Hang onto your hat’s Guys – where this post is going no-one knows!
I have just left a rather passionate response to a post over at Eric La Forest’s Elevated Simplicity and it has inspired me to share with you my simplified laundry routine.
Firstly my response
Who cares how you do it? The key for me to it all is – do you love what you do? I know that can’t be the same for everyone – I am able to have that as a criteria for my work. I didn’t love my 9-5 so I quit (not pre-meditated and totally uninfluenced by any writing), and became self-employed. I still do desk based assignments, so it could be classed as 9-5 (but who cares). I get to choose what, with whom and when, and I love it! Who’s to say that by this time next year I won’t be employed in a job I love? To pigeon-hole and make ‘minimal’ guidelines on how to live your life is naive – things change, people evolve, life is constantly adapting, and as a flexible gal I enjoy the ride. Thank god there are entrepreneurial hard-working 9-5er’s out there driving industry and technology forward…. what would we do if everyone generated income via e-book sales – it’s not the real world…and there is still one out there despite all the hype about the virtual world (not knocking it… I LOVE the virtual world – it’s amazing!!!!!! but I still have to do the laundry, haven’t discovered an app yet that can do that for me)
If you want to know what that’s all about then I suggest you hot foot it over to the superb Elevated Simplicity and check it out!
Anyway – where’s this going?
Unless I am very much mistaken there isn’t an app that does the laundry, so after years of battling the monster I decided to take it on – head on and devise a simplified laundry routine. This routine has now been in play for a month, and works. My hubby is seriously impressed, really he is, after almost 18 years of watching me struggle and fail to get generally organised, this is big news!
In fact I myself am so impressed I reckon it’s worth sharing (sorry if this post seems a bit like teaching your Grandmother to suck eggs – if you are super organised please skip or add in your own tips in the comments section);
Tip 1 – Reduce your wardrobe (and the kid’s)
Really do you need all the items in your wardrobe? It works on a very simple principle in that the more you own, the more you wear, the more laundry you have, the more washing you do, the more drying you have and the more ironing it generates.
Last Spring I reduced my wardrobe dramatically and have continued to do so. In fact I have been known to borrow the Hubby’s undies due to lack of my own – which I acknowledge is not just gruesome but potentially highly unhygienic. What I devised from this was to wash mine more often – we learn from our mistakes!
I now own very few items, I haven’t counted yet tut tut! But will do as I plan on taking part in Project 333 over at Be More With Less.
Tip 2 – Do a load of laundry every day
This was the turning point for me, I was accumulating dirty washing and trying to batch wash at the weekend. This is one chore, that for me, batching does not work. To batch wash you must have multiple items which creates more washing long-term. So instead I started doing one load each day, it took just 5 days to get rid of the back log and since then I have had no laundry… really no laundry apart from the load I put in each day. By having just one load I can manage with one airer – win win!
At this point it’s worth mentioning I am not very particular. I got asked the other day ‘Do you wash the children’s clothing with yours?’ and I replied yes rather quizzically… To just do one load a day I have to… but my children do not require any special detergent, some may do, but if they did I would probably wash all together in their detergent anyway.
I also include towels – but as I said I’m not very particular, life’s for living not doing laundry!
Tip 3 – Have 2 laundry baskets and 1 or 2 airers on hand (Winter routine – in Summer line dry)
Have 2 baskets that fit inside one another and keep them by the washing machine.
When a load is finished empty washed laundry into the top basket, but take both to the airer. Put full basket to one side, and then remove dry laundry from airer and place (folded! and by person/room) in the other basket. Put the dry laundry to one side and hang the wet laundry on the airer.
Have a peg hanger thingy on the airer, so that you can peg pairs of socks and undies together, and again by person.
