Help with Laundry

I have a family of 5, myself. I have instructed everyone to wear pjs at least 2-3 times (unless it's obvious they are dirty or stinky), jeans can be worn 2-3 times, sweatshirts a few times, etc. etc. Even with this, I still have loads and loads of laundry.

Someone else mentioned flylady, and I second that! I would like to get going more on her routines, but the little tidbits that I have taken from her website have been helpful. I agree with trying to do a load each day. (I have a family of 4, two toddlers, so just a little less than you.) I do a load each day, and when it is folded and put away, I don't take the basket downstairs empty! I see which load needs done next (darks, lights, kids), and take that load down to get it started! Yes, it sometimes feels like I'm doing laundry all the time! But it's such small incriments that it never feels overwhelming. I pretty much have hampers for dirty in each room, and then only 1-2 baskets/loads going at a time.

My mom once had a inspirational book for moms. It said that being a mom is like painting the Golden Gate Bridge - by the time they finish repainting it, they have to start over at the other end again because it already needs painted again! Sounds like laundry - by the time it's clean and put away, it's dirty again!

Speaking of...I have a load waiting to be folded that I should get to:)
S.

1-Do one batch of laundry each day (I let the dry clothes wait in the dryer til the next day.)(clothes get the most wrinkles if they sit a long time while they're wet. Most are OK if you put them in the dryer right at the end of the wash cycle.)
2-carry a batch of clean clothes upstairs next time I am going upstairs and put it in my walk-in closet. (I empty the dryer into the basket I used to bring down the dirty clothes as soon as the dirty ones are in the washer....and put it at the bottom of the stairs.)

3-each kid has a box with their name on it in my walk in closet - When I think about it, I toss the clean clothes in the correct box and the kids can leave it there or put it away. No more folding.

4-if I catch it, I pull out the clothes that'll wrinkle and put them on hangers that we keep by the washing machine on a clothes rack. Otherwise, my husband tosses his shirt and pants in the dryer with a damp washcloth while he's eating breakfast.

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The nicest part is that there's 2 levels of extra clean clothes. Can't find pants for jr in his box? go look on the walk-in closet pile OR in the basket at the bottom of the stairs....OR in the dryer.

Hi M.,
I see you have gotten a lot of advice, but mine is different than the others so I will share.
I used to do laundry once a week but it became overwhelming. I really didn't want to do laundry everyday so I decided to do two loads three days a week and I decided which loads I will do on which days.
I started by getting rid of a lot of our clothes, I only keep what we actually wear, and what we need. We wear our pajamas more than once and use our towels more than once.
Five years ago I would have thought that that was disgusting, but it came to a point where my sanity was on the line!
If you have room in your laundry room I would recommend getting sorters in there. I found ones at Target that are tall and skinny, like a wastebasket, they are sold individually and the edges stack so nothing will fall between the cracks, I love them because I can have 5 instead of the three that most sorters have, and they take up less room. I would suggest that you train your kids to bring down their laundry every morning and separate it into the sorters. Your 5 year old will probably be able to do this with a little help, and your twins can at least establish the habit of bringing them down for now. They can also get their clean clothes on the days that you do laundry, or just have them check everyday(thats what I have my kids do)when they go up to get ready for bed. I hang most of our clothes which I think is easier and with tiny bedrooms there is not a lot of space for dressers anyway. I have a shower rod that stretches from one wall to the other right by my dryer. The clothes come right out of the dryer onto a hanger. I also have small baskets, labeled for each person for the things I don't hang. Everyone is responsible to empty their own baskets and hang their clothes. In my family if the kitchen towels are in your basket then you are responsible for putting them away. Your kids might be too young for that though, maybe hubby can do it.:)
Good luck, I hope you find something that works!

I feel your pain I feel like I'm always doing a ton of laundry. I started the Flylady cleaning system last summer and one of her habits to develop is laundry. She suggests doing one load everyday. Washing drying and putting away. I tend to let the putting it away slide but my system has improved. For me I try to take down the dirty clothes right after my shower. Then throw in a load. I then recheck it later in the day and put it in the dryer then before bed I go down and fold the load that has dried. I also have baskets for my kids and a hanging rack in the laundry room so when the clothes are folded they go staight into the seperate baskets or are hung up. The kids then have to come and get their clothes. I do help my 3 and 6 year old take theirs up if they have a lot. I've also learned never to make a trip empty handed. Always carry something up and put it away or bring laundry down whenever I need to go into the basement.

