old of course. My hubby and I have two baskets...one for darks and one for lights.
ReplyDeleteWe have a semi-organized system that has worked well for us. We don't have an official laundry day we just keep up with it before it "overflows" but a while back I went to Target and bought everyone their own laundry basket and wrote their names on them. We have a newborn and a two year old and not all their laundry gets folded because its so teeny so it gets tossed in the baskets as I sort and fold. At the end all the baskets go up to the appropriate room and gets put away usually before bedtime. It's not perfect but it keeps me sane for sure! Good Luck!!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a laundry room, just a washer and dryer in a hall closet, so it's really easy to let laundry take over the house if I'm not careful. I do one load a day (there's just three, almost four of us, so we're still pretty minimal). I fold it as soon as it comes out of the dryer and sort it by owner as I'm folding--I just put the folded clothes on top of the washer/dryer. It's nice because it makes me keep the top of the machines clean, and I never have baskets of laundry sitting around.
ReplyDeleteI CAN'T do a laundry day. I never, ever get it all done.
Emily - I have 6 kids plus us parents makes 8 all together. All the clothes plus 7 towels a night - all the kids + husband find it easier to put everything they touch even for one second in the hamper then to hang it on the hook. So between all the clothes the bed linens and the towels I'm swamped before I start. I hire someone to come and do the laundry. I have 2 washers and 2 dryers and she comes in washes folds and irons. I have 3 girls in pleated uniform skirts - thats a lot of ironing!!
ReplyDeleteI have 5 kids...and I do at least one load (often 2 loads) of laundry every day from start to finish. We have a three slot sorter - bluejeans, whites, and everything else. Each child has their own (clean) dish pan with their name on it, and I have these lined up on the counter. As I fold, I sort each person's stuff in to their own pan and then the kids do the carrying to their room and putting away. Even my 2 year old manages this. Also, as soon as it warms up,(like right now) I encourage all my kids to wear sandals - I can't stand matching socks it's very time consuming! Laundry is something I've just resigned myself too, and the more kids the more laundry. I wouldn't have it any other way, though :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a European sized washer and dryer which will hold about 3 bath towels and the shortest cycle takes one hour. At this apartment, we put all 3 kids in one room. We have 3 baskets and they sort their own laundry as they take it off- even the 3 year old. They hang the things that we air dry, and fold their own things (I'll bring a basket in and they'll fold it all together- big sister helps with the socks) and put them away. We do a couple of loads daily. I also have a schedule. Emilie Barnes had some good ideas in one of her books. Rie @ Home and Harmony blog buys gold toe socks and throws same sizes in baskets and each person gets their own socks. When I had babies, I kept mesh bags in the laundry basket for bibs and socks- I don't like velcro getting stuck on other clothes. And, lastly, I buy enough undies and socks to last 2 weeks- just in case! :)
ReplyDelete1-Laundry load by the person (don't sort by color).
ReplyDelete2-Wash in cold water (unless super dirty). Saves $.
3-Use only 1/2 recommended amt laundry detergent. Save more $.
4-Buy diff style socks per person (as smn already sugg).
5-At least one load per day, don't let it pile up.
6-Pretreat bad grease stains on clothing w Dawn blue liquid detergent. Hand scrub before it goes in wash mach.
7-I rarely iron!!! Aggressively shake out clothing after removing from dryer and lay flat if u can't fold/hang then.
8-Make laundry more enjoyable/meaningful by praying for and/or thinking happy thoughts about the person whose clothes you are caring for at the moment :)
You are most certainly not alone! I am *always* on the lookout for good laundry tips. Here's a system I heard about recently from two moms who have 4 and 6 kids respectively. Create baskets or cubbies for the kids. Select 6 outfits, plus a church outfit, for each kid and place them in the cubbies/baskets on Sunday evenings. The kids wear the six outfits Mon-Sun (yes, they repeat the Saturday outfit on both weekend days, with the exception of changing for church- unless it's just filthy). For kids who like to choose their own clothing, they *have* to do it at the time the baskets are filled. After that, they can choose what they want to wear from the basket (even mix and match) but there's no early AM squabble about what to wear or multiple outfit changes resulting in additional stress and mess! I also like this because it gives you some input into what is worn. ;) Each day, one load of whites and one load of colors from the previous day's pre-selected clothing gets washed. This is 2 loads per day, 6 days per week. The 7th day can be used to do rugs, towels, and sheets. 2 loads per day sounds like a lot but with 3 kids, I estimate I do 8 loads per week anyway! Hope that helps! I'm off to start a load now! Good luck to you! 5 will be busy, but my goodness, what a BLESSING!! :)- Rachel Morgan
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I have no laundry tips because laundry is my most-hated nemesis. But, thank you for posting this because I am enjoying all of the comments from your readers!
ReplyDeletexo,
- e
I have four kids and we used to all have laundry baskets in every room. It was easy to get behind and I couldn't keep track of how much volume we had. With three in competitive sports there are a lot of uniforms and sweaty socks! I switched to having a "command center" in my room. I have three large baskets for whites, lights, and darks. Everyone brings their clothes in and sorts them and I wash as each basket is filled. It helps keep a pulse on how much we have and keeps things under control. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI have three wonderful big baskets from Target in my laundry room (nice, big laundry room helps!), and the kids are responsible for putting their dirty clothes in the appropriate basket - one for darks, one for lights, and one for whites. If I had a bit more space I'd have one for jeans, too. I do at least a load a day. I wash, dry, and fold, but the kids have to come get their folded clothes and put them away. It works well for us, although my kids are older...16, 13, and 10. I highly recommend sorting, our clothes stay so much nicer that way!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily - Socks are the worst! I bought mesh lingerie bags from Walmart ($0.97 each) and attached one to each kids laundry basket. They put their socks in the lingerie bag when they are dirty and I just wash the whole bag. It keeps their socks together so I don't lose any or have to sort between kids. You can see what I mean here: http://theweekendhomemaker.com/get-organized-orphan-socks
ReplyDeleteSounds like lots of people have the same suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI sort, light, dark, medium and hand wash/delicate wash.
I try the load a day approach...but truth is its more like every other day.
I DO PUT KIDS SOCKS IN A MESH BAG - then they don't get lost etc. When they are done, I call my kids in, throw the socks on the floor and they race to find the most matches.
Done and done :)
I used to fold towels and washcloths and stack them in neat piles with the fold in the same direction. (Yes, I'm a little OCD.) I now throw washcloths and hand towels in a drawer of a small dresser I have in the bathroom--no more folding. I still fold large towels. I use plastic shoe boxes inside dresser drawers that hold undies and socks. No more folding--just throw them in the boxes. I purchase the same socks for each person. No more matching--just throw them in the box. Amen.
ReplyDeleteI hate Mount Washmore. I involve the kids as much as I possibly can. All our laundry is done at once. Every other day, they help me sort before they go to school. I do it and fold it and they put it away when they get home, everyone participates but Jack. Recently I've been reading about family closets where everything is stored in one place. I'm not sure that would work for us, but a kid closet might.
ReplyDeleteGreat to read that I'm not the only one buried under an endless pile of laundry! A couple of tips for you:
ReplyDelete1. I found myself washing some things multiple times to get stains out. The best thing I ever did was move a bottle of Shout to the bathroom. When the kids take off their clothes for bathtime, I spray all of the stains. Problem solved!
