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Sick and tired of endless laundry or of never having anything clean to wear?
You need a laundry routine that works! The trouble is there isn’t a one-size-fits-all when it comes to laundry routines.
So, what you need to do is find a laundry routine that meets your needs.
A routine that you will have time to do on a regular basis and a routine that you can easily stick to.
DIFFERENT LAUNDRY ROUTINES WORK FOR DIFFERENT HOUSEHOLDS
A laundry routine that works for one household can often be a complete disaster for another.
To find your perfect routine you need to do some thinking about your family, work patterns and clothes.
You also need a laundry routine that fits in with your household cleaning schedule.
Otherwise, you will find yourself and anyone else who shares the responsibility (because it shouldn’t necessarily just be you!) overwhelmed with chores.
Luckily … being the kind-hearted soul that I am 😉 … I have done the thinking for you.
Just use these guidelines to pick the laundry routine that is right for you.
AND then write it down somewhere so you stick to it!
I have mine set up as a schedule in Cozi which is a totally fab … and FREE!
Cozi is a family calendar designed specifically for hapless mums like me who struggle to keep on top of everything!
To give it a go DO check it out here … it’s got meal planning, lists the lot!
4 EASY LAUNDRY ROUTINES
All the laundry routines in the world basically boil down to these four:
- Wash everything in one day
- Wash whatever is in the laundry basket every day
- Wash one type of laundry every day
- Wash one person’s clothes daily
I have outlined below the pros and cons of each routine and how to follow it.
1. WASH EVERYTHING IN ONE DAY
This routine is great if you’ve got a big drier and have a day at home on your own
| Pros | Cons |
| Only have to think about it once a week | Must have a tumble drier or dry climate |
| Don’t have washing hanging around all week | Need a whole day with nothing else to do |
| Easy to sort by temperature / fabric needs | Need a whole day in the house |
| Ideally need a child free house | |
| Back breaking | |
| Can be mind numbingly boring |
THE ROUTINE
- Pick a day when you and whoever else is helping get the laundry done can be in and around your home the whole day
- Grab all the laundry and sort it by colour, fabric and temperature … as follows:
- Coloured cottons 104f/40c
- White and light cottons 104f/40c
- Woollens and delicates 86f/30c
- Bed linen and towels 140f/60c
- Tea towels, cleaning cloths 140f/60c or 203f/95c
- Anything needing hand washing
- Throw in first a pile that doesn’t need stain treatment
- Treat stains particularly on whites and lights
- As soon as first load done get it in dryer and next in washer
- As soon as dryer done fold or hang sorting by the room they need to go to
- Put aside anything you really must iron … much, much less than you think
- Repeat, repeat etc
- Take each pile to the appropriate room and put straight away
- Treat yourself! It’s ALL done for the week. Hurrah!
2. WASH WHATEVER IS IN THE LAUNDRY BASKET EVERY DAY
This is an easy routine if you work or have a small baby and/or you are potty training a toddler and don’t have delicates or mixed light and dark clothes.
| Pros | Cons |
| Very simple to load up | Risks colour run in mixed colours |
| Easy to do a load before or after work | Risks shrinkage of delicates & woolens |
| Nothing stays in the basket getting icky | Doesn’t get towels & sheets really clean |
| Good if have soiled baby stuff daily | Uses same detergent for different fabrics |
| Good when potty training | Hard to get whites really white |
THE ROUTINE
- Just throw everything in when you’ve got a few minutes spare
- But use timer on washing machine so laundry finishes when will be free to put straight in drier or on an airer or line as this will mean you don’t have to iron it
- As soon as it’s dry put away … DON’T put in ironing basket to get crumpled
- Just iron essentials on an as needs basis
3. WASH ONE TYPE OF LAUNDRY EVERY DAY
This routine is best if you’ve got a mix of darks and lights plus delicates and woollens.
