Help, I've become overwhelmed by laundry. I need a routine that I can stick to with 5 people in our house. I've tried everything I can come up with.

Kerri - posted on 02/15/2009

This is our routine and it works very well: (We have a family of 6)

Towels - Every night we have the children go straight from their showers and put their towels /washcloths in the washer.  Then they go straight into the dryer and I fold them and put them away before bed. (Every night - only takes 15 minutes to fold and put them away.)

I do a load of each child's laundry in the middle of the week (usually Wednesday). It is usually a total of 2 loads.    I take them straight from the dryer and put them on their beds.  They are required to fold them, hang them and put them away as soon as they get in from school.  Each person has their own lingerie bag to put socks in!  Makes it sooo much easier to keep them together and matched. 

I do mine and my husband's on Saturday and then on Sunday another load of each child's laundry.  The key is to not let it pile up.  Do a little each day.  And fold it and put it away immediately.  Just looking at a couple of loads of unfolded laundry overwhelms me and stresses me out! If you do it on a load by load basis, it only takes 15 minutes.  And do it quickly.  I usually have my favorite music or really fast paced music playing while I do it and don't procrastinate on it.  Do it first!  The longer you put it off the more of a hassle it is.  Also, my kids and husband help - they aren't happy about it but they do it! 

Annie - posted on 02/15/2009

my deal is trying to do 1 load a day! that's the only way i've found to stay on top of it :)

Jacqui - posted on 02/15/2009

When I say 5 in the family, that is counting parents too.

Jacqui - posted on 02/15/2009

It is the never ending cycle.  I don't do it the way my mom did, but I should.  She used to do laundry on Mondays, and that was it.  We had 5 in our family.  We had to take our own laundry to the kitchen before we went to school, we could put it there the night before if we wanted to.  If we didn't bring it out, we didn't get clean clothes unless we did it ourselves.  She would spend the day doing laundry, she would put our clean clothes on our beds when she was done, and we where responsible for putting it away.  I know if I would do that myself, it would help.  She even had an order that she did the wash, darks, lights, towels, then whites, she liked to soak the whites, she even set a timer to do it.  I am teaching my son how to do laundry now, he actually likes to do it,  of course, he doesn't help with the folding.  I actually like to do the laundry, I do it while I am watching something on t.v. so it doesn't feel so bad, and I use commercials to put it in the rooms.  My son is supposed to put his own clothes away, but typical of kids, they sit in a pile, then when he wants something from the bottom, everything falls over and are all unfolded, and his room is a mess.  I just shut the bedroom door, then I don't have to look at it.  LOL  Hope you find something that works for you. 

Jocelyn - posted on 02/15/2009

I am with you too. I can getthe laundry washed and dried, but when it comes to putting it away I need a plan.  It seems to just sit around. thanks fort asking the question tons of great ideas here.

Jenn - posted on 02/15/2009

Oh and like some have mentioned we also don't iron much. Unless you need to starch something. We use wrinkle release spray.

Jenn - posted on 02/15/2009

Hi there! I'm Jenn. I have 6 in my family, so 4 children. All 5yrs 3mths and under. Anyway, we have a two story house. All bedrooms upstairs. My SMALL laundry room was a nightmare until I organized it. This is what I did for us. I separated in thirds the only hanging cloths rack I have in there and I hang my 3 oldest clothes there and above their area they have a bin for either undies or diapers & their socks (although they don't have many, it's FL) and beside their bin I fold their shorts and pants. The newest baby's stuff gets hung on a shower curtain rod in the doorway overhead. My changing table is down there (I have a curved changing pad atop my dresser upstairs as well), so I put two baskets on bottom shelf. Those are for the cloth diapers I use for smallest baby. And the other is for burp cloths. I have some pics if you want me to email you them.
As soon as I get a load washed and dried, I try to separate stuff right away. Kids clothes from all other stuff. All sheets, towls, our s clothes etc...go upstairs. I keep kids clothes downstairs because we need stuff too often to constantly run up and down. So after I separate stuff, I hang their clothes up and fold their shorts and put them up on shelf. Then I fold sheets and towels etc.... and place them in a basket and throw in our clothes if any.
Organization has helped me stay atop of things, but we get backed-up sometimes too. I use color catcher sheets to do as much as possible because if I separate stuff by colors and all that I'll have more to do. Also, I generally wash all things on delicate and cold. Unless it's pee sheets from daughter then that is on warm. Oh and also the cloth diapers get two washes, one of them hot. So I only separate stuff like this: towels for one load, all clothes that aren't super delicate, of any color, I put in a load with a color catcher sheet, or two. Sometimes I put delicates in with all that just in a zip washing bag, since I wash on gentle anyway. I have to do 2-3 loads of laundry everyday in my house otherwise it starts getting piled up.
Oh, also I try to take all the dirty clothes to the laundry room every morning so all baskets are clear upstairs. And I keep a couple baskets for the dirty downstairs. When I have more than those two baskets full, I'm getting behind.
So my house rules are:
Keep laundry room organized.
Wash as much as possible all together with color catching sheet or two.
Do at least a couple loads a day or as much as possible.
Fold/separate it as soon as it comes out of dryer, otherwise (at least for us) it piles it up on top of dryer and everywhere else or baskets of clean pile up elsewhere in the house.
Never wash another load if you can't put current load in dryer for the clothes that are already in dryer and can't be put away yet.
Good luck!