2. I do have a semi-schedule for laundry. Tuesday is always bed/sheets/towels day. If I have enough time I do clothes. Otherwise, I do clothes on Friday and Sunday.
Good luck!
I am TERRIBLE at laundry. I've been known to re-wash b/c clean stuff sits in the basked a bit too long. I did finally ask our housekeeper to iron and she does weekly now....it is making a huge difference. When we remodeled I had them put a countertop over the washer and dryer so now I "try" to force myself to do laundry when I know I'll be able to fold as soon as the dryer stops. I try to do the kids laundry and ours separately.....just because I need different sized hangers, etc. For my husband's work socks I HATE sorting the black and the navy. I found that polo has a different color horse for black and navy which makes folding his socks MUCH easier. They often sell them at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I don't envy you with soon to be 5 kids worth of laundry!
ReplyDeleteI am so with you on this:). Socks are my enemy. I've just started using lingerie bags (2 for each kid, one for dirty socks & one for clean). Every time I wash the dirty sock bag, the kids get a clean bag of socks in return and i don't even sort them, i just hand them the bag of socks and they can deal with it however they want. sometimes i end up just putting all the socks that come my way in a bag, but at least it keeps them from being on the loose.
ReplyDeletei have 3 children and NO i have not figured it out. BUT what has helped me lately or what i have heard to be helpful is...
ReplyDelete*each member has a lingerie bag that THEY put their socks in (all socks are with their match and owner)
*once "caught up" i try and wash a load while cooking/eating. during bed time, i will put that in drying and start the other load. before bed i will fold 1 load. the next morning i fold the other load and put those 2 loads away. (wash at night...put away in morning)
*and i dont sort by color or person either
*for me, if i hang up just 1-2 loads i dont feel so overwhelmed with it
* Wash linens on Wednesday
We used to not sort our laundry and it drove me INSANE. So there are two laundry baskets - one for whites/lights, and one for darks. Well, there are 4 really (2 in my hubby's bathroom and 2 outside my bathroom & baby's room). I also started washing and drying my son's socks in a lingerie bag. I keep meaning to clip the bag to the hamper so that socks will go in there right away.
ReplyDeleteI still feel like I do laundry all the time, and I HATE it. Ugh.
and my 4 year old brings me her dirty clothes and helps put them away.
ReplyDeleteI am going to be reading all these comments myself as I struggle with four kids to get laundry done in a timely manner. I hate putting the clothes away, I can sort, wash, dry, fold and sort again, it's the putting away that gets me. I did pin that laundry basket shelf that Ana White made and am hoping that my help me out. I sort jeans in one, undies, socks, towels, pjs in another and the rest like shirts in a third pile. I've started sorting right out of the dryer and having their baskets in there. I figure the 11, almost 10 and even 7 year old can put their own laundry away now so I put the baskets in their room. The 3 yr old, hubs and my stuff I put away. I would like to know how people do laundry everyday? Do they not sort it? Maybe do one kids basket at a time is easier? I hope you do a follow up post on this with some ideas, even if you won't use them. I think it would be quite a popular post! Thanks for blogging about this. :)
ReplyDeleteFor tiny socks, the little mesh bags from Babies R Us that zip or a similar lingerie bag is a lifesaver. We lost so many socks, and had a hard time pairing them, before doing this. Takes a second longer to pop in the bag rather than toss in the hamper, but makes life so much easier that once you get used to that it is great. I'd say buy 'em, get fabric paint and a swatch of canvas material, let each kid decorate their name label and stitch it on, then teach them how to use it.
ReplyDeleteI try to do a load or two everyday so that it doesn't pile up and I'm forced to spend an entire day doing laundry. I find that I can throw a load in after work, while I'm cooking dinner, dry it while I'm doing dishes, then fold it later in the evening.
ReplyDeleteI have a hamper for each person in my house. It really does make doing laundry easier when you don't have to sort each person's stuff out as you fold. That's the part I hate the most. If I don't have a full load of their things, I throw in some of my own.
I try to keep clothing caught up, as we don't have extensive wardrobes and people run out of jeans, etc after 3 or 4 days. I also try to keep up with the towels.
The weekends are when I catch up on anything left thru the week and wash other things like bedding, rugs and curtains.
It's neverending... but if I didn't stay on top of it I'd be buried by the weekend. LOL
Don't hate me, but I like doing laundry. However, I don't want to spend time everyday doing it, or a whole Saturday trapped in the laundry room. I have a basket for each kid. And just like you said, when it's full, I wash it. I don't sort clothes by color either. Seems like a waste to me since I buy most of my kids clothes second hand and they've already been washed a million times. I do put some of my daughters sweater dresses in a mesh laundry bag so they don't get snagged on zippers. One trick I'll share is that I keep a small basket in each kids sock/underware drawer and all the clean socks just get dumped in there. No matching necessary since it's just one kids clothes. And I try to hang as much stuff as possible so I'm not dealing with wrinkly shirts and wadded up pants because sometimes I don't wait for the dryer cycle to end before I start the next load and clothes come out a little damp. Good luck! And I hope you get enough tips from everyone to pick out your faves and not feel too overwhelmed anymore! Newborn laundry is INSANE since everything is so tiny. Praying for you and your little bundles!
ReplyDeleteWith 4 kids, I do 1-2 loads a day. Many times, I'll start a load at night and then it's ready to throw in the dryer first thing in the morning. Seems to help because I still have energy at that point in the day. :) I don't sort and I have the kids help as much as possible...bringing laundry and putting it away. I also keep all the sports stuff (uniforms, socks, etc) in a bin in the laundry room....this has been a lifesaver since it felt like before we were always looking for the missing uniform piece that had gotten lost somewhere in their room. Good luck, Emily!
ReplyDeletea) this is the first time ive commented here. i LOVE reading your blog. you're very inviting. i've been reading for a while...but haven't commented until today.
ReplyDelete2) i'm sure all 35 of those people above me have fabulous advice and that i'm just repeating what they've already said...
, but out of all the things i do--laundry is one i do well! (let's not talk about unloading dishwashers or mopping.), so i thought i'd chime in anyway.
i'll spare you my nitty gritty details, but the BEST things i've done regarding laundry is: 1) wash the adult clothes separately from the kids clothes. (in your case, with 5, you might do adults/big kids/twins. (we have 2 hampers in our house. one for kids, one for adults)
2) I wash the kids' clothes on sunday after church. I find it relaxing. And it's done by sunday night, ready for the week.
3) the BEST thing i ever did was to buy a laundry basket for each kid to put their clean laundry into as I fold. I can hand it to them and send them on their merry way to put it away.
4)adult clothes get washed when i have a big enough load and towels are the same.
5) I sort the kids' clothes into darks/lights/socks,undies,jammies so that i can wash the socks, undies and possibly peed on jammies in HOT regardless of their color.
oh I am right there with ya! I only have 3 kiddos but it feels like I have 8! especially b/c my middle child thinks its fun to change into 4 different outfits through out the day. And I too wash only when the undies are gone and hubbys running around with a towel wrapped around him saying "hey do I have any underwear?" TMI? sorry...
