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Doing laundry for an entire family can be a full-time job for any one person. The only way to survive the deluge of dirty clothes in a busy house is to delegate the massive chore out to each member of the household. Furthermore, as children go from toddler to kid, parents can teach them to pitch in and share the laundry load. If you’re wondering how to organize laundry in the house to maximize help, here are three helpful laundry organization tips to help get the ball rolling.
Most grocery stores sell plastic milk-crate baskets. And, some of our laundry organization tips including buying as many of these crates as you have children. If you can find crates of various colors, assign each child a color of basket to make it easier to keep track of whose is who.
From here, make each child responsible for their basket. They load dirty clothes in the basket. And, when it’s full, have them bring the clothes to the laundry room. Depending on the age, the kids can learn to run the load in the washing machine. Also, switch it to the dryer. Or, you can move the clothes through the cycle yourself. Kids can fold the clothes and then each child fills his or her own crate with clean duds.
For the family on the run, and the house laid out just right, there’s a shortcut to doing family laundry. Instead of providing an individual laundry basket for each child, have them gather up all their dirty clothes each day. And, just drop them straight into the washing machine. Overall, when the load is full, run it, dry it, fold it, rinse, lather and repeat!
This approach might not fly with laundry perfectionists. Furthermore, there’s no way to really separate out colors. And, every type of fabric gets washed together. For those who like to wash whites with whites, bright colors with bright colors etc, the washing machine catch-all solution might not be to their tastes. However, for other families with less refined laundry tastes, the washing machine hamper method is an easy trick to keeping ahead of the dirty clothes avalanche.
It seems like every family has a pain-point in the laundry cycle. For some, it’s hard to remember to gather up dirty clothes. Although, for others, switching out a load can be easy to forget. For many though, laundry makes its way from washing machine to dryer. And then into what can be dubbed “Clean Clothes Mountain”.
If your laundry bottle-neck comes at the clean clothes stage, consider putting all the kids clothes in their respective piles. Afterwards, let them dump them in their drawers. Most knit fabrics don’t wrinkle easily. Also, if the clothes aren’t stuffed in the drawer by the bushel, they clean clothes will look just fine for wearing.
Again, these laundry organization tips may stun the more laundry-conscious households. But for many with busy schedules and an influx of clothes to clean, the no-fold approach is a quick and easy way to keep drawers full.
Winter brings snow, sleet, and piles of wet, soggy laundry. A quick walk to the mailbox can yield a heap of wet socks, drenched jeans, and soaking shirts. While some of us might be tempted just to shove all this extra winter laundry under the bed (not that we would...for shame…), winter laundry doesn't have to bring us to our laundry-carrying knees. Make a plan, execute, and sit back and enjoy a hot cup of cocoa without burying yourself in an avalanche of wet, soggy socks.
Wool, acrylic, cashmere; whatever the fabric, sweaters need love too. Before you toss a pile of sweaters into the wash, take time to check the care tag on each garment. Here’s a short run down on what to do with different common sweater fabrics:
Don’t forget the accessories! Scarves are worn next to the skin and accumulate sweat and odors, and hats - well it’s pretty self-explanatory why you need to wash those. Wash gloves, mittens, socks and anything else that comes in pair in a garment bag to avoid losing a mate. There’s nothing worse than a single glove. It’s just sad.
Store winter accessories in a waterproof plastic bin during non-winter months for easy access when the temps drop.
Don’t forget your underwear! Thermals and underoos can be washed on a regular cycle with similar colors. A mesh laundry bag is perfect for gathering up all those stinky unmentionables if you don’t have time to throw them in the washing machine right away. Always use a breathable bag to store dirty underwear in, it cuts down on odors and, well, having your underwear strewn all over your room.
Consider investing in a heavy-duty detergent like OxiClean for your under layers. Mix a quarter cup of detergent in a gallon of water and soak your underwear and thermals overnight before loading them into the washing machine.
