When I came across this post by Angie called “Revolutionize Your Laundry Routine” over on Echoes of Laughter- it literally stopped me in my tracks! Because it made me question- AM I DOING LAUNDRY ALL WRONG?
I mean, when you've been doing something multiple times a week, year after year- you think you might have a handle on the best way to do it! But her post made me think that maybe I'm not!
Here's How I Do Our Family's Laundry
This is how the whole laundry-thing goes down in my house….
Step 1: Assign some “lucky” child the task of gathering all of the laundry from the hamper baskets in the kids' room and in the bathrooms. Assign a second “lucky” child the task of sorting it into piles based on whites-lights-darks. (I often select “winners” for these jobs based on whoever was the most poorly behaved at dinner!)
Step 2: Wash and dry the laundry that's been sorted by color. (Mom's job) Haul clean laundry in baskets to my bed for sorting.
Step 3: Fold and sort the laundry putting each person's laundry in a basket (Mom's job). Put away my and my husband's clothes as I go.
Step 4: Ask kids (often repeatedly) to collect their folded laundry from my bed and put it all away. (They are better at the collecting than they are at putting it away).
How Does Angie Do Her Family's Laundry?
Now to me- this was revolutionary (just like the title says).
I mean it. Are you ready?
Each child has their own basket in their room. Just one basket- no hampers for dirty laundry.
Once a week, Angie goes into the room, takes each child's laundry basket separately, and washes it, one child's laundry at a time. If there is enough of an individual child's clothing- then she might sort it into lights vs darks- but if not- she washes it ALL AT ONCE!
Then she dries it, folds it and puts it right back into that child's laundry basket and takes it to his or her room for the child to put away.
Am I The Only One Stricken By This Revelation? Am I Doing Laundry All Wrong?
You mean if you wash it all together it won't come out as one bland shade of greige?
Can whites ever really and truly be white if they aren't washed in hot water or with bleach?
And are you really telling me that if I return a bin of clean laundry to a kid's room that they will actually put it away rather than just wearing stuff out of the clean laundry bin all week while simultaneously adding dirty laundry to the same basket? (Because I am fairly certain that if left to their own devices, my kids would wear the same pair of underwear for an entire seven days without thinking twice about it!)
These are BIG questions here people- and I need to know- how do you do your family's laundry?
Jess says
At the moment I’m doing all our laundry but after reading this I might change things up! We have four kids (10,9,7 and 4) and it’s a struggle to get them to put their dirty clothes in the hamper instead of throwing them on the floor. I generally wash their clothes together, my husband and my clothes together, and linen separately. It feels like the machine is always on! It’s the folding and putting away that’s the kicker 🙂
Kristina says
We have seven kids, ages 22 years – 8 months, but only have the younger six (all boys!) still living at home – 20, 16, 12, 10, 8, and 8 months. Each child, other than the baby, has an assigned day of the week where they are to wash their dirty clothes, bedding, and bath towel and they each have their own hamper in their room. Sometimes that means it is one load daily (mainly for the 8 and 10 year olds) and sometimes it is two loads (usually for the 12, 16, and 20 year olds) We go youngest to oldest, so Monday goes to the 8 yo, Tuesday is the 10 yo’s turn, etc. Saturday is my turn to wash mine, hubby’s, and baby’s clothes, and I separate into lights, darks, and whites. The boys generally just wash all their clothing together regardless of color (although their color palates tend to be lots of blacks, greys, and dark colors, so it doesn’t matter a whole lot.) Each child has their own bath towels that they are responsible for that gets cleaned each week; the younger boys have each have one and the older boys have two. If a towel is left on the floor, it is easy to know who’s responsible for it because each towel is individualized for each boy. They have learned to take good care of their towels and that’s helped us keep the bathrooms cleaner, too!
I started doing laundry this way a couple of years ago and this has been a game changer for me! I used to have us all work together on laundry every morning. We had a family laundry basket in the laundry room and I would wash and dry the load at night and had a goal that we didn’t eat breakfast until the load was folded and put away in the morning. So we would all wake up, gather around to sort and fold laundry while listening to an audiobook or music, and then we could all go downstairs and have breakfast. It was a great working system for us while we used it, but I love this new system so much more because it took a lot of the laundry responsibility off me and the boys are all accountable to fighting their own stains and keeping themselves and their areas clean. I still help teach them how to fight the different types of stains and how to use the machines, but they are ultimately responsible for collecting, washing, drying, and putting away their own laundry and making their own beds. I love it!
