A peek inside: Feeling overwhelmed by laundry? It can be a beast, for sure! Read these laundry hacks for busy moms and learn how to keep on top of laundry once and for all!
Do you feel like laundry is taking over your life and home? Adam and Eve really ruined it for all of us when their sin made them aware of their own nakedness, didn’t they?
Since running around nekked was only socially acceptable for a short while in Eden, the piles of clothes can really add up. Whether you’re managing your own clothes or you’re wondering how to keep up on laundry with a big family, I think we all can agree that it takes up more time than we’d like.
Although I still haven’t figured out how to snap my fingers and have every load washed, dried, folded, and put away in moments, I have worked out a system that has been crucial to my sanity over the last few years.
Read along and see which tips you might like to implement in your own home!
Table of Contents
Stop Feeling Overwhelmed by Laundry
How to Keep on Top of Laundry
In order to stop feeling overwhelmed by laundry and get a handle on it, I think you first need to ask yourself:
What is your preferred approach to laundry?
- Are you a do-a-little-bit-everyday kind of worker?
- Would you rather power through and get it all done in a day or two?
- Or do you complete tasks as needed? (i.e. when the hamper has finally spilled over or when that baseball uniform needs to be clean for a game in two hours)?
The Do a Little Bit Every Day Approach
Now, I would rather re-wear socks (shudder) than know that I had laundry waiting for me every day, but if you prefer this method, then by all means, do it!
You might like to throw a load in every morning and fold during nap times. Or maybe you throw it in the wash at dinnertime, have it drying by bath time, and fold it with a glass of wine when the kids are in bed and catching up on your favorite shows.
The key here is you’re going to have be consistent and self disciplined. If you don’t stick to doing a little bit every day, then before you know it, you’re super behind and wondering how to catch up on 10 loads of laundry when you’re only used to doing one or two a day.
The Power Through and Get it All Done Approach
I am a batch worker and prefer to batch the housework, including laundry. I devote two days a week (Mondays and Thursdays) to get every last load in our hampers done.
As soon as I get up, I’m throwing in the first basketfull. I stay focused and aware as every load finishes in the washer and dryer so I can switch out clothes and keep those machines a-whirring. Of course, I am able to complete other tasks in between loads.
I tend to not run errands or schedule appointments on these days. Instead, I catch up on housework, work on this blog, and whatever other things I might have on my to-do list.
I am a stay at home mom, so I do want to acknowledge that this system may not work for you and your schedule if you don’t have a full day at home.
The Complete Tasks as Needed Approach
Friend, this one is risky! I totally understand that some people work on a spontaneous, as needed basis.
But something tells me if you’re reading this post, it’s because you realize something about your system, or lack thereof, just isn’t working.
When you only do laundry if the hampers are full, you risk not having an outfit or uniform when you need it. I don’t want that stress for you!
Maybe, just maybe, you could consider switching to one of the previously mentioned approaches. I would encourage you to test each of them out for a week or two and see which one is a better fit for you.
Laundry Hacks for Busy Moms
Laundry is a lot for any one person to handle, but even more so when you have a large family. Remember, many hands make light work! Here are some of my tips for how to keep up on laundry:
1. Stop folding clothes.
No, seriously. Did no one tell you you could do this? Stop folding everyone’s clothes! On the same thread, don’t mess with correcting articles that are inside out.
There are several things you can do instead. My life changed when I started laying clothes flat, separated into neat piles for each family member.
When my kids were younger, we would all gather together, maybe put a show on, and fold our laundry in the same room. Now that they’re older, I call them in to come grab their pile, and fold and put it away themselves.
>>> I’ve taught my kids The KonMari method for folding clothes and it has made a huge difference in the tidiness of their drawers! My husband is the only one who’s still not on board.
Another approach is to not have anyone fold it at all. Some families opt for baskets or closet systems that don’t require any folding.
You do you, Boo!
2. Teach kids to do their own laundry.
And then, this is the key… let them be responsible for managing it!
In my house, once you’re in middle school, you’re responsible for your own laundry. We spend the summer before 6th grade learning all the things: sorting/separating, cycles, temperatures, etc.
I have four boys, and this system has worked out well.
If you have a larger family, you might have to start your kids earlier than I did. And that’s ok! They probably already know how to work phones, video games, tv remotes, and fishing poles— they can manage pushing a few buttons on the washer and dryer!
My boys get their own day of the week that works with their schedules/extra-curriculars, and that’s their day to do their laundry.
Now, I do all the towels in the house, and everyone puts their whites into one hamper because we usually only have enough for one load a week. I also make sure sports uniforms are clean when they need to be. So really, the kids are responsible for their darks/colors and their bedsheets.
The beauty of having your kids do their own laundry is that you get some relief, they’re learning a life skill, and they learn to be more responsible and autonomous.
3. Rewear and reuse what you can.
If you shower before bed, you can get away with wearing your pajamas more than once.
Things like jeans and jackets don’t have to be washed every time you wear them either.
And towels! You’re clean when you’re drying off with your towel– reuse that sucker!
Here, everyone has their own colored towel, so we can differentiate whose is whose, and everyone has two shower towels in their color. On laundry day(s), I wash the dirty one and replace it right away with the clean one from the closet.
4. Don’t let double-drying slow you down.
If your dryer takes a hundred years to dry a load (especially towels), then chances are your wash cycle will be done a lot faster. Hang wet clothes up to air dry while the dryer is restarted for the second time.
I live in the humid south, so hanging clothes on a clothesline doesn’t really do much to dry them most of the time. But I do hang clothes on the banister of my stairs to air dry.
You could also hang them on a laundry rack, from the top of door frames, or another creative solution you’ve found.
After they’ve mostly dried, I can toss them in the dryer for a quick 10-20 minutes to fluff them up with dryer balls and make sure they’re completely dry.
5. Lighten the load by purging your clothes.
This might seem a little counter-intuitive, because you want to make sure you have enough clothes and not have to do laundry all the time.
But think about it. The more clothes you have, the less often you need to clean them. So before you know it, you can have an out of control mountain of laundry that feels impossible to get through.
>>>Not sure what to keep and what to get rid of? Corina over at Frump Fighters has a free wardrobe guide for moms. She walks you through cleaning out your closet, and which things to keep in order to build yourself an awesome, uncomplicated wardrobe.
Now You Can Stop Feeling Overwhelmed By Laundry!
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed these tips for how to keep on top of laundry and all the laundry hacks for busy moms!
I think the biggest take aways to stop feeling overwhelmed by laundry is to assess what’s working and not working with your current system, and to learn where you can delegate!
Do you have any tips you would add? Can’t wait to hear your suggestions!