Another hint someone gave me was to get rid of a lot of the kids clothes. They said if you are doing laundry regulary they don't need 20 shirts. I haven't gone through all my kids clothes as of yet but I could see how the laundry can get stacked up if you know you don't have to wash for 2 or 3 weeks. I also find my kids throw clean clothes in their baskets because they fall of the hangers or get thrown out of the drawer so having less clothes might help them from digging in the drawers and closets for their favorites.

Anyway good luck

Everyone has to develop a system that works for them so hopefully you will find some useful tips and find something that will work for you.

I also have a family of 5 and have found that I have no choice but to do at least a load a day. I put one in each morning as soon as I wake and then go off for the day. When I get home I run down to the laundry room and get one started again. The laundry never ends! I have a 9 year old boy and two 5 year old girls! I make all the kids wear jamies two nights, they must use the towels all week long. They get a new towel each Sunday. I also find it helpful to wash the loads by bedroom or by person. That way I am not running all over the house to distribute things. I keep it going every day and still have piles on Saturday, in fact I should be doing it right now! My plan is to get one of those large capacity sets when tax time comes. Wish me luck! I wish you the best and God's speed in the laundry room. :)

Hi M.,
I would suggest you try to do laundry more then once a week. I know you're probably thinking that you'll be at it all the time then but I don't think you will. I think you'll see that more frequent washing will create some open time for you. I do ours twice a week (Mon/Thurs) and there are only 4 of us. Be sure to put the kiddos to work helping you. (They would be great at gathering clothes, folding and putting their own stuff away). Also, there's nothing wrong with your kids wearing their clothes more then one time as long as they are still resonably clean. God Bless, L.

Hi!

The first thing that I did that really helped was kept the amount of clothes the kids have low...ie, no more than 10 outfits per kid, with 10 pair of undies and socks. Then, I have assigned each family member with a color for their towels and washcloths. They each get 2 towels, 2 wash cloths and 2 hand towels. They have to hang their towel, ect after each use and use their towels more than once. If you do 2 loads a day, you shouldn't be behind when the weekend comes and perhaps that is when the linens could be done.

Hope to have helped.

A.

There are six in my family and we have a 2-story with laundry in the basement as well. In our bedroom is the only hamper upstairs for dirty clothes and that's where it all goes. I take it down every morning and have as many clothes baskets I need to sort into the different loads in the basement---i.e. whites, cold colors, warm colors, towels, etc. I know that a load is the appropriate size for my washer when it gets just to the top and that's how I determine which loads I do that day---and I do 2-3 loads per day. (We could probably be more efficient in some ways with dirty clothes, but that is for another post. :0) I follow a mantra of sort-wash-dry-fold-put away and I dump it all out after it comes out of the dryer on my bed---so if I don't get it done through the day it for sure needs to be addressed before I go to bed. I too used to spend entire days addressing this chore and I have found that attacking a little each day is much better for me. Oh and when the laundry baskets aren't full, I stack them inside each other and store them on the top of the washer or dryer behind the laundry closet doors and take them out the next morning when I sort.

Let me know what you find out for yourself---I am always looking for new and better ways to make likfe easier.

Best wishes.

The only way I have found that I don't have to spend a whole day or more doing laundry is to do one load a day. After I have made breakfast and the kids are eating, I start a load. It may not get dried, folded and put away until just before my 6 yr old gets home from school, but at least it gets done. I used to be like you...stressed over laundry, husband wondering where the shirt he wore last weekend is, kids running out of socks and underwear, but now...the stress is waaaaaay down, and everyone has the clean clothes they need or want. If you did a load of whites yesterday, do a load of darks today, then a load of towels tomorrow. You can also get your kids involved in getting the laundry to the washer. Ask your 5 yr old to get all the white clothes or dark clothes from his room and take it to the laundry room. The younger ones can do it too with a little help from their big brother. Kids love to help out. you just have to give them direction. REMEMBER....ONE LOAD A DAY.

