What is your Laundry System?

[ValiantJoy07]

I need to change some thing with laundry...It is the only thing everyone cares about and if I get behind I get the short end of everybody's stick.

Right now we have a main small hamper outside the bathroom door, when it gets full I switch thr loads, dump it into the washer. I have 2/baskets for clean laundry...i sort out the linens and fold them on top of the dryer and they sit there until I can put them back in the kitchen or linen closet.

The kids stuff gets sorted into their basket and dh and my stuff into our basket.

And that is where it gets complicated...getting the laundry put away.

And getting the linens out away.

I want to hear what other people do. Do you involve your kids? What can I change here because some thing needs to change. Laundry is pretty much the only petty thing dh and I ever get snippy about. It is the only aspect of our home that is "my job", I don't mind, but not having to be in charge of 5/people's laundry needs with out any help, and being blamed every time we are out of kitchen towels or dh can't find socks would be nice.

So what do you do?

How do you involve your kids?

Laundry was due job growing up-to-date his mom dumped at the basket on the couch and he had to sort it for 7 people and everyone put it away...his siblings were supposed to help, but as the oldest ...well lots of bad memories...I can understand his avoidance here. But if I had a system that was clear he would help I think.

[Carini]

I bought 5 stackable baskets and sort by lights, darks, colors, and then towels/linens/undies/socks (cause I wash on hot), and a miscellaneous (delicates). Everyone is responsible for getting tr stuff to the laundry room and sorting their own. Dh does fairly well. He and I just throw clothes on our closet floor (we have a walk in so it's pretty big) and then daily walk then down and sort. DD1 has a basket in her room and she's responsible for getting her clothes in there. I usually sort for her. She is also responsible for her towels and helps with the babies laundry.

When a basket is full I run it, fold and put back into the basket to put away. DD1 helps and knows where all her clothes go and towels but she doesn't do it unless I am helping her. She can fold but needs help and usually only does towels and her clothes.

We have the laundry room on the same level as our bedrooms. Which really helps. That was one of my conditions when buying our house.

[twoplustwo]

Not sure I can help bc laundry is one of my favorite chores & I dont have the kids help. But Ill put what I do & see if anything sparks an idea for you.

1: I have 2 tall baskets in our bedroom - light & dark. Everyone puts their clothes in the basket by color.

2. I like to wake up before the kids (for numerous reasons) & put a load in. Sometimes if I can get that first load going early it sets the tone for laundry.

3. I have 2 baskets for carrying laundry up & down (bedrooms upstairs, laundry down). So when that first load comes out of the dryer I bring it up & put all those clothes away & then bring the next dirty laundry up. So each load gets put away as it gets clean.

4. I dont put a load in after 430. My motivation wanes as the day goes on & Im way more likely to leave laundry to the next day as it ends, plus it motivates me to keep going knowing my laundry hours are ending.

Good luck!

[mamacat]

I stopped doing hampers in rooms and got kids used to bringing dirty clothes out to laundry roomevery time after they change or have had a shower etc.In laundry room I have piles according to color.darks jeans and gray,khaki greens and orange/red family, white or light blue family.Then whichever pile is biggest gets washed next.carry clothes from drier into main room and fold and hang up things and sort into stacks as doing it.Then each child is responsible for bringing their stacks into room and putting away. Does this work 100% of time? No but I am not as firm as could be.My kids (now young adukts)dont usually participate in the folding part but they do help with the other parts ,like transferring wash into drier or bringiong dried load out to me

[BriansLovie]

I wash everything cold except for towels, dish towels and diapers.

I wash the kids clothes together, my clothes together, and hubby's clothes together in separate loads. I don't wash by color.

I put socks together as they come out of the dryer. It all goes into a basket that gets taken upstairs and put away when I have time.

[houseforjoy]

bbl

[BriansLovie]

I don't have individual baskets for dirty laundry. There is just one in my bedroom at this time. I sort the laundry before I take the basket downstairs.

[heartofjoy]

Everyone does their own laundry in my house. I usually do towels. I also do my husband laundry most of the time, but he takes care of it sometimes too. He has always expected me to do it and gotten grouchy when I don't, but we recently had what I hope is our last fight about it. Since then he's been keeping up with his own laundry and I'm more than happy to help with it knowing that I won't get blamed for not doing it.

My kids are 7 and older. They all have their own baskets and do it whenever they need to. I used to have specific days for each, but now it's just whenever.

We wash everything together. No sorting. It makes laundry so much easier and with my front loader, I haven't had any problems doing it this way.

[RealLifeMama]

We do laundry for 8 and do it every day.
I quit having the central hampers and now have hampers in each room. We still have central hampers for other non clothing, jeans, and one bin for church clothes and one for delicates.
Each room has a day.
It looks like this:
Monday: DD's room. (3yo and 13 yo share They do it. ) A "sanitize" load goes in at night before bed because it takes 3 hours.
Tuesday: I wash DH's, baby's and my clothes (lights, darks, usually three loads.)
Wednesday : Boy's room (they do their own. Three loads. Must be put away by Thursday before breakfast)
Thursday: blankets, jeans (two loads), sanitize load
Friday: church clothes, delicates, two loads of towels,
Saturday: sheets and extras (those large or small things that are non urgent, like slipcovers, toys, etc)
Sunday: put away whatever is still waiting to be put away, probably wash a stray load.