Sharon Rowley says
Thanks so much for sharing your system! I love how everyone is in charge of their own laundry- and how it has given you back some time in your life!
Najma Treadwell says
Mom of 6 . Family of 8. 2 kids in a room. 2older boys share a basket they have laundry day on Sunday (my 16y.o washes the clothes and they both put their own clothes away 16&11y.o)
Daughter (10 &2) laundry day is Tuesday she washes their clothes with little help from me and puts them away
On Thursday I do my (7&1y.o) clothes 7y.o puts his clothes away (mom or dad puts away baby clothes. I also wash hubby and I clothes. We put out own clothes away.
On Friday I wash towels. This has taken the stress of laundry off my plate. (I got the idea from a friend) only separation we do is colors from whites unless it is a new garment other than that it is all in 😊
Sharon Rowley says
I love this!!
Jenn V says
We have no clothes in the kids’ rooms (3 kids, age 6, 4, and 9 months). All their clean clothes are in the laundry room in baskets on shelves which hold 6 laundry size baskets (3 high, 2 wide) with a counter on top.
The kids change their clothes in the laundry room, dirty clothes go straight into the washing machine. We have an extra mega capacity top load (thank you LG!!) which probably fits 3 full size laundry baskets. (That machine was a game changer. Instead of 3 loads of laundry per day we can get away with one every other day)
Everything is washed together. Clean clothes go from the drier to a basket and are sorted in about 5 minutes. Dads shirts/ pants get laid flat and put on the counter or bed for him to put away. Socks and underwear for me get sorted in my little baskets, kids clothes go straight to their baskets. No folding of kids clean clothes. No sorting of dirty clothes.
Also check out Ana white, she has an excellent laundry setup/ process too.
Sharon Rowley says
I love how you do this! Thanks for sharing!!
Carol R. says
Only 3 in my family. My husband does his own laundry, my daughter and I do ours together, she is only 5. Her and I do sort, whites, lights and darks. Since my daughter and I often have lighter colored clothes they don’t seem as bright when washed with black. I do like to use bleach in my whites, again to make nice and bright.
Sharon Rowley says
I’m with you- my whites don’t stay white unless I use bleach!
Jenn V. says
We have 3 kids, age 6, 4, and 9 months. Husband and I both work full time outside the home. Soon after #2 came around I realized something had to give as I spent over an hour at least every Saturday just folding and putting away clothes! Now I spend about 5 minutes a day on “daily” laundry- starting/ switching load, and sorting to baskets.
When Baby #2 came around, she was very spitty so that led to so much laundry, and my sweet 2 year old boy was so messy! I spent so much time sorting, folding, putting away clothes it was ridiculous how much clothes they went through and how much laundry there was. So I simply quit sorting and folding and life is much better.
My husband built in shelves that could hold 6 laundry size baskets (3 high, 2 wide) with a counter on top.. we currently use this space to store all the kids’ clean clothes. Each child gets one basket for day clothes, one shared basket for pjs, and half size baskets for socks and underwear. This also leaves a spot for a filing bin for quick access to file documents since I’m always near the laundry room, no “to file” pile! Above the counter there’s a couple open shelves for towels, linens, and 3 baskets for moms socks and underwear, and dads. Above the washer/drier there are shelves for storage of cleaning supplies etc.
The laundry process- there are no hampers in the kids’ rooms, and also no clothes in the kids’ rooms, since all their current clothes are in the baskets on the shelves. The kids change their clothes in the laundry room, so dirty clothes go straight into the washing machine, or in front of the machine if it’s running. We have an extra mega capacity top load (thank you LG!!) which probably fits 3 full size laundry baskets. And since it’s so big any amount of laundry that piles up while it’s running just gets thrown in after switching the load. (That machine was also a game changer, should have done that years ago instead of the front load. Instead of 3 loads of laundry per day we can get away with one every other day) Everything is washed together daily or every few days. Clean clothes go from the drier to a basket and are sorted in about 5 minutes. Dads shirts/ pants get folded or laid flat and put on the counter or bed for him to hang and put away. I hardly wash my office clothes since I have plenty to rotate through, and when I have some to wash I just pull all like pieces (all dark dress pants, or all white blouses for example) and wash cold/ gentle. I also will often wear the same yoga pants/ shirt for a couple days before washing since I only wear it for a few hours at night around the kids! So on the daily it’s pretty much socks and underwear for me which get sorted in my little baskets, and kids clothes go straight to their baskets. No folding of kids clean clothes. No sorting of dirty clothes. I usually start it when the kids are getting ready for bed. Just add detergent, close the lid, and remember to switch the load when getting ready for bed.
