How to create a laundry routine that works for YOUR family and life + my favorite laundry tips and tools.
The other day, someone teased me for doing laundry on the same day each week.
I suppose it does feel a bit “1950s” to have a set cleaning and laundry routine, but I was not offended by this comment because I know how beneficial my simple laundry routine is for myself, my family, and my home.
Thanks to my laundry routine, I never get behind on laundry, I never feel overwhelmed by laundry, and my kids never wonder when their favorite shirt will be wearable again.
Yeah… I just used the word “never” 3 times in that semi-bold statement above.
I thought long and hard about using that word, I considered other adverbs, but I ultimately stuck with “never” because it’s a truthful representation of my sentiments about laundry.
Personally, I don’t enjoy doing the laundry, but it needs to be done — and creating a system and streamlining the process is how I deal with chores I don’t love.
If laundry feels overwhelming for you, then this is the place for you (keep reading)!
Why You Need a Laundry Routine
No, you don’t need to do your laundry every Monday like I do… BUT, if laundry causes you any amount of stress, I’m confident that implementing a general routine will help to reduce your laundry overwhelm and bring more peace and joy to your home (how’s that for another bold statement! 😉)
1. A Laundry Routine Reduces Decision Fatigue
No more wondering if you should or shouldn’t start a load — you know the plan.
No more wondering if it’s time to wash the sheets yet — you have a set time/day to do it.
And although I can’t stop your kids from asking about the laundry, I can help you with your answer — just tell them it will be done on ________ day or at ________ time. They are smarter than they let on and will likely catch on to your daily/weekly routine quite quickly.
2. A Laundry Routine Saves Time and Energy
Whether you are an X-loads-a-day person or a once-a-week laundry marathoner, having a routine and sticking to it will save you loads (pun intended) of time and energy throughout the week.
If you prefer a daily routine — simply throw a load in when you wake up or when you get home from work, and put it in the dryer when it finishes (you could even set an alarm so you don’t forget about it). Fold it, put it away, and you’re done for the day. Anything else that comes up throughout the day will get washed tomorrow.
If you choose a specific day as “laundry day”, then you have the benefit of not needing to think or worry about laundry on any of the other days. Just wait until laundry day, get it done, and move on with your life.
3. A Laundry Routine Eliminates Laundry Guilt
You can’t feel guilty about procrastinating on the laundry anymore because you aren’t procrastinating — you’re just waiting until “laundry day”.
4. A Laundry Routine Keeps You Accountable
For those of us who are home almost all day, we have a massive amount of time that we COULD devote to an equally long list of tasks and to-dos.
It’s easy to assume we’ll have time to get the laundry done “later” or “tomorrow”. But then, something comes up later or a better opportunity presents itself for tomorrow, and we’re pushing the laundry off another day.
Suddenly, we’re knee deep in dirty clothes and staying up way too late in order to get the uniform washed before tomorrow’s game, or make sure our kids have clean underwear in the morning.
A routine keeps us accountable — we stick to certain days or times for laundry throughout the week and we no longer worry about getting behind.
And for those who work full time outside of the home, your time for household chores is limited… so having a set time for laundry keeps you in charge of the laundry instead of letting it take over your home!
5. A Laundry Routine Allows for a Sense of Completion
So often, the work we do around the house is “undone” in a matter of minutes.
- The swept floors are tramped over again.
- The clean surfaces are covered with books, homework, and games again.
- The weeds grow again.
- The “I’m too full to eat one more bite” children are hungry again.
- The dishes are dirty again.
- And yes… the clean clothes are in the hamper again!
It can feel disheartening to know that so many of the things we do each day will need to be done again tomorrow (or even in a few hours).
However, with a laundry routine, you can do the laundry for the day or the week, cross it off your list, and know that you’ve done your duty for that day or week.
This might seem like a small detail that no one other than Type A people would appreciate, but I know it will make a difference for you too.
Never underestimate the satisfaction of crossing something off your to-do list! 😉
Daily Laundry or Laundry Days??
Now that I’ve convinced you to create a laundry routine… you should first consider what type of routine might work best for you, your family, your daily lives, your laundry needs, etc.
Yes, you can try both before deciding on your preference!
