I hate doing laundry and let me tell you just how much I hate it. I would rather wash sink full after sink full of dirty dishes, scrub all the toilets, ride a roller coaster (let it be known that I HATE roller coasters), mow the lawn, paint a house, walk thirty dogs at a time, and pull a lawn full of weeds than do laundry and it definitely shows. I like to wait until our closet is overflowing with clothes. We have two very tall laundry baskets and I tend to wait until both of them are packed and spilling over onto the floor. It’s quite pathetic if you ask me.
Just two weeks ago I did a total of SIX loads of laundry within one day. For two people, that’s a lot of washing, drying, and folding. It took up my whole Saturday and I was not even the least bit thrilled. I drug out doing those six loads of laundry for 12 hours too. As you can see, I prefer to drag my feet when it comes to the usual clothes washing.
What housewife let’s the laundry get so far behind? ME. Thankfully I have a sweet husband who never makes a fuss over the dirty clothes pilling up. However, I have taken it upon myself to not only find a way to stay on top of the mountain of clothes, but to make it seem less tedious and simplify the process.
I came up with a system that is now officially in effect. That system involves me doing laundry once a week. Especially since I’ve been working now too, I’m putting in my best effort to make sure Kevin and I always have clean work clothes available. I hate waiting until the day before work and having to rush the uniforms through the washer and dryer. It makes it more stressful and believe me, the more I can cut down on stress around here, the better.
I wash all our clothes and towels on Saturday morning and every other week I wash the dog’s bedding. Since starting this system we only have one basket of laundry a week now! *Applause*
Transform Tedious Into Not so Bad
- NEVER EVER wait until the clothes are falling out of the baskets and the dirty clothes become an obstacle course in the bedroom for you to decide to make a trip to the washer. Come up with a system. A routine that isn’t too cumbersome, yet one that won’t allow for the laundry to pile up. Depending on if you’re a family of two to a family of eight will determine how frequent you will want to do laundry. Once a week works really well for Kevin and I. If you let it pile up, it makes for a very stressful 12 hour laundry day.
- If you don’t have a fancy washer that sings a lovely song letting it you know it’s done or it’s in the garage (like ours is), then set an alarm after you put your laundry in the washer so you don’t forget about it. More often than not, I used to forget about laundry for a couple of days. When I would finally remember, the aroma of “mildew” would greet me when I made my way into the garage. Yes, gross. Naturally, I’d have to wash it again which eventually led to me wasting more water than necessary. Since setting a timer I have prevented this from happening.
- When the time comes to fold the fresh clothes, don’t look at the dreaded pile as never ending, but consider it some peaceful alone time. I like to make it my own thing now. I turn on my favorite show (something Kevin has no interest in) and by the time it comes to an end, I find that I have not only folded and hung up all the laundry but I have cleaned the entire closet and reorganized our shoes.
How do you simplify your laundry process? How do you turn the tedious task into a semi delightful chore? 😀