As the kids grow we can mix it up and start sorting if we want. The 6 year olds clothes are just starting to get full in the basket where a week or two of pants/ shirts unfolded make the basket quite full, so I might introduce the closet concept in the next year. Oh and I do match my socks and the kids (not dad) but if there’s no match or I am low on time, I just leave them on the counter.
Also check out Ana white, she has an excellent laundry setup/ process too.
Thanks for your blog Sharon! I’m a new subscriber and love your organization tips!
Sharon Rowley says
Thanks for sharing your process! Once the kids get bigger, it could be a challenge simply because the clothing gets bigger too! I know that the content of my teens closets would not fit in a laundry basket anymore! But this would have been a great solution when they were little!
Ashley says
This made me giggle! I love that we’re all talking about how we handle laundry.
For some unfathomable reason clothing companies are making so many kids clothes in fabrics that are delicate cycle, and also some are hang dry only (Brandy Melville is the worst!). I have 2 kids, ages 11 and 13 and I try to do all the clothes laundry in one day, once a week. I wash in cycles of lights (1 load), darks (1 load), heavy duty (jeans load and overflow of sweats) in one load and delicates (all colors together) in one load. There are some hang dry items in delicates and regular loads so I need to keep my eyes open for them with almost all the loads. Crazy! The sheets and towels are a separate day and take 2 loads.
I usually fold the laundry but leave it for the kids to put away. I think I need to get them involved more based on reading how other families involve their younger kids. Thank you!
Sharon Rowley says
I think it’s an awesome discussion- because all of us do ALOT of laundry! And we each have our own process! So interesting to hear how others approach it!
Danielle Banks says
4 in my household. Each person has one basket. The kids are older (13 and 15) and do their own laundry when they need clean clothes. I usually wash the husband’s clothes and mine together. The clothes get washed, dried, and put back in the basket, folded and put away. The kids doing their own makes it easier to keep track of what clothes belong to whom as they are similar sizes and wear similar things and it cuts down on work I have to do. The kids don’t usually put their clean clothes away in a timely manner, but that’s their deal! I will separate mine (and hubby’s whites) by color, but the kids wash all of their clothes/colors together. But, honestly, even as teenagers I don’t buy them white shirts!
Sharon Rowley says
I love to hear your laundry process!
Mickie says
We do our laundry like Angie. It turns out fine. If I’m being honest, I do sort mine a bit more and do some hand washables, but it’s all in for the kids !
Sharon Rowley says
If I moved towards Angie’s method- I probably would still combine mine and my husband’s laundry- which would leave me some “room for sorting” I suppose. You all are making me re-think this!
Cindi says
I only have one child…he has a laundry basket in his room, and I do it the same way as the Cindi above. 🙂 Twice a week, I dump it all in! It comes out fine!
Sharon Rowley says
See- I really do need to re-think my approach!
desertbreeze says
Each kid has their own basket- and it’s all dumped in together. My kids have to bring their laundry, once their old enough, start their laundry. I fold it and they have to put it away. This way we are doing one load a day, the job isn’t overwhelming and I don’t have a mountain of laundry.
PS My husband’s clothes get stacked on his dresser or bed. And he puts them away.
Quita says
hi I love your website.I found it this morning and find myself coming back to it every time I get a free second.We have 8 kids in our busy home so I am loving the ideas I have found. the first 5 kids range from 19 – 9. They all have their own basket and own laundry day. They are responsible for their own laundry. We started teaching them at age 7. We use lingerie bags for their socks.I only wash the 3 younger ones and mine and husband clothes, towels and whites. This is were the bags come in handy. each kids’ bag goes straight into washer,then dryer. then I hand it over to them to match and put away. Even the younger ones like to play matches. It becomes play and not a chore..lol..my goal is to teach them so that when they marry my future son/daughter in law wont hate me…btw they all have a day they cook too.
