Feel like your family laundry is a daunting, never-ending task? It doesn’t have to be! Here are my best tips to simplify family laundry. :)
How to Simplify Family Laundry
Laundry is an inevitable chore. But it doesn’t have to be one that overwhelms you. Allow me to share my 25+ years of homemaking, 23+ years of parenting, and 7 sons’ worth of experience to help you simplify!
1. Do not do it by yourself.
I cannot emphasize this enough. I know too many mamas who are constantly overwhelmed by laundry, but they don’t get their family members involved with helping! I learned long ago that it is important to get my sons involved in every single job that they are capable of doing, from laundry to cooking to cleaning. (And not to worry, my sons are led by my husband’s great example as he also pitches in every way that he can.)
The only people in the household who should get out of laundry duty are babies. And toddlers. Toddlers try to be helpful but they think that their job is to take clothes out of drawers and washing machines faster than you put them in. I should know. I have Toddlers x 2. They are doubly helpful:
They are so sweet though, and they are so proud of how well they ruin my laundry efforts.
But beyond babies and toddlers:
- As soon as a kid is old enough/able to drag a basket of dirty laundry over to a washing machine, that should become their job.
- As soon as a kid is old enough/able to put laundry into a washing machine, that should become their job.
- As soon as a kid is old enough/able to switch laundry from a washer to a dryer, that should become their job.
- As soon as a kid is old enough/able to fold and put away laundry, that should become their job. Start with washrags and towels, graduate to clothing items when they are ready.
And in my experience, somewhere around 3rd or 4th grade, a child is capable of being completely in charge of their own laundry. From start to finish. Their laundry basket is full? They wash their clothes. They dry their clothes. They put their clothes away. Your job here is done. :)
Teaching my older boys to do all of their laundry by themselves has been incredibly helpful! For years, I only needed to wash my laundry and Matt’s. Then God moved in our little boys and now I’m back to washing laundry for 5 people again! Not to worry – I’ve learned another great tip that helps me get through these loads more efficiently. So let’s move on to Tip #2.
2. Start folding the biggest items first
This may seem silly, but this tip helps me get through my laundry piles more easily every time!
Laundry piles for several people can look pretty big…because they are. :)
The pile you see here is just the result of washing/drying one load. Because we have 3 little ones, there are many tiny items of clothing within the load to fold and put away. Seeing it all together in a pile can make me feel like I have a big job ahead of me, especially if there are two or three loads that have piled up.
But I’ve found that if I start by pulling out and folding towels and baby blankets first, the pile very suddenly looks much smaller and less daunting.
The large items are easy to fold and make me feel like I’ve quickly completed half the pile! Once those are done, I move on to the little shirts and pants, which I pretty much just fold in half and stack. Easy peasy, laundry squeezy. Well, as long as my toddler helpers leave my pretty piles alone. :)
Review: Get your family involved. Fold big items first.
I will now reward your laundry efforts with two bonus tips!
Bonus Tip #1: I never fold underwear. Life is too short and wrinkled undies never hurt anyone.
I throw mine directly into my drawer, close it, and walk away without a second thought. I hand Brayden (age 6) his wad of his unfolded undies to put into his drawer and he stuffs them right in. And let’s be real – even if I would have folded them, they would have come unfolded by the time he made it to his dresser. You know I’m right.
Bonus Tip #2: I never sort laundry. And we are still clean and living to tell about it.
My apologies to everyone who is cringing over this admission. Some people are diligent laundry sorters. And some of us wash everything together in cold and don’t think twice.
The only time I care is if I have a nice white shirt that I don’t want to ruin. Otherwise, everything pretty much goes in at the same time. I kind of forgot sorting laundry was a thing.
The future wives of my sons may shake their heads at me for failing to teach their husbands to sort. But hey, I taught them to cook and clean toilets and so much more. They can take it from here. :)
And that’s how I simplify family laundry.
What are your best tips?
I do laundry every day so that it doesn’t become overwhelming. Also, a schedule. I sort my laundry, so we have two baskets – one for all clothes, and one for all towels – including cleaning cloths and cloth napkins. I do two loads most days by alternating towels and clothes. One day, towels separated into two loads and the next day clothes separated into two loads by color. Once a week I also do my husband’s work shirts and suit pants. I wash the bed sheets when I think of it. I do want to do those more often. That is a goal of mine.
I put a lot of time and thought into laundry. Way too much, really. But staying on top of it keeps me sane about it.
Good for you for finding a system that works for your home! I love that you follow a schedule. Thank you for sharing!