We are a family of 4 and I sort the laundry by person and get the kids to help (to the best, and it won't be perfect, of their ability). I do laundry daily, some days I don't do any, but most days there is laundry to do. I do our laundry separately...my kids clothes are not in the laudry with my husbands or my clothes and I go a step further and wash my clothes separate from my husbands (we have two hampers/dirty clothes baskets in our room...one for me and one for hubby. The children have one for the two of them). For me the clothes are easier to put away that way and I almost always have full loads. My children do help with their laundry. My 5 year old daughter brings the dirty clothes out of the room and sets it in front of the washer, both my 5 year old daughter and almost 3 year old boy help with separating then they help load the washer, put in the dryer, etc. When their clothes are dry they help fold, take the clothes to their room and put them away. It's amazing how much the little ones helping really does help. My daughter was very interested in "doing" the laundry so I jumped at the opportunity and everything sister does, baby brother has to do too and I was very amazed.

I am a family of nine, I feel your pain :). I have never really found a system that works well enough that I stick with it. My washer/dryer is in the basement along with 2 bedrooms, the other two are upstairs. A few things that might help cut it down to at least one day verses two is to set a timer, most dryers are done drying long before the "ding", figure out yours. I also seperate all the laundry right before I am going to start, having pre-made piles cuts back on a lot of time and makes it so much easier. I tried those seperater type baskets, but they just didn't work as well as I thought. As one mom suggested, if you aren't going anywhere keep the kids in thier PJ's that helps a lot.

Lastly relax..as long as no one is naked you are doing good LOL.

One batch a day. I do one batch a day to keep from being overwhelmed. I have 4 kids also. One day, whites, another, darks, next light colors, then bedding, then towels. Sometimes I need to do a batch on Saturday also. (I have 4 girls, they like to change clothes alot.)

I used to have a separate hamper for my daughter (3) but I finally decided to just throw her stuff in with ours and it's made things so much easier. I, too, struggle with keeping up with it because it gets out of control...there are only 3 of us, but the washer is ALWAYS going!

I try to do a load every day or two, just to stay on top of it.

Hope this helps!

Oh, the dreaded laundry wars! The best solution I can offer you is to do a load or 2 a day. I do all my sheets and towels on Mondays and with the clothes I do at least a load a day that way it doesn't get backed up. Hope this works for you too!

You have gotten a lot of good advice, but I thought that as another with a big family I would put in my thoughts as well. I have 6 children, so my family is one of 8, and our laundry room is upstairs as well as the bedrooms. This makes is easier come putting things away. I have one laundry basket for each of the bedrooms, and one downstairs for all the kitchen things. I remind the children that if they don't put their dirty clothing in a basket that I won't wash. I will go into their rooms to pick up baskets, just not the clothes on the floor. I vary between doing one load a day and sometimes trying to do all laundry in a day---each has worked for me. What I don't like is the folding and putting things away--that is where I differ from some. I have baskets in the laundry room for my oldest DD (13 yr), my oldest son (7 1/2 yr) and one for the 2 girls (5 1/2 and 4 1/2). Into these baskets I put their clean clothes. They are responsible for folding and putting them away. I will wash it all and then dry, but when I am folding I just put theirs into the basket and let it be. The kids help me put towels and the other household items away. They help me by bringing the baskets to the laundry room when I ask them to clean their rooms. I have 2 laundry sorters and I will sort the clothes too. I don't feel overwhelmed, mainly because my kids are more involved in the process. They know that if they don't get it into the laundry it won't get washed, and if they need something in particular, like a special shirt, that they need to ask in advance so that I can make sure that it is washed. I have also found that when I make a special effort to fold the clothes as they come out of the dryer, that it doesn't pile up....I have been know to put things into a basket and leave them, until I don't know which baskets are clean and which are dirty and have to wash all over again. I think that the most important thing to do, is find something that works for you and your family and stick with it.
J.--SAHM of 6

laundry is a never-ending chore.. but here are a few things I do to keep it simple.

