Laundry 101

Welcome to Part 2 of my series on Household Organization. Today's lesson tackling the never ending stream of laundry.

I actually think this is one of the easiest things to tackle. But that maybe because of 2 reasons, 1. we have a washer and dryer at home, 2. I love to do laundry. Yup call me weird or whatever but I actually like to do it. I in fact even like to go to the laundry mat (though not enough to go all the time).

What we have to tackle. Well in a house with a 4 year old and 6 month old, a husband, and myself to do laundry for on a weekly basis I do just about 1 load a day. Sometimes more. I have found that if I go a day without doing laundry I tend to "pay for it" in the coming days. So I plan for a load a day.

The sorting...
We pre-sort and pre-treat with a stain remover (if needed) as the clothes get put in the hamper. I have not found a big need to sort the kids clothes so I have.... 1 Baby clothes, 1 Kids clothes, 1 Light and 1 Dark. That is how they are sorted now...

What I do each week...
1 load of Baby clothes, including sheet/pad off of crib, blankets, towel and whatever else I find of hers lying around (I scan the whole house).
1 load of Kids clothes (our 4 year old), also including sheet/pad off toddler mattress, blankets towel etc... really the same system as above.
1-2 loads of our Darks, not usually on the same day this is just the load that fills up fastest of our stuff.
1 load of our Lights
1 load of our Sheets and Towels.

Some other tips...
If the above load is too big for washer then I do what fits and then do another small load that same day so that all the things get done on the same day. This most commonly happens with the girls loads since they also contain towels, sheets and blankets, but it is rare.
If guests come I try to do the load of sheets and towels the night they leave so they don't get lost in my regular schedule.
If catastrophe strikes (baby spits up on everything....) then I just have to do more laundry.
I also always fold the load the same day I do it so that it isn't lingering over into the next day. This is however part of how I am wired I love to fold laundry more then wash it (I even fold our socks and underwear).

Last notes...
I also wash the shower curtain and bathmat at least once a month (or when it needs it), and do the comforter off our bed 2 times a year (that is a laundry mat trip).

Please tune in next time for Cleaning 101.