5 Tips to Make Doing Laundry Less of a Chore
I never like doing the laundry. It seems just so tedious and repetitive, and there are so many more fun things to do in life. Yet, I like clean clothes, so it has to be done. I know I needed to make some changes, so doing laundry was not such a thing I would dread.
First the laundry room needed a little redecorating. It was a dark hole where I couldn’t find anything and just left me frustrated. To fix this, I got a narrow shelf on wheels, that rolls away in-between the washer and dryer when not in use, to store all of the cleaning supplies. Also, I placed a few bins, labeled with their contents, on a shelf. This added much needed organization to the space. Next up was putting a fun color on the walls, and a few accessories were placed around the room to make it a little bit prettier. It looks so nice now, that I actually like going into my laundry room. Once that was complete, I just needed to work on the actual laundry process. Here are my five tips to make doing laundry less of a chore.
1. Wash Often
I use to always wait until late Sunday night to do all the laundry for the week. I would end up tired and overwhelmed, and the laundry would for the most part only get half done as a result. Now, I make it a point to do a few smaller loads every few days. It prevents a big back log of laundry, and improves the chances I will actually fold everything right after it comes out of the dryer.
2. Don’t Sort Everything
Now that I wash clothes more frequently, I needed to increase the size of the load of laundry to justify the water use. Pretty much I now do one load of delicates and one load of everything else. No longer are towels washed on their own. I even will combine color clothes with whites as long as I know the color will not bleed.
3. Some Things Aren’t Really Dirty
I know some people won’t agree with this, but there are a few times that I won’t wash something after we wear it. For example, if I only wore a dress to church for a couple of hours, it goes back on the hanger. Also, I try to get a few wears out of our jeans before they go into the washing machine. (This excludes the many times my boy’s pants become covered in mud though.)
4. Fold the Laundry Where It Can’t Be Avoided
I use to have a bad habit of managing to fold the laundry, but since it was very late on a Sunday by then (See #1), I would stack everything back into the laundry basket instead of putting it into the various drawers around the house, where they belonged. It would then take me a few days to get around to putting things away, and in the mean time everything would get unfolded when we would dig through the basket to find a clothing item. Now I fold the laundry on my bed. I have to put things away or I can’t get under my sheets. Since I like to sleep, I put the folded laundry away.
5. Focus On the Goal
This tip gets me though a lot of things in life. But when it comes to laundry, I just keep thinking you have to do it, so there is no reason to fight it!
Photo source: Better Homes and Gardens
I’m Frances. I am a mother, a wife, and a community volunteer. I work as a scientist by day and moonlight as a blogger. Making lists helps me keep everything on track. While I have a good life, there is always room for improvement. Join me as I decorate, organize, and try new things over at my blog Improvement List.
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Cleaning Binder & Custom Cleaning Calendar
This 18-page editable cleaning binder printable pack will help you establish a cleaning schedule based on the custom tasks you actually need for your home. From the spring cleaning checklist to everyday cleaning recipes, this printable set is great for kick-starting a cleaning routine and staying on task with annual and semi-annual tasks, too.
