Important Laundry Habits that Save Time and Energy
Surprising Laundry Habits to Help You Live Better
Having good habits in life is important. Laundry seems to pile up for many families, so I thought I would share some laundry habits that I have used over the years that has helped it not be a major chore for us. There are simple things you can do each week and there are ways to train your children so that washing clothes doesn’t have to be a stressful experience.
Laundry Room Ideas
Whether you have a laundry room or area, how you organize that space will make a huge difference in how your clothes through in an efficient manner.
Here are some necessary elements that every laundry room needs:
At least 2 baskets/bins for sorting – 1 basket/bin for whites and 1 for everything else. A third bin is ideal but not necessary. Teach your children and spouse how to get their clothes into these 2 bins. Do whatever you have to do to get them into this habit.
Space for stained items – Have a bin or box where your family can place stained items that you can be pretreated by you before they make it into the washer.
Sorting in Bedrooms – If bedrooms are not close to the laundry room, have 2 sorting baskets in each bedroom. Make one basket for lights and one basket for dark or colored clothes. Again, do whatever you have to do to get your family to use these baskets for good laundry habits.
Laundry Habits – How Often Should You Do Laundry?
Wash only one or two family member’s clothing at a time – Mixing everyone’s laundry together and doing it daily requires WAY too much sorting and work on your part.
Weekly laundry over daily laundry – I wash mine and my husband’s clothes once a week. That’s it! Try it, 
you’ll like it. One or two family member’s laundry at a time once a week has simplified our home so much!
Older Children get right-of-passage to using the machines on their own – When my children are between 10-14 years old, I give them the right-of-passage to be allowed to use the washing machine. I show them how to sort their clothes, use detergent, and turn on the machine. Usually, they are happy to have control of an area of their lives. If you have trained them right from the beginning, they have probably been helping you wash, sort, and fold clothes all along anyway.
Do Less Laundry!
Most families are just plain doing too much laundry! Towels can be used more than once or twice. You are clean when you use them, so why wash them each time they are touched? Install hooks in bathrooms so towels can easily be dried and reused. Wash sheets less often. Wear PJs more than one night.
Teach your family to think before tossing a barely worn item into the laundry hamper. Get your family on your side to help create less laundry and less stress keeping all these clothes washed.
Laundry Doesn’t Have to Be Hard or Complicated
When I whine about laundry, my husband reminds me about how I don’t have to go to the creek and wash clothes by hand. Washers and dryers are such a blessing!
If you’re finding that laundry is a chore, change things up. Look for ways to change the areas where laundry is hard. Are the dirty piles what stress you out? Find a way to get those piles into bins or get them stored where you can’t see them.
Is unfolded laundry stressing you out? Maybe it’s time to pay someone to come in and fold clothes for you. Maybe it’s time to take away privileges from your children until their laundry is folded. Find a better place to hide that unfolded laundry so you don’t see it if that is the stressor.
Get Control of Your Laundry
The point is to deal with the problems that are before you. Take them on one at a time and get control of laundry. Don’t let disorganization get in your way. Use these amazing machines to your advantage and figure out how to streamline a good system that works for your family.
Use “Uncle Google” to find your laundry answers. If these tips weren’t enough, keep searching until you find the answers to your laundry issues.
Think of an area of your life that you are rocking it. Do you have meal planning down to a science? Does cleaning the bathroom come easily to you? There ARE areas of your life that you do well! Laundry can be one of those areas too. Take this month to focus on getting rid of your laundry stress! You will be glad you did.
I hope this information has been helpful to you. Make sure you check the purity of your laundry detergent too. You don’t want your family to be breathing in harmful chemicals 24 hours a day. Enter your detergent here and see what grade yours gets. I use this laundry ball and won’t be buying detergent for 1500 wash loads!
Please let me know if you have any questions at all.
For more organizing tips, check out:
- My FREE “How to Organize Your Day” Checklist here
- How to get rid of chemicals in your home, check Top Ways to Avoid Laundry Toxins and Chemical Free Cleaning Tips.