Personally, I’ve always been a fan of “Laundry Days” as we don’t have enough laundry to do a load or more each day. Plus, I just love the satisfaction of crossing it off my list and being DONE with it for several days.
But let me lay out a few pros and cons of each option:
1. Daily Laundry:
PROS:
- Ideal for those who are easily overwhelmed with laundry.
- Great if you’re home all day and can just throw a load in each day.
- Also good for those who work full time and don’t want to spend all weekend doing laundry. Just do one load per night.
- Nice if you have certain things that need to be washed multiple times per week (like a uniform or pajamas).
- Good for large families who easily produce enough dirty clothing for a load or more per day.
- Possibly essential for the potty training or newborn phases of life.
CONS:
- You always feel like you could do “just one more load”.
- You may end up wasting time or water doing a super small load if you don’t have enough to make a large load.
- It can be difficult to make the time for non-clothing items (towels, bedding, seasonal items, special occasion items, etc.)
- You (or your kids) often end up wearing the same things over and over again, meaning they will wear out quicker and you aren’t utilizing all your clothing.
- If you miss one day, it can be hard to get back on track — so it’s not ideal if you regularly travel out of town.
2. Laundry Days:
PROS:
- Ideal for those who love to cross something off their list.
- Great if you’re home all day and can continue to rotate through the wash.
- Also good for those who have at least one day off during the week — you can do laundry in the midst of meal prepping, running errands, working in the garden, making phone calls, etc.
- If you don’t mind doing laundry on the weekend, this option is doable for those who work full-time outside the home too.
- It’s a great opportunity to catch up on audiobooks and podcasts.
- Good for families who don’t produce enough dirty clothing for a load or more per day.
- Makes it really easy to remember the last time you washed something (especially things like sheets, rugs, seasonal gear, etc.)
- Ideal for those who travel — you can do all your laundry when you get back.
- You get to enjoy completely empty hampers and clothes baskets for at least an hour or so!
CONS:
- It’s a bit of a time commitment on your laundry day (but you can do other things while the laundry is going).
- You may need to work your week around housework (I rarely schedule anything for Monday mornings as that’s when I do our laundry and clean the house).
- Everyone needs enough socks and underwear to make it until the next laundry day.
- Missing or skipping your laundry day is a big deal!
My Laundry Routine:
Laundry has never been one of my favorite things to do — but it needs to get done and it truly doesn’t require all that much effort (except wrangling that fitted sheet on the top bunk) so I rarely complain about it.
In fact, I’ve come to embrace doing the laundry as my long-standing routine streamlines the process and it’s one of many simple ways I can bless my family each week.
As I mentioned above, I’ve always had a Laundry Day — right now, it’s Mondays.
MONDAYS:
- one load of whites
- one load of towels
- two loads of kids’ clothing
- one load of Dave and my clothing
- one or two loads of bedding
- possibly one load of extra (rugs, snow gear, swimsuits, etc.)
THURSDAYS: (if I feel we need a few things washed before the weekend)
- one load of whites
- one load of clothes
Obviuosly, there are weeks that don’t follow this structure 100%, but more often than not, this is my weekly laundry routine.
My goal is to have ZERO housework on the weekends (outside of general cooking and kitchen clean up) so I almost never do any laundry or cleaning on the weekends — that’s just my personal preference.
More Laundry Tips:
1. If you’ve never had any type of laundry routine before, give yourself (and your family) some time to adjust. Try different days and times, see what works best for your family and your schedule.
2. Also, don’t be afraid to change your routine whenever your life or schedule changes. For example, we have a lot more laundry in the winter when everyone wears layers and gets dirty in the snow, so I need more time to do the laundry each week. In the summer, we live in swim suits so I can often get away with just a few loads for the entire week!
3. Get your kids involved (laundry isn’t just your chore). Our kids start doing laundry at age 10 — it’s so nice during the summer when they are home and can help out more!
4. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! This post is written specifically for readers who feel overwhelmed with their laundry. If you don’t have a laundry routine but also have no issues keeping up with the laundry, that’s cool too!