ReplyDeleteI'm in charge of the kid's laundry which I do sort as old and younger (I only have 2). Then my husband is in charge of our laundry (and usually towels/linens). He sorts by colors, undies, whites and then things we don't put in the dryer (he used to sort out reds/pinks, but I've almost gotten rid of the habit). We're the same as you though, we wash when we're out of undies (and I sadly admit that my almost 5 year old wears his old 2/3 size undies at least every other week because I've not realized we're out....good thing he's really skinny). Goodluck figuring out a great system!!
ReplyDeleteHate is a strong word, but I'm close to that w/ doing laundry. Just wait until your kids are old enough to play sports. I have a 12 and 2 year old. The 12 yr old, a girl, on a typical day, wears a hoodie, a polo shirt (school requirement), tank top, bra, pants. On a day like today, she will change into shorts when she gets home. She then will have soccer practice where she wears 2-3 more layers of clothing. After showering, she always uses a fresh towel and new pj's. This is 1 kid/day. During the winter, she played 2 sports and had practices/games 7 days/wk. I separate by whites/lt. grays/pastels, reddish colors, blues/green/yellow/purple, darks in one of the 4 divided hampers. Underwear are washed separately in hot water. I learned after having kid 2 to wash in cold water b/c most spots come out if you do, so I had to put my germ-a-phobe tendencies aside. Towels and bath cloths are separate, too. I'll pray for you. Organization is definitely key. I really don't know how you will do it when they get a little older. I only wish my 12 yr old had time to do laundry b/c then maybe she would learn not to go through so many clothes!
ReplyDeleteWe used to laugh that our mother would wake up Christmas morning and instead of opening presents - she would start the washer.
ReplyDeleteAnd so do I. When my kids were little like yours, I did a load every day and forced myself to FOLD AT THE DRYER.
I do sort - and you know it might be easier to do just a load of socks, underwear for the kids - washers now are so easy to adjust for even the tiniest loads.
The thing is you have to try to start it at the same time every wash day - it gets to be that habit that you get out of the way quickly. Start a load before breakfast - toss in the dryer after breakfast - fold when done - at the dryer....or when you get home from hauling kiddies to school or where ever.
To handle the sock problem, why not buy each kid a mesh bag that zips or has a drawstring and that is where each puts their dirty socks - a little training may be needed here. Then, you just toss that bag in to wash and dry and dump it back in the kid's sock drawer. Voila! No more collecting, sorting and matching. I also had my kids collect specific clothing items for washing, i.e. go get all the used towels and washcloths, all the jeans on the floor...that sort of thing. I put old socks on their hands and sprayed each with furniture polish and sent them racing through a room. My niece and nephew were trained from a really young age to take their dinner dishes, scrape it in the trash and put it by the kitchen sink. Kids can and should help just because they are part of the team. Set a timer when assigning a chore - we all need a deadline - so they know how long they have to race through a job. Always told our kids that my job was to take care of them and the home (I worked full time also) and their job was to do well in school and help at home. Ok, so that was more than laundry. Sorry. You'll do great!
ReplyDeleteOnce I started to follow the one load a day rule for laundry I found it much less daunting, as now it is just part of my daily routine. I grab a basketful to take downstairs with me in the morning and get it started right away. I normally do sort lights/darks because we have plenty of both! As I take clothes out of the dryer (or off the line in good weather) I fold directly into each persons basket and everyone puts their own clothes away.
ReplyDeleteWith 2 boys in sports it is essential that I don't put off doing laundry or they'd be digging through a dirty pile looking for uniforms!
I grew up in a family of 6 kids and the socks were the worst!!!! I remember trying for hours to match those socks for my mom. I have been scarred by it I think because I do not keep the same collection my mother did. I have one small container of socks. If after 1 month of laundry rotation the socks in the container have not found their beloved they must go on to a better place. It is painful if you think of the money you throw away but socks are cheep and my sanity is worth every penny! As for the laundry situation you really just have to bite the bullet so to speak and do a little everyday. I keep the dirty laundry in everyones room and travel from room to room every morning to get the load of darks or towels or whatever I'm doing. Once the load is done I deliver the clean clothes and I never look back! Warning!!! This system can be easily upset by activities, meetings, sickness, work, mental health days. Its ok though, just get back up on the horse and start over.
ReplyDeleteYou are making me feel like a laundry freak. I LOVE doing it. I get joy when its done a certain way. I think its a trait that skips a generation that I got. http://bythewayjenngray.blogspot.com/2012/03/laundry-harmony.html
ReplyDeleteI try to do one load of laundry a day, and I make it my morning routine. Brush teeth, shower/dress, start a load of laundry.
ReplyDeleteThen after breakfast I change the load to the dryer.. and then I pat myself on the back for the productive start of a day! If nothing else gets done that day it doesn't matter. I've completed one load of laundry. :)
Oh, and I keep things easy. Darks, whites, lights and baby clothes. I have a three basket separator in the laundry room. We don't use baskets in our bedroom- at the end of the day the clothes go straight to one of those baskets in the laundry room.
Have we overwhelmed you with ideas???
When I was a teenager, I was visiting a friend and in their bathroom were four laundry baskets labeled: whites, colors, jeans and towels. I thought that was brilliant! In my bedroom I have two baskets, one for colors and one for whites. I can easily see which load needs doing. (The children throw all of their laundry together in their bathroom. I pull out what I'm washing that day.) I used to do the laundry all on one day, but then I was doing laundry ALL day! Now I do one load every morning (except for Sundays). We have fallen into a fairly regular system: Mondays - colors (dark), Tuesdays - colors (light), Wednesdays - whites, Thursdays - towels or more colors, Fridays - jeans or whatever needs washing, Saturdays - sheets. I fold the laundry on my bed and it gets delivered/put away immediately, otherwise the clean laundry piles up on top of the dressers. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager, I was visiting a friend and in their bathroom were four laundry baskets labeled: whites, colors, jeans and towels. I thought that was brilliant! In my bedroom I have two baskets, one for colors and one for whites. I can easily see which load needs doing. (The children throw all of their laundry together in their bathroom. I pull out what I'm washing that day.) I used to do the laundry all on one day, but then I was doing laundry ALL day! Now I do one load every morning (except for Sundays). We have fallen into a fairly regular system: Mondays - colors (dark), Tuesdays - colors (light), Wednesdays - whites, Thursdays - towels or more colors, Fridays - jeans or whatever needs washing, Saturdays - sheets. I fold the laundry on my bed and it gets delivered/put away immediately, otherwise the clean laundry piles up on top of the dressers. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteI do one load of laundry a day (unless there is a bed wetting, etc) Monday through Saturday. I try not to do laundry on Sundays to give myself a day off. I find doing one load a day makes it less of a chore than having a whole bunch of laundry to do at once.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing guideline I have for myself is no laundry after 5 pm. I noticed a few years ago that after that time, I just kept refluffing and refluffing things because I forgot about them and got busy with dinner, bedtimes, etc. Sometimes it sat until the next day and was super wrinkly.
Blessings...hope you find a routine that works for you!