Oh, my favorite feature of our washer is a "fan fresh" feature. After the load washes, it will blow air into the washer and tumble the clothes around every so often so I can leave stuff in the washer overnight and not worry about it.

I have kids fold towels. Since we have switched to clothing being washed by room, it makes less for them to sort through to find their stuff to put away. Before when I washed everyone's together, sorting to put away was too large of a chore and it took forever. The boys only have to sort through three people's things (their own) and DD's is really obvious between hers and her sister's. THe only thing that is a lot of people's mixed in is the underpants and socks, because they all go in the sanitized loads together. The boys are the most difficult to distinguish, so I put a tally mark with a laundry marker on each boy's underpants. (one for oldest, two for middle and three for the youngest). They know what is theirs, but it makes it so that if DD or I go in there to sort first, we can figure it out and sort of make a pile if we want.

[mommylove]

We have 1 dirty laundry basket in the house. Each person is responsible for putting their dirty stuff in it. When it's full, I take it to the garage & sort it onto 1 of 4 hampers (lights, darks, towels/jeans, delicates). When a hamper is full, it gets dumped into the washer, then dryer (or hung to dry). Dry clothes go into a pile on my bed & whomever gets to it first folds & puts them away. Usually, that's DH. I appreciate that he is a willing participant in the laundry game.

DS (8) loves to help with laundry, so my role is really that of a manager. He will sort, wash & dry . . . not so eager on folding & putting away, but DH calls the kids in to help with that. So really, I don't do much anymore.

When DH was growing up, each kid was responsible for his own laundry, so it's a totally normal thing for him to do his part.

[JoannaV]

Originally Posted by BriansLovie

I wash everything cold except for towels, dish towels and diapers.

I wash the kids clothes together, my clothes together, and hubby's clothes together in separate loads. I don't wash by color.

Same! Glad I'm not the only one who sorts my laundry like this!

We don't have a dryer so my wash schedule is weather dependent. I try to avoid hanging stuff inside, though diapers still need doing if it's wet/freezing. During longer periods of wet weather I will use the odd dry day for loads that are the most awkward to hang inside: little kid clothes, my clothes, sheets. I have the one basket I like to carry outside so that has to be emptied before I can hang the next load...

I organise as I peg stuff on the line: similar types of clothing together, pair up the socks. Then I fold as I pick in (if it's something that will go in a drawer). That makes it fairly easy to put away.

Aaaaand I think I should go do a load of DH's laundry right now and hang it inside....

ETA: DS1 loves to help. I'm probably going to find it hard to adjust to letting kids do chores differently than I do them...

[Glitterfish]

Hampers in bedrooms and one in the laundry room.
Monday and Tuesday is for my and DH's laundry... I try to do a full load of just DH's work laundry since they have to hung up right out of the dryer.
Wednesday is for kid laundry. They help me put it in the washer/dryer, but I fold. I try to fold right out of the dryer. Kids put away their own.
Thursday is for more of my/DH's laundry or linens or odds and ends.... or more kid laundry if I'm behind.
Friday is for towels/washcloths/etc. Kids do all the folding and putting away for that.

[ValiantJoy07]

Originally Posted by BriansLovie

I wash everything cold except for towels, dish towels and diapers.

I wash the kids clothes together, my clothes together, and hubby's clothes together in separate loads. I don't wash by color.

I put socks together as they come out of the dryer. It all goes into a basket that gets taken upstairs and put away when I have time.

Yeah I don't sort by colors, everything is on cold, towels/sheets are a separate deal on hot.

It is really interesting to hear how people organize things. I can't leave baskets IN the laundry room since then laundry room is in the upstairs hall way outside my Mom's bedroom. But I do need to revamp some thing.

I am wondering if I need to just go back to giving everyone a day of these week and a basket and involving everyone in their laundry? I think everyone would need baskets...

[Mother of Sons]

Every person has a laundry day. They have their own hamper, they wash their own clothes (with assistance while young), they take their basket of clean clothes back to their room. Done. Then there is linens and cleaning clothes that I do separately.

[houseforjoy]

the more baskets the better. really. i can't do a load or two or a day. i forget about it and then go back a day or two later and it has that sour laundry smell (i use unscented only) so i do it all. ALLLLL on friday. (okay now that baby is here it has eeked into a load or two sat as well )

i do about 5 loads, then sort all of those loads at once, then take each pile to where it goes. i don't fold kid stuff age 4 and up put away their own laundry. so i take dump it in front of their dresser and tell them to go put away their laundry -and they have to do it right away or it gets mixed into the chaos that is their room- the kids (even the 2 almost 3 yo) fold the towels.

then i do the next 5 loads and repeat the process. i don't sort colors/linens i keep the diapers seperate, and in winter i keep all the fleece/poly stuff for one load bc of static