Jana - posted on 02/14/2009

I read that with the new washers, detergents and fabrics out there, there really isn't much of a need to sort clothes into colors.  We wash everything in cold water and when I wash my daughters clothes, I don't sort any colors (maybe red from time to time depending on how many times it has already been washed.  Or if it a "first" wash for really dark items)  I have never had a problem with any bleeding.  It makes getting all of her clothes back to her room really easy, what went in the washer/dryer belongs to her, fold, put away.  Very easy and I don't spend time sorting before things are washed or after.  Of course there are a few exceptions to things "not sorting" method, but for the most part 90% of clothes can all get washed together with out any problems, as long as you use cold water!

Julie - posted on 02/14/2009

I just had a conversation with my husband the other day, and we are going to work it where he does our laundry and I take care of the kids and linnens and towels! That way if he doesn't do it he won't have any clean cloths for work, and as for me I don't need to have clean cloths everyday if I just stay home!

Jini - posted on 02/14/2009

Thanks ladies for all of your help.  And with the getting rid of clothes thing....I have 3 boys.....they are all handed down clothes.  Don't need to get rid of any of them.  And I don't iron, and we also use the towels more than twice, even jammies.  Like I said I have tried everything.

Brandie - posted on 02/14/2009

I have 4 children... 6 in the house. I have a laundry basket for each person... and a large metal indrustrial shelf that they go on...

My husband helps w/laundry just keeping it going... we have 4-5 loads per day.

so, we wash, dry & fold then they go in each persons basket. When the basket is full everyone has a job of putting them away on their own.

If I see a basket is full and not put away, the punishment is folding for a day :)

Before our basement was finnished off... I had more room & had a PERFECT system. We had 2" thick wooden dowels with large eyes hooks on each end... I hung them from the rafters by small link chain. We each had a rack and I would just whip the clothes on a hanger & we never had to fold or put in drawers. But space soes not allow that system anymore.

Leah - posted on 02/14/2009

I wasn't just talking about the clothes you don't wear. I'm talking about clothes you DO wear, but have too many of the same kind. Try to get the piles down!

Joy - posted on 02/14/2009

Quoting Leah:

I agree on using the towels more than once. It saves a lot on extra laundry.

A load a day usually work for me, but not always. There are days when I do more than one and there are days when I don't wash at all. When I see there's a need to wash I will have to do it otherwise we'll stay without clothes!

What might be your problem is TOO MUCH clothes. You might want to get rid of some.

My challenges are the folding and the putting away. I'm not getting help whatsoever, but I manage somehow.

The problem with laundry is that it's never done. Always more is entering the hamper. Take it one load at a time....

 

I'm totally onboard with the getting rid of extra clothes.  I don't know where I heard it, but someone said that if you haven't worn it in a year or more, get rid of it....even the skinny jeans I used to wear pre-pregnancy....sniff sniff cry!  So a few months ago I had a yard sale, which included ALL the stuff I and my boyfriend hadn't worn in a year or more and what was left I donated via Freecycle.  This lightened my laundry loads SOME but not by much.  We weren't wearing them, so they weren't actually part of my piles.  It mostly freed up a ton of hangers (which I never seem to have enough of) and it also gave me some much needed space in my closet.  Now when we do get things put away and hung, they don't look so crowded.    

Leah - posted on 02/14/2009

I agree on using the towels more than once. It saves a lot on extra laundry.

A load a day usually work for me, but not always. There are days when I do more than one and there are days when I don't wash at all. When I see there's a need to wash I will have to do it otherwise we'll stay without clothes!

What might be your problem is TOO MUCH clothes. You might want to get rid of some.

My challenges are the folding and the putting away. I'm not getting help whatsoever, but I manage somehow.

The problem with laundry is that it's never done. Always more is entering the hamper. Take it one load at a time....

Kate CP - posted on 02/14/2009

When I first had my daughter everyone told me about the bottles, diaper rash, staying up all night...but no one warned me about all that laundry! I finally came up with a way to deal with the piles of laundry. First, get several different baskets and mark them each for whites, darks, brights, towels and sheets, and special loads (like dry clean only). Wash which ever basket is fullest first and fold them ASAP. If you just set them down and say "I'll get to them later" you never will. The way I have timed it is to start a load of laundry about 30 minutes before dinner and that gives it enough time to wash and go through the dryer before my daughter takes her bath. While the munchkin is in the tub I'm folding clothes. When she gets out of the tub and dried off she helps me put away clothes and then goes to bed.

