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Laundry is like a gnat that flies in your face on a summer evening. It’s always there and no matter how many times you swat at it, it keeps coming back. I used to get discouraged by just sorting laundry, but now I know it’s something I have to incorporate into my routine, like brushing my teeth. If left unchecked the laundry monster can grow into a behemoth. So here are a few ways I stay on top of it.
Too Many Clothes
We are so grateful for family and friends who have passed on their gently used clothing. I went about 4 years without needing to buy anything for my girls because of it. There really can be too much of a good thing though and when my daughters’ couldn’t manage it themselves, I got rid of 50% of their clothing.
They’re Not Dirty
After getting rid of a lot of clothing, I had to tackle the problem of clothes going straight into the dirty hamper even if it wasn’t dirty. Part of it was that my girls didn’t want to fold their clothes and put them away because of how stuffed their drawers were. So that was covered.
Next, I explained the rules for clean vs dirty clothes. Underwear gets changed everyday and if they go outside, pants are dirty. Shirts and dresses are clean if they don’t get any food on them and when in doubt, ask mom or dad. I can see that there is a real temptation to “clean up” their room by scooping everything up and putting it in the dirty laundry bin. That’s why I started to make them do their own laundry.
Developing a Laundry Routine
The kids each have their own clean laundry bin and share a dirty hamper. Throughout the week, we’ll clean and dry loads as the dirty bins get full, but we wait to fold laundry as a family twice a week. While we fold, we like to listen to an audio book or radio show like Adventures in Odyessy for free online.
Stop Sorting
Since I started teaching my oldest daughter how to use the washer, things have gotten easier, but we’ve had a few color bleeding incidents with whites getting mixed in with the darks. Now, “The Rules Have Changed”! Purex® No Sort™ for Colors is the detergent with breakthrough Anti-Color-Transfer Technology which traps loose dyes in the wash and does not let them settle onto other fabrics.
I don’t have to worry about Audrey sorting anymore and we do less loads! It’s #LaundrySimplified!
With all the extra time and money we save not having to sort the laundry, my kids can get back to being kids.
Keep in mind the back label reads “Purex No Sort detergent is packed with innovation, but it can’t perform miracles, so please follow these words of advice: wash strongly colored fabrics or new pieces of clothing, especially jeans, separately at least 5 times before doing a mixed color load with Purex No Sort detergent.”
For more tips on conquering the laundry monster, follow Purex on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Youtube!
Have any laundry day tips? Please leave a comment!
Laundry is something that consistently gets a little crazy in our home. I involve the kids in most of the steps, but I’d love for my older two (almost 6 and just turned 7) to take over their own laundry soon. The only problem I see is that with 5 (going on 6) children I won’t have space for enough hampers. I think maybe I’ll just have them take over one family load, alternating days…
Also, do you find you have a lot of wrinkles when you wait to fold the laundry.
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I didn’t mention that I have my daughters do my sons’ laundry too. He’s too young to do his own yet.
Having those stacking bins really helps save space. When the clothes come out of the dryer, we sort them into the different bins. That seems to help with wrinkles. I also have a wrinkle-free setting on my dryer.
Yes, if you have clothing that you don’t want any wrinkles in, you’ll have to take them out and hang them right away if you don’t have that setting.
So do the two girls work together to do one load of kids’ clothes each week? Perhaps I could pair up my kids and they’d have enough between the two of them for one load a week.
Allyson @ All Our Days recently posted…Three Tips to Help You Drink More Water
Where did you get your laundry baskets? I’ve never seen those before and know they would be real helpful in my family:)
I got mine at Big Lots, but I’ve seen them at Walmart too. They have black ones and you could use those for dirty and the white ones for clean.
Great idea! Thank you!
My husband built me a unit that holds 3 laundry baskets – we used this to teach our young son how to sort the colors, darks, and whites. With Purex No Sort, we won’t need it any longer! #client
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