| Pros | Cons |
| Prevents colour runs between dark & lights | Hard to get family to sort by washing label |
| Prevents shrinkage of delicates & woolens | Can result in non-full & extra loads |
| Gets things that need a hot wash really clean | Easy to miss something |
| Gets whites really white | |
| Can use specialist detergent on each wash |
THE ROUTINE
- Allocate a day to 1 or 2 types of washing
- This is the routine I use and I do the following …
- Mon :
- Woolens & delicates 86f/30c
- White & light cottons 104f/40c … attack stains whilst woolens in
- Tue : Coloured cottons 104f/40c
- Wed: Bed linen 140f/60c
- Thu: Towels 140f/60c
- Fri:: Tea towels, cleaning cloths 140f/60c or 203f/95c
- Mon :
- I put the washing on timer to finish over lunch time so washing can be hung straight up to dry, as this will mean I don’t have to iron anything
- Make sure you leave yourself 15 minutes to fold and put away when dry else you’ll end up with piles of washing everywhere getting crumpled
4. WASH ONE PERSON’S CLOTHES PER DAY
This routine is great if you’ve got a large family where the biggest challenge is post-wash sorting and putting away.
| Pros | Cons |
| Reduces post wash sorting for a big family | Risks colour run in mixed clothes |
| Easy for family to load up on “their” day | Risks shrinkage of delicates & woolens |
| Easy for family to put away on “their” day | Uses same detergent for different fabrics |
| Hard to get whites really white |
THE ROUTINE
- Just throw everything in when you’ve got a few minutes spare
- But use timer on washing machine so laundry finishes when you will be free to put straight in drier or on airer or line as this will mean you don’t have to iron it
- As soon as it’s dry put away … DON’T put in ironing basket to get crumpled and mixed up with everyone else’s which is the key thing you’re trying avoid
- Just iron essentials on an as needs basis
MORE LAUNDRY TIPS
I hope that you’ve found some useful information in this content, I’ve also got a couple of posts on stain removing – because life just wouldn’t be complete with out the low-down on removing stains!!
The first is on removing paint from kids clothes and the second is on how to remove yellow sunscreen stains from white clothes.
Luci is the founder of Mums Make Lists (Est. 2011). Over the last decade or so, she has used her experience as a mum to create useful guides to organising family life. During that time, she has found the most joy in creating lists of ideas and inspiration to make it easier for busy parents to plan and host kids’ parties and find great gifts. Read more.
Celena Clarke
Saturday 27th of September 2014
I combine 2 methods. :). With 3 kids and 1 on the way I find it easiest for me to do laundry for one room each day. (Master bedroom, girls room, boy room.). Makes folding easier - not having 30 piles. :). Then on other days I do towels, sheets, and a load of whites. Everyones whites get put into one basket and those get washed together. Not perfect but it works.
Alice Emma Thompson
Wednesday 8th of October 2014
Good idea Celena about making it easier to fold up so you don't have so many piles of different stuff for different rooms.
Sharon
Wednesday 30th of April 2014
I'm a laundry all in one day girl (sometimes 2 if you count folding and putting away). I saw your comment about hanging to dry so all in one day wasn't an option for you. I live in Texas. Most of the year by the time the next load is washed the previous load is ready to take in. During the summer, it is practically dry by the time you get a load on the line! I do have a dryer though and use it some (I need more line space).
Katie Van Brunt
Tuesday 4th of March 2014
My daughter goes to school two days a week so on Tuesdays I do all the clothes (two loads: colors and darks), then on Thursdays I do another two loads sheets/blankets and towels(/rugs, if needed). Right now it works for us, but we're expecting a baby in a couple of months so I'm sure it'll change! Glad I stumbled across these tips to keep in mind. Thank you!
Mrs. Polizotto
Friday 28th of February 2014
I have found a routine to get the clothes washed and dried, but the putting away is always the problem! My kids have three baths a week, usually Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. (More if needed) So, I make sure to put the laundry in and have it dried before their baths. The girls are 3 and 4, so I put a towel on the floor next to the tub, sit in a chair, and fold while they splash around. They like it when there is lots of folding because I start washing their hair when I am done. Needless to say, the putting away gets put on hold while we dry, comb and dress for bed. It's not a perfect routine, but it works! Oh, and my husband has a bit of an obsession for washing the towels, so he does those any time the mood strikes him.
Jocie Hagan
Thursday 27th of February 2014
girl i need to adopt this! my laundry currently forms a ramp out of our closet. lol. Thanks so much for linking up at Creativity Unleashed last week! You were our most clicked link and will be featured on the blog tomorrow. Hope to see you back! xoxo