Oh my with three boys in sports I was never done with the laundy. I am a sorter and have basket for whites, lights, darks and whites that use bleach. When the boys were home I literally did 3 loads a day to keep up, either we are too clean or too dirty, not sure which. I am really picky about my laundry so sorting is a must for me. If you was everything on the same temp and the clothes don't exchange color it would probably help to have a basket for each child. Just thinking of the amount of laundry I use to have makes me cringe. Laundry has always been my nemisis. One time I did not do it everyday and felt so overwhelmed I picked the whole mess up and went to a laundry mat, just to catch up, 11 loads later I was done for about half a day because THEY were out there dirtying up more clothes for Mama to wash.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much good advice about the sorting, keeping little socks together and all of that so I won't add any more other than you want to get your little people to help you...children can easily be persuaded to help if it's done in a fun way - colorcoding, sorting etc. Mainly though- I think it's a massive help to have an inspirational laundry room - when I was reading your post I was thinking about Dagny's before & after that was on Design Sponge ages ago - http://www.designsponge.com/2010/10/before-after-adriannes-console-dagnys-laundry-room.html
ReplyDeleteI'd go over to her house to do my laundry if I could!
After reading some of these posts, I am inspired to love doing the laundry! (Uh..not really... ;)
ReplyDeleteSo the thing that has been amazingly helpful to me, and I'm sure other people will think I'm off my rocker...but when we finished our basement, we built in a huge closet off the laundry room and all 4 of my kids keep their clothes in there! (I have girls 17 and 15, boys 9 and 6.) There is a bathroom off the laundry room and they all shower there and get dressed in the bathroom.
After trying many ways, I finally resorted to three loads a day except on Sundays(whites, darks, colors) and the laundry goes from the dryer to hangers or drawers. It has changed my life because I hated hated hated doing laundry before. Now I just hate it! HA!
Of course, there are days that I can't get to it, but I'm pretty disciplined in not letting it get piled up. It feels so overwhelming to me to walk into a room with piles and piles of clothes!
Also, once a year, I purge socks. (I know, this isn't my thriftiest tip...but socks aren't really that expensive..) I have no idea how all these weird extra socks get into my house, but at the end of the year I have several different styles in the stash. So I throw everything out and start over! The girls and I share the same socks and the boys share the same socks. (Yes, little Parkers socks are a little too big, but he has a relatively sane mother!) My husband does his own things, so that only makes 2 different kinds of socks I'm matching.
You'll do awesome with 5! I do think your life will be easier if you set up some kind of system though. So nice to know the kids have clean clothes in their closet and aren't rumaging through the dirty clothes to find a beloved shirt!
I have 3 kids and a TINY laundry (it's just a stackable and hampers in my powder room) but if I had a larger space I would do this:
ReplyDeletehttp://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/2011/08/featuring-you-ikeas-expedit-in-laundry.html
(a friend's blog featuring another friend)
because it's the putting away that gets me!! Folded clothes end up on my bed for days (hard to put away baby clothes when the baby's always napping when I think of it!) Oh, and the stain-treating all those newborn clothes is not my favorite either. Anyway, this is a great solution--not sure what she does for the hangable stuff, but I assume there's a lot less of that with boys. Good luck with whatever you figure out :)
Our laundry area is small with no real storage. I got the best advice from my lovely neighbor. It's works like a charm! Each child has their own laundry day and then another day for linens and towels. For example: Monday - daughter, Tuesday - Son #1 and #2 (since they share a laundry basket), Wednesday - Husbands and Mine Thursdays - Towels, Friday - linens. My children are expected to take down their own laundry. If they don't have it there, I won't go get it for them. I also cut way down on the amount of clothes that each has. That always helps cut down Mt. Washmore! Good luck with your sweet little babies!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a laundry guru, but I have discovered a tip that has helped me in all aspects of housekeeping, and that is simplifying and minimalizing. I limit the number of shirts and pants my family owns. I have 20 hangers in each of my kids closet. All tops hang on those hangers-sweatshirts, tank tops, t-shirts - you get the idea. Their pants and pj's sit on a shelf immediately above the hangers, and the socks and undies sit in a basket on the same shelf. It makes it really easy and fast for the kids to put their stuff away. We have no dressers in our bedrooms. The biggest help, as I've said, is to own less. The less clothing there is, the less there is to deal with, and the less overwhelming it is.
ReplyDeleteI used to do laundry about once a week or when someone ran out of something but it felt like such a chore that I kept putting it off and just running a catch-up load for the necessities for the next day. Once it was dry it just piled up and never got put away, husband huffing while sorting through the enormous pile each morning. A couple of weeks ago I started sorting all of our clothes (we have 2 kids) into a huge divided hamper in our master bedroom into whites, colds (more delicate items and less soiled) and warms (all the kids clothes, more soiled stuff and jeans). Now I run a load most mornings as needed, get it dried and sorted during the day and put away. It feels so much less like a chore doing it this way and even if I don't keep up perfectly I only have a small basket of clean clothes sitting around instead of 3 weeks worth in a corner somewhere. I only fold the adult clothes, our kids' stuff gets sorted by kid and kind of clothing and draped over a shelf in a shared kids closet. Since I'm the one picking their outfits this works for now, I know where everything is and I don't have to fold a million tiny pieces of clothing. Their underwear goes into a hanging shoe storage thingy on the inside of the closet door and their socks into a shared hanging mesh basket in the closet (they only wear socks a few months of the year so they're not a big hassle). I feel so much more accomplished these days :)
ReplyDeleteI am definitely a sorter! I find it helps with the fold and put away chore. Especially with towels and sheets - those can be pulled out and sit, while t-shirts need to be folded/hung right away to avoid wrinkles - cause I do not iron!
ReplyDeleteLots of great advice here, yet with 5 babies I am afraid you will have more days looking like the woman in the photo at the start of this post!!
As far as chores go, I love doing laundry! (I know it's weird.)
ReplyDeleteI have two girls and two boys, each share rooms. So it is easy to do a boy and a girl load when their baskets get full. Since they don't have many whites, it's easy to just pull the whites out before I throw everything into the machine.
This also makes it easy for the girls (older) to do the laundry themselves. They only have to fold, sort, and put away their own. And they definitely know those is whose!
I do laundry several times a week. After two kids, we were no longer a once a week family.
And socks aren't a problem!
Hope this helps.
Laura
cookiecrumbsandsawdust.blogspot.com
Yes, you need to get this under control stat! I have 4 kids age 7-2, and for their socks I buy white baby socks for the little one, and gold toe brand for the rest. I have one boy, so his have the gray toes/heels that they do for boys, and the girls go by the "ring" method of the brand. My older daughter wears medium that comes with 2 bands/rings around the toes, and my younger daughter wears a small which is just one band. I always wash kids laundry separate from ours, it takes about 3 loads for the 4 kids (per week) the next day I do usually 2 loads of ours, darks & whites. The next day towels and sheets. Roughly, anyway :) Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI have no advice but I just wanted to say that you are not alone. I currently have 3 baskets of kid's clothes (I only have 2 children) that need to be hung/folded/put away...and I despise socks. I can't wait to read all the comments, maybe I will learn something today! :)
ReplyDeleteKim @ www.mylifeincolorblog.com
I don't mind laundry but there are only three of us. I find socks are easy to sort if they're patterned (like hearts or dots or whatever)- which is easy for me and my daughter. My husband gets to match his own socks, since he's particular about them. I agree with the previous commenter who mentioned not having a lot of clothes per person- less volume=less mess=easier to stay on top of (though I'm completely guilty of this). We don't have a laundry room either- just a washer and dryer in the hall closet. There's a bin for darks and a bin for whites. I wash them when they get about 3/4s full. Before I had my daughter I would fold everything as soon as it came out of the dryer and put it away right away. Now things sit in the bag or on the drying rack until I need them/get sick of them/have people coming over.
