THE LAUNDRY MISTRESS

The Laundry Mistress

When we decided to have more than 3 children (you know, when I took that 4^th pregnancy test & saw that it was positive), the part I had no idea about was LAUNDRY! I had no clue what I was getting myself into!

We currently do about 26 loads of laundry on a normal week. Yes, we do cloth diapers, but that’s only 7 of those loads! There is SO MUCH! We do a load of kids stuff each day, plus a load of diapers & another load of blankets or towels each day. That’s 21 right there. So, add in a load for daddy each week, a load for mommy each week, then 3 loads of miscellaneous sheets, blankets & possibly an extra load of delicates… & that’s my life!

I have a few systems I have figured out through the past 2 years to keep chaos at a minimum, especially since we don’t really have a laundry room.

First of all is SOCKS. I used to have such an issue keeping track of matches, losing 1 half of matches, or just disappearing socks in general. I started throwing all dirty socks into a mesh laundry bag, instead of tossing them into the washer. Then when they come out, my oldest 2 help me divide between BOY SOCKS and GIRL SOCKS, followed by matching/rolling the pairs. The key to my success… the clean socks never make it upstairs (either do their shoes, btw) & usually dirty ones get taken off downstairs anyway. In my laundry room/pantry/storage room I have small metal shelves. On one shelf, is a bin marked “BOYS” & one is marked “GIRLS”. That is where sorted/rolled socks live. I also have one for the girls bloomers/biker shorts (for under dresses) & one for the girls tights, which were also a problem in the mornings.

The other HUGE trick was getting a divided hamper. I found it on sale at Target for about $20. There’s a space for boys, girls & towels. Those were the things that found their way to the floors of the laundry room. Some one had an accident… clothes on the floor. Some one spilled something… towel on the floor. So this way, as I am doing laundry (which I’ll explain my method in a moment) I can add the appropriate items. I wash all towels & sheets together since they usually are dirty for similar reasons (pee, messes, etc) requiring heavier washing to get the smells and dirt out. Plus, it just keeps things organized & that’s just plain helpful.

I started doing a child’s laundry each day. Each kiddo has their “color” hamper for clean clothes & their “color” for dirty clothes. Monday is child #1, Tuesday is child #2, & so on. Then Saturday & Sunday is for catching up or items that need immediate attention (mud, pee, stains, etc). Also, when I am doing this consistently, it eliminates the need for mass sorting & folding!

Which brings me to my next saving tip… my oldest 3 fold & put away their own laundry! LIFE. SAVER. Actually my 6 year old daughter is pretty amazing- she also does all our towels. She LOVES it & so do I!

Do you mommas have any other tips or tricks? How do you keep your sanity among the piles of dirty {or clean} clothes? Share with us below…