Fed up with the never-ending piles of family laundry? Save time with these 14 shortcuts to get the dreaded chore done and out of the way.
Laundry. It’s amazing how that one little word can pull the most joyful face into a frown. That never-ending chore is rather mundane, isn’t it?
At least doing the dishes follows eating a delicious meal. But with laundry? You fold half-heartedly with the knowledge you’ll be folding that exact same shirt next week. And the week after that.
You know you’re stuck with it. But you’d sure appreciate some easy time-savers so you can move on to more enjoyable things.
In this post, I’ll reveal the exact handy hacks that allowed me to go from 13+hrs a week of laundry to 2hrs.
The laundry system that will save you time and effort (and what not to do)
When I think back on the fruitless and ineffectual way I did laundry with 4 kids in diapers, I shudder. And really wish I knew then what I know now.
trial 1. no system at all
In the beginning, I would stall until the floordrobe inflated alarmingly and we were down to the last sock or underwear.
Then I would spend days trudging to the washer, switching loads, tormented by the growing pile to be folded – I ran out of space on my bed!
Honestly, with 7 people in the family, climbing Mount Everest seemed less daunting than putting that pile away.
trial 2. do a boatload once a week
For my first attempt at getting more organized, I declared Mondays were now the distasteful Laundry Day. Because, hey, it’s a Monday anyway, right?
And no joke, I would start at 7 in the morning and go non-stop until 8pm at night. Ugh.
It was getting ridiculous, so I made the switch to daily laundry.
trial 3. “fine. i’ll try daily laundry”
Dragging my feet at the thought of doing that chore every day, I decided to try it for “just one week” and try a room-by-room system.
I was blown away and have stuck with it for years.
We’re done in no time because now each family member has a dedicated weekday for laundry. Towels and linens are Saturdays. Easy peasy.
I’ve found doing a little bit each day is best. I jump in because the pile looks small and manageable – it’s only one load. And I feel fantastic and productive when I’m finished.
The most effective laundry system is a consistent one, paired with practical shortcuts to get it done fast. Here are the ones I use regularly to save time.
14 laundry shortcuts I use on a weekly basis to slash the workload
Keep a small kitchen laundry basket
To save time running around the house searching for dirty linens, I keep a wire basket in one of my cupboards. Then on Towel Day, I grab the basket and pop the towels in the washer in a quick minute.
use colours or patterns to differentiate towels
Each of my kids has a specific coloured towel from Ikea to reuse during the week, cutting down on the amount to wash until Towel Day.
save drying time
Adding a dry large towel impressively decreases the time you spend waiting for the clothes to dry.
sock, socks, socks
Socks are my nemesis. I buy a bulk pack and they’re missing by the end of the month.
A great shortcut to sorting is to give each kid their own style of socks.
Another trick is to buy boring white socks for every kid that size, then keep the clean ones in a bin in the laundry room. They can grab and go without fighting or sorting.
each kid has their own hamper + laundry day
I alluded to this spectacular time-saver earlier. When each person/room has their own laundry day, you get to skip the sorting step. Simply fold and put away with ease.
We have girls who share a room and having their own hamper was so helpful.
don’t sort
No, really. I don’t sort colours at all.
We haven’t had problems with the colour running and, once again, this saves sorting beforehand.
Unconvinced? Add a Tablespoon of pepper or a teaspoon of salt to keep the colours from running. Alternatively, you can also use this sheet by Shout.
avoid white + kids
If treating stains drives you nuts, avoid white.
When my oldest was born, we were surrounded by all these white onesies that would get dirty just by looking at them (“why?!”). We were wiser with the next kid and stuck to colours.
minimal clothes
I’m building this invaluable capsule wardrobe and incorporate a low-key flexible one for my kids (they keep outfits for 10 days).
I store off-season and between-sizes clothing so I don’t have to see it or have it accidentally mixed in with the weekly laundry. It saves so much time when I only have a week’s worth of outfits to wash.
minimal sheets
Each kid has one set of bedding/sheets they wash every 2 weeks, and I have a couple of extra sets of sheets stored in the bathroom.
handwash only
Apartment Therapy has a great idea of using a salad spinner to wash, then dry handwash items. Definitely going to try it this week!
What’s an iron?
Who has time for ironing when you have so much other housework to do? If the clothes need a bit more of a boost than just throwing them in the dryer, Family Handyman recommends adding a few ice cubes to steam clean.
Handling donations
We have a trade-in program for all the many clothing donation bags we get from friends and family.
If the item is between sizes and I think they’ll wear them, I store it away. If they want a piece now, they need to trade out something in their dresser (instead of adding and adding to it), keeping the workload minimal and the laundry efficient.
Stain treatment
For an easy stain remover, place clothing dabbed with stain treatment in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes. To whiten, add a lemon cut in half.
Use ice cubes for gooey messes: you know how an ice cube can help with gum in the hair? Same process here (phew).
Biggest laundry time saver of all? Sharing the load (the easy way)
As my 5 kids grew older, my health failed and at times I couldn’t physically walk to do laundry anymore. And you know what? I now see that as a blessing. Because it lit a fire under me to teach my family how to pitch in and confidently care for their own clothes.
Experts, like Dr. Gilboa, say your 8-year-old can and should be doing their own laundry.
My youngest can easily do all the steps at 6 y.o. because I used a specific strategy that nurtures can-do kids instead of overwhelmed.
Intrigued?
Stick around, I’ll show you how to painlessly and gently teach your kids to do their own laundry in 30 days.
The process I used to teach my kids is a step-by-step modelled approach, so the kids don’t see it as punishment or torture. And the benefits for everyone has been amazing:
- I went from 13+hrs to 2hrs a week, even with a family of 7, because I now only handle the adult clothing and linens
- My kids take better care of their clothing when they know it’s their responsibility to clean them. Take that, ketchup!
- I’m blown away by how responsible and confident my kids have become from knowing how to do a grown-up job like laundry
Are these revolutionary shortcuts? Not really.
But when I was staring at the mammoth pile of laundry I had to do before I could hop in my bed, I could have used this list of shortcuts to save myself the feelings of overwhelm and frustration.
And can I tell you a secret? Now that I only have my own laundry and towels to do… I don’t mind the job anymore.
When you start implementing these little shortcuts, you’ll be amazed at how much time you’ll be able to save next week.
Leave a Reply