ReplyDeleteI love color catchers, so that if i accidentally throw in something the wrong color it doesn't mess things us. When my children turn 12 I teach them how to do their own laundry then on sat. they have to do their own. I have a box of color catchers just for them. my oldest child would put all his laundry together, red's and all and it wouldn't mess up!
ReplyDeleteI have a laundry basket for each person (3 boys and a husband) and as soon as it's full I bring it down to the wash. I also have everything hanging in closets, which I find easier than trying to fold everything (and easier for the kids to put away themselves). My oldest brings his own basket down when it's full and I lay his clothes on his bed to put away. DELEGATE!! When your kids are able, let them help you! BTW-recently found your blog and love the design ideas!!
ReplyDeleteYou kind of have to take your own personality into account. I very much like to do something and get it done. So I wash all of our clothes in one day. (WEll, sometimes if there's a lot or I'm busy, I'll start it the evening before and get 2-3 loads done). My dedicated laundry day is on Monday. On Sunday we sort our laundry. (I sort by colors). Blues get 2 loads, browns get 1, then I start combining. Usually green, yellow, and orange. And red, pink, and purple. Then blacks, then whites, then delicates. I have 5 children (although none are twins). I've been doing it this way for a few years and it works best for me because I like knowing that all the clothes in the house are clean at the same time. I do towels on a different day altogether. And the kids put their own clothes away (except my youngest, she's 2 1/2).
ReplyDeleteI don't have any great tips on socks. All the kids are slightly different (and the girls like colored socks), so that helps. The only thing i do is that any that aren't partnered up get thrown in a box and every couple of weeks I'll sort through them while I'm watching tv and see if any pairs got back together.
I only have one daughter, but it still seems like with three of us there's plenty of laundry. I just recently did some tweaking in the laundry room which has made being in there more fun. The washing isn't what I mind. I just do loads here and there throughout the day and I love to do chores like that while I talk on the phone! What I dislike is folding. For the past few months, I've been having my daughter (she's 14) and husband help fold for five minutes or so at night. With three of us folding together, it happens so fast and we can chat and have fun at the same time.
ReplyDeleteOk, when I finish laughing at the first image in the post, I will give a real comment! That is just tooo darn funny!!!!
ReplyDeleteoh! AND we have a one towel per week rule and the girls have to wear jammies for 3 nights before putting them in the laundry. (not my son b/c he's sweaty/greasy/boy)
ReplyDeleteI'm terrible at most aspects of housekeeping, but I feel like I actually have two things down: laundry and meal planning. For laundry, I do loads by the floor of the house. My kids rooms, bathroom, and guest room are upstairs, so that stuff gets washed together, same for our stuff and kitchen towels. That way I can bring the piles to the right floor once folded. I also multitask. The laundry room is next to my kids bathroom, so I fold and put their stuff away while they bathe/after I wash their hair and they are just playing. (They're big enough that there is no drowning scare.) I don't have a laundry day, I just bring the baskets to the laundry room when they are full, and sort them right into the washer (sort by hot/cold water). Sheets and towels I try to do once every week or two, again by room/floor. Hope some of this might help!
ReplyDeleteHeather
loveyourspace.blogspot.com
I really have very little advice (but by the looks of all these comments, others do! would love it if you were inclined to comprise a "best of" list of tips for a future post!)...the one thing I have done recently that has made part of the process a little less painful is to do the folding at night while I watch Mad Men with my hubby :)
ReplyDeleteI build up a big supply of clean laundry during the day (1-2 days a week) and put all the baskets in my daughter's room. She's one of those little ones who calls for mom or dad for 40 minutes if we don't sit with her while she falls asleep, so this has become our happy medium. I sing songs, tell stories, feel like we are bonding AND I get through mountains of laundry.
ReplyDeleteI even bring in a whole bunch of empty hangers and hang up all my husband's and my clothes on hooks and doorknobs. It takes about 10 minutes after she's asleep to bring the linens to the closet, hang the clothes where they belong, deposit my husband's stuff on the bed (he puts it away), bring baskets and things back to the laundry room, and put my things away.
For me, laundry isn't done unless it is DONE. This system (if you can call it that, ha!) works for me because at the end of the day everything is actually put away. Since you have more people than me, you could make it into a big thing at the end of the day where you all watch a movie together or someone reads out loud, etc while you all fold laundry. Everyone puts it away and then comes back down for a laundry day bowl of ice cream :)
I may not have twins but I had 6 kids in 9 years. Laundry at our house is a beast. So here is what I have learned. First of all, anyone that has under 5 kids has no idea how bad your laundry will be. Once I hit 5 kids it become so much worse (probably not what you wanted to hear:)). Second, make peace that your laundry will never be completely done. Do a little bit every day. I do mine by bedrooms. I have 5 bedrooms in the house. So I am doing a room every week day. I have committed myself to finish that room that day (wash, fold and put away.) I keep an extra basket in the laundry room for those things that people take off outside of their rooms. I finish that off on Saturday and take Sunday off.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I keep dirty clothes bins in the kids closets and my laundry baskets are the fold away kind. I don't have room for plastic baskets.
I have a sock basket. I hate folding them and trying to figure out who they belong to. I buy a bunch of socks at the beginning of the school year and then just throw them in the basket when they are clean. The kids know that's where their socks are and get them themselves. Even my 4 year old knows it.
One last thing. I have my older kids put away their own laundry. Have your kids help! You're going to need them to be responsible.
Good luck! Having a big family is such a blessing. Having systems and keeping up with things is the best thing for keeping yourself from going crazy. But I'm sure there will still be lots of crazy. :)
I also do laundry pretty much every day. The worst part is come evening, I'm often too tired/want time for myself after the kids are in bed and don't want to waste time folding - so then it sits, clean in the basket for the next day!
ReplyDeleteI sort by light color vs. dark color, and even with a divided basket in our master bath (one from Pottery Barn), my husband still struggles trying to figure out which of his clothes are considered "light colored" and which are dark. My whole thing is I don't want my dark colored jeans bleeding onto light blue or pink shirts!
For the girls, each one has her own laundry basket (from Land of Nod) and I usually just do an individual load for each girl unless someone has a stain and it needs to get thrown in quicker. It's not a perfect system, but seems to be working!
We have hampers in each of the bathrooms. Each morning my seven year old empties the hampers into a basket and puts it at the top of the stairs for me to bring down. I have a wheeled sorter that has three bins and a padded hinged lid - I most likely got it at Target. I use it more because of family laundry sensitivities than deference to color. First thing in the morning I dump in a load from one of the sorter bins and then go start breakfast, get my kids up etc. Once they are out the door that load goes in the dryer and one more load goes in the washer. I have a laundry basket for each member of the family and one for household items- sheets, towels etc. I try to take the clothes out of the dryer just as they are done (so they don't get wrinkled) then fold them and drop them in the appropriate basket right then and there. Once a basket is full it's owner will take it upstairs and put away the clothes. I usually get two loads done in the morning and if necessary one more after dinner and that almost keeps me up with an active family of four. I also keep stain stick and pre-treaters in a small kit in each of the bathrooms so that we can spray stains when they go in versus later when they have had a chance to set. I have set days for sheets, towels and other household items because those are the things that seem to jam me up if I let them sit. We built a storage unit for the laundry baskets that I saw on pinterest. I will try and find it and tag it for you.
