7 Tips For Doing Laundry The Right Way!

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INSIDE : HATE LAUNDRY? ME TOO!!! CHECK OUT THESE 7 TIPS FOR DOING LAUNDRY THE RIGHT WAY

Sunday’s are NOT my fun days!!!! I know some people believe in the ‘do a load a day’ laundry hack…or whatever it is BUT….that does not work for my family! Honestly, I refuse to do a chore I dislike every day of my life. Just torture me one day and get it over with already!!! So let’s find 7 ways to do laundry the right way!

How do we make it less painful?!?

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1 – Laundry Soap

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2 – Helpers

Get someone else to do it. Joking…..but not really.

Get the kids to help! My kids have to bring their own baskets to the laundry room. (They have easy to transport, flexible baskets that won’t break or chip if dropped!!) My oldest has to bring mine down 😁.

They are old enough to know white from blue. So….bring your clothes down and separate them into baskets…lights, darks, colorful and towels. Easy! Sometimes they get them wrong but it’s easy to fix.

3 – Separating

What gets washed first?!?

I usually have 1 load of each darks, lights, colors and 2-3 loads of towels. (This does not include my wash separate delicates that depend on my last wash)

Darks go first in my house…this ensures at least something is completely washed, dried, folded before Monday morning panics – “I have no pants!!!!”

Then do your colorful, then lights, finally towels.

Why do towels last?!?

😂😂 honestly, because you always have extra towels….not always extra undies!

4 – Washer

We had to buy a new washer last year. The old one fried it’s mother board…..after 4 weeks of doing laundry at my mom’s house, we decided on a washer.

We stuck with the same brand (it was a good one and it still matches our dryer) but upgraded a model and found a cool helper in the machine. It has a soap dispenser – I fill it up and the washer determines how much soap the load needs based on the cycle I’ve chosen.

Personal side note: This washer is super efficient. It has a tumble cycle (in the washer!!!) to prevent wrinkles!!!!

5 – Drying

Certain things should not be dried in the dryer. For example, dry fit golf shirts (like this one)….should not be heat dried. They end up stinky and technically you shouldn’t use fabric softener on them. Hubby’s button down work shirts, my work shirts, and bras shouldn’t get dryer dried.

Leading me to – everyone should have a drying rack.

I love this one because it can hold anything I wash that day. Including delicates, work shirts, bras, sweaters….you name it!

6 – Folding

Uuuggghghhhhghggggggghhh!

While organizing my closet and dresser, I realized that my folding style needed a little revamp.

ABOUT 20 years ago, I spent a summer working at a very famous clothing store (I had a day job and that was my evening job….remember when you had the energy to work like that because you wanted extra money). Anyway, the ONLY thing I learned from that job was how to fold clothes. (I did have an impressive closet after that summer though.)

Shirts –

Turn right side out
Shake out wrinkles
Lay face down and slam your head on the floor – just kidding I mean lay the garment face down
Take one arm, fold inward at the neck
Long sleeves – need to be folded again at the shoulder seam
Repeat on the other side
Take the bottom, fold into 3rds
I can do this in my hands for the most part…..but if it creates more wrinkles, I fix it using this method.

Pants –

Turn right side out
Shake out wrinkles
Fold in half at the zipper so that you see the front of the pants
Take seam in one hand and hold the waist in the other hand, shake out any wrinkles
Sometimes, you need drastic measures with pants – in this case, take the pants by the hems of the legs and smooth them out
If you are a firm believer in the seam line in the middle of your pants – live in the now…..only old people do that. Dress pants are made with those creases in them….I never fold anyone’s pants that way. BUT – if you want to……..IGNORE steps 3-5 and take the bottom of the legs, hold them seam to seam…it’s really hard.
Fold in half at the knees- ish or hang immediately

7 – FINAL – MOST IMPORTANT

Put them away!!!

I have been known to live out of a laundry basket. I began to notice that my children developed that habit as well. Not good! So now……everyone puts their own clothes away as soon as the last load is folded.

This avoids several things: Empty laundry baskets = dirty laundry in its place. Which means no laundry on the floor, thrown on the bed, or balled up in a corner (or closet).

Happy Laundering (or at least not being bored to death and hating every second of it),