5. Two laundry rooms are amazing! I know this might sound extreme, but it only cost us about $350 extra to get 2 laundry spaces in our home. We were already planning to renovate our laundry room 5 years ago, so instead of donating or selling our old appliances for a few bucks, we paid a plumber to hook them up in our unfinished basement… voila, 2 laundry areas!
Oh, and I’ve written a lot about laundry these last 15+ years online… click the links below to read more:
- My 7 Laundry “Don’ts”
- 10 Life-changing tips when you’re overwhelmed by laundry.
- How to wash dry-clean-only items at home.
- How to clean stinky towels.
- Why (and how) I wash whites.
- How to eliminate lost socks.
- How to clean your laundry withOUT detergent.
- How to clean your dryer lint trap.
- How I keep my clothing wrinkle-free without an iron.
- 10 Ways to reduce static cling.
- Dealing with Half Dirty Clothes (lots of fun responses from readers here!)
Favorite Laundry Tools:
- Oxi Clean — my favorite stain remover!
- Wool Dryer Balls — great for static cling (and our dog loves them too!)
- Laundry Balls — you can wash without detergent!
- Small clothes baskets — they fit in our laundry cabinets and force me to stay on top of folding.
- Lint trap cleaner — sort of awkward, but super helpful in cleaning out that skinny crevice inside the lint trap.
- Mesh laundry bags — we use them for socks or other small items.
- Retractable clothes line — nice for hanging a few items
- Foldable drying rack — great for swimsuits in the summer too!
As always, I will continue to evaluate my routines as our family and life changes. Yes, this routine works wonderfully for us right now, but I don’t expect it to work forever… and I know my specific routine won’t work for all of you.
That said, I know there’s a laundry routine that will work for you — just keep playing with it to see what feels best. Once you find your “perfect” routine, laundry will not feel nearly as stressful or overwhelming anymore.
And if you do have a great laundry routine, please share it in the comments below!
Katie says
I completely agree with you! I work from home so I do laundry on Mondays and Thursdays. Doing it everyday often left me with unfolded clothes laying around because I wasn’t up for doing it every single day. If I get the loads all washed in the AM I can fold during my “lunch break” and everyone can put their stuff away when they get home from school.
Andrea says
sounds like my kind of system 🙂 and yes, it is super helpful to do all this house stuff while working from home. I try to be finished with everything before the kids get home and then they put it all away.
Calliope says
One helpful tip: if you have the space, short your laundry to different baskets from the beginning. I hate putting my hands into dirty clothing! So I have one basket for whites, one for darks, one for delicates and one for towels/jeans. When my son was young they were labeled with pics and words.
I do at least 2 darks during the week and 2 delicates (my work blouses on a 15’ wash cycle which uses a very small amount of water and detergent). The sheets and towels every friday and anything else during the weekend. One
Laundry day wouldn’t work for my family as we own just a handful of clothes each and we need them all during the week!
Andrea says
YES! We actually do this — i just have a separate basket for whites as that’s all I separate out, but the kids know to put anything white in that basket so it stays separate!
And yes, I did have to buy more underwear for everyone when we switched to a laundry day (LOL!)
Nancy says
I am only writing this because I believe you have a Christian audience. When people have a loved one pass away Do Not say “they’re with Jesus, they’re in a better place, they’re not suffering anymore.” Just say “I’m so sorry”. My most devout Christian friends are killing me with this. I know they mean well but it’s not helpful at this time. We know even Jesus wept.
It’s all true but it’s just not helpful.
One friend of my husband, that didn’t know my daughter asked “what was she like as a child?” That was very thoughtful, I loved talking about her but it requires time to listen and not when other people are coming up to talk to you.
A dear friend that chants and drums to an elephant sent me a text saying
“I”m so sorry.”
In the tender compassion of our God,
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke ch1”
This is the best. How did he know? The Holy Spirit is everywhere.
It was really wonderful for me because it’s part of my morning prayer, but even if it’s not, it’s beautiful and sincere and it’s also true.
And on your subject, I just read the box yesterday, Oxiclean comes with a big cup but only requires a tablespoon, 1/8 of that cup, for a regular load. I’ve wasted several tons of Oxiclean.
