Laundry Routines That’ll Make the Piles Smaller and Life Easier

Are you ready to try some simple laundry routines that will help make life easier for you? If you’re piles are building up and your loosing focus, try these things:

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Laundry is the bane of my existence. I go in fits and starts with it. Sometimes I’m on top of it.

Then that enthusiasm wanes and then I decide I’m over it for a while and then the laundry piles up. But in order to have some type of consistency with the clothes – and nobody running out of socks – it’s important to at least have a good laundry routine that works.

Whether you do it, you your spouse does it, or the kids do it.

Pick a Method that Works for You

When it comes to laundry routines, not having a method is what leads to piles and piles of dirty clothes. It’s no secret, laundry takes time and consideration.

If not, it can be a wreck (in a hurry)… especially if you have multiple kids.

Consider these methods when establishing your laundry routine.

1 Day a Week

This often works for moms who work M-F and don’t want to be laundering every evening. For some, Saturday is the laundry day. For others, Sunday afternoon.

This has its positives and negatives:

• Family bonding time to get the laundry done Saturday mornings.
• It’s very consistent: everyone brings their hamper in on Saturday and puts all their clothes away before the new week starts.
• However, if you have a Saturday obligation or are out of town- a weeks worth of laundry doesn’t get done. So, it can really pile up.

1-2 Loads a Day

This laundry routine typically works well for moms who work from home or stay-at-home full time. This is because there can “almost always” be a load going and it won’t spoil.

A downside is that it fells like it’s never ending…. and the laundry just keeps coming.

Tips for this laundry routine:

• Start early in the morning with a hamper and try to be done by lunch.
• Have specific days penciled in do towels, kitchen rags, etc.
• Set a timer on the laundry if your machine has one
• Choose a specific event that, when finished, you always start a load of laundry after. So, after tidying the kitchen after breakfast you start a load.

Folding together

One easy laundry routine is the dump & sort method. You can use this one if everyone’s clothes don’t get pre-sorted before putting into the washer.

• Pile all the clean clothes in the middle of the living room floor and have each kid pull their clothes out. They then make stacks of their items, fold them, and carry them to put away.

Similar to this method is the hamper sorting laundry method.

• For this, each child has brought their dirty hamper into be washed. Once it get’s dried, it goes back into their hamper. We dump all the hampers into the floor (in separate piles) and fold our own piles together.

⭐ Pro tip: For towels, pool towels, and kitchen towels I recommend showing your younger children or toddlers how to fold. This will include them in the folding together, and get then started on folding.

Each Child Puts Away Their Own Clothes

If you’re laundry routine is a therapeutic folding of each child’s clothes while you watch Netflix at night, don’t fix was isn’t broken.

But, you can still train to have each child put away their own clothes the next day.

• This gives them ownership in where their clothes belong
• It does take some training
• It may help/stop the extra piles of clean clothes from piling up

Each Kid Has an Assigned Day for Laundry

This laundry routine is just as it sounds. But, it may just be the ticket for you if the piles are building up.

Once it becomes routine, each kid will always have clean clothes and you won’t have piles of “who’s clothes are these” in the laundry room.

Here’s an expert towel trick: Hang one hook (per child) In the bathroom. Their used towel goes on the hook… period. “Towels don’t belong on your bedroom floor,” said every mom, everywhere.

Something as simple as these color coded backpack hooks will do the trick.

Simplify & Save

It’s no secret that laundry takes time, energy, and resources (water, detergent, etc.). So, why not incorporate some routines and tricks to save on these things?

Train Early

From the time mine were dressing themselves and taking off their clothes to take baths, they knew where the dirty hamper was… and how to put their clothes in it. I’m not saying they always do it, but it’s something we keep repeating.

Every family has their expectations and systems for this, but if you’re looking to have a long lasting laundry routine, training early is the ticket.

• Toddlers: Can locate and put their dirty clothes in hamper.
• Preschool to Kindergarten: Can bring hamper into the laundry room and do a room sweep to pick up clothes that were accidentally left on floor. They can also put away clean clothes into the correct drawers/baskets/closet systems.
• Early Elementary (6-9): Can identify when hamper is “full” or they are in need of clothes, and maybe even start a load into the washer. They can hang clothes in the closet and sort/fold/put away clean clothes.
• Later Elementary (10-12): They can do it all. Now, you may have to let them know when it’s time to throw their favorite shirt in the wash… but they are capable.

Re-Wear Clothes

One of the most annoying things for a mom is to wash the same pair of “clean” pajama pants over and over.

Didn’t you just wear those to bed once?

OK… so let’s put those pajamas under our covers and wear them for a bit until they are dirty. There’s no need to waste water and time and… you get it.

Re-wearing pajamas and clothes such as button up church shirts, nice slacks, and sweatshirts is a great things to teach young people.

They learn:

• conservation
• the value of work
• to keep their closet tidy, and
• to make good judgment calls.

Limit Outfit Changes

One of my friends’ sons went to summer camp he wore all 5 of his outfits for the week in two days.

Why?

All she can think of is that he got bored and wanted to change… and change again.

Hmmm…. this is not the kind of fun mom likes to have (because it makes too much laundry!) Sometimes my kids will wear 3 outfits a day in the summer if I let them. Their morning outfit, a swimsuit, then their afternoon outfit, and maybe even ANOTHER bathing suit later .

Champagne problems, I know, but 3 outfits a day results in 21 outfits and that’s just insane.

Or, your child might like to try on multiple things before deciding what to wear. Let me explain:

• Let’s say that this kid pulls three clean shirts out of the closet, and finally decides on the fourth one to wear. Well, instead of folding and putting them back (because that is hard), he throws them on the floor… or right into the hamper.

But they aren’t even dirty. So, you see the problem. If this is happening, you’ll need to be sure to train them to stop and take consideration for what is clean.

Set clear expectations for what to do with clean clothes and how many outfits (and when) you want kids to change when setting some laundry routines.

My friend does this…

A laundry routine post would be remiss if I didn’t mention how my friend Lauren handles her laundry. She only has about a week’s worth of clothes for her kids.

Not including fancier items for special occasions or extra curricular uniforms, practice clothes, etc.

So there’s never a lot to clean or wash because there’s only about a week’s worth of laundry to do at a time. If you’re into minimalism, I highly suggest this.

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