ReplyDeleteI have been letting it pile up until it's ridiculous. Then I power through load after load, and watch episode after episode of Kardhasian-Kraziness while I fold. Junk tv is my only lifesaver. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sort by kid. That way all the clothes stay together from room to washer to dryer to folding area back to kids' room. And I make my older kids do their own bringing down and putting away. It's the least they can do =)
ReplyDeleteFor me, the most important laundry detail is the soap.
ReplyDeleteI beat Walmart prices on non-caustic laundry soap without any alkaline, or phosphates. It works better than anything I have ever tried. My clothes have never been so clean, or lasted so long! I love teaching people how to do the same. Email me & I will share how.
I know what you mean, laundry is not my favorite shore either! Luckily in our house it hasn't gotten too out of control yet because it's just me, my husband & our 6 month old. But, I worked as a nanny for 4 years for a family of 5, and sometimes I felt like all I was doing was laundry!! I definitely did at least one load a day, and over the years I found the easiest way to do it was to sort by kid. It usually meant I was doing smaller loads, but I just adjusted the washer/dryer settings to accommodate. I found it so much easier to fold & put away when I was only dealing with one kid at a time, or one type of laundry such as towels/sheets, etc.
ReplyDeleteI am for sorting too. There are different ways to do that...whatever suits ones family, but I would do one load daily or 2 or more when the kids were small. We used cloth diapers so those got washed daily. No "special" day as one gets just too far behind then. I have 3 baskets in front of the washer area (basement) for whites, darks and mediums. When one is full it gets washed and put away. Sorting by child would be the same way, but since I bleach some things on occasion, I separate the whites
ReplyDeleteI am a meticulous with my laundry. I sort lights, darks, delicates, towels, sheets--all separate. I only have laundry for me (a single lady) so I imagine organization is very important when gearing up for laundry for 7! I like the idea of having different baskets for each child, that would make matching socks a lot easier!
ReplyDeleteForgot to say that our kids folded their own very early on and by 13 or so was doing all their own wash and fold.
ReplyDeleteI very much get this. I used to have the One Major Wash Day a week program, where I gathered laundry baskets from everyone's rooms, sorted them into piles, and spent the whole day washing, drying, folding and putting away. AFter our third was born, I had no hope of getting it all done in a day, but I hadn't realized that yet so I usually wound up feeling defeated. About a year after our third was born, we finished a massive remodel of our house (which included a new laundry/mud room) and I started a new program. I have four baskets in the laundry room - whites, lights, darks, jeans - and each of us sorts our clothes into them every night. The kids were young enough that they got on board with this pretty quickly, esp when I used sharpies to help color code the baskets. Now, I try to do one load a day, and I define it was done when it's all folded and put away. Basically, I wash the fullest basket. Oh, and I also have a basket off to the side where I can put dirty towels, and same program for them. Wash when full. I bought laundry baskets at Target that have fold down handles, so they can stack on top of each other. That's the way they've been for the past couple years, but I'm finally getting a cabinet made to slide them in and out of. Yay. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope this is helpful! Good luck!
I must confess, I believe I have the laundry thing licked. But I truly don't mind doing laundry. I have 4 kids ages 2-10 and i only do laundry 1 day a week. Almost every room in my house has a pretty clothes hamper and the kids KNOW where all dirty clothes go. The are out of site and I don't have to worry about them until Monday which is my laundry day. yes we have a lot of clothes but i like clothes. my hubby gathers all the clothes up on sunday night and dumps them in the dinnng room floor where they stay until monday morning. after the 2 oldest go to school i sort and spend the day doing laundry. during the day i fold and put in the rooms and when the kids get home they put their piles away. if i'm still folding when the hubby gets home he helps fold. i save my mosted hated loads so he can help. i hate folding colored clothes. on tuesday i put the clothes in the drawers and for the kids i put their outfits together and rotate in clothes that we not worn last week. all clothes are in their place by tuesday night. i even have a pot that i put the socks in that have lost their mate. i do not plan anything on mondays ever. if the laundry doesn't get done my whole week is a mess and chaotic. laundry day is important to our sanity:))
ReplyDeleteI was looking for a blog topic today, so here you go:
ReplyDeletehttp://presseddownandshakentogether.blogspot.com/2012/03/laundry.html
I have 5 kids and laundry and I are not friends. But we manage it this way:
ReplyDeleteMonday: Mom and Dads laundry (towels and sheets included)
Wednesday: Boys Laundry (their sheets and towels)
Friday: Girls Laundry (their sheets and towels)
Each child has a laundry basket and on laundry day they sort the clothes into whites and darks.
I use to do laundry all in one day but I got tired of that..for NOW this system seems to work. But I still vote for disposable fully biodegradable clothes. ;) Good luck!
We wash our clothes by person. I don't sort colors either. I wash each persons laundry seperately and it does help with the folding process. I know everything in there goes in a particular room. Like the others, I wash one load a day so that I never get behind. Whoevers is fullest is who's gets washed. We have one basket for each of the two kids, one for my husband, one for me, and one for everyones towels. Any dishtowels or rags just get tossed right in the washing machine and I wash them with who evers laundry is next. It seems to work for us.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone! Dirty laundry can be so overwhelming. I work outside the home full time so what works right now is doing a few loads for me and my husband mid week. I wash all the kids clothes on Sunday and then pick out five outfits for each kid for the next week. When it's time to get ready in the morning each kid knows where to find their clothes for the day.
ReplyDeleteI also have the kids (ages 6 & 3) put away their own clothes (with a little help). They don't put away clothes as neatly as I would like but it's a learning process.
P.S. - the sock police won't come after you if you don't match your socks before putting them in the drawer :)
Not sure if someone mentioned this already, but my kids have a mesh lingerie bag for their socks and I've found it's the perfect solution for not losing socks and for keeping each kid's stuff together, yet separate from the other.
ReplyDeleteI do laundry when the hamper in our room is full. Then I just grab the kids (2) stuff on my way downstairs. Sometimes it's a couple of times a week, sometimes it's once a week. I'm really good at washing and folding, putting away? Not so much. It's like emptying the dishwasher. Sucky. Good luck with whatever you decide to do! Based on the comments, looks like everyone has their own system that works for them. :)
ReplyDeleteOh gosh - I've done it both ways.. when I stayed home with the kids I had a laundry day (but I only had two kids home at the time). Now it's every man for himself! I hardly get my own laundry done, much less the one kid's that is still living at home! (shame shame, but some days he goes to school in dirty shorts! eeekk!!) A friend of mine has four girls and when they were little she kept all their socks and shoes in the coat closet downstairs. Each girl had a color and their white socks got a dot in their color from a permanent marker on the toe. Apparently that helped her and them a lot! Good luck - you'll figure it out :o)
ReplyDeleteI hate doing laundry. Actually, I don't mind the washing part. It's the folding and putting away that I hate. Same thing with dishes. I like the idea of each kid having their own laundry and doing just that laundry etc. You would have to be super organized, but with 5 kids I think you're going to find that you almost have to be.
