Save Time Doing Laundry, My Version

Laundry can be quite boring so hang with me here ok? How many times do you have to go around to different rooms in your house putting clean laundry away? How many times in a week do you open a set of drawers to stash underwear and socks? How many times have you re-folded clothing because it didn't get put away, or re-washed something because it was too wrinkled from not being folded and put away? Or, re-washed a whole load because you forgot to put it in the dryer?

Oh, you haven't counted? Well, saving time and effort is something I take seriously, so I have counted ;o)  No just kidding, I don't have an actual number but being aware of how I do things around the house and then working on stream lining the process gives me more time to do things I want to do like write this! 

We often over estimate the amount of time it takes to do a chore. That being said, chores do take time. It takes less time to do it right though, than to re-do it. We all have to do laundry. Discipline yourself to do it right and spend the time you gain doing something you enjoy. Here's how I save time doing laundry. Oh and -YES- I know what it is like having kids running all over the house while you are trying to do your chores. Not only is it possible to clean while the kids are around, it's good for them to see you do it. Good habits are caught. 

Do it once a week. Repeating steps and trips around the house waste time and effort. I have found that doing laundry once a week works the best for me, and I do it over a weekend. Because I know I will be doing laundry on the weekend I plan when I will have the biggest time block and start it then. I separate all the laundry into piles that I want to wash together and then when a load is finished, it gets dumped onto my bed. (often I will separate it on a Friday night and throw in a load to get a head start, choosing a load that won't wrinkle in the dryer)  When it's out of the dryer, I spread out the items to be hung on top of each other to prevent wrinkling, and into different groups....one for each family member.

It would also be possible to wash one family members laundry a day, then there would only be the one trip to put to away if once a week for all of the family's laundry is not possible.

Fold on your bed or table, not the sofa. I always dump my clean laundry on my bed. It makes a nice large folding surface, plenty of room for separating into piles, and it has an added bonus for procrastinators. You need to put the laundry away before you can sleep in your bed! There are times I forget I haven't put it all away and I am dead tired and walk into my room and there it is. But it only takes minutes to deal with and beats all the extra time it would take me if I dumped it else where to be re-folded and put away another time.

Pick a method that works for you. When I was a young single mom doing laundry for my kids I even had an order that I washed the clothes in. First, I would wash all pants and shorts. Then, all tops, and finally, all whites as that was were the most underwear and socks would be. I would fold each load of laundry as it came from the dryer right away eliminating the chance of wrinkling. 

Pants and shorts were put into groups for each person. Next came tops and colored underwear. The folded tops would be placed on top of the folded pants and shorts. Then the socks and underwear on the very top of the pile. The pile would then go to bedrooms to be put away. Each sock drawer, underwear drawer, etc; would be opened one time for the week to put laundry away. 

Towels and sheets are always washed separately mostly because the weight of them can wrinkle lighter weight clothing. These items I can wash during the week because they will not require going to different rooms for each load to put them away. I always wash and put back on my bed the same sheets until I am ready for a change in color or season. That saves time on folding too. 

I like to lay all tops, like t-shirts, to be hung on top of each other facing the same way. It is easy then to insert a hanger, fold the top down and insert a hanger in the next shirt. Then they can all be taken to the closet in one easy sweep. 

Here is a silly but effective time saver. One day when the older kids were entering pre-teen years, I realized I was spending a lot of time turning dirty laundry right side out. So began a rule that I still use. If you don't turn it right side out before it goes into the laundry, then you will turn it right side out before you wear it the next time. I would leave it wrong side out, wash and dry it, fold and put it away wrong-side-out. I still do that, ask my husband, rule applies to him too! 

If the kids had a stain on their clothes, it was their responsibility to put stained items into separate laundry basket I used just for stained clothes. That way I would know to look at and pre-treat each piece before laundering.

If you hang your laundry out on the line, put items that hang up on the hanger (only on plastic ones) instead of using clothes pins. Now they are ready to go and you have saved time not pinning and you wont have those pin marks either. Pin the hanger to the clothesline if it's breezy so the hangers wont blow off the line. 

There you have it, how I save myself time, energy, money by not re-washing and drying, not needing to iron as much, space not having dirty laundry everywhere, embarrassment having someone drop in and having clean laundry all over but not folded, no frustration because I have clean socks when I need them, and I don't need a lot of unnecessary clothing items because I have plenty of clean things in my closet. This is Gramma Connie's version of saving time doing the laundry, the end.

I link at these parties. 

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