1. wash everything in cold water (unless you absolutely need to wash in hot).
2. I also use "color catchers" frequently so I don't have to worry about being extra careful about sorting clothes. they are great, you could wash a brand new red shirt with your whites and not have the color run.
3. use perfume & dye free detergent & dryer sheets for everyone's clothes... I don't know if you are still using dreft, etc. for your youngest.. but I find it too much of a hassle to sort everything out by person.
4. i do a load or two every other day... i fold everything and put it on the couch in teh living room (closest to the laundry room). the rule is if you go upstairs on laundry day, you take a load of clothes with you. also, no one leaves the couch (after watching t.v. or playing for the evening without taking clothes.
5. and if clothes are clean, folded and delivered to your room.. you put them away.. right then, not tomorrow, not moving them around... today. I was noticing clothing items making frequent appearances in the wash when I hadn't seem them worn.. this happened when piles of clean clothes got co-mingled with dirty ones.
6. what else? elist help, my daughter who is two, can't really help fold laundry, but she likes to put laundry in the washer or help move it to the dryer (or carry it to the couch). I figure if I keep it fun and something we do together, the actual "help" will come when she is older... and hopefully will learn how to do it herself.

I have a family of five as well and I try to do the laundry at least every other day or it does pile up! My LR is in the basement, I keep a basket for each family member down there and the older kids( (9 and 12) are supposed to get it themselves. I put mine and my husbands together. One thing I learned from the fly lady is to break it down into smaller amounts of time, so I take thing out of the dryer and put them on the shelf to fold, then I will fold laundry for 15 minutes when I can through out the day. Since you work from home maybe this would work for you, take a 15 min work break and just get it started or fold or what ever! Try the fly lady books, she has some great tips on home management!

I have 4 kids all under the age of 4 (b/g twins 9 months old-and I bet you have a bunch of wisdom to help me!!!). Anyway as you can imagine the kids aren't old enough to be a lot of help, but I do make my 4 year old put her own laundry away. I have a basket in each kids room. And then a couple in my room, just like you do. Everyone-except the babies of course-are responsible for putting there laundry in a basket-I keep an extra one in the bathroom for there convienence. Then I throw a load in the washer every morning. Lunch time I throw that load in the dryer. After dinner I fluff it in the dryer for 5 min and fold it as it comes out of the dryer and put it away. By doing a load a day every day of the week means that Saturday I mostly have sheets or other items like that left to do, or just a couple of loads to catch up, so I can actually go do something with the kids if I need or want to. Good luck, folding laundry is my LEAST favorite chore-although it might be tied with dusting.

Everything Michelle B. said!!! I don't have an actual laundry room with baskets, but I keep everything sorted in my bath tub. (Who has time for long, luxurious baths?) Darks, lights, bleach, jeans, towels, husband's work clothes, etc. When a pile is B., I wash it. I try to do one or two loads a day, that way is isn't so overwhelming.

I would suggest doing laundry every day. We are a family of 7 and I have tried to designate laundry days without success. I keep our laundry bins down stairs. I have 6. One for lights, darks, bleaches, my husbands work clothes, towels, and hand wash. When a bin is full I do the laundry. I don't have to spend time sorting and I know when a load needs to be done. I ask the older kids to sort their clothes and to bring then to the laundry room two to three times a week. Occasionally I will have to get them but that is my choice. I ususally have to do 2 to 3 loads of laundry a day but it goes very quickly and I put them away soon as I fold a load that way I don't have laundry laying around the house. I will pull the sheets off of the beds when there is not a load to wash. This system has worked the best for me. Just find one that works for you. Good luck!

Hello!
I work full-time, go to school full-time, and my spouse works too. We are a rather busy family, so I think this strategy works for us. I wash and dry 1 load a day and then fold and put it away all at once on the weekend while watching a movie that I like. In order to unwrinkle it, I throw it in the dryer for a couple of minutes with a wet washcloth.

