Cleaning, Organising
How To Catch Up When You Are Overwhelmed By Laundry
Imagine if your laundry basket could be empty for more than three seconds. Wouldn’t that be amazing? I love doing the washing, call me strange, but I love every part of it, especially folding. However, it can be tough to stay on top of the enormous pile of laundry your family produces. It doesn’t take long to be overwhelmed by laundry and desperate for a solution.
In this post, I share with you some quick tips, talk about how to tackle a mountain of laundry, get you into a simple laundry routine, and I’ll even show you how to get your kids doing laundry!
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The laundry pile can triple in size in the blink of an eye, and an empty washing basket only seems to last a few minutes when you have a busy household.
We all have our way of tackling the piles of laundry;
- Laundry day once a week
- One load per day
- Several loads per day
- By color
- By family member
- By work clothes/uniforms
Knowing how to get laundry under control can seem like a daunting task. I tried many methods and managed to find a great routine that kept the laundry mountain at bay.
The benefit of doing a daily laundry routine
- There is no sorting to do.
- The basket you have washed, dried, and ironed gets put away into one person’s room.
- Iron upstairs and put it away straight away; this helps stop laundry hanging around downstairs waiting to be folded and put away.
- Ironing immediately prevents a massive ironing mountain and guarantees that the kids have school uniforms and sports kits always on hand. It also ensures there is never any emergency ironing to do.
- I wash my spouses and my clothes together as they will be put away in the same room.
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How to prevent being overwhelmed by laundry
- Use laundry baskets for each family member.
The first step to getting on top of the dirty laundry pile is to give everyone their own washing basket. There are two benefits to this.
✔︎ It’s more convenient for your kids to drop their laundry in the basket than to take it to another room; therefore, you’re less likely to get a pile of dirty clothes on the floor.
✔︎ It encourages your kids to be responsible for their laundry and is good for self-improvement.
✔︎ It’s much easier to wash by each family member as there is much less sorting to do, and you won’t have a huge laundry basket of clothes to organize
I insist everyone in my house puts their clothes straight into the laundry baskets, and it has reduced the pile of clothes waiting to be put away each day! - Complete the laundry cycle.
Always complete the entire laundry cycle from start to finish. Whenever possible, wash, put the clothes in the dryer, and put laundry away on the same day. It would be best not to start washing a load of laundry unless you know you can complete the whole cycle.
This method is the best way to stay on top oflaundry management! - Wash what you wear daily.
If you don’t wash what you and your family have worn every day, you will always have a pile of dirty clothes, and if you miss another day, you can quickly become overwhelmed by laundry.
A simple way to think of it is that the dirty laundry pile is like the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. You wouldn’t leave the dishes for a few days because it would be unbearable and soon mount up. So you make it your priority to wash your dishes after every meal, it only takes a few minutes, and the benefit is having clean dishes and a clean kitchen.
Apply the same rule to do some washing, and you’ll soon have an empty washing basket.
Keeping on top of the daily laundry means that it won’t send you over the edge when you also have to wash bedding and towels!
When you have a young family, you can always find a whole load each day to wash. I have a 13-year-old who has several outfit changes a day and has a terrible habit of putting unworn clothes in the laundry basket because it’s quicker than hanging them up. And my 9-year-old is muddy 30 seconds after getting dressed, so I am always doing some laundry! - Plan ahead
When the kids go swimming or somewhere muddy, ensure the washing machine is empty before you go out, so wet towels or dirty sports kits can go straight in the machine when you return. A bit of forward-thinking prevents the dirty clothes from sitting by the washing machine or in the laundry room going moldy.
Want to learn how to manage laundry? Plan ahead! - Put clean laundry away immediately.
Always put away clean laundry immediately to avoid clothing clutter! It can be challenging to find the motivation to do laundry sometimes. Still, if you time yourself, you’ll find it only takes a few minutes but makes a huge difference and prevents you from getting overwhelmed by laundry.
- Prioritize work shirts and school uniforms.
My best laundry advice is to prioritize work shirts, school uniforms, and sportswear above everything else, so they are always clean and ready for your children and spouse every morning. It is a big deal if your kids don’t have their school uniform but not so much of a big deal if their unicorn onesie isn’t clean!
It’s effortless to wash uniforms quickly when you designate washing baskets for each family member. - Iron at least every other day
Try to iron at least every other day whenever possible to prevent emergency ironing, stay organized, minimize chaos, and ensure your family always has clean clothes each morning.