Tips:
* Don't iron unless you absolutely have to. There is a wrinkle releaser spray that works really well. Spray your clothes with it and then hang them up in the bathroom while you take a really warm shower. The steam will help release the wrinkles.
* Use a bath towel two or three times before washing it-it's easier on you and you're being kinder to the environment by not using up so much water.
* DON'T DO A LAUNDRY DAY! Unless you can get everyone in the house to pitch in and really help you out it will turn into a huge chore and you'll never get it done.
* Don't fold sheets. It's a pain in the butt to fold a fitted sheet. Take the sheet set and stuff everything into a pillowcase. It'll go lots faster and you don't have to worry about losing parts of a sheet set that way.
* Learn to live with odd folding techniques. Let the kids do their clothes and put them away how they want. Just close the door to their room and shut your eyes whenever you're in there so you don't have to see it. My husband folds shirts in the weirdest way and if I even look at them I want to redo it...which would take me a life time. So he gets to fold his own stuff any way he pleases.
Hope that was a little helpful! Good luck with the wash! ;)

Nicole - posted on 02/14/2009

I have 3 kids so I do one kids wash on Mon., the other on Wed.,and then the other on Fri., But I have the same problem as soon as I get the clothes folded and put back away the basket is full again! My kids are young, I'm trying to get my 5 yr. old to help put her clothes away. Plus I have a husband who does our laundary so that helps a lot. I'd have to say Laundary is the one "mom duty" that I dislike A LOT!

Marie-eve - posted on 02/14/2009

You need a routine,it's the best way.We're 7 here in the house.I ask the oldest to help me bring the clothes,range it in 3 different piles.I do laundry evry day and i can go up to 5 loads...lol.After,I fold it and put it in the kids room and i let them place their clothes.Even if it's not perfectly place in the drawers...lol.At least they have a task to do :).Depends on the age of your kids.Mines are between 1 and 12.They don't have a choice but to help,that's the way it works.Otherwise i'll never end up...lol.

Good luck :)

Shannon - posted on 02/13/2009

I took a suggestion from a friend, and so far, so good. I do each child's laundry separately. That way when it comes out of the dryer, I can fold it and put it in the right room. Occasionally we have an extra load of whites (to bleach once in a while) and jeans. As long as the clothes aren't brand new, so far I haven't had any colors bleeding.

Dawn - posted on 02/13/2009

I have a family of 4 and what I do is laundry on Monday. I don't do anything else that day but the laundry.



I too am OCD about how the clothes are put away but I'm slowly getting my children trained to do it my way and I'm slowly letting them do their own (baby steps!!)



What also helps is that my DH and my daughter (who's 8) takes it downstairs to the laundry room for me.

Danielle - posted on 02/13/2009

Hi Jini

I came up with a schedule. I wash on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Each day I wash something different. Monday is whites, undies, socks. Tuesday is jeans and darks. Wenesday is reds, browns, yellows and khakis and Friday is towels, sheets and blankets. I do not wash on Saturday Sunday or Tuesday. I have three hampers that my kids are responsible for putting their own clothes in after bathtime. On the counter space they have a labeled area with their name. It is their responsibility to pick up their folded clothes and put them away. I try to stick to this schedule as much as possible to keep the chaos done in my life - lol. It is working out well.

Joy - posted on 02/13/2009

There's an awesome cleaning website that I found (as suggested by several other moms in several boards in the Circle).  www.flylady.net  I have the same problem as you with the laundry, but in other areas of my house as well and so far, flylady is working.  It basically just offers tools to help you get a clean a de-cluttered house and it teaches you how to change your habits to keep it that way.  Hope this helps :) 

Karen - posted on 02/13/2009

I have a family of 5 with a special needs child that makes alot of laundy!! I do a load every day!!! I usually throw it in early in the am so I can be done with it!! I have to agree with the front load washer/dryer they hold so much more stuff!!

LaNeika - posted on 02/13/2009

A load a day works!!

Nerys - posted on 02/13/2009

dont iron, buy clothes that dont need to be ironed, and hang it on hangers when wet or fresh out of dryer to help with creasing, luckily my husband irons his own work clothes.

good luck:)

Abigail - posted on 02/13/2009

I do it on mon wed and fri and i really don't bother with it the rest of the week unless its absolutely necessary this work great for me i do between 3 and 8 loads on those days but i just fold it as i can during the day and make sure its put away by the end of the day it works fine for me. you could do it on days that your going to be home all day that way you know you'll have time to finish it!!