Tip 4 – Hang the wet laundry efficiently
Make sure that you unload the washer as soon as a cycle is completed, shake the item and place folded in top laundry basket. Before hanging on the airer, flatten each item out the best you can to reduce creasing whilst drying and hopefully reducing (or in my case eliminating) ironing. I have my airer in the bathroom, so actually flatten the items on top of my loo seat (cleaned of course!).
When hanging, hang each family members items together, or in category order when hanging towels and linens. When dry remove in order of room visited to put laundry away. For example, I hang all my Daughter’s items together and all my Son’s separately on the airer, then when I remove and fold I ensure they do not get mixed. If you haven’t clicked by now I don’t iron unless under extreme duress!
Tip 5 – Reduce (aim to eliminate) ironing
If you have unloaded the washer quickly and have shaken and flattened the items before hanging and folded neatly after drying, this should eliminate the majority of creases and therefore reduce the need to do the job I hate most in the world – ironing! However there is one thing that could definitely nail it for you – hang it or put it away straight away! Do not keep it in a laundry basket, it makes creases and creates an unsightly pile. Pile’s grow – I should know, I have to curb mine at all times (particularly paper – my arch-enemy!). Once a pile starts in my house it is hard to control.
Hang everything straight away even if you think it needs ironing, chances are by the time it is worn the creases will have dropped out. If they haven’t and it really needs ironing, then iron it just before you wear it. I buy very little that needs ironing, in fact I received a complement on Christmas Day when my Niece commented (after seeing my iron and board stored neatly away) that she has never seen me iron.
I read somewhere once something along the lines of
‘Will your children remember the afternoon you spent playing outside with them, or that their trousers were neatly pressed?’
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
Hi Jo!
I personally hate doing laundry, so my wife does it and I clean bathrooms, I believe it’s a fare trade off! I do think these are some great tips, since we have a newborn, we have over 30 little outfits and Brooke trying to keep up on it all looks exhausting!
I forwarded this off to her to check out and read.
Thank you for the link back to my post too. I agree with you that life evolves. Hell I see a blogger change from week to week right before my eyes!
Keep it real Jo!
Eric
Always a pleasure Eric – if I hadn’t been checking out your blog I wouldn’t have had the inspiration for my post. Can I ask a favour? Just in case Brooke does try out any of the tips please can you ensure you clean the top of the loo seat properly… it may be required – Have fun Jo
Hi Jo!
I personally hate doing laundry, so my wife does it and I clean bathrooms, I believe it’s a fare trade off! I do think these are some great tips, since we have a newborn, we have over 30 little outfits and Brooke trying to keep up on it all looks exhausting!
I forwarded this off to her to check out and read.
Thank you for the link back to my post too. I agree with you that life evolves. Hell I see a blogger change from week to week right before my eyes!
Keep it real Jo!
Eric
Always a pleasure Eric – if I hadn’t been checking out your blog I wouldn’t have had the inspiration for my post. Can I ask a favour? Just in case Brooke does try out any of the tips please can you ensure you clean the top of the loo seat properly… it may be required – Have fun Jo
Hi Jo!
I personally hate doing laundry, so my wife does it and I clean bathrooms, I believe it’s a fare trade off! I do think these are some great tips, since we have a newborn, we have over 30 little outfits and Brooke trying to keep up on it all looks exhausting!
I forwarded this off to her to check out and read.
Thank you for the link back to my post too. I agree with you that life evolves. Hell I see a blogger change from week to week right before my eyes!
Keep it real Jo!
Eric
Always a pleasure Eric – if I hadn’t been checking out your blog I wouldn’t have had the inspiration for my post. Can I ask a favour? Just in case Brooke does try out any of the tips please can you ensure you clean the top of the loo seat properly… it may be required – Have fun Jo
One day when needing to get some laundry done quickly to pack & go on a trip, I just threw everything that wasn’t jeans/towels in one load. Guess what, nothing was ruined! All these years of training to and sorting out laundry by colors & whites, my laundry came out just fine! So now, I do 2 loads per day for my family of five that works outdoors & gets very dirty: a load of towels/jeans, and a load of everything else. It wouldn’t all fit in 1 load anyway, so it works for us. One day my mother-in-law came over & was horrified that my whites & darks were in the same load. I just laughed and went on!