“But I hate ironing clothes,” I hear you say. Well, you probably hate ironing because you save it up until you’ve got a huge big pile that takes hours to do, which will play havoc with your laundry motivation!
Recently I bought a cordless iron like this one that makes the job a lot easier. - Wash white clothes on their own
It’s essential when washing whites to make sure you separate them from everything else. To keep your white clothes very white, make sure you don’t wash them with any other color, even beige! If you have white clothes with different colored trim, I would suggest hand washing those items independently. If you mix whites with any other colors, you’ll soon find that they start to become grubby and dirty looking rather than crisp and white. Read how much laundry detergent to use for each load in this post.
- Separate colored clothing too!
Here is an example of how I separate my colored clothes before washing:
✔︎ Darks
✔︎ Reds and light browns
✔︎ All lighter blues and lighter greys
✔︎ Beige and cream
✔︎ Whites
Although it’s not as essential to separate colors, it will keep your clothes looking fresher for longer if you group them as much as you can.
Read this post to learn what the symbols mean on your clothing labels!
- Try to get help with laundry.
A few of my clients who work full time ask me to do their ironing for them. I love ironing, so it’s a win-win situation for us all. If you are struggling with working full time and keeping up with the family’s washing and ironing, getting help can prevent you from getting overwhelmed by laundry and take some of the pressure away. However, it can be pretty expensive to pay for outside help.
Another way is to ask other family members to help you.
If you’re worried about asking your kids for help, think about this:
1) If they can work an iPad or a games console, they can work a washing machine! As can your spouse!
2) If they can drag their bicycle out of the shed, they can carry a small washing basket!
My kids bring their washing baskets downstairs. When I ask, they can sort the whites out and put them in the washer, and they can fill up the powder and switch it on. They both know how to work the tumble drier too!
I don’t expect my kids to help all the time or do their laundry, but it’s great that they can be part of the team when I’m feeling overwhelmed by laundry or if I’ve been at work all day.
Kids love to help, and I believe that teaching them valuable life skills is hugely important from an early age and is good for self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-improvement.
To read how I got my kids to help around the house, read this post.
Following the routines above helps you know where most clothing items are at any time. Following a good laundry routine is critical when several people ask you where their favorite article of clothing or sports kit is!
What to do when you’re overwhelmed by laundry
When you’re overwhelmed by laundry, it can be daunting looking at the massive pile of clothes staring back at you. It can feel like you’re forever folding laundry.
If I find I’ve fallen behind and have a mountain of laundry, which I often do due to our busy schedule, I catch up by washing each load of washing by a family member. When it comes to folding and putting it all away, it all goes into one person’s wardrobe, and there is no sorting to do! I take the clean laundry basket to the family member’s room and put it straight away.
How to put away laundry fast!
- Wash every single day without fail
- Then dry, fold and put away without fail
- Iron it if you can!
When I first decided to start washing by family members, I put a small wicker laundry basket in my kid’s rooms and asked them to drop their dirty washing in there. Following these tips were was a game-changer in our house when it came to dirty laundry solutions!
My 9-year-old loved using his basket, but my 13 year old preferred to drop a pile of clothes all over the floor. However, with perseverance, my daughter used the basket and realized that it didn’t get washed if not in the hamper!
My spouse still likes to pile clothes by the side of his bed rather than use the laundry basket, but as they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!
It took me quite a while to remember to check in the kid’s rooms for laundry rather than one central laundry basket, but it just became a habit one time.
How to do the laundry step by step
- Take one person’s basket downstairs and wash their load only.
- Wash one white load and one colored load if necessary.
- If there isn’t enough washing, add a towel to the load, but you will probably find there will be piles of laundry to wash if you have a family!
- Dry it, fold it, and put it away immediately.
- Iron if possible.
The best time of the day to do laundry
There are a few things to consider when choosing a time of the day to do laundry.
- The weather, if you like to line dry your washing, check the weather forecast and plan to wash on the clear days, especially if you are at work all day and can’t pop out to bring it in!
- The time of day, some electricity providers give you cheaper electricity at night to encourage people to use less electricity during the day. If you put a load of laundry in the washing machine before you go to bed and delay the start or use a timer, it will finish just before you get out of bed in the morning, allowing you to hang it out before you go to work and save money!
- How busy you are: On the days you’re not going to be in, do very little washing to prevent laundry from going moldy in the washer for days!
- How many loads you have to wash, don’t start your first load of laundry at midday. If you’ve got lots of washing to get through, start your first load while you’re asleep using the timer!