Carol says
At what temp. do you wash things? I started washing my towels in hot water after reading your post on stinky towels. I never use bleach, though. Can you bleach your colored towels – like even the kitchen towels with red stripes that you pictured? I usually wash lighter clothes in warm and colors in cold water, but if I could throw in everything together, that would be great.
Love your website btw!!
Andrea says
Well, I’m definitely not a laundry expert because my moto is just “get it done”. So, I wash all towels in hot water — and yes, I use bleach even on the ones with colorful stripes. They definitely dull over time, but I’m OK with that 🙂
Everything else is washed in warm water because Oxyclean works best in warm water and I use Oxyclean in all my non-bleached loads.
Keecia Buster says
When you use hot water with bleach, you deactivate it. Cold water is best for bleach.
Andrea says
I’m not sure this is the case with all bleach. You can, in fact, buy “cold water bleach” which is intended for use with cold water. However, my bottle of bleach says it’s most effective with warm or hot water…
The following statement was copied directly from the Clorox website:
—————–
The facts are: Clorox® Regular Bleach2 disinfects effectively in hot, warm or cold water whether for laundry or household cleaning/disinfecting. For maximum cleaning, stain and soil removal, one should wash with hot water with detergent and Clorox® Regular Bleach2.
—————-
Jennifer says
I used to do all our laundry on the weekends (I work full time). Now I do a load or two most days and it feels less overwhelming. Each day has a “theme”– Mon-whites, Tues-our bed, Wed-son’s bed, Thurs-son’s clothes, Fri-towels, Sat- my and husband’s clothes, Sun-son’s clothes/sports uniforms. Now if I could only be better about folding it all when it comes out 🙂
Megan says
Which load do you wash your reusable nursing pads in (when you are using them)? I’ve been throwing mine in with the baby’s wash but sometimes I need to wash the pads but she doesn’t have enough dirty laundry. Is it gross to put them in with our clothes? Just curious on someone else’s thoughts on this.
Andrea says
Hey Megan, I just throw them in with anything I’m NOT using fabric softener with — usually towels. Fabric softener will make them less absorbent 🙂
Mary says
Hi, Andrea – thank you for the always helpful tips! I do have a question about your system for bleaching your towels and washcloths etc. I’m always a little fearful of bleach and not doing it right. However recently I’ve noticed my husband’s t-shirts and some of our other items are looking dingy and the stains really aren’t coming out. How do you actually do the bleach in the laundry (pour it in the basin? soak?) I have OxyClean and sometimes add that in, but think I want to go the bleach route. Thanks for any tips!
Andrea says
Hi Mary,
No need to be scared of bleach 🙂 However, I should mention that ALL our towels, washcloths, sheets, blankets, napkins, etc. are white or cream — so that’s why I bleach them all. If you have brightly colored towels, I probably wouldn’t bleach them.
That said, I am NOT an expert on laundry, but I simply pour a little bleach in the “Bleach” compartment of my washing machine and pour a little detergent into the “Soap” compartment of my washing machine. Also, if you use Oxyclean, you should dump that directly into the barrel of the washer before putting your clothes or water in… and do NOT use bleach with oxyclean.
Kelly Whiteman Snipes says
I love your scheduled method! Especially the part about not doing any laundry over the weekend…
Right now I do the “load a day” plan. It seems to work really well considering the amount of laundry two people create. We have a dog that sleeps on our bed and I rotate old sheets out daily to protect our comforter. I sort our laundry and also wash our sheets every week. I love sinking into fresh sheets on a Sunday night! We live on a working farm and also work off the farm plus we are involved in some organizations that require dressing up for meetings, etc. We wear many hats which creates a lot of laundry! I have been trying to do better with hanging dress clothes back up that were only worn for a few hours.
I like that we don’t spend entire days folding laundry. I have friends who literally cancel on me because they need to get caught up on laundry. What?! I, however respect priorities and sometimes you just have to stay home and get things done. BUT, I never want to be that person with piles and piles of laundry to the point where I have to cancel plans.
Makinna C. says
Monthly washing of the sheets for our house too! But I can’t get my husband to part the all the “extra” sheets and towels, he wants them “just in case.” I think one extra for each person ( bedding and sheets) plus 1 set for the guest bed is plenty, he thinks more is better to be prepared.