Sharon at Momof6 says
You guys are really starting to make me re-think this whole thing!
dumb mom says
I NEVER make it past step 2. NEVER.
Nicki says
We have 1 washing basket in the bathroom that gets piled up with washing I do a few loads every couple of days sorting the coloureds out from the whites and the darks and wash all separately. I then put all washed items in the ironing basket and iron all he clothes (once I get round to it or we start running out) my children are 5 and 6 and its myself and my husband! I’m going to give the separate baskets and loads a go though it sounds less time consuming!
Alison Shaffer says
I like the idea of each kid/person having thier own basket. My kids are college age and usually do thier own now, but I have to bring it down, they will put it in the machines, and take it back up, or it ends up on the dinning room table for days. I need a big counter to fold clothes on. I used to dump it all on my bed, but then it never gets folded or put away. I’d just throw it in a big pile in a basket.
Sharon says
So easy for me to sit here and say this…. but oh yeah- you shouldn’t ever even be looking at your college-age kids laundry! (We’ll see how I really do with that idea once it is my turn though!)
Andie says
I can not wait until my kids are old enough for this! Number one is on his way. But 2 3 and 4 have a bit of growing to do. LOVE the idea!
nancy vecchione says
Ok, here’s how it used to work at my house when my kids were kids school age (say pre-middle school)
3 boxes in the linen closet – one for white, one for darks, one for colors. Everyone (including my husband who was the hardest to train) put their own laundry in the right box. The night before things were getting washed I did a visual sweep of rooms to make sure all the laundry had gotten picked up, if not whoever’s room it was in had to ‘come and get it’ and put it in the right box. Husband in charge of checking sorting since he cd do this while he watched TV. Once I knew everything was where it belonged he was in charge of dragging it to the basement. (This is the hazard of working retail, you are around when I’m doing laundry!) I put it all in the washer, double checking for pretreating needed etc. Added detergent, turned on washer. Set the kitchen timer so I’d know when the load would be finished. Then would head down to toss the stuff in the dryer, set timer again. Kids in charge of removing from dryer and putting in a basket. They learned young how to fold. We don’t match socks but have a sock box for the kids all socks get tossed in. (the sock box is great for missing socks, you always eventually find the mate!) They always folded their underwear and pants. It took awhile to learn the shirts. Kids didn’t iron, that was my responsibility. Husband put his stuff away, I took mine, supervised one kid each. Laundry done. AH! ….Calgon…. I think now you can buy those color sheets now to pick up color dyes from darks so you don’t end up w/gray laundry, but I’m a creature of habit I’ll be doing my laundry w/my boxes forever! The best thing it taught my daughters was not just how to do their own laundry but that MEN CAN DO LAUNDRY TOO! My husband didn’t know how to do laundry when I met him–he used to go home from college every two weeks w/all his laundry–GROSS!!! MEN!!!! I can’t believe his mom put up w/it!
Stacy Uncorked says
I can’t bring myself to wash everything together – not even with the color catcher sheet. Not only that, but I keep the boys and girls loads separate – which means I wash the hubby’s clothes with Little Dude’s, and Princess Nagger’s with mine (4 loads total per time). Especially since the boys (the hubby included) may or may not have something in the pockets I don’t want mixing with my clothes – I don’t do any pocket checks, so if money falls out of the dryer, it’s my tip) and more often than not I’ll wash mine and Princess Nagger’s clothes on a delicate cycle. I do still pick out the kid’s clothes for the week (saves morning rush headaches) though Princess Nagger is now at the age where she picks (from a specific selection…heh!). I have been known, though, to mix the darks and the lights of just the boys clothes together when there hasn’t been enough to do them separately – I figure they can sport the potential dingy look better than Princess Nagger or I. 😉
Sharon says
Glad to hear that I am not the only one doing the whole laying-out-the-clothes thing!
Estelle says
Basically, I too throw everything in together when it comes to my daughter’s clothes and wash it on very hot. I wouldn’t do it with mine, but I think kid’s clothes can handle it. I’ve never had a problem, yet.
