How To Do Laundry Efficiently

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Oh look, everyone’s favorite thing to talk about…laundry. It doesn’t matter if you’re a working mom or stay-at-home mom, laundry is laundry. But it doesn’t have to run our lives or be a burden! I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for the last 10 years! I’ve tried my fair share of laundry schedules, tips, and tricks. And today I’m going to share with you what has worked for our family to do laundry efficiently in our home!

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Mindset About Laundry

You might be laughing, but seriously friends, we’ve got to change our mindset. We all have tasks that we love and ones we don’t love. Laundry might be on your list of least favorites. If it is this blog post will help you get on the right track so laundry isn’t a daunting burden. But also try to change your mindset. Stop looking at your laundry hamper and saying, “Oh my gosh, I have so much laundry to wash, I’m never going to get this done.” Look at that laundry pile and say, “I’m so thankful we’re able to provide clothing for our family.” With that being said, no, I’m not always grateful. There are times I become super frustrated with the laundry, but arrest those negative thoughts and move to positivity. Now, let’s get into the nitty gritty of getting your laundry under control instead of it controlling you.

Starting a Rhythm To Do Laundry Efficiently

You’ve got to get you a rhythm setup! The best way to incorporate a new task into your current day is to attach it to something you’re already doing. For example, when you get up and get dressed in the morning, grab the dirty laundry to take to the washer and start the load. Getting dressed is something you’re already doing daily (hopefully haha) and now you’re attaching the laundry to it.

Now you don’t want the laundry to get left sitting in the washer all day. Attach switching it out to the dryer at lunch time. Once it’s dry get it folded and put away. Get the family involved. This is the perfect time to teach some life skills!

Typically I have the kids fold towels and washcloths and they match socks, and they layout whatever gets hung up. They’re also responsible for delivering laundry to the different rooms and putting away their own laundry. This isn’t something we argue about. We have regular conversations about how we are a family and we work together to keep our household going. To help encourage them in making decisions I will allow them to go ahead and put their laundry away after it’s folded or they have the option to do it during their quiet time. They’re still doing the chore, but they’re getting to make a choice.

If you’re a working mom outside of the home, attach this new rhythm to the end of your work day when you come home. Start a load when you begin supper, switch it during supper clean up, and fold and put away before bed. You could even leave it to fold in the morning if that’s more doable.

What To Do When You Get Out of Rhythm

At some point you’re going to get behind. This happens to every single one of us. There could be a sickness that sweeps through the entire house, busy with summer schedules, something. This happens, it’s life. But again, don’t let it control you. We recently had our entire house get sick. I continued to do at least one load of laundry everyday. When I felt well I would fold some. For a couple of days we just grabbed what we needed from the clean pile. But because we continued to at least wash and dry daily it wasn’t this massive, unmanageable pile of laundry. And within the week we were back to our regular schedule.

Vacation Laundry

We haven’t gone on vacation a lot, but I had a friend share with me once that she does all their laundry before returning home. I thought that was an interesting idea. So next vacation I decided to just keep our daily laundry routine. I took our own laundry detergent and washed one small load a day. When it was time to pack up and head home, I had everything washed, folded, and packed back in the appropriate bags. Traveling back home always seems harder for everyone than traveling to the vacation spot. Not having to worry about coming home to a mess of laundry felt so much better. Everyone took their bags to their bedrooms and put laundry away the day after getting home. So yes, I’m totally telling you to do laundry on your vacation!

Our Rhythm For Doing Laundry Efficiently

So here’s what doing laundry efficiently in our home looks like. Maybe you can start your rhythm off by doing the same and tweak what you need to as you go to see how it will work for your home.

Schedule

• Sunday: Day of Rest
• Monday: Do at least one load of laundry start to finish. Wash sheets from 1-2 bedrooms.
• Tuesday: Do at least one load of laundry start to finish. Wash the remaining sheets from bedrooms.
• Wednesday: Do at least one load of laundry start to finish.
• Thursday: Do at least one load of laundry start to finish.
• Friday: Do at least one load of laundry start to finish.
• Saturday: Do at least one load of laundry start to finish.

Tips For Doing Laundry Efficiently

• Do one to two loads daily. I usually wash all of our clothing items first (shirts, jeans, pants) then wash a load of towels, washcloths, underwear, and socks.
• If you have older children, have them switch laundry from washer to the dryer while you’re making lunch or if it’s in the evening while you’re cooking supper.
• Children 2 and up are capable of helping fold laundry. Have the younger ones match socks. My 4 year old will even stack my nursing pads in a pile. Washcloths and towels are fairly easy for them to fold after you teach them a couple of times.
• Do something while you fold. Listen to an audiobook, podcast, music.
• Wash bedding by bedroom. For example, I wash the crib bedding and the master bedroom bedding together, the next day I wash our oldest son’s bedding, and the next day I wash the girls’ bedding. By Wednesday everyone has fresh sheets.

Favorite Laundry Products

1. Wool Dryer Balls I haven’t used dryer sheets in years. I love applying some essential oils to these and tossing them in the dryer for a fresh, natural scent.
2. Molly’s Suds I gave up scented laundry detergent back when our daughter was having skin issues. I’ve used several natural laundry detergents, but so far this one has been a favorite and it’s affordable.
3. Glass Jars These are not a need, but they are pretty and I like looking at them when I’m doing laundry! I actually scored two of these at a thrift store for $6!
4. Puracy Stain Remover If you have kids, you’re going to have stains. I was so happy to find this natural stain remover that actually works!
5. Plant Therapy Oils Use the link and get $10 off your first order of $10 or more! These are my favorite oils to apply to my wool dryer balls and diffuse in our home! I use tea tree mostly for our towels and washcloths.
6. Rockin’ Green Dirty Diaper If you are cloth diapering, I have found this laundry detergent to work the best!

Now that you’ve got your momentum rolling, did you check out my blog post about organizing your kitchen cabinets? Read it here!

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