Keeping Up with the Laundry

One of the most common complaints we hear from our clients is “I can’t seem to keep up with the laundry”!  Baskets of clean clothes are scattered through out the living room and kitchen.  While piles of dirty clothes are laying all over the laundry room floor.  Of course, we don’t even want to mention the basket of lone socks.  Where are their mates?  Here are some of our recommendations to “tame the laundry beast”.

Of course the most obvious, since we are professional organizers, is to have an organized space to do your laundry.  This includes having all necessary laundry supplies (e.g., detergent, stain remover, bleach, drier sheets, etc.) corralled into one place.  This doesn’t have to be anything fancy.  It can be a cabinet, a basket, or a bin.  The important thing is that all supplies are at the ready.  Also, the only things stored in the laundry room should be what is needed to do laundry, unless of course you are blessed with a room that is bigger than a closet.

Create a Laundry System

Now, what is probably more important than an organized laundry room is to have a “system” for getting laundry done.  First, every person has their own laundry basket in their room.  This is where all dirty clothes are deposited.  No dirty clothes are allowed to be “dumped” on the laundry room floor.  The only time dirty clothes come into the laundry room, is when they are actually going to be put into the washing machine and be washed.  Once they come out of the drier, they are put in each person’s basket and taken to their room.  If your children are over the age of 8, they should be able to fold their own clothes and put them away.

To make things even easier, a specific day can be assigned to each person in the house to use the laundry room (e.g., Monday is mom’s day, Tuesday is dad’s day, Wednesday is daughter’s day, etc.).  Again, if your children are old enough, they can and should be doing their own laundry.  If each person does their laundry on a specific day, it eliminates another sorting step (i.e., no determining if this shirt is Mary’s or Linda’s).

Reduce Amount of Clothes

Here is something else to keep in mind – the more clothes that you own, the more the laundry can pile up.  If you only own a couple of weeks worth of clothes, you will have to do laundry more often and it won’t be able to pile up.  Also, the less you own, the more organized your closet and drawers will be, which makes it easier to put your clothes away.

Lastly, what to do about all of those mismatched socks?  Buy all of the same kind of sock.  After laundering them, they don’t even have to be matched up.  Just put them in your drawer.  When you need socks, open the drawer and grab 2.

Just implementing a few of these recommendations should help you with your laundry “beast”.  If you’re still having trouble, give us a call.  We can help you organize your laundry room, your closets, and your drawers.  We can also customize a “laundry system” especially for you and your family’s specific needs.