I've HAD It with Laundry! — Amy Louise Organizing

I think everyone has a chore they dislike more than others, and mine is laundry. I don’t remember it being this way when I was in my twenties- mainly because it wasn’t. I could easily get away with doing laundry once every other week. But today there are three other people in my household and a dog. Laundry is a daily situation. And if I take a day off, it doubles in size. I’ve had it with laundry!

So, what am I going to do about it? Absolutely nothing. I’m just going to keep doing laundry every day. The fact is that I’ve already done everything I can do to make the process as efficient and easy as possible for myself, short of hiring it done (which is a totally valid choice for many people). Here’s what I do, but you may do something completely different, and that’s okay too.

A DAILY PRACTICE

Over the years, I’ve tried doing the family laundry more and less frequently and landed on doing one load per day. This usually ensures a perfect-sized basket for the washing machine. Any longer than that and the drying rack gets too full, all the baskets are by the washer instead of collecting future laundry, and folding grows from a 10-minute task to a full 40 minutes. No thanks! I like to keep everything moving forward like a conveyer belt, so the task never grows too disproportionately large.

That said, I’ve heard many people rave about the exact opposite process, which is to let the laundry accumulate for a week or more and then devote a significant amount of time to one big laundry session. That works too. It’s just not for me. If laundry frequency is something you haven’t figured out for yourself yet, try different things and see what works for you!

MINIMAL SORTING

I think it was mainly laundry detergent commercials in the 1980s that gave me the idea that you’re supposed to sort laundry into lights and darks. Sure, that would be nice if someone else was doing my laundry, but since I’m doing it, that’s not going to happen. These days my family’s personal and professional styles are casual and there’s very little that can’t be washed together.

The only times I sort are when there’s a new item of denim (especially dark wash), it’s time to wash bedding, or there’s a truly delicate item. This prevents light-colored clothes from becoming tinted an unsightly gray, damp socks from getting wadded up in the corner of a fitted bed sheet, or a special item becoming tattered. But that’s it. If you’re spending a lot of time sorting laundry by type or color, I give you permission to ease up the “rules” a bit!

HANGING ITEMS TO DRY

The dryer is hard on clothes, so I hang synthetic fabrics like athleisure and nicer cotton items that will last longer if they aren’t battered in the dryer on a regular basis. I keep a rolling, metal clothes rack by the washer and dryer with a variety of hangers, and I use my hands to work the wrinkles out of cotton items before I leave them to hang dry. The synthetics usually dry within 30 minutes, and items with natural fibers sometimes take a full day.

CLEAR DIVISION OF LABOR

My family tends to have a clear division of labor when it comes to repetitive chores so we can become maximally efficient in our work and there’s no confusion about who’s responsible for what. The kids occasionally take an interest in folding and putting things away with me, and I have asked them to load or unload the washer or dryer from time to time, but ultimately this is my job, at least for the time being. I plan to provide more in-depth training as the kids grow older, and independent laundry habits are needed or desired.

IT’S HABITUAL

Laundry is never a big part of my day. It’s something I do quickly, almost on autopilot as I move through the house in the morning. I grab a basket, dump all the other baskets into it, and start a load of laundry. If I’m at home that day, I’ll transfer it to the dryer and drying rack during a mid-morning break and fold and put away the dried clothes during an afternoon break. If I’m working outside the home that day, these transfers shift to the evening. Because it’s a single load, no one part takes more than a few minutes. Again, this might not be for everyone, but this is what works for me, and it took a long time to become this habitual.

EVERYTHING HAS A PLACE TO GO

The biggest challenge most people face is putting the laundry away. It may not be clear where items go, or the drawers, shelves, and closets are too full or messy to easily receive them. Getting your clothes storage sufficiently organized requires some up-front work, and possibly costs if you’re considering adding organizing products such as baskets, drawer dividers, and other storage solutions. You will also need to do periodic culling to ensure there’s enough space. You don’t need to have photo-worthy clothes and linens storage, but you do need to designate a home for all your clean laundry. Having a designated home for all your possessions is foundational to organization (even if things aren’t always where they belong), and it’s no different with laundry!

A WORD ON KIDS: As I discussed in a different blog post, organization is a skill that must be learned, so don’t assume your kids are going to naturally know how to create and maintain homes for all their items without training and support. As with teaching kids anything, patience is key.

HOW AN ORGANIZER CAN HELP

Those are the nuts and bolts of my personal process, but I cannot stress enough that everyone is different. You need to decide what works best for you. If you’ve had it with laundry, here are a few ways a professional organizer can help.

Learn your preferred ways of working in the home and recommend processes to try.
Identify the places you are getting hung up and troubleshoot; for example, locating laundry baskets closer to where laundry gets generated.
Help you sort, declutter, and set up your closets, dressers, and other storage spaces for success.
Recommend helpful storage products.
Provide folding and storage lessons for the people who are responsible for laundry in your home such as your spouse, children, a nanny, or a housekeeper.

A WORD ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING

Laundry and other household tasks rely on what are known as executive functioning skills such as planning, prioritization, organization, task initiation, and working memory to move us through the dozens of small decisions and sub-tasks associated with any given chore. Executive functioning deficits often occur with adult ADHD, depression, anxiety, and other conditions. When this happens, conventional advice such as “try new things and see what works” or “create a schedule and stick to it,” may not be realistic or helpful.

If this is you, I recommend How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis, and her “Struggle Care” podcast, which offer “a gentle approach to cleaning and organization.” These gems offer less conventional advice that may be more in line with what you need right now.

I WANT HELP WITH THIS!