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Amber’s Home and Office Organizing Blog index

The Laundry Phenomenon

How to Prevent Laundry from Piling Up

So the story is the same every time. There’s way too much laundry. There’s not enough time to do laundry. There’s not enough time to iron and put away the clothes. So let’s paint the picture.....The hamper or laundry basket is busting at the seams with dirty laundry and then when laundry finally gets done, the clean laundry doesn’t make it back into the closets and drawers. Eventually dirty laundry mixes with clean laundry and ironed laundry gets wrinkled again.

Think you’re alone in this scenario? Think again. Lots of families struggle with some parts or all parts of the laundry process. Over the years while providing organizing services, I have stood along side tired moms and busy professionals helping them through mounds of laundry to develop a new system and new solution. Here is my perspective after seeing so many wives and moms tired of doing the laundry. 

6 Ideas to Help Get the Laundry Done 

1. Don’t buy more clothes to solve the problem. For some, it is a whole lot easier and more fun to go shopping for new clothes instead of doing laundry. Not only does this cost a lot of money, this makes the problem even worse! 

2. Evaluate the amount of clothes you own. The more clothes you or your kids have the more time it allows you to let the dirty laundry pile up. Think about it for a moment. If you only had 10 underwear, 3 pairs of jeans, and 15 pairs of socks you would be forced to do laundry more often. Getting more clothes isn’t the answer, doing laundry on a regular consistent basis is the answer. 

3. Get into a routine. Whether you have a family of six or two, get your laundry days onto the calendar and build it into your weekly schedule. Instead of procrastinating, put time into your week to get it done. Give each family member a day of the week to do laundry. This saves a ton of time because clothes will never get mixed and will never get too out of hand!

4.  Purchase the right supplies. If you aren’t blessed to have your laundry room on the same floor as your bedroom, buy the appropriate laundry hampers or baskets to lug up and down the stairs. You could also buy color coded baskets so that each family member is assigned a color. 

5. Don’t be a perfectionist. If you’re getting bogged down with ironing, give it up. It’s not worth it. Only iron the absolute essentials such as dress shirts, blouses and linen materials. Every day clothes like jeans and t-shirts is a waste of your precious time.  

6. Finally, spruce up our laundry room. Paint is a pretty color. Add a cute laundry sign or picture. Hang up curtains if you have a window. Going to a pleasant laundry room will inspire you instead of bring you down. 

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