My Laundry Routine

Here’s a long overdue post. I’ve been asked to show you my laundry routine and system so here goes:

This photo shows Wille’s closet. At the bottom of it we keep a hamper where he puts his dirty laundry (or is supposed to put it…). Once a week, usually on Friday after work when I start cleaning the house (I often dust and clear on Fridays and do the floors on Saturday) I get his hamper and bring it downstairs. On the way I pick up dirty towels and bath mats from the bathroom and dirty kitchen towels etc.

 

It all gets divided into these two tall baskets in the laundry room, one for whites and one for darks. I then do as many loads as I need on the weekend, usually about three, two white and one dark but sometimes an extra one with fleece or wool.

 

Most things go in the dryer (how did I ever not have a dryer before?!) but some garments are hung on plastic hangers on a rod above the ironing board. Mostly shirts and pants that tend to either get warped or shrunk in the dryer.

 

I usually bring the large one of these tubs upstairs with the laundered stuff to fold and put away, or I fold straight out of the dryer and bring the piles upstairs. During the week the smaller of the tubs is stored in the larger one and in it I keep the few items that need ironing. It’s not a favorite chore of mine so I try to to keep clothes that need ironing to a minimum and make sure I fold things quickly when they come from the dryer so they don’t get crinkled.

That’s basically it, my laundry routine.

Comments

[Petra from NL]

Thanks for letting us peek in Wille's closet. Nice take on a hamper and I also like the bottom of the closet. Sometimes it's so simple to make useful things look nicer.

[jja]

Nice hampers.
I love how clean and hair-free cat blankets come out of a dryer.

[Carlos]

That's my favorite part of the dryer too!

[Dana from CT]

I am with you on ironing! I am working towards moving our laundry machines to our basement that we are currently finishing off. The kids play room is now down there (yay!!) and I want to create a laundry and large pantry storage area. Yours is my inspiration :-)

[Messy]

See, this is how I always imagine my laundry routine will be, starting next week. ;-)
I'm just dying to ask you: how did the jeans go that Wille bought that needed to stay out of the washing machine for 6 months?? Did the 6 months pass, and did all of you survive? ;-)

[Carlos]

Still not washed! They've been aired and frozen though :)

[April Louise]

Everything you do is so nicely organised. It is definitely the best way to be.

[matchbookhymnal]

I love your organized routines. How nice to clean up on Fridays and have the house perfect for the weekend!

Having a dryer is one of those things you get used to doing without and then suddenly realize is awfully convenient. We have a half-sized portable washer (it's meant to hook up to the sink, but I have it rigged to our shower), so I do a load every night or so, hang the laundry overnight, and put it away in the morning. It seemed like a perfect system until the washer was out of commission for a couple of weeks while I waited for a replacement belt to arrive. We let laundry build up all week, then took it all to the laundromat. I have to say, it was awfully nice to have everything clean and dry at once!

The downside is I had to use twice as much hand lotion as usual. A load of wet laundry every night does do a great job of keeping the humidity up in dry weather!

[Heather P.]

I have gotten lazier with my laundry routine over the past few years, mostly because in my current apartment, my bedroom and closet are next door to the laundry room. While it makes things easier, it also gives me an excuse to never iron anything...because the iron and ironing board are downstairs (don't ask me why...my husband keeps insisting on putting it there). Maybe someday I'll just move all of it up here and tell him to deal with it, but for now, I just live with hanging things up right out of the dryer and hoping for the best. :-)

[Heather]

I love the dryer, too ... can't live without it! A little tip I learned on Pinterest: scrunch up a ball of tin foil and put it in with your clothes. Voilà.. no more static! How great is that?
By the way, where did you get your white tub?

[Carlos]

I'll try the scrunched up foil! The tubs are from Granit, a local chain of stores but I got them a few years ago.

[Ellen]

Love this look into your simple, effective routine!

I recently got rid of our tall hampers (or "enablers" as I called them) and I've noticed a major improvement in our laundry habits. Neither my husband or I are too keen on doing laundry—let alone 6+ loads at a time when we procrastinated and filled our huge hampers. For us, having one hamper the size of one load of laundry helps move things more smoothly through the system! You are more disciplined. ;-)

Why were we so bad at laundry?? We have machines that do all the hard work for us! ><

[Corina]

Yours is laundry heaven. What changes/differences do you think you would make for a larger family- of 5. Have you seen a system for larger families anywhere in your online travels.

[Carlos]

I'd divide the laundry up in more hampers such as white, dark and medium (jeans, khakis etc), bright (red, yellow etc) That's the system i had before. Then I did one load every night to keep it from piling up.