5 Easy Ways You Can Save Time and Energy Doing Laundry

If you despise doing laundry, don’t despair. Here are 5 easy ways you can save time and energy load after load and learn proper washing machine care.

Moms Crushing It with CanCan Quick Steps

If managing your family’s laundry is causing you daily stress, worry not! Here are five tips to manage your whites, towels, and socks so you won’t feel washed out and–who knows!–you might even have loads of fun.

1.      Organize a Routine

2.      Be Armed with the Proper Tools

3.      Do it Daily

4.      Put It Away Immediately

5.      Machine Care

Sorting Out Laundry Routines

I am a firm believer in the importance of implementing routines into your life no matter how old your children are. A routine is just what’s needed to get a handle on your laundry.

Tip 1: Organize a Routine

Managing laundry is no different than any other function in your home. You need to plan and organize before you can have a well-maintained system.

Assess the following areas:

•        Are you equipped with enough laundry baskets/hampers?

•        Is your laundry room functional?

•        Are you a sorter or do you combine it all?

•        What time of day can you best accommodate a load or two?

•        What part of laundry care is most challenging?

•        Where do you put your dried loads of laundry?

•        Does each family member take responsibility for putting their clothes away?

Take some time and jot down your thoughts on these or similar questions that best fit your scenario.

My biggest challenge with laundry is not washing it but getting it separated and put away once it comes out of the drier.

After living with small mountains of clean clothes in the laundry room for several years (yes, I didn’t get this all figured out right away either) and watching children, dogs, and a spouse stampede all over my hours of hard work, I made the putting away of clean clothes the top priority in my family’s laundry routine.

Once you have a basic game plan, the rest of your laundry care will be much easier to manage.

Tip 2: Be Armed with the Proper Tools

Now that you have a routine in place and have decided how often it will be feasible for you to wash and dry your clothes, ensure your laundry area is equipped with the proper tools and accessories.

Keep your laundry shelves stocked with everything you fancy to make your clothes clean and fresh—detergent (obviously), stain removal products, softener, bleach, fabric sheets, and even products like Febreze that can freshen up foul-smelling laundry in an instant.

When you have all your laundry items within arm’s reach, you’ll also be able to keep track of the products you are running low on and replenish as necessary.

Having a garbage can in your laundry room will also be helpful so you have a place to throw away any dryer lint or pocket garbage while sorting.

If you use laundry baskets, it’s best to get stackable baskets in the same size to save space and allow for easy storage.

In addition, other tools that I can’t live without in my laundry room are:

•        A table for folding laundry.

•        A closet rod in the laundry center to hang permanent-press garments or items that can’t be placed in the dryer. If space permits, an expandable shower curtain rod will hold clean shirts and extra hangers in smaller spaces.

•        A whiteboard or chalkboard. As you put items into the washer, write on a whiteboard which items need to be pulled out to hang or lay flat to dry. That way, no matter who pulls the clothes from the washer, the items can be safely pulled and set aside instead of going into the dryer. (This has saved hours of arguing in our household!)

•        Extra Laundry Baskets for items like linens, tablecloths, or a load or two of clothes that belong to a specific family member.

•        Ironing Board and Flat Iron. C’mon—if we’re going to wash, we might as well be wrinkle-free!

•        A good book or favorite magazine! Some of my favorite stolen moments of quiet time are sneaking in a great read while in the privacy of my laundry room!

Tip 3: Do It Daily

There are two schools of thought behind a great functioning laundry system:

A.      Designate one or two days a week for washing your clothes

B.      Do It Daily

The logistics of managing a large family didn’t allow me the flexibility to stick to assigned laundry days.

When my kids were much younger, I maintained their dirty laundry myself, so it was imperative that I wash clothes daily. Although they all have their own laundry baskets and hampers now, as toddlers and pre-schoolers, I combined their clothes in the washer so as not to be wasteful. Back then, I knew exactly who was wearing what!

Once my kids reached their tween years, they learned to be responsible for their own laundry. Teaching kids life skills like cooking basic meals, caring for their belongings, and tending to their laundry as soon as possible is a gift that keeps giving!

See Also: 4 Major Life Skills Successful Kids Should Know

My morning routine starts with rising before the rest of the family to get a head start on the day. Even 15-20 minutes of alone time before everyone else gets up, is enough to get my day (and laundry) off to a great start.

The first thing I do while waiting for my tea to brew is head to the laundry room and assess the situation. Most mornings, there is a load to be washed, so I have at it before the rest of the house begins to stir. My tweens and teens manage their own laundry now, but if I see they have started their wash and need it to be dried, I lend a helping hand.

I’m a night owl by nature, so I have always taken advantage of the late night hours when the rest of my family is quietly tucked away in their bedrooms, catching Z’s. This is when I do my personal laundry or table linens and sheets. I can easily place a load in the wash, head to bed, and dry it first thing in the morning.

Tip 4: Put It Away Immediately

With this tip, I no longer have a problem with clean laundry piling up—unless I’m sick or going on vacation.

I designated a laundry basket to each family member with their name on them. Clean, folded items right from the dryer go into the proper baskets so they are ready to be grabbed by each child and taken to their rooms.

Tip 5: Machine Care

Here are some tips I’ve gleaned from the Laundry Gods for the care and upkeep of your beloved washers and dryers, which will aid in keeping your machines purring like happy little kittens.

Lint Trap

Remember to clean the lint trap after each drying cycle. I had a fire in my drying machine shortly after I was married. The reason is: I never cleaned the lint trap!

Washing Machine Door

Whether you have a top load or a front load washer, leave the door open when not in use. This will help prevent odor-causing mold and mildew to form.

Monthly Maintenance

Once a month, it’s suggested to perform maintenance on your washing machine. For front-loading machines, clean the rubber seals on the door and dispensers as needed. It will help clear up any laundry detergent, hair, and other debris that has built up. Use vinegar to clean up your tub if an unwelcome mildew stench is forming. Set your washer to the hottest temperature, select extra rinse if that option is available, and add white vinegar to the bleach dispenser to the max fill level (make sure there is absolutely no bleach in there first). For top-load washers, add four cups of white vinegar after setting the washer to the hottest temperature at the highest capacity. Lift the lid to stop the machine once it’s filled and allow it to sit for a few hours before closing to finish the cycle.

Getting into the Routines

          Following these five routines will prevent your laundry from building up. Putting your kids in charge of their own items when age-appropriate means you are not in the laundry battle alone anymore. Make it easy for them with the Laundry 101 talk, labeled laundry baskets, and color-coded towels.

How do you stay on top of your laundry game? Share your thoughts in the comments section.