Laundry is the thing that never ends.
Ever.
Even when I am “all caught up” on laundry I’m really not because the clothes that I am wearing right then will still need to be washed.
It’s a vicious cycle and at any time you could drop by my house and find a pile mountain of laundry on my couch waiting to be folded.
But awhile back my mom had an idea that has helped in my battle against laundry: Individualized Storage Bins
One afternoon she arrived at my house with some storage bins. There was one bin for each person in the household and we labeled each bin.
The bins live (stacked inside one another) on top of the dryer….until the couch becomes Mount Laundry. At which point they are spread out on the family room floor.
Clothes are then sorted into the appropriate bin and the owner of the bin carries it off to their room where the clothing is put into drawers or on hangers.
After that the bin is returned to it’s home on top of the dryer where it awaits the next sorting session.
I can’t say this has solved all my laundry issues but it has helped in the process of getting those clean clothes picked up and put away. (Especially on those days when I have the bins loaded up and ready for when the kids get home from school!)
If I was really efficient I would spread out the bins in the laundry room as I am emptying the dryer and cut out the couch all together…but let’s face it…that’s never going to happen. So for now I am happy with our laundry sorting plan. It’s helped me get the clothes put away and it might help you.
-liZ
PS: If you do try this, the bins we got were on the small size with handles to make them easy for the kids to carry….which has proven to be a good idea.
That is a fantastic idea! Right now, I dump our laundry on our bed, so I can’t physically get into bed unless it is all sorted and put away. I usually fold the clothes and put them on the kids’ beds, and when they get home, they put them away.
I send the folded clothes up with the kids in the same baskets in which they brought them downstairs. And if they don’t bring it down, I don’t wash it. Occasionally this leads to a kid doing his own wash on a non-laundry day. They’re all over age 9, physically capable of carrying and putting away instead of hiding their jeans in their beds. Someday they’ll figure out the value of clean, orderly clothes.
I realized a long time ago that the real curse from original sin in the Garden of Eden… is laundry.