Lastly, and this is a basic one, get yourself a good rack for hanging your heavy winter duds on before washing. Set it up in an out-of-the-way place in your home and hang things up as soon as you come in the door. The longer things sit in a pile on the ground, the more they will collect odors and start to mildew. Set up a drying station if you’re not able to to throw things in the washing machine as soon as you get home.
Winter shouldn’t be all about laundry. Watch those fabrics, keep gloves together, and skate through to an effortless snowy season.
The camping season is winding down in Utah, and snow will soon make most popular sites inaccessible until next spring. For many of us, Summer camping in Utah is a yearly highlight, and those cool evenings in the Uintas can be well-nigh restorative. As much as we love camping, the unpacking and post- camping laundry afterwards can be a bit of a downer. Whether it's putting your food storage equipment from Survival Cooking away for next year or disassembling the tent, it can be a bit of an anti-climax. Unpacking and doing laundry after a long trip can erase some of those peaceful mountain vibes we bring home with us. Maybe I'll have to look at empire outdoors reviews about tactical knives, dreaming about the peaceful scenery till next time we good. Here are a few things we suggest if you’re looking to ease up your post-camping laundry stress.
Unpacking is made so much easier if the initial packing is done thoughtfully. Pack clothes that are easy to wash and are versatile, cutting down on the amount of articles needed to wash upon return. Be economical in your packing, and don’t throw in five t-shirts when two will suffice. Even if you don’t end up wearing all the clothes you pack, there’s a good chance anything in your bag will get smokey from the campfire or dirty being around other, dirtier clothing. Take what you need, use what you take.
Remember that camping is a great time to take a break from the normal daily routines. While wearing the same shirt and pants for two days in a row at home might be socially unacceptable (or maybe not, we don’t want to pry into your personal life…) wearing the same outfit for long stretches is somewhat of a camping luxury, all the while cutting down on the amount of clothes you need to pack and then launder at home.
As you pack for your camping trip, throw in a separate bag where you can store clothes as they become dirty. The bag can be something as simple as a plastic grocery bag. Storing dirty clothes in a separate bag serves two purposes; on the one hand, it keep smelly dirty clothes away from clean clothes, cutting down on what you might need to wash at home, and on the other hand, it simplifies the unpacking process upon return.
Many stores sell small, cloth or nylon laundry bags intended just for camping use. These bags allow dirty clothes to breath a bit while still keeping them apart from other clothes and gear in the bag. Find one that’s compact and washable for easy storage and care. If nothing else, a pillowcase can make a fine laundry bag in a pinch if you forget to pack an official dirty clothes storage solution. And if you’re really into economical packing, a pillowcase full of dirty clothes can double as a pillow up in the woods. Because nothing builds character more than resting your head on an uneven bag of smokey, dirt-covered clothes while sleeping on rocks. Man, don’t we love camping?
Most camping trips are fun but exhausting. The process of breaking camp and cleaning up at the end of a trip can suck all the energy out of us. But before tossing off the hiking boots and sitting down for a break, grab the back of dirty clothes and put them immediately in the wash. Dirty camping clothes that sit around in a bag can deteriorate quickly, especially if they’re wet or muddy. If everything is in one spot, it should only take a few minutes to grab the dirty laundry bag and start a load or two. Then you can let modern machinery do most of the work while you put your feet up and take a breather.
Many people are also turning to laundry services to help ease the stress of post-camping laundry. It can be as easy as setting out your dusty camp clothes and letting a delivery service grab them for you. Having a laundry delivery service take care of your camping clothes saves time and stress, leaving your head in the mountains for just a little bit more. My friend told me that he learned even more about camping from fantastic websites similar to offgridspot.com. There are so many ways to reduce the amount of boring time and increase the fun before and during camping!
How long does it take to wash a load of laundry? Dry it? Fold it? Put it away? For a single person living alone, the task of laundry-doing probably doesn’t take up every free minute, but it might be more time than you think, or that you want to calculate. Let’s break it down and figure out just how much time you spend washing and caring for your clothing, based on a laundry schedule of two loads per week.
