Stacey recently shared about the trials she’s experienced in keeping up with laundry as her family has grown. You can read about her laundry trials and solutions in Part 1 and Part 2of this series.
Early on in adding two more children to our family I didn’t have a good solution for laundy. We had a hamper in the boys’ room, one in the girls room, and a couple of bigger ones in the master bathroom. It did not take me long to realize that was not working well. I’d remember to get clothes out of one bedroom and not another, or I’d think we only had a little dirty laundry and then would realize that both of the kids’ hampers were full. I eventually took the hampers out of the children’s bedrooms. I considered a solution like this:
The only reason I didn’t get a 3 compartment hamper was because I couldn’t find one in China. What I could find was a laundry hamper like this one from Ikea. I bought 3 of them — one for whites, mediums, and darks.
This is what our bathroom hampers look like on your average day.
Because we all put our clothes in the same hampers, I know when we have a full load to wash. Some days they seem to all fill up at the same time, and other days none of them are full. Those are the days when I try to throw in a load or two of sheets and towels. I don’t have a schedule for when I wash sheets and towels; I just do it when they are dirty and the washing machine is empty.
For lots of moms, laundry is a dreaded household chore. I’ve found that through using this system I’m able to keep up with laundry and find it to be one of my easiest tasks. It only takes a couple of minutes to drag a hamper to the washer, throw them in and start the load. If I have time when they are dry, I fold them right away. If I don’t, I throw them on my bed and fold them after Matt is home from work or after the kids are in bed, but I always make sure I fold them before going to bed. If you are having a hard time keeping up with laundry, give this solution a try. Just make sure you are not letting your baskets overflow!
If you think this is a good idea, just wait until you see the laundry solution I’m going to share with you tomorrow!
This is so smart! I have so many separate laundry hampers all over the house and it would totally save me time and frustration if I would just have everything in one spot
Although, sorting laundry makes a good chore for my kids at this point, but I’m sure they wouldn’t be sad if I did away with that!
It definitely has helped me consolidate some of the task! Those hampers in my master bath still pile up but they seem necessary since my laundry room is upstairs and my bedroom is downstairs. I think you’re right. Your kids probably wouldn’t mind giving that up.
It made such a difference for me when we all started using the same hampers. It’s also been a great lesson in teaching the kids to separate colors. You could give it a try for a couple weeks and see how it goes.
My mom growing up always had this and it was so helpful! I will have to get one now. Thanks for sharing!