I have a family of five as well. The kids each have a laundry basket in their closets and my husband and I have a sorter in ours. What I do is on Fridays I wash the kids loads. I cannont combine my girls clothes( 11 and 8) because their sizes are so close that I could not sort them with out help. On Fridays I also wash a load of Dark and Lights from my room. On Mondays I wash 3 loads- dark, lights and undergarmets. The on Wednesdays I wash towels/bedding. This routine helps me to stay together. I know what I plan on washing and the order before I do it and I know when I am done. They are spaced out so that if something happens one day and I cannot get it all done I have tomorrow to finish up.

Hello!!

Laundry was the bain of my existence with 5 kids, me and my husband. I found that if I did one person's laundry each day I could get it washed, dryed, folded or hung up all in that day. I loved this system - everyone had clean clothes and I acutally spent less time doing laundry!! I did all the towels and the sheets on a separate day and this system seemed to work for a lot of years. However, to this day, laundry is not my favorite household chore!

Hi M.,
So funny, I just had this conversation with some ladies at work yesterday. I never understood how people do laundry "once" a week. If I waited a whole week before doing a load it would be overflowing and we are only a family of four. What works well for me is to do at least one load almost every day. Each load still gets washed once a week but the work is more spread out. For example, I may put a load of jeans in on Sunday night, then towels on Monday morning, then whites on Tuesday, colors on Wednesday, darks on Thursday, then when I have more time on Friday I wash bedding and rugs and anything left. Believe me, I am not nearly as organized as this note appears. I don't have a set schedule. This is just an example. I wash based on what builds up first. It is just something that is happening in the background while I am doing other things. This has worked well for me.
Take care,
B.

We have five and adding the baby made this a bit tougher, but I can still usually get it. I do laundry Monday and Thursday. Monday is all sheets and towels, etc. First load is hubbie's and my colds. Then hots, adding 5 yo. Separate out our hots to dry, leave 5 yo. Add colds. Then reds. Separate out 5 yo and dry all his stuff (Due to allergies, his have to be treated differently). Next baby colds, then baby hots. Odd stuffs go in appropriate washes. I plan to be home all day, and as soon as the load is out of the dryer I fold it (with help) and put it away. 5 yo puts his own away. It's a bit trickier when I'm hanging laundry out, but I still can usually get it done. It's not really an all day thing since I can get stuff done in between times, but I try to not have to go any where. Doing it this way, I have 5 days a week I don't have to feel guilty about doing laundry. If I have small loads, I combine in the dryer to save time and electricity. When we got our last dryer, we invested in one with a dryness sensor. It's pretty reliable. Sometimes it's done before the washer! Not by much, so I just sort the next load out and leave it sitting on top of the dryer to go in when the washer stuff is in the dryer. Hope something here helps a bit! GL!

I have a family of 6 and I used to do laundry once a week as well. I have found that doing one, two loads tops per day keeps the laundry monster under control. I just have to keep up with it. :P

I think doing laundry every other day helps. So three times weekly. I don't like things to pile up. Consistency works.

I only have one child (so far) and I have the same problem, I can't imagine what you must go through on laundry day! I have found that the only way to truly keep up on the laundry is to do a little bit each day. OR...are your kids old enough to help out? If any of them are....mabye it's time to start dolling out some resposibility!
Good Luck!

Do a load of laundry every morning. I have two kids, though that isn't five people, if I miss a day it is two loads the next day easy. I refuse to spend a whole day doing laundry. Teach your kids now to put their dirty clothes in the hamper, as you get up in the morning, gather up all the dirty laundry and put a load in while you are making breakfast, throw them in the dryer while you are doing something else. If your younger ones nap, that is a great time to fold and put away. My four year old and seven year old have to put their clothes away after I have folded them.

I do laundry daily, I do ONE load a day and it is put away and done. Granted not always fun to do laundry every day but I do it and then don't spend a whole day or two doing loads of laundry. I think it is more energy efficient to do one a day then running your washer and dryer all day two days in a row.

Another thing I have done is our laundry basket is downstairs and kids just dump their clothes in it after they get ready for bed or I drop them in. That way the basket it by our basement stairs and I can get it done more efficiently.

If you have to go out you can throw a load in the washer and when you get back put it in the dryer.

how old are your kids? when ever you have the time just pic up some cloths and throw them in the wash. when my husband gets home from work or I change my son I just throw the dirty clothes into the washer and wait til its full,(normally in just a few hours) my sister and I started doind our laundry at 7 so that we could help my mom out. there were six of us. if the kids are old enough have them do there laundry on their own before they go to bed.