Thanks for this top comment Kathy – I had failed to mention I pretty much chuck everything in. With the advances in detergent you can wash on low temperatures and thus there’s little chance of ruining stuff. I must add that Mother-in-laws are the source of amusement the world over. I know of one (not mine I hasten to add) that told her daughter-in-law that if she mixed towels and lighter weight items it would break the drum in the washing machine! 🙂
One day when needing to get some laundry done quickly to pack & go on a trip, I just threw everything that wasn’t jeans/towels in one load. Guess what, nothing was ruined! All these years of training to and sorting out laundry by colors & whites, my laundry came out just fine! So now, I do 2 loads per day for my family of five that works outdoors & gets very dirty: a load of towels/jeans, and a load of everything else. It wouldn’t all fit in 1 load anyway, so it works for us. One day my mother-in-law came over & was horrified that my whites & darks were in the same load. I just laughed and went on!
Thanks for this top comment Kathy – I had failed to mention I pretty much chuck everything in. With the advances in detergent you can wash on low temperatures and thus there’s little chance of ruining stuff. I must add that Mother-in-laws are the source of amusement the world over. I know of one (not mine I hasten to add) that told her daughter-in-law that if she mixed towels and lighter weight items it would break the drum in the washing machine! 🙂
One day when needing to get some laundry done quickly to pack & go on a trip, I just threw everything that wasn’t jeans/towels in one load. Guess what, nothing was ruined! All these years of training to and sorting out laundry by colors & whites, my laundry came out just fine! So now, I do 2 loads per day for my family of five that works outdoors & gets very dirty: a load of towels/jeans, and a load of everything else. It wouldn’t all fit in 1 load anyway, so it works for us. One day my mother-in-law came over & was horrified that my whites & darks were in the same load. I just laughed and went on!
Thanks for this top comment Kathy – I had failed to mention I pretty much chuck everything in. With the advances in detergent you can wash on low temperatures and thus there’s little chance of ruining stuff. I must add that Mother-in-laws are the source of amusement the world over. I know of one (not mine I hasten to add) that told her daughter-in-law that if she mixed towels and lighter weight items it would break the drum in the washing machine! 🙂
oh boy, another pile maker eh? i have piles everywhere, it’s terrible! unfortunately, my laundry machine seems to wrinkle everything to high heaven no matter what i do! no matter if i hang them to dry or put them in the dryer, it wrinkles everything, so i pretty much end up ironing every day. sigh….
oh boy, another pile maker eh? i have piles everywhere, it’s terrible! unfortunately, my laundry machine seems to wrinkle everything to high heaven no matter what i do! no matter if i hang them to dry or put them in the dryer, it wrinkles everything, so i pretty much end up ironing every day. sigh….
oh boy, another pile maker eh? i have piles everywhere, it’s terrible! unfortunately, my laundry machine seems to wrinkle everything to high heaven no matter what i do! no matter if i hang them to dry or put them in the dryer, it wrinkles everything, so i pretty much end up ironing every day. sigh….
Marianney – I feel for you hun! I could not iron everyday – the only ironing I do is once a week when I do shirts for Hubby’s work and my daughters school uniform – and that’s only because I absolutely have to!
Piles breed – I call them ‘piles of procrastination’ over the years I have realised that it is due to my lack of decision making as to what to do with the items that has caused much of the problem. I have to keep on top of it otherwise all hell breaks loose. For example I cleared the inside of my desk and now instead of disposing of most of the items they are sitting in piles on top of it – with me wondering what to do next? Paper is my arch enemy! Have a lovely day – Jo
I love the expression “piles of procrastination” 🙂 I’m going to think of that every time I look at my piles of laundry and paper. There is something about the term that hits you with the reality that you just need to make the decision to put it all away. Love it. Thanks for the motivator.