The process of laundry doesn’t start at the washing machine. When a piece of clothing needs washing, it has to make its way to the hamper first. Gathering dirty clothes doesn’t take up that much time, but let’s factor in the time spent on towels and sheets as well. Getting everything ready to go in one spot should take an individual about 15 minutes per load. Since we’re factoring on an average person washing two loads of laundry per week, so prep time would be 30 minutes total.
How dirty are your clothes? The running time on a standard Kenmore washing machine (for example) is 40 minutes, but if the soil level is above average, it can take over an how to wash a load. If you’re one of the organized types who can combine washing time with prep time, you’ll be able to cut that time down a bit. Transferring the clothes to the dryer and starting the load adds another 5 minutes, and, depending on where you live and how the humidity is in your area, it should only take about 40 minutes to dry a load in the machine. That’s a total for 85 minutes from wash to dry. Calculating for two loads, that’s 170 minutes per week.
Ready, set, go! See how fast it takes you to fold a shirt and put it away. For an average load of laundry, let’s guess it takes about 20 minutes to fold and put away clothes. This time can differ based on load size and how many loads are done at a time. If you’re a fast folder, or if you prefer to just shove your unfolded clothing in your drawers, you might only need 10 to 15 minutes for this step. For two loads, let’s estimate that the folding and put-away time is 1 hour total per week.
Let’s add up the time per week it takes to complete each step.
Based on these estimates, the average person spends about 260 minutes per week on laundry, or roughly four hours. If that seems like a lot of time dedicated to keeping our duds free of dirt, there are a few simple ways to cut down on washing time. Energy efficient washers and dryers can do their work in less time, cutting down on wait time. And keeping your clothing sorted into lights or darks with an organized hamper system will shave off minutes spent separating out colors.
For some, the burden of laundry can be overwhelming. Anticipate streaming and organizing the process can make it less daunting, and, for those that absolutely do not have four hours a week to dedicate to cleaning their clothes, options like Red Hanger’s wash n fold laundry service are an efficient way to cut that time to nearly zero.
I'm sure most of us could think of a thing or two, in between commuting to work, paying our bills, making dinner, cleaning out the cat litter box, shoveling the walk and filing that TPM report, that we would do with an extra 45 minutes in our lives. And while many of the things we do in life are necessary, cleaning your own clothes might not have to be.
According to author John Kauffman, learning a new skill doesn't take the traditionally cited 10,000 hours. Instead, he argues, it only takes about 20. Kauffman, author for the book The Personal MBA, purports that a person can become versed in a new skill in about 45 minutes a day, if practiced for about a month (roughly 20 hours).
Gasp! What else takes 45 minutes a day? That's right, laundry does. So why are you still washing your own clothes? Think about the mountains you could move with just 3/4s of an hour added back in to your day!
For most adults, self improvement happens in the cracks of our lives. But what if you could give yourself back a moment to master something new every day, in the time it takes to fold a batch of underwear? What skills could be learned in 45 minutes a day? Why, you could learn to:
Ok, so you probably don't need much convincing that laundry is inevitable. Everyone needs clean clothes. You can't wear the same underwear to work four days in a row.. So what options might one have to help with cutting down on laundry time?
The way I see it, you have two options. Get an Amazon subscription for a new set of clothes everyday (expensive and terrible for the environment) or, if you're local to Salt Lake City, Red Hanger Cleaners offers a laundry wash and fold subscription service, a very viable alternative to the drudgery of weekly laundry time. Red Hanger's delivery service allows subscribers to leave their soiled duds out on their doorsteps, and in a few days, clean, folded clothes appear like magic.
If you're looking to buy back a little more time in your week to finally learn to play that piccolo or write that rock opera, a laundry subscription service might be the thing for you. According to the experts, it only takes 45 minutes a day to learn a new skill. In lieu of giving up your lunch break or waking up early, try cutting out the time spent shoveling your clothes through the laundry cycle. It might just be the perfect way to teach yourself deep-sea oyster diving. And with 12 months in the year, you've got 12 new skills coming your way. Or you could keep on developing your skills at doing laundry...but there are only so many ways you can learn to fold a t-shirt.