Andrea, I do have to ask, what water temp do you wash everyone’s clothing at? And what setting (regular, delicate, etc)? We do our kids laundry all for one person in one load, regular setting, warm water temp. But my Husband does 2-3 small loads, each in different water temps and cycle. I have been doing my laundry 2-3 smaller loads, also only because I felt like I had to wash my clothing at the “recommended” setting to make them last, but I’ve noticed that clothing doesn’t last as long as it used to. So what the point in wasting time if the outcome is the same?
Andrea says
haha — it’s funny to me that he would care so much. I doubt Dave would ever have an opinion on that 🙂
As for how I wash — I always use warm or hot water and I never sort by material. I also wash anything dry-clean only in my regular machine and have honestly only ruined 1 thing in my entire life. I guess I tend to agree that clothing is cheap and doesn’t last long nowadays anyway, so why waste my time sorting it and doing all different loads. I shove everything in with a scoop of oxyclean and don’t even worry about spot treating it!
Jill says
My kids are old enough to be in charge of their own laundry, so I just do mine, hubby’s and the dogs! One load gets done each day, start to finish! With 4 kids I used to do 20ish loads a week! It’s much easier now!!
Monday- Whites
Tuesday- Darks
Wednesday- Towels
Thursday- Sheets
Friday- Pet bedding
Saturday- Off
Sunday- Towels
Andrea says
wow — that’s a great system!
Julie says
I have a family of 6 and I do 3 loads of laundry a week and that includes sheets that I weekly….My secret is each of my 4 kids are responsible for their own laundry and sheets. They each have one day a week assigned to them to do laundry. They aren’t allowed to do laundry on any other day unless who was assigned that day is finished. It has worked well for 3- 4 years now. My youngest who is 9 is required to do his laundry also. I do help him to transfer his clothes from the washer to the dryer because he is too short to reach into the washer. They all do a great job. The girls tend to stain treat while the boys don’t really care. I every ones laundry when we return from a weekend away or vacation.
Andrea says
That’s great. I never did laundry growing up, but have thought about eventually (in several more years) teaching my kids to do their own.
Michelle says
I don’t have much of a laundry system anymore…unless you call “wash when the baskets are full” a system. HaHa! But when the kids were younger Friday was laundry day and I washed and dried but they brought it down, sorted it, and took it up and put it away when finished. If I went upstairs and it was still in baskets there were consequences. This was when they were about 10 years and older. My system definitely changed throughout the years…I remember being so happy when we could finally do it at home instead of hauling it out to the laundromat.
I just did a mountain of laundry for my daughter last week while she was at the hospital with her youngest. I washed, dried, folded, and separated it into piles according to whose it was and where it went, and it’s still sitting on her table 4 days after getting home. I wish she had a system!
Andrea says
well that always used to be MY system too — whenever the baskets were full, I’d throw in another load.
That worked for awhile, but then the baskets would be full and I wouldn’t be home that morning, and then the kids would be napping and I didn’t want to get their dirty clothes out of their room, and then I’d be making dinner, and then it turned into “wasting” all my evenings doing laundry.
I might go back to that “non system” at some point in the future, but for now, I needed a little more structure 🙂
Also, I can’t even imaging needing to cart all my clothing to to a laundromat — wow!
Kerri Johnson says
I do this same system except the laundry goes straight into the washer bypassing the laundry basket altogether. My kids know to put it in the washer when they take off their clothes. They also know that anything not in the washer, they will have to wash themselves. I just start a load when the washer is full and finish it that day. The kids sort and put away their own clothes.
Andrea says
nice — love how simple this is!
Sara says
I have a family of 4. I do laundry once a week usually on Tuesdays. I do all of our laundry in one day. It is convenient, because the dryer never has to reheat for a new load. I remember to get it out and fold it, rather than wash and forget about it. There are times when someone is sick, has an accident or snow days, pool days I may have to deter from this and do a load not on my designated laundry day. But this works so well for my family.
Organize 365 says
I LOVE this!
I too divide up my laundry in 2 days. Sunday I do EVERYTHING I possibly can. I start after church and keep moving the laundry through all day long while I clean, pay bills and get ready for the week. It is usally 5-8 loads.