Just popped over to your blog and have commented… Just before I did the Hubby came in and raised an eyebrow at the pile of unloaded dishes that I removed from the dishwasher and failed to put away – oops! Have a great weekend Jo
Marianney – I feel for you hun! I could not iron everyday – the only ironing I do is once a week when I do shirts for Hubby’s work and my daughters school uniform – and that’s only because I absolutely have to!
Piles breed – I call them ‘piles of procrastination’ over the years I have realised that it is due to my lack of decision making as to what to do with the items that has caused much of the problem. I have to keep on top of it otherwise all hell breaks loose. For example I cleared the inside of my desk and now instead of disposing of most of the items they are sitting in piles on top of it – with me wondering what to do next? Paper is my arch enemy! Have a lovely day – Jo
I love the expression “piles of procrastination” 🙂 I’m going to think of that every time I look at my piles of laundry and paper. There is something about the term that hits you with the reality that you just need to make the decision to put it all away. Love it. Thanks for the motivator.
Just popped over to your blog and have commented… Just before I did the Hubby came in and raised an eyebrow at the pile of unloaded dishes that I removed from the dishwasher and failed to put away – oops! Have a great weekend Jo
Marianney – I feel for you hun! I could not iron everyday – the only ironing I do is once a week when I do shirts for Hubby’s work and my daughters school uniform – and that’s only because I absolutely have to!
Piles breed – I call them ‘piles of procrastination’ over the years I have realised that it is due to my lack of decision making as to what to do with the items that has caused much of the problem. I have to keep on top of it otherwise all hell breaks loose. For example I cleared the inside of my desk and now instead of disposing of most of the items they are sitting in piles on top of it – with me wondering what to do next? Paper is my arch enemy! Have a lovely day – Jo
I love the expression “piles of procrastination” 🙂 I’m going to think of that every time I look at my piles of laundry and paper. There is something about the term that hits you with the reality that you just need to make the decision to put it all away. Love it. Thanks for the motivator.
Just popped over to your blog and have commented… Just before I did the Hubby came in and raised an eyebrow at the pile of unloaded dishes that I removed from the dishwasher and failed to put away – oops! Have a great weekend Jo
haha you sound like me jo! piles of paper are my worst enemy as well! i just can’t seem to get rid of it. i even have an almost empty file cabinet that i apparently don’t use! ahhh…one of these days i’ll get around to filing all these piles!
haha you sound like me jo! piles of paper are my worst enemy as well! i just can’t seem to get rid of it. i even have an almost empty file cabinet that i apparently don’t use! ahhh…one of these days i’ll get around to filing all these piles!
haha you sound like me jo! piles of paper are my worst enemy as well! i just can’t seem to get rid of it. i even have an almost empty file cabinet that i apparently don’t use! ahhh…one of these days i’ll get around to filing all these piles!
This pretty much sounds like my laundry system. I do split darks and lights but will throw them in together if there’s no new dark items and I could make a load by combining.
I’ve got a lot more ruthless about the kids re-wearing items and that has made a HUGE difference. They get fresh undies and socks morning and night but, other than that, they wear the clothes until I think they look skanky.
