Confession: I am not the person you want to imitate when it comes to correct laundry techniques. I don’t do well with stains or soaking or scrubbing. But, that is partly due to the fact that my Sweet Husband has separate work clothes and doesn’t care if they are stained. We do get the occasionally pasta sauce stain I have to treat. But, in the main, I am a rhythmic laundress. Maybe you are the same?

Each household has their routine when it comes to laundry. In the warmer months, ours changes some because I line dry. But, for the most part, here is our rhythm:

Sorting

I do usually sort our laundry. This cute hamper has come in handy and actually holds quite a bit more items than you’d expect by its size. We sort: brights, darks, and whites. There is always overlap, but generally speaking those are the categories I use.

Make Things Lovely

I like pretty things. When I do my chores, I want to see a glass jar with detergent versus a crinkly bag of pods. An old fashioned style label maker makes things organized as well as adorable. For a long time I made all of our detergent. However, for a few reasons, I have stopped doing this. One: the ground soap powder began making white spots on some of our clothing. Two: I can’t do it all, as much as I’d like to! And so, this became an area where I purchase a natural laundry pod. Pods are easy for kids to use and the possibility of waste is much less. More on this topic later!

Line Drying

Line drying is a favorite for me! My Sweet Husband made this clothesline for me with no printed plans for Mother’s Day one year and it has been amazing. We love the smell of the sheets as we go to sleep. And the nubby feeling of line dried towels can’t be beat. On top of these wonderful aspects, it is also an energy saver- I do not like heating up my house in the sunny days of summer. There are many DIY building plans to be found if you are handy. There are also purchase options that are helpful and won’t break the bank. We had a similar umbrella style clothesline when we first got married that worked for many years before I got the ‘T’ style line.

Routines

We can all use a revamp when it comes to household routines. Sometimes they just aren’t working for us! Recently I made new summer chore cards for my kiddos and I took back the chore of laundry from their list. I enjoy this, though I haven’t always! The rhythmic parts are soothing; have you ever thought of laundry this way??

As I took back laundry, I also noticed some things needed a bit of a change. Here are a couple of ways of doing laundry that could be helpful for your family!

• Laundry Daily– Whether you are a homemaker and are home a lot, work outside the home, or occasionally help your spouse with chores, a daily laundry routine could be very helpful. A routine could look something like this: evening- wash a load; morning- dry 1st load and wash new load; evening- fold 1st load, dry 2nd load, wash new load; morning- repeat! It definitely depends on how much laundry you have and need to keep up with. It may be that you only need to do one load per day [pm- wash; am-dry; pm-fold and put away]. This may be helpful as you begin a new week.
• Choose Laundry Days– This is the way our family usually does laundry! Except for summer, when I often do 1-2 loads per day as needed and line dry, we choose Tuesdays and Thursdays as laundry days. I gather all laundry, sort all laundry, and begin with whichever load may be needed first. Generally, I wash darks first because we wear those most of all. In summer we don’t have quite as many clothing items and the loads of laundry are not as heavy as during fall and winter. As each load is finished (my mama ears hear the dryer stop), I swap the laundry until everything is dry. Then, I fold everything. Finally, we all put things away- each child puts their own stack of clean clothes away and I put the remaining stacks away. This has been our basic system all of my homemaking life.

Be sure to get everyone involved. Kiddos can usually begin helping with laundry by age 5 if not before. Knowing how to put their own clothes away is very helpful and they can feel proud of a job well done (note the key words…). I often have trouble with a child or two appropriately putting their clothes away and then we have to move to a new system- this often means they have too many clothing items!

I hope this wee look at laundry and having a system is helpful. Anything that I can do to make my life streamlined and each task enjoyable is a wonderful thing. We should take joy in the work before us, however menial it may seem. For it is truly important and definitely worth doing right. As you gather and sort and wash and dry and swap and fold and put away, think of how blessed it is to serve those we love most! God gives us true contentment in daily tasks when we seek to honor Him!

Laundry blessings to you!