I am super at actually "doing" it... the washing, the folding... it's the putting away that I'm horrible with.
So I put it in a laundry basket (folded and clean) and then life gets busy and....
a, part 1: then the laundry basket gets put away and then a few days go by and then we get panicky for clothes and pull them from the basket and then the neat piles become un-neat and then I get confused if the basket was the clean ones or the dirty ones and then they sit until I decide to re-wash them.
-or-
a, part 2: they sit until they get wrinkled and I plan an "ironing day" and then just wait for that to be convenient.
-or-
b. as I am putting them away I realize how many of them Elizabeth can't wear anymore so I pull those out and put them aside to "deal with" until later and then the ones she can't wear get mixed back with the ones she can and then I have to do this whole charade again.
All this to say, I suck at doing laundry. (This is the point where I hate that my mom reads me blog... I'm guessing she's about to want to kick me out of her family right about now. She is excellent at laundry.) But tonight I decided I'm over it. It's mentally exhausting to keep putting off the inevitable. There's part of me that blames "space"... we don't have enough room in our dresser/closet for all our crap. But how American is *that*? That I have so much stuff I don't have space to put it up? Crap. So tonight I pulled all the laundry baskets (we have 4... just for our junk... E has one of her own... I've tried to figure out which basket(s) work best) out and brought them downstairs. I've spent several hours sorting what's there and washing the laundry we had that was dirty. Now, midway into the wee hours of the night/morning, everything we own in this house is clean... and about to be put up where it belongs.
I'm thankful for friends who brought me caffeine around 10:30... and I'm thankful for finally getting this done.
Now the question becomes: how will we deal with laundry in the future? Clearly, our current way of handling it doesn't work. I ask you- people of the interwebs- what do you do? How do you make laundry work? We're open to ideas....
13 comments:
When I do my laundry I put my unfolded clean clothes on my bed, that way I cannot sleep without putting it away. Miss you!
I tend to do a load every day or two and then it goes straight to the bedroom to be folded and put away. And, yes, it helps to do said folding on bed so that it has to be put away before we can go to sleep:)
I think I may be related to your mom. Okay, first of all, I do laundry every single day (the whole "stay on top of it or it stays on top of you" theory). My boys have NO hampers. So every day, we bring down clothes and they go right into the washing machine (not the laundry basket on top of the dryer). When the machine is full, I turn it on. I don't separate lights and colors and the clothes are fine (cold water though). I always have a load that "lives" in the dryer. I know it's clean and no one sees it. If I get behind, the clean dryer clothes get dumped on the kitchen table...no one can eat until I start folding (or, on a bad day, cram it back in the dryer). I put away adult clothes then have the boys put away the laundry they can and do the rest. Good luck! You can do it!--Debbie
I suck at everything housekeeping, but one way I conquered my laundry problem is to keep tons of plastic and clip hangers on laundry door & hang almost everything as soon as I take it from the machine. Then at least if it is hanging I know it is clean. I use those over the door hangers on almost every door I have!
I also use those springy type laundry containers to organize stuff-only CLEAN laundry goes in them, cause they stink if you put dirty laundry in them. The best ones come from Bed Bath and Beyond. Good luck!
Oh, and my number one rule=never buy anything that must be ironed!!
um i'm EXACTLY like you. i don't mind washing and drying or even folding sometimes but its the putting away that kills me. we end up with 3 full laundry baskets of clean clothes that end up super wrinkled and live out of the laundry baskets. so sorry i'm not any help!! but when i do manage to get it done its because i make a conscious effort to put everything away. i won't let myself set the basket down until its empty otherwise i won't put it all away.
I'm no better at laundry, but I use a red hamper bag for the clean clothes and a white basket for the dirty clothes. I'll, also, dump the clean clothes on the bed, if there's an overflow, but Jared gets frustrated if he goes to bed first.
Right there with you! I've tried the bed thing...we usually end up just throwing the pile on the floor...lol! The only thing I've found that works for me is inviting someone to come over! It motivates me to clean up everything!
Quoting Peter Walsh (does organizing shows on a bunch of networks) "Finish the cycle". Don't do another load until you have put one completely away. If it comes out of the dryer, it gets folded and put away BEFORE you stick another load in the washer.He applies this thought to everything-I think I saw it on a hoarding show he did. If you pick something up-you put it where it belongs. The "I'll deal with it later theory" just doesn't work out well.
no hampers here...everything goes directly into the washing machine. I'm with Michelle...I put folded clothes on my bed so I HAVE to put them away to sleep.
We have a laundry chute - literally one of my favorite parts of this house. Even a house full of boys LOVE to throw things - so they throw with a purpose.
I can't get through it all in one day - we produce too much and I am not home for a full day.
So we do it when we can all week and load it onto our guest room bed until "laundry folding night" one time per week. we tag-team it. It somehow goes much faster than the overwhelming pile would suggest. Then he carries the HUGE baskets upstairs and places each persons thing outside their room. They put it away (some with a bit of help) for a small allowance.
Side note = allowance is great for not always having to fight with your kid in Walmart about a new toy. I can say, "Do you have enought for that?" If not, help some more!!!
I feel your pain! I try to do a load every day but most of the time that doesn't work out so by the end of the week I have about 7 loads waiting for me and then I am overwhelmed much like yourself! Do what you can, when you can do it and start training E to help with putting it away (if she doesn't already). Another good trick that I know is having my kids and husband spend 15 minutes helping me put it away when complete. That helps a lot! Good luck and please do share if you ever discover a " magic laundry fix"!
after reading this post.... WE ARE TWINS. should we look into this further? ca-razy.
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