Taming the Laundry Beast – Your Secret Weapon

Guest post from Lauren Mirecki

Most of us cringe whenever we think of the laundry-beast rearing its ugly head.

It is something we face every single day. A mole hill that becomes a mountain, seemingly while our backs are turned. A battle that we can never win. Too often we hang our heads in defeat and let the laundry whoop us once again.

I’m here to tell you that YOU CAN TAME THE BEAST! You have a secret weapon! You just have to be ready and willing to use it them. Are you ready for it? 

Your kids can help you slay the laundry beast. Yes, that’s right. Those little (or big!) knights, princesses, dragon slayers, adventurers, explorers, book worms, musicians – they are your secret weapon.

You may be asking “How is it that these children of mine, who actually created the laundry beast in the first place, can be used against it?”.

It all begins with a special tool we call a laundry basket. Plus some patience and training. Here’s how:

• Give each child / room their own laundry basket
• Train your children to fill the laundry basket
• Teach your children to empty the laundry basket.

You need no longer despair over the laundry littering your house and taking up all your time, if you are willing to redirect your efforts a little.

Every home and its inhabitants, laundry room and schedule is different. But everyone can benefit from working together as a team – especially on this matter of the laundry. When my husband was 8, he did all his own laundry. If he didn’t do it, he didn’t have clean clothes. In a family of 8 kids, there was no time for his mom to be doing all the laundry. While I didn’t have to wash my own laundry, I did have to make sure it made it to the laundry room, and was put away in the drawers – or else I wouldn’t have any clothes to wear.

Containment
We have finally managed to get a good handle on the laundry in our home but it has taken no small effort. It began with training our children – 6 1/2, 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 – where to put their clothes when they were getting dressed in the morning, or undressed at night. They know their dirty stuff belongs in the laundry basket, clean stuff folded and in the drawers. If you can spend some time training them what to do with their clothes, you will be much better off in the end. It may take some reminders, and a little babysitting along the way, but once they know the expectations, you’ll have made huge progress in the containment of the clothes.

Scheduling & Execution
Teaching your children to pick up and put away after themselves takes care of keeping the clothes off the floor and out from under the beds, littering the hallway, etc. but what about actually finding time to DO the laundry? While I’m not about to ask our kids to wash their own clothes they know that on Friday evenings they are to bring their laundry basket down to the laundry room to be sorted and washed.

We initially chose to use Friday evening and the weekend to do the wash because our hydro company decided to jack prices up on weekdays and hours between 7 am and 7 pm. So weekend washing it is! This works really well with our schedule as it leaves plenty of time between Friday and Sunday night for me to wash and fold all the clothes.

Find a time that works best for you to get the laundry done. I know a lot of people who wash every day, and thankfully, we don’t need to do that (READ: we have enough socks and underwear to make it through a full week :D). I find it much easier to get everything done in one shot, so I schedule and plan around doing it on the weekends.

To save some money while doing laundry, try these ideas:

Make your own laundry soap.
Jodi @ GranolaMom4God has a great laundry detergent recipe, both powdered and liquid.

Check with your water company.
If you have the option, do the laundry when your hydro prices are at the lowest. For us, that is evenings and weekends. BONUS: This will also help you schedule your laundry days!

Skip the fabric softener.
Besides being an added expense, they’re packed full of chemicals. Check out this link from Natural Life Magazine for some alternative ways to decrease static and increase softness in clothes, naturally.

Hang ’em out to dry.
Get a clothesline or indoor/outdoor clothes dryer and hang your clothes up to dry. In winter, hang the towels and heavy items, in summer. Hang everything!

Do it together.
My hubby and I will often spend a Sunday evening, once the kids are in bed, watching a movie or show and fold laundry. Since I find it difficult to single-task anything, and in case it’s a bad movie, I don’t mind spending the time folding. This way I have everything folded and ready for the kids to put away in the morning.

Put it away.
My biggest challenge that I face is getting that last load out of the dryer, the last sock or stray folded items put away, and the laundry baskets out of the living room. It is important to remove the remnants of laundry from your living areas so you can feel like the job is finished. If you can’t quite get to finishing the last of the folding, at least put the stuff in the laundry room so it is out of the way.

Be flexible.
If you’d like to have a set day where you accomplish the laundry, but you know you’re going to be away or busy, work on it gradually throughout the week. Get the kids to help with the folding – split the clean clothes into each child’s pile and teach them how to fold! They are sponges, once you’ve shown them a few times, they can very quickly become pro sock rollers and t-shirt folders.

Whenever or however you decide it works best to get your laundry done, just remember that a little bit of work in training at the beginning equals a lot less work for you later. As an added bonus, you will be giving your children valuable training for future, teaching them to be responsible and diligent in everything that they do – even the laundry!