Why do we hate doing laundry?
It’s time-consuming tedious, boring, and if you skip a day it seems to explode everywhere. Your clothes, your family’s clothes, bath towels and wash clothes, sheets, pet bedding and kitchen towels. So much laundry!
As an organizing expert, I have been hired to help quite a few people deal with laundry issues. Everyone of those people had the same issues.
Too many clothes
If you have taken the time to declutter your wardrobe then you are already ahead of the game! Seriously decluttering your closet is going to make it easier because you’ll have less clothes to wash.
As you fold clean clothes, toss unwanted items to the side for donation. These can be clothes that no longer fit or clothes you no longer love. You can even keep a donation box in your laundry room or closet so it becomes a habit to let go of excess clothing.
Bigger is NOT better
There is a misconception that larger laundry baskets and industrial-sized washing machines are the key to keeping your laundry in check. Not really. Actually, this can create more overwhelm. When you have too many laundry bins to throw dirty clothes into you’ll probably never empty them all. There will be an endless supply of dirty clothes for you to deal with.
I suggest having no more than one laundry basket per person. And make sure it’s not a huge basket.
Having industrial-sized washing machines doesn’t always help the situation either. It can actually make the job more daunting. My clients with super-sized washing machines tend to end up with huge mountains of laundry they try tackling all at once. No wonder they hate laundry and try to avoid it.
Wash clothes everyday
We are creatures of habit. We do things a certain way because it’s how we’ve always done them. You may do laundry once a week because that’s what your mom did. If this isn’t working for you, it’s time to switch up your laundry routine.
Doing one small load a day really reduces the overwhelm. Finish one complete cycle, daily: wash, dry, fold and put away. Doing this can help keep the overwhelm at bay.
Once you establish a routine, it becomes easy. I throw a load in first thing in the morning. Then, fold and put away in the evening. I do laundry daily, and no longer dread it.
Delegate
Make sure your children and spouse wash their own clothes whenever possible (every day is ideal). If you dirty it, you can clean it.
If a child is old enough to work a smartphone they are old enough to work a washing machine and dryer. However, if your children are still too small to operate a washing machine and dryer, they can always work alongside you while you fold and put away clothes. When children fold, it won’t be perfect, and that’s OK. Kids can be very helpful. Let them practice folding and give them a high-five for effort!
Your assignment:
- Continue decluttering your wardrobe so that you have less laundry to deal with.
- Do one complete load of laundry today – wash, dry, fold and put away (do it again tomorrow, then the next day and the next day…).
- If your family members don’t do their own laundry, now might be a good time to let them have that responsibility.