Angie - posted on 02/13/2009

Front-loading (oversized) washer and dryer baby!  That's the only way my family (of 7) can get it done. The kids and I do it ALL on Mondays and Fridays.  We all sort, we all take turns loading and switching to the dryer.  Then we take all the clean clothes to the TV room, turn some music really loud and fold all the clothes together.  It's kinda like a clean clothes party- and the kids really get into it.  I have taught them how to do it the right way (because I'm OCD as well), and after about a year of practice they do it right!  It was worth the hard work in the end...

Kelly - posted on 02/13/2009

For years, I have faithfully done laundry on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Then I start in the morning, trying to get it all to the laundry room, sorted, and a load started by 8:00 or so. I hang clothes on the line outside in nice weather. I fold and make stacks for each person as soon as the dryer is done with each load. I take the older kids' stacks to their room (otherwise by the time they get home I would be over-run) and leave the stacks for them, and the little ones put their own away. I put my husband's and mine away immediately (each load), as I can't stand to see it piled up. By doing it these three days, I refuse to be bothered with it the rest of the week. I work on Thursdays, and every other Tuesday. I have a family of six.

Dorine - posted on 02/13/2009

one solution, wash everyday, sometimes twice

sorry if my english is bad :)

hugs

Jodie - posted on 02/13/2009

Make a roster- (we just started one-there are 7 of us in the house and it is working).

Each day of the week write what wash you are going to do that day and if there are any extras than do the after your rostered wash.

ie- monday: blue wash tuesday towls wednesday bathmats teatowels etc

hope that helps

Kathy - posted on 02/12/2009

Jini...a towel can be used several times...after all, you are clean after a shower when you use it...so have each family member use one towel at least twice, hanging it up to dry after each use, preferably in their rooms...

Kerrie - posted on 02/12/2009

hey, don't worrie i understand where ur coming from i had a new bord and was cleaning up after 8 ppl, just do what u can and dont over do it, the baby comes first, if iwas u i wood make them help thats what i done and even if they do a lil thing but if everyone helps, it makes it soo much better, hope u work it out good luck

Stef - posted on 02/12/2009

I hear ya!!!!! I do laundry everyday...I think I figured out a system that will get me by untill I can get someone to do it all for me...lol!! I will sort it, launder, and striaght out of the dryer I have 5 baskets...I will sort it by whos it is, and when I have time grab a basket, fold and put awayI I dont mind this cuz tossing in the wash is easy, but when my 5 year old is searching for his fav jeans, I at least know which basket of clean laundry they are in. I always have clean and dirty laundry and it will NEVER go away (I have finally come to terms) but this is the easiest way for me to feel like Im in charge of it!!!

Jennie - posted on 02/12/2009

I put the clothes on my bed - each load. So, I can't go to bed until they are folded. Then they go to the girls room in a basket. If they don't put them away - they dig thru a basket. Plus, all socks (after you have a once a week pow-wow on 'mating') can go in a basket near shoes. Don't be a martyr. If they want there clothes done sooner - do it themselves!

Jini - posted on 02/12/2009

See I start on Sunday and do as much as I can then a load everyday but I take the clothes out of the dryer and throw them on the chair and there they sit all week long and I add to it everyday, until I can't stand it anymore and I fold them....then I have to put everyones away.  I have been having my 3 sons put their own away but I am OCD about how clothes are put away that I have to go upstairs and redo everything.....ahhhhhh, I give up!

Sabrina - posted on 02/12/2009

Hey my name is Sabrina! I know that my schedule is probably not like yours. Idk what ages your kids are or anything, but I can tell you what works for me. We have 6 people in our family so we have a LOT of laundry! I usually get up on Monday morning and start in. My oldest is 8 so I usually put him in charge of getting all the laundry together while I fix breakfast. We homeschool so he has more time to do things around the house than most kids his age. If I have him doing something else one of my 5 yr olds do it for him. After I fix breakfast and the kids are eating I usually try to sort everything and get a load going and then I eat while I'm waiting for the first load to finish washing. I try to schedule things I need to do during the week on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday because Thursday is my other laundry day. I also try to make sure I fold and hang and put everything away as I do each load, because if I don't by the time I get through washing and drying I have a mountain of clothes to finish and then it's depressing to have to get it all done at once.I make each one of the kids put their own laundry away even my 3yr old puts her clothes away.I have her to put the dish towels and things like that away also. They are never to young to learn! I don't know if this will help,but it works for me. Good luck. I hope it gets better for you.

Marie - posted on 02/12/2009

I'm with ya.... we do like 5 loads a week or more and by the time i have folded and put away the loads, i have tons more needing washed...

I just wash all ot one day, then fold the next. It works, and it never ends but that's the way I guess it is with our family's of 5

Jennie - posted on 02/12/2009

my MIL told me one load of laundry a day! One day at a time! Good luck!