Rqandi

I too, have a family of five. Now that two of my kids are high schoolers, I have turned their laundry over to them!! Obviously you aren't there yet,(but something to look forward to someday!) but when I was doing everyone's I always did 2 loads per day, starting first thing in the morning and putting it away promptly so I didn't feel like I was working on it all day. I also got help from my kids in sorting, folding, and/or putting away. Your five year old is old enough to help with some aspects. Also, I had a consistent day for washing sheets, and when they were old enough, they knew they needed to pull off their sheets and bring them down to the laundry room. Good luck!

Do the best you can! I have four girls who all do sports, so I know how it goes. My laundry is never completely done! One thing that helps is everyone has their own basket in the laundry room. That way when I pull the clothes out of the dryer, I can put them directly in the right persons basket. My 9, 7, and 5 year old put their own stuff away. I'm teaching my 2 year old (not very successfully!) but someday! As long as everyone has something clean to wear, you're doing your job just fine!

FlyLady Marla Cilley recomends doing a load a day. Check out FlyLady.net for tips.
Here is a link to building a laundry routine, which it sounds to me like you need: http://www.flylady.net/pages/laundry_routine.asp

The laundry area is a very important part of your home, this room is what keeps us supplied with clean clothes. Laundry is one of those things that if not done with routines; will pile up faster than anything else in our homes. The clothes seem to multiply and before we know it we are surrounded by the piles and feel like it will never get done. A consistent laundry routine is truly the only way to stay ahead of Mount Washmore forming before your eyes.

What does it mean to do the laundry?

Well for some it just means to actually get it to the place where you know eventually it will get washed. For others it means that you get it washed and dried but never get it out of the dryer or laundry room. YOUR DRYER IS NOT A LAUNDRY BASKET!

Doing the laundry means that you take it to the machine, you wash, dry, fold, hang up and get this....PUT IT AWAY WHERE IT BELONGS! Now I know that is the hardest part, that is why for Fly babies we recommend small loads every single day, this way you get the backlog of laundry taken care of and get yourself into a routine of doing it.

Your Laundry Routine looks like this:

Get clothes into the laundry area

Separate Laundry into colors (light and dark, towels, whites and bleach piles.

For each load that you are about to do, turn the clothes right side out and unroll the balled up socks.

Check for stains so you can hit them with a prewash treatment Put Laundry in Washer, add soap and or bleach

Add Fabric Softener (if you do this at this stage)

When Laundry is washed, put into dryer, check your time, we waste a lot of time and energy by over drying our clothes.

Hang anything that needs to be hung,do it right then out of the washer or dryer, this saves on the wrinkles

Fold clothes immediately out of the dryer - Do not throw the clothes in a laundry basket and take the basket to another area of the house to be folded ! You know why! It will stay in the basket unfolded and then everything needs to be re-washed because it is so wrinkled.

Put Laundry away as soon as it is folded.

Then start the next load into the dryer. If you are really good about staying on top of your laundry then throw in a load into the washer once you have put the other load in the dryer. If you have a tendency to forget, then don't start another load until one is COMPLETE! Complete is from sorting to put away.

Following these steps will get your Laundry completed. As FlyLady always says: Nothing says I love you like clean underwear!

http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyLaundry1.asp

I don't have quite as big a family but I've seen friends use 2 different approaches with theirs.

One friend had a similar set up as far as the bedroom and laundry location. As part of their Saturday morning chores, the children (beginning around age 3) had to help with the laundry. They had to bring all of their laundry downstairs and then sort it into the piles that mom had started (colors, whites, etc). It helped them learn responsibility and took some pressure off mom. After all the laundry was done, Mom just stacked the folded stuff by child. She took hers and her husbands clothes and put them away but the children had to put theirs away. They may have been a bit older before she added this step. Not sure.

My other friend started doing one load of laundry each day. It sounded like that strategy helped her keep from feeling overwhelmed with the volume and made her feel like she was doing something other than laundry.