A Better Way to Sort Laundry

I absolutely HATE doing laundry. It's like every day is "Ground Hog" Day. You do a load of laundry, and I'll be darned if I don't look in the laundry hamper the next day, and there is more stuff in there. Then you have to do it all over again. It's never ending, isn't it? There IS a way to get a handle on it, to where it doesn't halfway ruin your life...or your peace of mind.

Wouldn't it be great if all houses had laundry rooms right next to where you take your clothes off? This is most times in your bathroom or bedroom, right? I never understood, why we, in a two story house, have to carry dirty clothes downstairs (sometimes even down two stories to the basement) and then have to carry them back up again, clean. What bozo came up with the location of the laundry room in most houses? Well, I have been pleased with a few of the new houses around here when I went on a local Parade of Homes. Some DO have laundry rooms upstairs. Now, I just hope they are soundproofed. A washing machine banging against your bedroom wall as you are trying to sleep is not my idea of a peaceful night's rest.

Anyway, so that is something you can't really change about your current situation. So, let's focus on the things you CAN change. If you take your clothes off in the bedroom, the laundry hamper needs to be in there. Do your thing in the bathroom? Then put it in there. I actually go one step further and have two laundry bins, one right next to the other. One is for lights and the other is for darks. My kids have their two hampers in their bathroom, and my husband and I have ours in our walk-in closet...which just happens to be in the master bathroom. I know, that's strange, but it really works well. Don't tell me that laundry hampers are too ugly to put anywhere either. I've seen some nice ones at some of the specialty stores, such as Bed, Bath & Beyond...no need to use those ugly plastic things!

I do laundry every few days. I'd rather do a few loads here and there, than wait til the weekend, to see an overflowing heap of dirty clothing that has already overflowed the hamper. Try it...you'll like it. I typically, take a large armful (or take out the bag inside the hamper) and take it to the laundry room. You really don't need a laundry basket, although I sometimes use mine to fill with sheets and in the evenings, when I go through my 15 minute pass thru of the house.

Now comes the interesting part. Again, here's another opportunity to teach your kids responsibility. Have a dishpan in the laundry room for each child. Fold up their clothes and put the neat stack in there. When they come home from school, they are to check if their bin has clothes in it,and if so, they take it upstairs and put the things away. When they're done, the bin gets brought back to the laundry room for the next time. It's that simple.

I go ahead and take care of mine and my husband's stuff. It's the least I can do to help him out, right? He works hard everyday. I also don't iron, BTW. I feel lucky that the new Army uniforms don't have to be ironed. They come out of the dryer looking nice and smooth. And that's the key...as soon as your dryer buzzes, take that stuff out of there! The "sitting in there" is what causes the wrinkles, not the washing! Now, I must admit, if there is a dress blouse or a dress with material that wrinkles easily, I do go ahead and iron...but I like to stockpile a few articles of clothing behind the laundry room door on hangers, before I get to that point. In our house, there is no place to conveniently put an ironing board, so inevitably, it's a huge hassle to get the thing out. Don't pull it out for just one item.

What do you do in your household to make the laundry sorting easier?