Then on Wednesday morning I run 1-3 loads depending on the week and spend about 45 minutes in the morning after everyone leaves straightening the house so it doen’t get too out of control.
I too am always tweaking…
My kids should be doing their own lundry by now (15 and 17), but I actually like my routine and I don’t want to be limited by when they have clothes in the wash!
🙂
Lisa
Andrea says
haha — if it makes you feel any better, I never did my own laundry until I was in college (and I think I turned out alright!)
Vanessa Amor Vance says
Would you mind sharing the brand and model number of your washer and dryer? Our dryer is taking 2 hours to dry (after the repair man visited). I enjoyed this post. It gives me hope of a speedier process for my family soon.
Thanks
Andrea says
we have a frigidaire front-loading, stackable washer/dryer combo. It was here when we purchased our house 6 years ago.
I don’t hate it, but I don’t think I’d purchase it on my own again. In fact, I’d love to get a NON-stacking unit sometime whenever we renovate our laundry room 🙂
Jana Stob says
I have the best laundry system of all – my husband!! 🙂 When he was unemployed he took over the laundry details. He is very organized and would set his phone timer to go off just as a load was finished so he could switch it to the dryer and start the next one, etc. He also was very prompt in folding and putting away. (We are almost empty-nesters, with only a high school senior home yet. So only 3 people to create laundry.) He could get the laundry done in about 3 hours, while it took me all day, because I kept forgetting to switch loads, fold, etc. So, when he once again was employed, I informed him that the laundry would continue to be his responsibility because he does it so much better than I do. (I work full time during the school year, he also works full time year round now.) I do the laundry during the summer, but it is not done nearly as efficiently as he does it. He does laundry on Sunday afternoons while reading or watching football/basketball. A great system for us!
Andrea says
wow — that IS a good system 🙂
Dave is very helpful with folding the laundry on Fridays and in the summer — but he doesn’t ever just start the laundry on his own (partially because I’ve never asked him to)
Debbie says
Love your system! I need to figure out a system for ironing. I know you don’t do much, if at all, any ironing because of the clothes you choose to buy/purchase. I, on the other hand, still have items that need it. One of these days I’ll get a system to work.
Christy says
I have a loose house cleaning/laundry plan I like to stick to as well. It just helps me to cycle through them all without having to remember when I did it last. One less thing to remember these days is a very good thing! I also do not sort clothes. Everything goes in together, on the quick wash. It’s so much easier than trying to remember which socks are which daughters/mine. It comes down in one basket and goes back up in one basket. I like reading what other people find helpful to them just in case I’m missing something…so thanks for the post!!
Charissa | thenotsobusymom says
I love a good laundry post! We have the world’s smallest washer and dryer. I try to do at least one load a day and then take 2 days a week (usually Tues and Fri) to empty the laundry basket completely.
Andrea says
now, if only the laundry baskets could stay completely empty for more than 2 hours! 🙂
Katie says
For any of your readers who do use cloth diapers – I washed cloth diapers for 4 years (2 children, 2 yrs. 4 mo apart in age). I never had any issue with washing diapers every 2 or 3 days – daycare and I placed dirty diapers in a zip-up wet bag, and I had about 5 or 6 of those. When I would do laundry I would just invert the bag into the washer and throw the bag in after it!
Now that my kids are out of diapers I still do laundry every day – one load a day is much easier for me to handle as a full time working parent than spending all day on Saturday doing it, but I get why some people prefer to do it that way.
My lightbulb moment in the last year was to sort darks into 2 loads – one load is darks I don’t care about – pjs, underwear, socks, kid clothes – and I run that load when I’m not sure if I’ll get around to folding it right away. That way if it sits and wrinkles it’s not a big deal. The other load of darks is clothes I absolutely do not want wrinkled AND clothes that have special care, like hanging up to dry. Now when I do the “don’t care load” I can toss straight from washer to dryer without further sorting or pulling items out to hang. The “I care” load gets sorted for items to hang up and I time it so I’m available to quickly address it when the wash and dry cycles end.
Andrea says
I always so the whites last… for the same reason. I could care less if our towels, pillowcases, washcloths, or cloth napkins sit and are wrinkled 🙂
Leigh says
I love how this is totally about your house, your family, and your schedule right now.