Estelle
Em says
I do not sort my clothes by color…I sort by person (for the most part). Each child theoretically has their own laundry basket. I have them bring them to the basement. I wash and dry the clothes. I fold them and put them into individual baskets. They bring them upstairs and “put them away”. My oldest (12) does okay with this. My 10 year old stuffs whatever intio whatever drawer he can find so the basket is empty. I do help my 6 year old but he can put each type of item away when I give him all of his shirts at one time, then pants, then socks, etc etc.
My husband cringes when he sees that I wash clean clothes. I do not look at the items. I take the basket and shove the clothes in the machine. I grab them out and shove them in the dryer! EVERYTHING in the basket goes in the machine!!!! Sometimes toy cars even make it though the wash and dryer!
It is not perfect but it works for now. I am hoping to get them to each do their own when they are around 12 or 13 but I am starting bathroom cleaning with them this week…one step at a time 🙂
thank you for reminding me that I am not the only mom that does a ton for my kids….more so that I probably should be doing.
Sharon says
Oh Em- you are SO not the only Mom who does a ton for her kids! I am definitely guilty of doing more than I probably should…. but I also know that grown-up chores and responsibilities are just around the corner for them…. and once that happens, they are stuck doing these things for the rest of their lives (just like us!). So sometimes I think I do so much just to let them be a kid for awhile longer.
And by the way- I wash plenty of cars, legos, chopsticks too!
Mindi says
I wash lights and darks together and have never had a problem. If I have a new clothing item I will wash that with a dark load but other than that everything is washed together. About 2 years ago I started making my husband wash his own clothes. I’m so glad I did because with two boys and another kid on the way I have enough laundry to do! I can’t even imagine how many loads of laundry you do a week.
Sharon says
Ha ha Mindi- I love that your husband washes his own clothes! I do about 8 loads of clothing a week, 3 loads of towels, and 4 loads of linens.
Erica Filpi says
My three oldest kids are responsible for their own laundry and have been since they were 12 or 13. If it doesn’t get washed, that is on them (they have more free time then I do in an odd way *L*). Also if they want to live out of their basket again that is on them, they all know how to iron. My three youngest, I wash all of their clothes together at the same time. If I am washing something new or something I need to bleach, then I wash it with like colors, otherwise they all go in one puppy pile. The kids outgrow their clothes so quickly that they don’t have time to fade enough to worry about it. Then I fold them into piles (Davan’s jeans, Davan’s pj’s, Davan’s underwear, Tae’s jeans, Tae’s pj’s…. You get the idea) and have the kids pick up one pile at a time and put them away. I hang their stuff up on hangers.
Sharon says
Okay Erica- so you do a bit of both… older kids doing their own in one big load each, and the younger ones you still do. And those you sort, wash, and then re-sort. How often are you doing laundry?
Tricia at Mom is the Only Girl says
We just sat down last night to figure out some simple chores for my 5 yr old, yes, I know I should have started that a long time ago, anyway, laundry came up. I had never thought about doing this way, but it would be soooooo much easier! I think I might just be making this change! I’m so sick of laundry!
Roslyn says
Wow! I do my laundry exactly like you do. Is it time for a change? I’m too chicken! Lol
Sharon says
Me too Roslyn! Totally chicken!
Paula says
Yep, it works and it saves a ton of time. I wash new clothing separately as well as really dirty whites and but other than that, everything gets washed together. I am working on teaching my girls to toss their dirty underwear in the basket with dirty towels so they get washed in hot water but if they don’t make it, they get washed with everything else. Double sorting is a pain. Trust me, you won’t look back.
Sharon says
Thanks Paula- another vote for the non-sort method! (Gulp….. I might really have to try this one!)
Jessica says
I do my laundry this way because my daughter has ultra-sensitive skin. Keeping her clothes separate is easier. Also, I use those Color Catcher sheets and it keeps everything from getting “greige” (they work!). About once a month I separate all the whites and bleach them. Also, I don’t leave my (almost 9 year old) son to his own devices when it comes to putting away his laundry. I just supervise and catch him when he tries to shove everything in the same drawer. It doesn’t take very long, maybe you could just set aside 15-20 minutes afterschool to have them put the laundry away?