-Bethany (HH Team)
Hey, Laura! I also had my boys start doing their own laundry pretty early. The two teens and almost ten year old all do their own laundry. My 7 year old daughter still gets my help, but she’s close to handling her own. Sheets get washed (hopefully) once a week. Strip the bed, wash and dry, put them back on the bed. This eliminates sheet folding! I sort of sort. Towels get their own hamper. Clothes are divided into two groups: okay wrinkled and not okay wrinkled. PJs, socks, and undies go together. That load I don’t stress about getting out of the dryer before it wrinkles. Last tip: hang as many clothes as possible. My kids live mostly in t-shirts, and folding t-shirts is a pain. Hanging them is much easier. When my boys were young, hanging pants was easier for them than folding them. I’ve often thought about not folding the underwear, but I like rolling them up to use drawer space efficiently. ? I’m a little weird.
So many great tips! I need to hang up more of my kids clothes, I think, because I spend a lot of time folding. Thanks for the idea!
-Bethany (HH Team)
Mesh laundry bags are a must for keeping little socks together. Keep one by the changing table or hamper, put dirty socks in each evening, zip it up when ready to do laundry. Socks don’t get lost in washer or dryer.
Lucy, yes! Mesh laundry bags are so awesome! I just need to remember to keep mine by the hamper so I actually use it. Thanks for the comment!
-Bethany (HH Team)
Good tips! We also have been doing at least one load of laundry every day–yes, including Sundays–for years (well, decades) now. Because we have seven girls and especially as they get older, their clothing items often include delicates that require a little more fuss. So we sort delicates but then typically bag them (using those marvelous mesh laundry bags) and wash them with our permanent press load. The bags make them easy to find as we switch clothes to the dryer, so the delicates can be pulled out and hung on drying racks–and washing delicates with another load saves time.
When we had all ten of our children at home, I used the buddy system for laundry. The very youngest children (who could walk and push a basket) would gather laundry from everyone’s bedrooms and get it to the laundry room. Then the “middles” would sort the laundry into three piles–permanent press, towels/jeans, and whites (because my husband didn’t appreciate having pink socks). I often did a quality check and then would start the load. Olders would often switch the load from washer to dryer. Different middles would then sort the clean clothes out of the dryer. This is where the buddy system kicked in. Each older child was assigned a younger sibling to assist in putting away/hanging up clothes. (Middles could each do their own clothes.)
Every other Saturday, we would change sheets–middles doing their own and olders helping their assigned littles.
Stephanie, so many great tips! Wow! Thank you so much for sharing. I really love that you had a buddy system for your kiddos. What a brilliant idea!
-Bethany (HH Team)
For my family of 5 (of which I still do 4 people’s laundry), my trick is for each person to have his or her own laundry basket. I throw all of that person’s clothes in the washer (I also don’t sort) and then after it is dry it goes into a laundry basket to be put away. I love not sorting any laundry! I agree, 3rd or 4th grade is a good age kids to be responsible for their own laundry.
Ooh, I love that each person in your family has his/her own laundry basket! I’ve never thought about doing that. Going to use that tip, thank you!
-Bethany (HH Team)
My toddler loves to help me with laundry. After I fold, we have a “laundry parade” and she gets so excited about helping me deliver the piles to the rooms they go to. :)
Jessica, my toddler loves helping with laundry too! But I’ve never thought of having him help deliver the laundry! What a great idea. I’m going to start a “laundry parade” in my house too.
-Bethany (HH Team)
My husband built me a shelf in our laundry room that holds a tote basket for each member of the family. Each child is in charge of their own laundry but sometimes stuff doesn’t make it out of the dryer at the end of the day. So now I can take a minute to toss the clothes into the appropriate basket on the shelf without taking a step (and I don’t fold it). The only clothes I fold anymore are my own!
Wow! I love the idea of having a shelf with a tote for each person in the family! I am definitely going to run that idea by my husband. Thanks for the inspiration!
-Bethany (HH Team)
Some moms get up early for morning prayer/reflection time. I get up early on Saturday for laundry folding time. I do it in front of our huge kitchen window and love getting up with the sun, pouring a cup of coffee and folding things while I watch the backyard wake up. It’s brainless work, rhythmic, and is like meditation to me. Clears my mind. So I say, change your outlook when it comes to laundry!
I have my 6 & 7 year old boys sort clothes. Jeans, towels, whites, colors. It’s funny to see how they categorize things – the best moment was when 7 called out, “Mom, we’re not sure what pile these…..Things…..go on!” I turn around and he’s hold up about 5 of my different-colored bras.
Yes! Love it! Such a cute pic of your toddlers.
My son has been doing his own laundry since he was a little guy in sports. When he went to college, the dorm entrance we used was off the laundry room. I kid you not, the first time I walked in, my eyes welled up with pride at the smell of fabric softener. All these kids (I mean adults!), studying, living on their own and doing their own laundry. It smelled like collective mothering success.
“Collective mothering success” I LOVE that! Thank you for sharing!
-Bethany (HH Team)