I have finally figured it out. A laundry schedule that actually works and is easy to keep up with. Laundry is probably my least favorite housekeeping task.
Laundry and changing the sheets on the top bunk bed are neck and neck.
I’ve tried a few laundry routines. I tried 1 load a day, that worked for about 4 days and then I got fed up with actually doing laundry every day…so then I tried 1 time a week. Nope, we ran out of socks or underwear and I did not like being tied to my washer and dryer for an entire day switching loads.
So…as I was developing my daily and weekly cleaning schedules I had the idea to have Monday, Wednesday and Friday be the laundry days. I take the whole weekend off, but then I also have some flexibility during the week. If I miss one day, it’s ok, I still have 2 other laundry days each week.
I wash on Monday which gets us recovered from the weekend, Wednesday is a nice mid point to keep the pile down and then Friday preps us to have lots of clean clothes for the weekend.
Now the trick…
You must fold and PUT AWAY all the laundry you do that day, or else it will spill over and be staring you in the face the next day and then you WILL feel like you’re doing laundry every.single.day. Plus it just gets wrinkled which creates more work if you have to iron it, which I refuse to do.
I think working some flexibility into our schedule is imperative if we want the schedule to stick. If we are too rigid we fail and throw in the towel.
I love it. I don’t feel like I’m a slave to the laundry by doing it every single day. I get a welcome break on the weekend and it gets a couple days to build up. I do about 2 full loads give or take 3 times a week for a family of 5. On one of those days I throw in some sheets from someone’s bed so everyone gets clean sheets periodically (except maybe the poor child on the top bunk).
The size of your family does play a role in this. If it’s just you and your spouse then you might be able to get away with 1 day a week, if you have 8 kids, M,W,F may or may not work. If you have a large family you at least need to take the weekend off…you deserve it!
I personally think it’s really hard to keep up with a load a day especially when you don’t fold and put away because it will pile up on you on the other end, and you’ll have a clean, wrinkled pile of clothes to fold and put away, which to me isn’t much different than a dirty pile of clothes!
So try it out, try doing laundry Monday,Wednesday Friday for a couple weeks and see how it goes. I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below and remember, folding and putting away is all part of the process so don’t let it spill over into subsequent days!
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Thanks for the tip, I am going to try this out. I HATE laundry because just when I think I am caught up, I am back in the negative again.
I started doing Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or Sunday, and I love it. It’s never ALL DAY (UGH!), and it’s not every day. I think you are completely right about the folding and putting away part, too. I’m pretty good about folding, but then it sits in the baskets until I need them for dirty clothes, and that’s not the goal, lol. 🙂
I’m glad you found a great schedule! Yeah I know, it’s sooooooo easy to “store” your clean clothes in the basket! Really it’s not any more work to fold and put them away because you have to do it eventually, it just takes discipline to actually do it right away, good job!
Yes…I need to work on folding and putting away on the same day….it is my weakness. Thanks for the post!
No problem! I think that’s the tough part for everyone:)
I’m going to give this a go… and if it works you’ll be my HERO! 🙂
It’s the putting it away part that’s going to be the trick for me!
Yes!! I do 2 loads a day on most days. It works great! Not only keeps the large piles away, but allows me to skip a day if things are crazy or plans change, but not fall behind. I completely agree that the key is to fold straight from the dryer and put away the same day. The only thing I “iron” is arts and crafts… seriously. Haven’t ever owned an ironing board either 😉
Oh, it’s the folding and putting away that gets me! I will have to try this 🙂
Laundry–world wide issue. My schedule is M, T, W but it can easily be any 3 days. Here’s a thought for getting things away more easily. Mondays I do whites, at our house that’s towels and “undermentionables”. Tuesdays I do shirts & lady delicates. Wednesday I do pants and kitchen towels/strays, For me sorting by item is easier and I can grab a stack (or hand to the owner) and just put away one group of the same thing. They all go in the same area so there is no thinking involved. I am not trying to open several drawers at once. Also for the most part that area is empty so there is no squeezing items to fit in. Even if I have to deliver to multiple rooms it is still faster. It also forces everyone to rotate their clothes. One non-negotiable rule is “undermentionables” go away the second they are done. No one wants to see a pile of them hanging around–and if someone unexpected drops by no worries.
That is a great idea! Thinking about which items go where to reduce time putting away. For us I would probably divide it my kids clothes because they all share a room, then me and my husbands clothes, and then a day for other items like towels, throw rugs, rags, coats and things like that. This has me thinking of new ways to tweak my schedule to make it even easier, thanks so much!
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Hola! I’ve been following your blog for some time now and finally
got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from
New Caney Texas! Just wanted to mention keep
up the good work!
So happy to meet you Chantal! I’m so glad you “spoke up”. I love hearing from readers. Let me know if there’s any specific subject you’d like me to cover. Have a great day.