ReplyDeleteIf I suddenly won the lottery, that is the first thing I would do - hire someone to do laundry for me. And socks are THE WORST. Thank god for summer and flip flops - I'm all about a no sock summer for everyone in the house. And I never sort colors either. It just goes in the machine. A good friend told me to pick two days of the week and designate those laundry days. Then you won't feel guilty the other days of the week for not tackling the piles (and piles) that build up. I've started to follow this, although I usually only manage one designated day a week because I hate to do it so much. It does help a bit. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI found FlyLady.net and haven't stuck by her prinicples that much because I'm lazy but I love some of her principles. I try and do one load a day so that I can keep the C.H.A.O.S. away. She has a great system for keeping yourself doing small amounts of tasks around the house for all cleaning and laundry so that it never grows to be overwhelming. You should look into it if you haven't already. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOk C.H.A.O.S. stands for Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome. forgot that part.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a family with four kids and two working parents, and my mom's system was great. It relied on everyone to be responsible, even at a young age. My dad put up a rod in the laundry room, and my mom put two baskets beneath it (in the rod's footprint). One basket is white for whites, and the other is blue for colors. Above the washer and dryer are cabinets. They hang empty hangers off of the cabinet door handles.
ReplyDeleteMy parents would pick up the laundry basket in the kids' bathroom before dinner (kids were responsible for taking clothes in their own rooms to the laundry room). In the laundry room, everyone dropped clothes in the proper basket and when a basket became full, someone would start a load. My parents started a load pretty much every day right before we sat down to dinner so when we cleaned up after dinner (it was a communal clean-up) someone would move the laundry over. Laundry generally kept going all night, my mom doing it between her daily tapings of All My Children or commercials of ER.
The really good part: when laundry was dry, it would be immediately hung up on the rod in owner-order (Dad's shirts with Dad's pants, etc.) or stacked on the dryer, also by owner.
After school, on our way inside the house from the garage (through the laundry room), we would grab our stacks and take them to our rooms. (My mom usually handled the towels/sheets.) It was too easy, since the clothes to hang was already hung. It also made us take our backpacks to our rooms.
That was really long, but I think a lot about how brilliant my mom's system is (like every time I do laundry). My household of two is still not as organized as my mom's household of 6.
I don't want to do laundry every day of the week. And I don't want to have a clean pile hanging around for more than a day or so, so I do laundry on Monday all day and only Monday (or a different day if I have an appointment). I also sort by color because my whites get dingy. We all have our own laundry basket so my sorting is just limited to whites. All the kids clothes get washed together, my clothes and my husbands clothes separate because I don't want his nasty gym clothes in my with niceties. So I do about 5 loads which my hubby and I fold at night together because we have to (it's in a giant heap on our bed). It goes fast when we're talking and it's done before we know it. The amount of laundry will definitely increase as the kids age but that's my routine for now.
ReplyDeleteEmily, I have 5 kids, too, although they are all grown and out of the house now. I sorted everybody' laundry into piles so I would have full loads of lights, darks, whites, delicates, etc. I found I had to do 2 loads everyday to keep up. If I skipped a day, they I had to do 4 the next day. Sheets and towels took several loads each week. How I wish I'd had the extra large front loaders when my kids were all home! That would have significantly cut down on the number of loads each week!! ( hard to admit, but sometimes I miss all of that laundry now because it meant a full house).
ReplyDeleteTerry
Emily - your blog is great and I look forward to your posts! I actually enjoy laundry (inherited that from my mom) and the sense of accomplishment which is rare as the stay-at-home parent. I only do laundry on M/W/F. The other days I don't even think about it. I do an adult load, kids load and one of towels/sheets/dish towels. Sometimes there isn't enough in one category for that day, so I skip it. 2 or 3 loads at a time isn't an overwhelming amount to fold either. For socks and shoes, I keep a basket near the front door with shoes and clean socks (never even take them upstairs anymore). Also keep one of those mesh zipper bags in that basket to catch those dirty little socks when they are peeled off at the end of the day. My other/best suggestion is to outsource! A babysitter or household helper might be a great option since your hands are going to be extra full!
ReplyDeleteMy best tip may have already been mentioned, but if you forget to get stuff out of the dryer or they haven't gotten folded, toss a wet washcloth in the dryer with the wrinkled items, turn it on for 5 minutes and viola, no more wrinkles! Or at least ones that just shake out when you take them out of the dryer.
ReplyDeletePinterest heard your plea and answered with its usual awesomeness...(ie. I saw this via Pinterest! A sock solution)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=753769
I pop a load on each day - either in the morning before work or at night. To keep little socks together they can be washed in llingerie bag so none of them go missing!
ReplyDeleteI wash all shirts towards the end of the week as I only iron weekly on a Sunday night.
You can see my blog about this here http://melbournescritic.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/time-management-step-3.html
My secret is the earlier you teach the bigger kids to do their own laundry, the happier everyone will be. I even trained my hubby to wash. It saved me when I worked long hours at the hospital. I have no shame in child labor.
ReplyDeleteI have one dirty clothes basket for the whole house. (I also only have 2 children, so this may not be ideal for you). When you have several baskets around the house it is very easy to get overwhelmed with the chore. But with one basket it is easy to see when it is full and toss it in the laundry. Much easier to keep up with.
ReplyDeleteWindowsbymelissa.blogspot.com
I have 5 kids and laundry *IS* the Devil's spawn. My strategy was not necessarily one that others would choose because of the expense, which I understand. For me, it was life changing and liberating beyond expectation. I bought a second set of front loaders and stacked both sets.
ReplyDeleteLIFE CHANGING. Busting thru all of that laundry in half the time freed up my time and a huge amount of mental energy.
Like I said, it may not be the solution for many, but it was some of the best money I ever spent.
HTH!!
Beth
I have a friend with multiple kids who chose to give each kid a color. All their socks and underwear are that kids color. That way she doesn't spend too much time wondering which white sock belongs to which kid.
ReplyDeleteLaundry oh LAUNDRY!! We are a family of 6, with our kids ranging in age from 3 to 12. AND we have a dairy farm so, frequently DIRTY laundry!
ReplyDeleteI cannot, cannot stand to do laundry every day! A few things that help me:
We bathe at night- the sheets stay "clean" longer, and I wash them about every two weeks.
We reuse our bath towels for a full week.
We *usually* wear our jammies twice.
I have a laundry day- usually Friday, and I get it all done on one day. Feels good the other six to know I do not have to worry about it! Sorting in the hall outside the laundry room helps too!
I do sort (there is 6-10 loads!) Darks,(cold) Brights,(cold) Warm,(warm) Towels,(cold) Whites,(hot) bras,(cold) and sheets/blankets.
I do not fold the kids underwear or socks, they each have their own basket, and I toss those things in as I fold, and they match them when they put away. (I help the little two people)
I did have a fabulous idea, and I am the only one that uses it in my house :) I purchased different color diaper pins, one color for each person, and I pin my dirty socks together when I take them off, and wash/dry them that way, I do not have to match them later, I just throw them into my sock drawer!
We do have a HE front load washer and dryer, makes for bigger loads and it does go faster. I like to hang things out on the line whenever I can, makes me feel frugal!
I also just made my own laundry detergent a few weeks ago- it was super easy, cheap, and I now have gallons of the stuff!