Monday is our quiet home day and has been for years, so that is laundry day. My kids (an dhusband) tend to remove clothes everywhere so I sort and do the clothes (lights, darks, pants, delicates) and fold and sort by delivery location out of the dryer. I often have an extra random load (towles, or sheets that get washed as needed). Kitchen laundry, and cloth diapers get washed whenever they are full.
What I struggle most with is getting the laundry put away so stretching it out to a load a day would mean it would never ever be done.
Andrea says
Sounds like a good system — and it’s probably nice to have all the laundry done right away at the beginning of the week!
Maria says
Our family of 3 has 5 loads a week, so I do 1 load a day and take the weekends off. Having a routine deffinently makes it less overwhelming.
Andrea says
Yes! And I love having the weekends be “laundry free” for the most part!
Heidi says
I wash sheets once per week but I wash our sheets one day and our kids’ sheets on another day. Regular laundry is one load a day and towels as needed, but i do work full time outside the home so I really don’t want to fill up my whole weekend with nothing but laundry and cleaning. My husband also coaches high school football and track so it would be a nightmare if we didn’t wash something every day as well.
Rebecca says
I absolutely loathe doing bed linens. We only have one set per bed now as I sorted through the linens last year. I try to stick to washing one bed per week as that works pretty well for us. However, the rest of the laundry is two loads per day to keep on top of it. We are now a family of five, three of which are teenagers. There’s also sports (sweaty and smelly), military (heavy fabrics with lots of different fasteners) and my hubby’s work clothes (grimy, sweaty and smells like fuel). I do sort as it helps with the treating and drying process and keeps the clothes nicer longer, see previous parenthetical sentence. 🙂 The great news is the kids and hubby do help with the whole process. Thanks for all the great posts!
Stel says
I do at least one load a day, either light in the evening so I can hang it out the morning, or early when we wake up (around) so I can hang out after I dropped the kids at school.
I have two kids with school and sports uniforms, and all four of us train, so there’s always a lot of sweaty stuff. At least on load each day quickly became the standard, as making beds.
I was bed linen once a week in summer, once in two weeks in winter, and do that on the 30 min cycle – all the fitted sheets and pillow covers first, then the flat sheets and duvet covers. I do have double sets for each bed – it just makes my life easier.
Stel says
– latein the evenings, not “light” –
:-0
Amy says
Once a month sounds fine to me – it’s about what I do too.
But I am curious – what is a snack that you would not let your kids eat?
Andrea says
haha — hot fudge brownie sundaes are our favorite!
also, occasional adult beverages and fancy cheese/crackers that we wouldn’t “waste” on the kids who are happy with Colby Jack and Ritz 🙂
Shelley says
I have to say that I did something very similar to this system for years and I loved it. Our family always, no exceptions, showers at night and so we wash our sheets once a month. Sheets are expensive and this helps them last longer. I now walk around the house each morning and gather everything dirty up and wash one load, even if just a small one. I love having my laundry done and put away by around 9 AM – it makes me feel so productive. Weekends are laundry free except for “emergencies.”
LoriB says
I have to say I wasn’t too excited when I started reading your blog today. Silly me! Excellent ideas, Andrea!!! Washing linens at my house overwhelms me so I put it off (once a month sounds great to me). Really like your simple plan.
Andrea says
haha — always keeping it simple! And yes, monthly sheet washing has been very liberating for me 🙂
Jenn S. says
Just chiming in on monthly sheet washes – doesn’t sound gross to me! It helps that my husband and I generally shower at night, we’re getting into bed clean, not after a day at work/doing housework/etc.
Andrea says
Thanks jenn — we also ALWAYS shower before bed. Our kids always take a bath before bed and we wash our PJ’s very regularly. I figure as long as the pillowcases are clean, that’s what matters most to me (and I save SO much time!)
Katherine says
We are NOT evening shower’ers…but still do linens once a month. Less for my son’s loft bed. I just can’t make myself care enough to do it more:)
I am fairly tidy and like to have a picked up house, but that is one area I just turn a blind eye to.
Andrea says
haha — there are some things you just need to turn a blind eye too. At least no one else needs to be in your bed 🙂