By the way, totally refreshing to read a laundry post that isn’t stressing about the “folding”! I love reading about the differences between US domestic systems and here but the dread-of-folding-thing always has me a bit confused. 🙂
Karen (Scotland)
I have a minimalist friend who many years ago told me how she ‘baby wipes’ a stain off the clothing rather than wash and the kids re-wear. I’d gotten into the habit of washing and washing, as you say it really isn’t necessary. One key thing for me has been the reduction of clothing in general in our house – I have two pairs of jeans and I wash and wear, wash and wear. No ironing, just a quick wash then hang. I wear everything now until they go into holes. Seriously even my Hubby yesterday told me to buy a new top when I showed him the holes! I’ll have to have a look through some US laundry posts as you have me intrigued about the “folding stress” – I haven’t picked up on it – but I haven’t read much on laundry…. Hmmmm interesting….. Jo
I think Americans use toploader machines and therefore do all their laundry in one go. They also (seem to) use tumbles more and seem to empty one load and throw another load in, leaving the dry stuff sitting – waiting to be folded. At least, that’s what I gather from blogs, but feel free to correct me, any American reading this, if I’ve made assumptions. 🙂
Totally agree with cutting down the clothes in the wardrobe. My boys have about five outfits each (plus school uniform). I could do with less term time but I think I need the five in the holidays.
I’ve had two pairs of leggings all winter and they just started to develop holes in the thighs (so no leg-crossing this week!) It means I’ve been super conscious of wash, dry, wear.
Just trying to keep it simple, eh?
Karen
This pretty much sounds like my laundry system. I do split darks and lights but will throw them in together if there’s no new dark items and I could make a load by combining.
I’ve got a lot more ruthless about the kids re-wearing items and that has made a HUGE difference. They get fresh undies and socks morning and night but, other than that, they wear the clothes until I think they look skanky.
By the way, totally refreshing to read a laundry post that isn’t stressing about the “folding”! I love reading about the differences between US domestic systems and here but the dread-of-folding-thing always has me a bit confused. 🙂
Karen (Scotland)
I have a minimalist friend who many years ago told me how she ‘baby wipes’ a stain off the clothing rather than wash and the kids re-wear. I’d gotten into the habit of washing and washing, as you say it really isn’t necessary. One key thing for me has been the reduction of clothing in general in our house – I have two pairs of jeans and I wash and wear, wash and wear. No ironing, just a quick wash then hang. I wear everything now until they go into holes. Seriously even my Hubby yesterday told me to buy a new top when I showed him the holes! I’ll have to have a look through some US laundry posts as you have me intrigued about the “folding stress” – I haven’t picked up on it – but I haven’t read much on laundry…. Hmmmm interesting….. Jo
I think Americans use toploader machines and therefore do all their laundry in one go. They also (seem to) use tumbles more and seem to empty one load and throw another load in, leaving the dry stuff sitting – waiting to be folded. At least, that’s what I gather from blogs, but feel free to correct me, any American reading this, if I’ve made assumptions. 🙂
Totally agree with cutting down the clothes in the wardrobe. My boys have about five outfits each (plus school uniform). I could do with less term time but I think I need the five in the holidays.
I’ve had two pairs of leggings all winter and they just started to develop holes in the thighs (so no leg-crossing this week!) It means I’ve been super conscious of wash, dry, wear.
Just trying to keep it simple, eh?
Karen
This pretty much sounds like my laundry system. I do split darks and lights but will throw them in together if there’s no new dark items and I could make a load by combining.
I’ve got a lot more ruthless about the kids re-wearing items and that has made a HUGE difference. They get fresh undies and socks morning and night but, other than that, they wear the clothes until I think they look skanky.
By the way, totally refreshing to read a laundry post that isn’t stressing about the “folding”! I love reading about the differences between US domestic systems and here but the dread-of-folding-thing always has me a bit confused. 🙂
Karen (Scotland)
I have a minimalist friend who many years ago told me how she ‘baby wipes’ a stain off the clothing rather than wash and the kids re-wear. I’d gotten into the habit of washing and washing, as you say it really isn’t necessary. One key thing for me has been the reduction of clothing in general in our house – I have two pairs of jeans and I wash and wear, wash and wear. No ironing, just a quick wash then hang. I wear everything now until they go into holes. Seriously even my Hubby yesterday told me to buy a new top when I showed him the holes! I’ll have to have a look through some US laundry posts as you have me intrigued about the “folding stress” – I haven’t picked up on it – but I haven’t read much on laundry…. Hmmmm interesting….. Jo
I think Americans use toploader machines and therefore do all their laundry in one go. They also (seem to) use tumbles more and seem to empty one load and throw another load in, leaving the dry stuff sitting – waiting to be folded. At least, that’s what I gather from blogs, but feel free to correct me, any American reading this, if I’ve made assumptions. 🙂
Totally agree with cutting down the clothes in the wardrobe. My boys have about five outfits each (plus school uniform). I could do with less term time but I think I need the five in the holidays.