Good luck finding what works for you! I've really enjoyed reading all the comments.
Read every comment and I have a few. I am pregnant w my 5th under 7 years old. I like laundry but I love clothes. I only buy my kids clothing that I adore on them. I love folding it, touching it, caring for it. They each get 5 awesome outfits. I do NOT save clothes for the next kid. I do a consignment sale every 6 months and make about $1500. You have to have a system for old or outgrown clothes that works for you. Also if you can do it, have a laundry room next to your kitchen. Buy the highest capacity machine available (Whirlpool Cabrio) at Lowes. Most everyone has discussed hampers and my life has changed w a laundry chute in the master bedroom closet. We don't have hampers, kids throw down the chute, load starts in the morning - done. You wet your bed? Fine, put your sheets down the chute. Everything waits for me down there. By Gods grace you can do it!
ReplyDeleteRead every comment and I have a few. I am pregnant w my 5th under 7 years old. I like laundry but I love clothes. I only buy my kids clothing that I adore on them. I love folding it, touching it, caring for it. They each get 5 awesome outfits. I do NOT save clothes for the next kid. I do a consignment sale every 6 months and make about $1500. You have to have a system for old or outgrown clothes that works for you. Also if you can do it, have a laundry room next to your kitchen. Buy the highest capacity machine available (Whirlpool Cabrio) at Lowes. Most everyone has discussed hampers and my life has changed w a laundry chute in the master bedroom closet. We don't have hampers, kids throw down the chute, load starts in the morning - done. You wet your bed? Fine, put your sheets down the chute. Everything waits for me down there. By Gods grace you can do it!
ReplyDeleteAt least two loads a day, with three boys and all the sports etc...it's a must...the only thing I do that helps save most time is each of boys have one type of socks all the same...that way I don't have to match them just throw them in a basket in there drawer when clean....I also have large baskets for all five us in laundry room, once they are full or when I have time I put them away...at least it hides the piles and we know where stuff is if it's not in drawer...I also don't fold underwear or pjs
ReplyDeleteI'm a little late to the laundry party, and I don't want to restate what everyone has said, but I may. We are a family of 4, but it seems like we have a ton of laundry. Because we use cloth napkins and few paper towels we have some additional laundry, but I don't really mind. My sons go through 3 changes of clothes a day and I can't get it much less than that (PJs, school uniforms and play clothes). Hubby wears a uniform to work and then has home clothes an PJs too. That's not even considering if someone spills on their clothes and has to change clothes.
ReplyDeleteI've been using my system for a few years and it is working well. Here's what works for me. My 2 boys are close in age. They have a hamper in their room and I do their laundry together since they share a room. When I do their clothes I empty the dry clothes on the bed and fold as the 5 year old helps put away. If they are on the bed, I can't get them in the bed without putting away laundry, so it forces me to fold them and out them away. We keep 4 tall hampers in the laundry room for our clothes household things. The tall hampers are for dark, medium, whites, and towels.
Keeping the kids clothes together and washed by room is such a big help. We wash when a hamper is full, which is almost one a day.
The way I keep my head up about it is that if we aren't making any dirty laudry, then we aren't living. We will never be "caught up" A full laundry room is the sign of a full life. Embrace it!
Whoa Emily! You struck a chord.
ReplyDeleteVery late in the game, I gave each kid their own clothes hamper which I wash when full. I slack off on putting it way--- these fellas live out of their laundry basket. It is at least folded. What can I say. I just look the other way.
You are right to want to organize now. You won't have time later ----that I know for sure and I only had 3 ����xoxo Lynn from Decor Arts Now
This is something I am always seeking to improve and scouring the brains of other ladies who have trudged this path before me. Oh my word! It covers me up. We've got four boys. Almost 9 to 5 months.
ReplyDeleteI have the oldest 3 keep their dirty clothes together. The baby's are separate. The only things I sort are jeans and reds, everything else gets washed together. I try not to wash things I hang back to back. Like clothes I know I'm gonna have to hang up. I try to space things that can dry between things I have to hang that way some things can go straight into the dryer and hopefully I'll get the other stuff hung up by that time. I haven't dried the "outfit" clothes my guys wear. And, thankfully so cause the baby is now wearing stuff the nine year old had! I think it saves the clothes. But, if that's not a budgetary concern then dry away!
Socks, we are currently trying a sock basket. I throw them all in there and once a week (or so), we have a sock-sorting party with the younger ones. They LOVE IT! We sort them into 3 shoe boxes with their names on them and they live in the bottom dresser drawer.
I think starting a load first thing when I come downstairs in the morning is best for me, and every time I think of it, I run in there, switch stuff out and start a new load. The folding usually gets pushed to bedtime. I'll fold while my husband tells me about his day. Any down time I have, I grab a basket to fold with me. Having some extra baskets helps too. That way several loads can be clean and ready for folding/hang ups and they aren't piling up in the floor somewhere. It's an ongoing process. Hope this helps! I so get sick of it, but try to remember the reasons why I have soooo much laundry and that gets me back into the right perspective (most of the time). :)
A load of laundry a day keeps the chaos away.
ReplyDeleteYou have to say that over and over to yourself. I get up in the morning, and I think, crap, I don't have time before getting the girls off to preschool, but I just repeat the mantra and do it.
A load of laundry a day keeps the chaos away.
Which unfortunately means, washed, dried, and put away before you do the next load the next day. No laundry is allowed to go into the washer until the previous load is put away.
I say as I have a huge pile on my bed waiting for me to fold...
i have loved reading the comments on this post! this is my family ~ mom, dad, boy 9, girl 7, girl 3 and this is what works for us. i have two laundry bins in the laundry room one for dark and one for white clothes; the towels go in the deep sink. my rule is that i will do all the laundry that makes it to the bins and usually do at least one load every day. the boy continually drops his clothes where he takes them off, so once a week (usually friday after school) he has to do his own. sometimes the girls stuff will not make it to the laundry room so they will have to do theirs also. we also do not have many clothes (older two wear uniforms to school) so all items are hung up, even shorts. the only things that go in drawers are underwear, pjs, socks and sweats.
ReplyDeleteif you find a system that works for you please share in the future. i loved reading these comments and will probably make some tweaks to my *system* because of them.
I don't have time to read all the comments so sorry if this is a repeat - I eliminated the sock problem by putting all the kids socks in an empty paper box in the hall linen closet. When they need socks they go find which ones they want from the community box. I have two elementary school-aged girls so this works well. You could sort them by boy vs. girl if you needed to do that. My three-year-old son's socks are separate in a box in his room.
ReplyDeleteI am one of seven kids. Once we hit jr. high we did our own laundry. Something to look forward to as you sort all those clothes. :)
I recently added a outdoor umbrella clothesline to my laundry tool kit. It was the best investment I ever made. Hanging laundry out is very soothing. The kids love helping and being outside. If I can't get to them as soon as they are dry no biggie since they are not sitting in the drier getting wrinkled. Also I can easily wash 4 LARGE loads in a morning and they are all dry by afternoon. Sometimes if the weather is cooperating I can take down the first load and hang a fifth load with no problem.
ReplyDeleteThe other cool thing is that sorting folding or hanging up is super simple when taking things off the line. Since it is easy to see exactly what you are removing simply fold and put directly into the kids basket that it belongs to.
Good luck with the twins.