LAZY LAUNDRY DiSORDER

It sounds like a disease, 'Lazy Laundry Disorder'.  It is really just a bad habit gone haywire!  Confession time.  I was once a degenerate who let laundry pile up in disarray around her requiring two days of non-stop machine use to clean and conquer.  Let's just say, it wasn't the way I dreamed of spending my weekends!  There had to be a better way!  A few years of trial and error with a variety of systems resulted in the discovery of a less expensive, more efficient way of solving our family's laundry woes.  Following are a few tips gleaned from experience.  We hope it helps others who are digging out from the pandemonium of jumbled piles!  If you suffer from 'Lazy Laundry Disorder' then I encourage you to read on!

A smattering of laundry tips...

First and foremost, establish a new routine. 
If you allow laundry to pile up, you have instant CHAOS!  Conquering it requires a new habit.  If you live in a one to two person household, throw in a load or two of laundry twice a week.  A 3-4 person household?  Do a load every other day.  A household with 5 or more people?  Consider following our example and tossing in a load or two a day to keep the massive piles away!

Consider your closet.

Chaos begins in the closet.  If the clothes are crammed into drawers, bins, shelves, closets... it is difficult to see at a glance what is available.  Take the closet test.  Walk into your bedroom and scan the room.  Where are the clothes?  If they are properly put away into dressers and the closet then you shouldn't see them.  Instead, are clothes strewn haphazardly on the bed, tossed on a treadmill, thrown over the door, piled high on a dresser, bedside table or on the floor?  If you are seeing clothes on any surface other than properly put away, then maybe the bedroom is the place to begin!  Consider reducing the clutter and keeping only the clothes you actually wear.

Excuses. Excuses.  Lose them!

If there is not a place to put clean clothes once the laundry is finished... then you'll always have a reason (an excuse) for having dirty clothes piled up!  Remove 'excuses' from your life!  Don't keep more clothes than you can properly store.

Hampers.  Some households store hampers out of sight, in closets and have one(or more) per bedroom.  The problem is... they are out of sight and out of mind until they overflow and threathen mutiny!  Hampers in every bedroom also require someone to routinely check and collect clothes.  Anyone want to volunteer for that job?  We found that method to be inefficient for our busy household, therefore we established a new system that makes each person responsible for their own dirty clothes.

ONE hamper per household.  It sounds crazy but it really works! The hamper needs to have three compartments for DARK colors, MEDIUM (gray, khaki, and pastel colors) and the third is for WHITES.   The hamper resides in the laundry room.

New routine.  This is essential and involves each family member being responsible for getting their clothes to the family hamper.  When the dirty clothes come off they are carried to the hamper and sorted.  As soon as little ones can walk, they can learn to carry their own clothes to the hamper.  It is a habit that becomes routine and plays a major role in solving the family's lazy laundry disorder! 

Label the hamper compartments to help with sorting until all family members get the hang of sorting colors into correct bins.

Teach it.

Each family member will need to know what is expected of them... to empty pockets and treat stains with a spray or stick stain remover before tossing the clothes into the hamper.  A reminder sign hanging on the hamper helps, too!

'EMPTY POCKETS - TREAT STAINS - TOSS iN THE HAMPER'

Set the buzzer to the loudest possible setting!  If your washer/dryer are not equipped with buzzers, use a timer!   Train yourself to respond to the buzzer when it goes off.  Don't get into the habit of ignoring it or clothes will potentially sit in the washer molding for days or in the dryer getting permanently wrinkled.

Wash it.

With clothes sorted into one hamper, it takes only a moment's glance to see when there are enough clothes collected for a full load.  Yes. It is that easy!  Toss in a load, add detergent.  Push 'START'!  

Dry it.

Did you hear it?   When the washer buzzer sounds off, get that load of wet clothes into the dryer as soon as possible and start a new load in the washer.

Line Dry.

If some or many of your clothes require line drying then having a rack mounted on the wall or a rolling rack equipped with extra hangers is a necessity.

Fold.

Thankfully machines have been invented to wash and dry our clothes.  Folding still requires the human hands and a little effort.  A tip for folding with less hassle is #1 responding to the buzzer when it sounds as this reduces wrinkles in clothes significantly.  #2 Handle the clothes only once.  Remove clothing one piece at a time from the dryer and immediately fold it and place on a pile. (Recruit another member of the family to fold with you.  :)  Laundry piles?  One pile per family member.  The top of a dryer can easily hold 4 piles.  If space allows, a small table can be set up over top of the sorting hamper as a folding area as well.

Piles Away!

At the end of the day, piles are taken to the bedrooms.  Do not allow the folding table to become a cluttered catch-all space. Keep it clear and ready for the next day of laundry.  Piles are taken to appropriate bedrooms and each family member is responsible for putting away their own clothes on the same day they are cleaned.  The burden is lighter when everyone does their part!

Hooray!  Another task checked off the list! 

Laundry is finished and quiet order has replaced unruliness!  :)

Restoring Beauty.

Does your laundry room depress you with its drabness?  After the space is cleaned up and organized with the essentials... REWARD yourself and cut loose with a bit of decorative fun!

 

Make the laundry room a place you enjoy rather than a space of dull, dreary monotony.  How about adding a burst of color and pizazz reflective of your personality?

Try painting the walls or ceiling a fun color?  Even drab cement walls in the basement laundry/storage room can be painted!  How about adding a fanciful rug, a row of framed children's art or a fun fabric shade to adorn the window?  Who said a sparkling chandelier can't go in the laundry room?  Of course it can!  Would adding decals or some bling to the machines bring a smile to your face on laundry day?

Think outside the neutrals that typically cover the walls and look inside the crayon box!  
Which colors make you giggle and grin?  Have some fun!