Managing the Laundry Monster
Here are a few tips from the Asbell Home on managing the laundry in our larger than average family.
Think about how your family uses laundry and then make a plan that fits your needs. Organize according to your use and needs. Do they throw clothes on the floor in a certain room? Then that room needs a hamper! You can't fit in two loads of laundry a day? Then aim for one or do it all in one day.
Do laundry daily. A little a day is preferable to doing it all in one day. If you do miss a few days to illness or whatever, you will not be knee deep in dirty clothes with half naked family members. We spend about half an hour on laundry per day, about 4-5 days per week. That includes hanging it on the clothesline. At the time of this writing, there are seven of us with a baby due in four weeks. We participate in many activities that require special clothing or linens, but we have managed to keep laundry under control with these tips.
We do not use a dryer to reduce cost and wear on our clothing. We use outdoor and indoor clotheslines, a spare room, and a clothesrod that hangs in the laundry area (an enclosed back porch). By keeping an eye on the weather and planning accordingly, we do not use the indoor lines often. I use to dry clothes overnight on wooden and coated wire drying racks and put them away in the mornings. I also hang clothes on a rod in our spare room where a wood stove is used in the winter. These dry very quickly.
Sunlight kills germs that the dryer can't. It also helps bleach out stains. Years ago, I read an article in a parenting magazine that said diaper rash and yeast infections can be cut down drastically if cloth diapers were exposed to sunlight. This is another benefit to using clotheslines.
Add a second washer if at all possible. This has been a big blessing to us.
We use vinegar as a fabric softner. It's cheaper, kills germs and does not leave a perfume smell. It is also better for the environment and our septic tank.
I wait until I have a full load. Washing half a load wastes time and electricity.
I set the machine to agitate only as long as I feel it is needed for each load. This saves on energy and wear and tear of the clothes.
Use a super-sized washer, if you need the capacity. It is such a time saver!
We have four hampers: darks, whites and lights, jeans and work uniforms. Wet items are hung on the side of the baskets to keep from causing mildew.
When you load the washer, tidy the laundry area. A neater laundry area encourages use. If it is a mess, it seems easier to put it off.
I have precise laundry washing instructions posted clearly for the older children to follow when I need their help. I printed these out and slid them into a page protector with an appropriate Bible verse.
I have used Ajax dish liquid for a number of years to keep laundry detergent costs down. One teaspoon to one tablespoon per load works great to clean clothing depending on your water quality. I was given this tip by a frugal older woman who has used it for many years. An 89 cent bottle lasts nearly the entire month. When I find 20 cent coupons in the paper, I get it for 69 cents each. I get multiple coupons so I stock up.
Throw a load in before bedtime. Hang it out when you wake up. You already are a load ahead for the day!
Put another load on early in the day. Two loads cleaned!
If Dad is an earlier than Mom riser, he can leave the first load in a basket and put on a second load. Then, Mom can hang up both when she rises.
When a baby wakes me up for feeding and can't go back to sleep, I do another load to make the next day easier.
I hang up clothes that would need to be ironed if allowed to wrinkle as soon as the washer is finished. We installed a closet rod right next to the washer for this purpose. Most dry without wrinkles on plastic clothes hangers. We wear mostly casual clothing, so this may not work for homes that prefer dress clothes.
I also hang valances and curtains right from the washing machine and do not have to iron them.They dry on the curtain rod. If one does wrinkle in a spot, I spray it with distilled water, pull the fabric tight for a few seconds and then let it dry.
Allow the younger children to put the laundry in the correct rooms. Bedroom occupants are expected to put their laundry away before bedtime.
Keep closets and dressers decluttered. Put seasonal clothes in storage. Place the beach towels in a special location. Donate clothing you are not wearing to charity. It is much easier to put away laundry when you have plenty of space for it. Less clothing, less to get dirty!
Only keep what you need. If you have a dozen crib sheets, it will be easier to let them go until you are down to one. If you have three, you will be motivated to keep up with the laundry.
Multi-task. I often listen to a younger child read while I fold clothes.
When the dry clothes start to pile up, we work on it as a family to get it under control. With all of us helping, this takes only a few minutes.
We hang up bath towels, beach towels, swim wear, etc to be reused instead of washing them daily. This not only saves on laundry work, but also saves on wear and tear of the items, making them last longer.
We changed into "around the house" clothes after going off. We hang our nicer clothes up to be reworn if they are still clean. This keeps a garment ready for each person to put on if we need to leave for somewhere in a hurry and also saves on clothing costs.
I only use cold water to wash clothes with, which helps conserve energy and save on the power bill. The clothes come out just as clean.
For heavily soiled clothes I pretreat with Ajax dish liquid.
For very heavily soiled clothing, like when Clint's been crawling around under the house, I soak before washing.
For sorting the children's clothes, I use a dot system. One dot for the oldest child wearing the garment. When it is passed on, another dot is added and so forth. I can look at the garment and tell right away who is wearing that item and put it in the right pile.
I do socks differently since they never make it to the next child. As soon as I open the package, I put the child's initial on the side of the sock with a permanent laundry marker. For families with members having the same initials, you could do a symbol, dots or whatever works for you. Some mothers sew a colored thread into the toe of each sock.
For Amanda, Brandon, Clint and I, we all use men's socks. Amanda and I wear them for around the house or in our muck boots in the winter. They are more durable, economical and comfortable compared to ladies' socks. I buy several of the same packages at once. This keeps matching quick and easy. They are stored in one place: Clint's sock drawer. Amanda and I prefer the ones the men have already "broken in" since they are softer.
As I fold and sort clothes, I place clothes that need to go in storage in a pile and send them to the attic with an older child. I also choose items we just aren't getting the use out of to go to charity. Clothes that are too stained to be worn are cut up and used for rags. Jeans are cut up for a future quilt. Worn out baby clothes are saved for future "memory" quilts.
I fold towels and sheets first. Once these are done, the pile does not seem as intimidating.
Our laundry room is right next to our bathroom. We shower and then carry our clothes out to the hampers....or at least this is my dream. I usually have to remind the family to do this. Our old, farm house bathroom is too small for a big hamper.
We do not use many delicate items in our rough and tumble household, but when I do have a delicate item, I wash it as soon as it needs washing. If it sits, it becomes too easy to put it off.
Our small children do not wear pajamas or use robes. It is just another step we eliminated from our busy household. They sleep in clean play clothes. When they wake up the next morning, they are ready for the day. It saves us quite a bit of time and makes the morning routine less hectic. And, thankfully, it is two less garments for each of them that I have to wash, sort and fold. When we are given pjs, we pass them along to charity. (Most of our friends confessed they don't use pjs for their small children either.)
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