Sharon says
Jessica- can you share the brand name of the Color Catcher sheets? Clearly I need to look for those! And I giggled a bit at the 15-20 minutes to monitor the putting away…. it would take me longer than that to nag them into coming upstairs all at the same time! 🙂
Chickadee Jess says
They are Shout Color Catchers. I buy them at Target.
Hahaha, you’re right about the 15-20 min thing, I have two kiddos and it takes forever for them to get together and do anything. I can dream, right?
Barb @ A Life in Balance says
I’m not sure I’d be comfortable doing it that way especially since my younger ones are always getting stains on their school uniforms. I wouldn’t mind if the 16 year old did his own laundry. In fact, I’ve stopped reminding him about putting his dirty laundry into the laundry, figuring he would do so when he was running out of clothes. He could easily wash his own clothes.
BTW, the linky isn’t showing up.
Sharon says
Ah yes… if I had them start doing their own laundry I would need to teach them how to stain-stick their clothes too! Although most of the time they know if they have a stain ton put in the the laundry-room sink (that’s our “special place” for clothes needing extra attention)! Thanks for the heads-up on the linky problem….. I fixed it now!
Gabby says
I have 2 kids plus husband and I. My son, who is 8 wears a white t-shirt under all his school shirts, just like Dad. I have 2 hampers for him, one for whites and one for colors, my daughter who is 4 has 1 hamper of her own. I wash each hamper individually, meaning, my sons colored clothes get washed in one and so do his whites. When it’s time to put away, I know they are all his clothes so there is no re-separating or sorting. I grab his hangers and put away. My daughters clothes get washed in one wash but I do not separate her whites, and so far so good.
Sharon says
Interesting Gabby! So you are a fan of the no-sort method…. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Sharyl says
Ok…we have just started in the past month a new plan with laundry. And so far–it’s working. Now keep in mind, my children are 11,11, 13,15 and I thought it is time they learned how to do their own wash. Prior to this…I was doing the exact same thing as you..exactly.
So here is what we do….basket in their room and on the weekend, they do their own clothes. They have been doing three separate loads–whites–lights and darks and then they put them away. It has been AMAZING…seriously. I have a life again instead of living in the laundry room–the kids are thrilled because they have bragging rights–and no more–where are my pants mom..etc. Also we were seeing clean clothes were going back into the hamper—if you have to wash it yourself–you do not make more laundry.
I use the pods and a bounce insert..so products are easy to use. It has been fantastic and they are so proud of themselves.
This past week we started one more new thing this year—each child makes a meal..we have had two of the 4 children cook {simple meals that they like from the family meals} and its also been great. My daughter said…yeah I know how to cook something so when I get older I will always no how to make my favorite meal. As they become comfortable with that I am going to move towards giving them a budget and letting them plan the meal.
Will let you know how it goes…but letting go is hard. And that is kinda how it feels. Sharyl
Sharon says
Sharyl- Thanks so much for your inspiration! So here’s my question… you started this new “laundry plan” in the past month. But if you had to do it all over again- would you have started it earlier with your older kids? In other words- should there be a “laundry cut-off”? Over age 13- you do it, under age 13, Mom does it? And one more question- are you saying that each child does 3 loads? So 12 loads a weekend?
Sharyl says
I actually did try something like this when they were 9-10 and it was pretty hopeless. They were doing the shove in all drawer, etc. And after about a month I gave up and went back to the old way…I do think that 13 is a good age for boys…my daughters at 11 were ready to go three years ago. So it really depends on the child. In hind sight I should have let my girls keep going, because they were doing super at it. And they could have been rewarded on their reward chart–ie $ or bonus of some sort. And then done the boys. These are smaller loads…actually they got smart this last week and the girls did theirs together and the boys did theirs together. They actually like doing them separate–I think they got to see my habit. It worked so I was fine with it and if they wanted to stick them altogether I would say go for it on cold. At least iI wasn’t in the laundry room alone folding clothes forever.
Cindi says
This is how I do my child’s laundry, too! I only have one child – a toddler – and twice a week I toss all his laundry into the washing machine at once.
Amy says
I say hey it is worth a shot. I wouldn’t wash the brand new red piece right away with the whites but after one wash it’s all good.
Sharon says
Okay- so you are bravely telling me to go for it…. but is this how YOU do laundry my friend?