Walk me through your laundry routine! I’ll start

[ava1453]

Laundry is the bane of my existence and I’m wondering if there’s something I could do better to simplify this routine and make me hate it less. Or maybe y’all could share your routine and show me that this is as good as it gets. I don’t know. Haha. Here’s how it goes in my house -

-I decide “it’s time to clean up”

-I collect all the random clothes all over the house and put them in the washing machine.

-I dump the kids laundry and our laundry all into the wash together. (Whatever fits)

-I gather the entire giant pile of clean laundry on my bed and separate them into 4 baskets. My clothes in one, my husbands clothes in another, my two kids clothes in a third, sheets/towels in the fourth.

-I fold one basket at a time and put it all away and then do another basket.

-This process is literally never ending and it always bottle necks at the folding part. Most of the time everyone has their own basket with clean clothes in it that I end up digging through for a week or more before I actually get around to folding and putting away.

-I’m also frequently pulling clean clothes out of the dryer as if it’s another closet.

-I cannot seem fold laundry with my kids around. They’re 4 and 2. And when my baskets are full of clean laundry, the dirty clothes just sit in a pile in the corner of my closet (or the kids closet)

 

[darkfirefly]

@ava1453 I wait until it threatens to consume us all and then go from there.

 

[ava1453]

@darkfirefly Finally someone who gets me. I literally spent THREE HOURS separating and folding and putting away clean clothes last Friday. Three fucking hours.

 

[baxter006]

@ava1453 I have done this far too much. Everyone just picks through their pile of folded laundry in the bins they are supposed to put away. Family 8 here so it gets overwhelming quickly.

 

[darkfirefly]

@ava1453 I hear you. I TRY. I really try to stay up on laundry. But it piles up so quickly and it's takes so much time. It doesn't help that I have to go up and down two flights of stairs. When my wife helps we can handle it, but the moment it's all on my plate we suffer.

 

[entered]

@darkfirefly That's the problem. When it's all on one person's plate, it's unobtainable. If it's split and no one lollygags on their part, it all gets washed and put away before the dog hair finds it. (I do all the washing and separation. Hubby does all the putting away... or at least that's how we try to do it)

 

[kie]

@darkfirefly Ugh. I feel you. I also have to go up and down to the laundry

 

[goldenbell]

@darkfirefly This is the answer

 

[brucepjr]

@ava1453 Yeah that sounds overwhelming.

I keep laundry kind of separate. The kids have one basket between their rooms and the adults have ours in our room.

I do each basket about once a week. I don’t mix kids and adults. I take the clean stuff directly to where it goes and dump it out. I fold the kids clothes on the floor directly next to their dresser. They’re old enough to put away their own clothes, that has to be done before the next time they do electronics- that’s the rule.

I dump mine on my bed, fold and put it away.

I used to fold in the living room and put it back in the basket to take where it’s going, then I’d lose steam. This way, I kind of took out a step.

ETA: I do sheets usually the day I clean bathrooms which is typically Tuesday. I do towels just whenever. I throw them in with regular clothes or run all the bath towels one day.

ETA again: I find it’s easier if you have receptacles for dirty laundry that’s not your laundry basket. The kids have a pop up kind of hamper and we have a cart thing where you can pull out the bags. Then the laundry basket is only used to lug around clean clothes from the dryer to where it’s going. And if you get behind you still have a receptacle for dirty stuff.

 

[indianaman]

@brucepjr Second all this! I don’t sort kids clothes into colors. I just wash one persons at a time. Mine and my husbands gets sorted as we go into our 3 bag hamper. It does make it so much easier to just take it to the room it goes in and do it there and no sorting. It really cuts down on the mental work of it. I’ve also found that not allowing myself to start the next load until I’ve put away the last helps with the bottleneck of folding. It’s not a perfect system and mine and husband’s laundry still gets away from me but the kids stays pretty orderly.

 

[%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%A6%D7%A8%D7%99]

@brucepjr This is essentially what I do. I have a laundry basket in the kitchen, the kids’ room, and our room. Each one is washed when full, and is 80% already sorted.

My main trick is that I don’t fold the kids’ clothes. Shirts are thrown in the shirts drawer. Pants in the pants drawer. Etc.

Saves me tons of time. The kids mess up the folding fishing around in there for what they want to wear anyway.

 

[rooster1993]

@brucepjr This is almost my exact routine. The only difference is that I still fold in the living room and there is a clothes basket in our living room.

 

[briantheguydude]

@ava1453 I typically do one load of laundry every day m-f. I do my son's laundry, sheets, whites, and 2 loads for me, my husband, and the baby. The baby's laundry will be done with the toddlers once they start sharing a room in a few months. I start a load in the morning, switch it to the dryer whenever I get a chance, and fold when the kids are asleep. My oldest is only 2 so he obviously loves to throw the clean laundry everywhere if I try folding it when he's awake. I either put the clean laundry away that night or the next morning.

 

[ava1453]

@briantheguydude I can get behind this. I think my biggest issue is that everything gets combined in the wash. It makes the folding part a giant pain in the ass.

 

[joemzkie08]

@ava1453 This is what I do most of the time! One load a day takes very little time. The night before I usually put the dirty clothes I’m washing the next day into the washer, but I don’t start it or add detergent. Then when I wake up in the morning I add detergent and press go right away. I don’t sort, I’ve never had any issues. If there’s a new item of clothing that’s dark or really bright colored, I’ll throw in a color catcher sheet. At some point in the day I’ll remember and move it over to the dryer. I can usually fold one load with my daughter running around, but if we’re having a rough day I do it while she’s napping or after she’s in bed for the night. A single load doesn’t take so long that I feel like I’ve wasted my down time!

Also, if whatever I was planning on washing the next day isn’t quite a full load, I throw in random other items. I normally wash towels on hot, but if I have extra space in my clothes load, I’ll throw in a couple towels and wash it on warm like normal. Whatever gets it done!

 

[akags]

@ava1453 When I have mixed loads, sometimes I will just take the clean basket around to each room and basically dig out that person's clothes, put them away, and then do the next room. Sometimes I will just throw my and my husband's clean laundry on our bed to deal with at bedtime lol.

 

[not_a_unicorn]

@ava1453 We don't have a routine. We have a laundry chute, and when the basket is full below, we run a load. I typically just hang our kids' clothes up immediately and will lay out our clothes on our bed to put away at bedtime.

 

[judez]

@ava1453 We’re a family of 6. I try and do one load a day. So kids stuff one day. Towels one day. Sheets one day. Etc. It’s the worst but one load doesn’t seem like the worst thing. I just hate it

 

[ava1453]

@judez I envy those of you doing one load a day even though you hate it. I need help in the discipline department.

 

[judez]

@ava1453 Try is the key word it tends to pile up and we spend all weekend catching up. Or I wash the same load over and over because I forget it’s there. Or it makes it to the dryer where it sits until I sort through the wrinkly mess (no one cares if underwear, socks or pjs are wrinkly- and I’m not gonna iron). Sometimes laundry just has to wait if I’m going to do dishes and pick up toys and vacuum.