- The priority of items being washed, prioritize uniforms, work shirts, and sports kits before casual clothes, as these are worn and needed more regularly. Prioritize getting them washed, dried, folded, and put away as soon as they hit the washing basket to prevent the chaos of last-minute ironing!
How to wash socks.
Knowing how to keep socks together can be the bane of the washing schedule! I have a simple trick to keep socks together without any sorting at all!
Buy each member of the family their plain color socks:
- Dad black
- Daughter white
- Son light grey
- Mum charcoal
If you wash each family member, all their socks will be together in the same load, all the same color, and there will be no matching! You can thank me later!
FAQ
You can wash whatever you like together in the washing machine; however, it is advisable to wash your underwear separately from anything else. Use a small laundry bag to put your underwear in if it is delicate. It’s a good idea to use a small net bag to wash your socks in as it will keep them all together and will be much easier to put away after drying!
Yes, the sun may bleach some clothes by the sun. Suncream can cause some damage to white garments, which often turn bright red when dried in the sun!
If you are suffering from ill-health or depression, only do what you feel you can manage on the days you think you can. Try to enlist some help from friends, family, and your spouse. Let someone know that you are struggling and seek help from your doctor if you feel overwhelmed.
Laundry detergent is not the best thing to wash dishes. However, it is excellent at getting burnt food from off the bottom of a pan if you’ve accidentally left something to boil dry. Just add a couple of tablespoons of laundry to the bottom of a pan, add a couple of cups of water or cover the bottom of the pan, then leave to soak for a few hours or overnight if it’s awful. All the burnt bits should lift away without any scrubbing!
Start to build a routine every day. Set a small goal for yourself, such as just doing one load of washing per day and sticking to it. See that load of washing right through to the end of the process. It’s essential to be consistent with that task, and you will soon see improvements.
Having simple routines to follow can help you stay on top of your daily jobs and prevent you from being overwhelmed by laundry and housework.
Make it your priority to wash every day, and put lightly soiled items on a 15-minute quick wash to save time and energy.
Try starting a capsule wardrobe for you and the kids. The fewer clothes you have, the smaller your washing pile will be.
The simple way to get around the folding situation is first not to let it build up. Secondly, learn how to fold the Konmari method it really is life-changing and very addictive so be warned!
I also have this fantastic clothes folder to help me fold laundry into the neatest piles.
✔️ Don’t wash clothes unless you have time to dry them and put them away.
✔️ Doing laundry every day helps eliminate the chaos.
✔️ Doing tons of laundry without putting it away will quickly cause laundry overwhelm.
How to use laundry balls is a question that comes up a lot in my Facebook group and it’s a simple answer. You shove them in the drier and it saves you using fabric conditioner, so it’s better for the environment and saves money in the long run
Anyone with kids will know how hard it is to keep up with laundry, use the tips above to create a routine that you can stick to, and only attempt to do laundry when you have time to put it away.
If you feel you’ve just got too much laundry, consider creating a capsule wardrobe for your kids; it can help when you feel overwhelmed by laundry as it brings some order to the chaos.
If you’re wondering how to catch up on laundry, start by trying to reduce laundry. You can do this by simplifying your wardrobe. Consider creating a capsule wardrobe for yourself. Read how here. It can make getting dressed much more straightforward and help reduce your pile of laundry!
For information on laundry symbols, click here.
Are you overwhelmed by laundry? Do you know a good laundry hack? We’d love to hear it! Drop us a line in the comments!
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I hate doing laundry, but it the one thing that we decided would be “my” job – most things we share or do together, but early on it was decided that I would do the washing and my husband would do the bathroom. I think I definitely go the downside of that agreement! I probably have one day out of a whole month where I don’t have a pile of washing to sort though. I know if I did it every day it wouldn’t take me long, but I can just never get in the habit. I like your idea of doing a load a person, so you only have their washing to put away. Very good tip!
My husband mostly does the laundry 🙂 I’m so lucky!
Send him over to train mine please ..he has difficulty locating the washing basket !
The dreaded laundry mountain! Some great tips, I like the doing it by person one I hadn’t thought of that! My husband also doesn’t seem to be able to put his clothes in the basket!
I actually love organising the washing basket, i put into the whites, darks and colours and where the darks always need more than one washload i categorise work clothes with underwear and then casual clothes. Darks are always first in the wash!
This is really interesting. I tend to do it by colour and tend to keep on top of it only by doing it 3 times a week, which feels like a lot! x
If im honesy i love doing the laundry nothing makes me happier, but the nly real issue is, is that i’ve not enough space to dry everything, but roll on spring so that clothes can go outside!