Laundry Hacks for Tired Families Big or Small

I have yet to meet a mother who does not feel the strain of laundry. Doing laundry is unavoidable. But it doesn’t have to run or ruin your life. Read on for some tried-and-true hacks to make laundry bearable.

Keep reading for hacks to simplify laundry day for your family…

• Wash, dry, and fold one load a day. You will hear this tip in almost any list of housekeeping tips or laundry hacks or cleaning tip list. But some things become cliches because they are true. This one is absolutely true.
• Reduce how many clothes each family member owns. I know what you are thinking: “But my kids are already running out of socks! If we have less clothes, won’t it be even harder to keep up?” But I promise you, if you reduce the clothes, laundry is less overwhelming and easier to maintain.
• Don’t let stains sit. Rinse stained clothes as soon as possible (with hot water if possible), and treat with a stain remover if necessary. Wash the item as soon as possible. I am the queen of ignoring this tip. I love to throw stuff in the dirty laundry bin and deal with it later. I always regret it.
• Wear an apron when you cook. I hear a lot of people talk about how messy kids’ clothes can get, but no one warned me about how stained my clothes would be at the end of each day. Anyone else have children who like to run lap through the kitchen during dinner-making-time? An apron is an easy way to cut out unnecessary laundry before it happens. (Plus…pockets!)
• Organize clothes in a way that makes folding and putting away easier. This is the part that will look very different for each family, and in each home, but more than anything, I encourage you to get creative, and don’t be afraid to ditch the dresser! Which leads me to the most unusual on my list of laundry hacks…

A Not-So-Well-Known Laundry Hack: The Family Closet

It was an accidental discovery. Our kids share a bedroom, and for a while, their clothes were in their bedroom as well. It turns out that a shelf full of bins full of clothes is very tempting to a child in the “dumping” phase.

After one too many dumps of the entire shelf during rest time, I angrily dragged it into the master bedroom, and put it in our walk-in closet. It was meant to be temporary. I just got tired of the battle of the clothes shelf. There are certainly battles worth fighting, but for me, this was not one of them.

So I dragged the shelf of clothes to the master bedroom closet. Eventually, I realized that there was no reason to move it back. To this day, almost all of our clothes live in one closet. The only exceptions are the clothes for our not-toilet-trained children, which live in the desk we also use as a diaper changing table.

I came to realize that this arrangement actually came with a lot of perks.

The Perks of Keeping Our Family’s Clothes in One Room

• It is easy to gather dirty clothes. The kids get dressed in our family closet, and put their dirty clothes in the dirty clothes bin in the same room, or take them directly to the laundry room. When I am starting a load of laundry, I do not have to walk around, gathering laundry from multiple rooms.
• It is easy to put clean clothes away. I fold laundry in our bedroom, using our bed as a folding and sorting surface. I am then steps away from our dresser or the closet. The majority of our laundry will go one of those two places.
• I can put laundry away, even if someone is sleeping. If I am compelled to fold laundry before the kids wake up, or after bedtime, I can easily do so.
• It is easy to pack for a trip. I put the suitcase on the bed, and grab from all the bins and drawers in one room.
• Kids can get dressed, even if a sibling is sleeping. Of course, if we are in a season of having a baby sleeping in our room, this perk does not apply, but during most seasons, it is actually easier for kids to get dressed and ready when their clothes are not in their bedroom.

Hacks for Simplifying Laundry Organization with Kids

• Think about any central location that might work for your family. We use a walk-in closet, but you could also use extra floorspace in the master bedroom. Maybe you have a larger laundry room, and you could keep all the kids’ clothes in the laundry room. Talk about streamlined!
• Reduce your clothing inventory. Less clothes means less laundry.
• Ditch the dresser! I find that, especially with kids, a shelf with bins is much easier to maintain. It is less prone to becoming a chaotic jumble of unfolded clothes, and it is much easier for kids to use. In my experience, it also allows you to store more clothes in a smaller space.

• Think about how you can simplify your current system. Can you reduce the number of places clothes are stored? Maybe you can add or remove dirty laundry bins to make laundry easier. Think about swapping a dresser for a shelf, or for changing storage bins to make it easier for kids to put things away.

Our family closet is not an idea that can be replicated in every home, nor is it something every family would enjoy, but simplified laundry is something we could all use. Hopefully this list of laundry hacks sparks ideas to use in your own laundry routine. Just because something is the way you have always done it, or your mom did it, or how you think everyone else does it, does not mean it is the way you must do it.

The next time a shelf or storage system drives you to the brink of a shouting match, why not drag it to another room?

Looking for more ways to simplify life with littles? Check out my tips for decluttering and curating your toy collection.