Things You'll Need:
- Laundry hamper with three sections
- Dryer sheets
- Several medium sized baskets
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Step 1
Laundry starts in the clothes hamper. Get a laundry hamper with three bags in it -- they're available at home and department stores and they're not expensive. Use one for darks, one for lights and one for whites and delicates. Only wash clothes when you have a full load. It will save you time and money.
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Step 2
Always use the proper settings. If you have a small load, adjust the dial. Using too much water costs money and it takes longer to wash. Clothes wash faster on warm than on cold because the tub fills faster. Don't waste time by washing everything in cold water - it doesn't clean as well for most fabrics, anyway.
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Step 3
Bring your clothes to the washing machine when you go to bed. If you can leave them (depending on the fabrics) in the machine overnight, throw them in now. If you can't because because of wrinkling then just put your soap in, run the washer empty for a few minutes and shut the machine off.
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Step 4
Don't waste steps. When you go out to the kitchen to make coffee, take another load of clothes with you. In the morning, put the first load into the dryer and put the second one on to wash. Use dryer sheets to avoid wrinkling and save you from wasting time ironing things you don't need to. Set it to ding when it's done. Put it on for only as long as it needs to prevent losing time and money. If you need to wash your first load, put it into the readied washer and continue the cycle.
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Step 5
Go about your morning routine. When the dryer dings, hang up the clothes, which will keep them from wrinkling too much. If the dryer goes off and all clothes aren't dry, pull out the dry ones and restart. This saves both time and money. Things like towels and sheets are quickest folded once or twice and laid over the laundry room door neatly. All of this takes less than five minutes. If you have time to do more, do so and fold them and put them away--when you're going to that part of the house anyway.
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Step 6
When you get home from work fold up those few pieces from that morning. Switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer as well. Before bed, put away the clothes and ready the machine for the next load. Most of this switching of clothes can be done while you watch TV. You can bring the basket out and fold clothes then, too.
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Step 7
Get your kids to help. If they're old enough to help, let them. They can fold towels and socks and easy things and they can each put away their own things as well. Put their laundry in separate baskets with their names on them. Give each child the basket to put away themselves.
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Step 1
Consider washing delicates in the bathroom sink with a hand washable detergent. You can wash a few things in a couple of minutes and hang them on the shower rod or on a hanger put over the shower head. This will keep your delicates nice a lot longer and it'll save you from running the washer over and over with really small loads.
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Step 2
Think harder about all the things that you can wash without the dryer to save time and money. Any small items that are not really dirty that can drip dry without wrinkling are good to hand wash. Nylon tees, thin polyester blouses, stockings, silky undies, and of course everything that specifies hand washing can all be safely hand washed.
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Step 3
On Saturday, get set to enjoy your laundry free weekend! Start again on Monday.
Comments
hlejames said
on 9/26/2009 I love it! You should see the amount of laundry a seven person household brings! Getting started today!