I’ve had two pairs of leggings all winter and they just started to develop holes in the thighs (so no leg-crossing this week!) It means I’ve been super conscious of wash, dry, wear.
Just trying to keep it simple, eh?
Karen
I wash everything together except the diapers, but we use the same detergent on everything because of my allergies. We have really limited the amount of clothing we have. Just 10 years ago I had enough clothing to wear a totally different outfit every day of the week, except undergarments. Today I have 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of jean shorts, 2 pairs of workout capris, 1 pair of yoga pants, 3 t-shirts, 2 blouses, a hooded sweatshirt, 2 pairs of slacks that I don’t need any longer since I no longer work outside the home and a skirt. The children each have 7 outfits for summer and winter each, 3 pj sets and socks/underwear for a week.
My husband has much more clothing than the rest of us combined, but he wears his pants multiple times before putting them in to be washed unless they’re dirty so I don’t mind to much. Also, he’s okay with me putting those things that are beyond repair into my fabric stash to make into clothing for the children or use for other projects.
Since limiting the number of clothing items we have (or use for DH) and doubling our diaper stash since we have 2 in them and one in them at night we have really cut down on washing. I now do 3 loads of diapers a week and 3 loads of clothing. I don’t iron clothing anymore since we have no where to go that requires it.
I wash everything together except the diapers, but we use the same detergent on everything because of my allergies. We have really limited the amount of clothing we have. Just 10 years ago I had enough clothing to wear a totally different outfit every day of the week, except undergarments. Today I have 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of jean shorts, 2 pairs of workout capris, 1 pair of yoga pants, 3 t-shirts, 2 blouses, a hooded sweatshirt, 2 pairs of slacks that I don’t need any longer since I no longer work outside the home and a skirt. The children each have 7 outfits for summer and winter each, 3 pj sets and socks/underwear for a week.
My husband has much more clothing than the rest of us combined, but he wears his pants multiple times before putting them in to be washed unless they’re dirty so I don’t mind to much. Also, he’s okay with me putting those things that are beyond repair into my fabric stash to make into clothing for the children or use for other projects.
Since limiting the number of clothing items we have (or use for DH) and doubling our diaper stash since we have 2 in them and one in them at night we have really cut down on washing. I now do 3 loads of diapers a week and 3 loads of clothing. I don’t iron clothing anymore since we have no where to go that requires it.
I wash everything together except the diapers, but we use the same detergent on everything because of my allergies. We have really limited the amount of clothing we have. Just 10 years ago I had enough clothing to wear a totally different outfit every day of the week, except undergarments. Today I have 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of jean shorts, 2 pairs of workout capris, 1 pair of yoga pants, 3 t-shirts, 2 blouses, a hooded sweatshirt, 2 pairs of slacks that I don’t need any longer since I no longer work outside the home and a skirt. The children each have 7 outfits for summer and winter each, 3 pj sets and socks/underwear for a week.
My husband has much more clothing than the rest of us combined, but he wears his pants multiple times before putting them in to be washed unless they’re dirty so I don’t mind to much. Also, he’s okay with me putting those things that are beyond repair into my fabric stash to make into clothing for the children or use for other projects.
Since limiting the number of clothing items we have (or use for DH) and doubling our diaper stash since we have 2 in them and one in them at night we have really cut down on washing. I now do 3 loads of diapers a week and 3 loads of clothing. I don’t iron clothing anymore since we have no where to go that requires it.