Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Let's talk laundry

You know when you snuggle into bed and you realize your sheets really need to be washed. And then you slumber away with the thought that tomorrow is bedsheets laundry day..

You wake in the morn and completely forget all about sheets because there are kids to be fed, and dishes to be done, and errands to be run.

And then at the end of the day, you hop in bed and realize the sheets never got washed. So you decide the next day to wash.... until you wake up and forget. And so on and so on.

Well, this was my life for who knows how long ... UNTIL TODAY....

Last night I glued the thought into my mind to wash the sheets. And this morning I finally remembered. Hurray! I love snuggling into whitey-tighty clean-smelling sheets after a long days work. I can't wait to go to bed tonight!

So let's share ideas about getting laundry done.

Do you have a specific day or schedule for laundering clothes, towels, sheets?

I've tried having a specific day to do laundry but inevitably it runs into every other day. Presently we have no schedule and we launder when we run out of underwear or jeans. And it's driving me crazy.

When we move, I want to figure out what will work. I read on a gal's blog that she threw one load in every morning even if there wasn't a super-size batch. Then she felt like she could keep up on it and not spend all day Saturday washing 10 loads.

I would also love a central location where all laundry goes so it isn't scattered in all the bedrooms and strewn in the hall or living room (which just happens with babies and kids in our house). But where is that ideal place? I'd love a huge laundry room with a big long counter, but that's not happening any time soon... so I'll have to figure something else out.

Let me know what you do that works? And share any stain-removal or products you like, pa-leeeeeease!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

we leave a basket in the hall closet (under a shelf) and at night throw things in there. Then, supposedly, (I would really like to do this, but just haven't made it a habit), I take the basket down every morning and put it in one of three bags (white, color, towels). Then, once a bag has gotten full, I throw it into the washer.
That is what I would ideally like to do. But, instead I take it down when I remember. Then monday morning when there are no clothes to wear, I go put a wash in. I spend the whole day doing laundry, and watch a show while I fold. Seems to work out okay.

{B}dreamy said...

Mmm, I love clean sheets! And I am a HUGE fan of OxyClean. I swear by it, as blasphemous as that sounds... I use the powdered for soaking and as a laundry booster, and the spray for any spots. It has seriously saved me hundreds of times (even when Will was a baby)! Love it. *B

Sally said...

Love these black and white laundry photos. Wish I had some great suggestions on how to keep up but it pretty much swallows me whole!

Thank you Thank you for all of your help with PS! I am having so much fun with it and its so great to have my own personal tutor!

Kristin Sokol said...

I love the Tide-to-go pen. It actually works. I also love the bleach pen, and the spray and wash stain stick. Treat now wash later.

Lexie said...

I love the pics Heather! Laundry.....I feel like it is the reason I exist some days! With 5 kids if I don't do AT LEAST 1 or 2 loads everyday, I am just buried. Another of my friends with 4 kids prefers to do all hers on 1 or 2 days. I just can't handle that much in one day (and we might run out of underwear :) I have a hamper for whites and light stuff, one for blues & red, pink, purple, etc. and a small bucket for kitchen and cleaning rags and my husband has his own hamper for jeans and shirts(but that is because he gets really dirty farming or at the ranch sometimes) and I have recently started a towel basket. I like having the kids sort out when they bring it to the laundry room. Then I can kind of see in a glance if I need to do whites or towels or what. I don't have a good solution about the sheets. I usually end up doing like you said at the beginning of your post and then just forget to put them on until we go to bed, and that is the PITTS!

I am also a fan of sock clips.....I feel like they save me a lot of time. If the kids don't use them then they have to fold the socks! Aren't I mean? I also have a small basket for orphan socks and have the kids try to match them every once in awhile (maybe 3 times a year if we are lucky) and get rid of stray ones with no matches

Now that we have moved and have a basement I am having some trouble getting the teenagers to bring their clothes up sometimes. But if they don't bring it up.......it doesn't get washed. That really makes them think when they don't have washrags for their faces or their fav jeans aren't clean ;)

Well, that is more than you wanted to know about our laundry! Hope it helps........

Reeses Pieces said...

I feel like no matter what routine I get into or day I decide to do laundry, it never works. I cannot keep up. As far as stain removers I always use Spray n' Wash. It works pretty good but I heard some ladies saying that the gel kind, the kind where it comes out white and blue, works really well. Good luck. Gotta get back to doing my laundry:)

luvmy5boyscora said...

Laundry...! Well, I put a load in EVERY morning. Kind of like the dishwasher. I run the dishwasher every night, even if it isn't all the way full so come morning, I unload it while the kids eat breakfast and the whole rest of the day I have an empty dishwasher for dirty dishes.

So it doesn't matter how big the load is, I just throw one in as the kids eat breakfast. Then I have 1 load out of the way, throw it in the dryer and try to start my 2nd load right after that. Then I find a few minutes here and there in my day to fold it. I would rather fold 1 or 2 loads a day than 10....I would be buried!

As far as sorting, my boys share rooms so I have a cool sports hamper I got at K-mart in each closert. They make baskets when they throw their clothes in it. My 2 1/2 year old loves it. When it looks somewhat full after about 4 or 5 days, I will wash that load. Then everything goes right back to the room it came out of, and I save a lot of time sorting.

For my room I have a 3-way hamper and I have whites, Josh's nice work clothes and then just the everyday regular stuff. When 1 looks full, I wash that load. It is a great way to stay caught up on the whites and the regular every day stuff. The only exception is, I always wash Josh's nice work clothes on Friday morning because they take a little longer because I dry them a certain way and hang everything up right as I pull them from the dryer. I have hangers in my laundry room so it is easy. Come Monday morning, he always has clothes for the entire week.

I do periodically run through the house and grab a load of towels from the bathrooms and also will wash a load of dark darks here and there. And if we get real dirty playing in mud or working outside, that is a separate load.

Okay, 1 more thing I do--for wet kitchen towels and rags, I have a little wire basket/rack thing you can get at Home Depot or Lowe's and just hang it from your laundry shelf about your washer/dryer. Everyone knows the big rule in my house is no wet things in the dirty clothes! Stinky. Okay, I will go before I write a book.

Oh, and for products, I really like Shout for stains and Clorox 2 for colors you can buy the huge jug of it at Costco. I only use about 1/3 as much as the cup thing on top. I usually add it to my kids loads and sometimes to mine. Okay-bye! :)

Marne said...

Coralee is the master at Laundry. :)

I also do at least one load a day. When I don't, it all adds up. Even if it is a small load, I do one. I don't really have a routine of what or when, I just do whichever hamper. I mostly do colores first and then whites, I'm not sure why. Chad and I have a divided hamper in our room for whites and darks, and the boys have a hamper and Lacy has a basket in her room. They loved halping me with laundry.

I keep a small basket under the kitchen sink to throw my dirty rags in so I don't always have to run upstairs when I need to put a smelly rag in the laundry room. Then I just take a bunch up at once.

I love Melaluca's Pre-Spot for stains, but I also love the Spray N Wash stain stick. That thing takes out everying...including blow-out stains from babies. Love it.

I religiously use Clorox 2. I won't ever be without it.

Jeanna said...

Zout - best stain remover ever - gets out baby poop and spit up and red stains and blood. Tuesday is laundry day at our house. I like getting it done all at once. I have 3 baskets and sort whites, darks and lights. The towels go in with the darks or lights if there is room. Sheets gets done seperately. It's a hard thing to do and I'm sure it will get harder when the kids get older. Good luck!