The truth is, I don’t mind the actual doing of laundry. When I have the time, I don’t mind the sorting and the folding. It’s the putting away laundry that’s the particularly icky part of this chore. And because I don’t mind laundry…and I would never trust my husband to do my or the kids’ laundry (hello….we’d end up with stains on everything because he’d never check them before throwing them into the wash)…I’m Chief Laundry Attendant.
Let me tell you, though, something in the laundry universe shifted when we went from a four person family to a five person family. It started to feel like a MASSIVE undertaking each week. And pile on that certain kids needing certain uniforms washed by certain days…you sports parents know what I’m talking about…and I was DONE. And annoyed.
So I switched up how I do laundry, annnnnd, I’m back to really kind of liking laundry day now.
I’m going to take you back, though. Back to the way I used to laundry. I designated one day every other week as laundry day. It usually took me realistically two days to get through, but I did EVERYONE’s laundry at the same time.
The pendulum shifted with that fifth kid, though. And the folding of clothes and getting all five people’s clothes back to the right spot became too much. It was like a part-time job for two days straight.
So, I changed what I was doing over the past six months. And now, I do laundry by person.
Adults get their laundry done every other week. Nathan has a day of laundry. Everything gets sorted, washed, and folded for him to put away.
I get a day of just my laundry. Sort, wash, fold, and put away.
And then there’s one day each week that I do all of the kids laundry together. Does it result in more loads of laundry? Maybe. But it makes the pieces much more manageable.
Laundering of linens and bath towels happens every other week, and the off weeks of adult laundry.
And that, friends, has truly made a difference in my sanity and enjoyment.
You didn’t even realize you could enjoy a whole post about laundry, did you?
In our house everyone has their own laundry hamper & their own laundry basket. I used to do 1 load a day rotating which person’s laundry was being done (then adding in a day or two for bedding or towels, etc.). I found laundry went so much faster once I didn’t have to read labels to find out which blue striped shirt belonged to which little boy! LOL As soon as they were old enough they were responsible for putting their own folded clothes away. My husband’s clothes were always washed separately since his often had oil or grease on them and he knew enough not to try and “help” me by doing anyone else’s laundry because I too used to go garment by garment and spot treat for stains and things. Now everyone is pretty much responsible for their own clothes but I will certainly do a load if someone asks me to.
Nobody told me that person by person was the way to go! Doing it all together is like trying to sort through everything twice. Once to get into loads for the laundering and once in the folding. Not worth it!
I hate doing laundry. I’m thankful I don’t seem to have much for myself and Travis has always done is own. It’s been quite a few years now, but I started doing a load of each kids rather than combine their two loads together. It’s much easier for us and less sorting. Uniform washing definitely pops up, but I try to time it with doing a load midweek if needed. I really hate all parts of laundering…especially putting it away haha
The putting away is truly the worst part of laundry. The worst.