5 tricks to simplifying laundry
16 comments so far
Of all the mundane chores out there, laundry has to rank near the top. Just look at that woman’s face. She is NOT a happy camper. Here are five ways to expedite this soul-draining chore so you can spend your time doing more cheerful and pleasant things.
Pre-Sort Darks and Whites. This works best if you have a horizontal hamper (see pic below). When you put your clothes in, put the whites on one side and the darks on the other. It doesn’t take any additional effort (just a well-placed jumpshot) and not having to sort through the laundry before putting it in the washing machine will save a lot of time.
Avoid the Sticky Measuring Cup. If you use liquid laundry detergent, you know it can be very easy for the measuring cup/lid to become a sticky mess. Instead of putting it back on the bottle right away, put the cup in with the clothes. Pull the cup out when you transfer your clothes from washer to dryer and you’ll have a perfectly clean, non-gunky lid to put on your perfectly clean, non-gunky bottle.
Quickly Fold. Fold laundry right out of the dryer. If you’re quick, you can prevent most wrinkles from showing up with a swipe or two of the hand. No, you don’t have that nice, sharp look but I think it would look kinda weird to wear a creased t-shirt anyway.
Delegate Sock Responsibility. If you’re doing laundry for a family turning inside-out socks right-side out, matching and folding can be extremely time consuming. You can eliminate that first step by making a rule that “you’ll get your socks back the way you gave them .”
Stop turning socks right-side out for people. If you find socks that are inside-out while doing laundry, match them, fold them and put them away inside-out. If your family members don’t like it, they can put them in the hamper the right way to begin with. It’s much easier for each person in the family to take off their socks “properly” than have one person turn everyone’s socks right-side-out.
For Food Stains Use Food Soap. If you get a food stain on your clothes instead of just soaking it in water or using hand soap, try dabbing on a bit of liquid dish soap. It can help prevent oily/grease stains from setting in. Of course, be careful and use judgement based on the type of fabric you’re cleaning.
Do you have additional ideas on how to simplify the laundry process? Leave word in the comments!
LivSimpl
P.S. A couple of these points appeared in earlier posts, but I thought it would be appropriate to use them again.
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Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Clothing, Family, Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
These are very true tips. One I am guilty of is having the socks inside out.
By the way, would you like to exchange links?
I have a shelf in the laundry room and on that shelf are four baskets. One is for dark, one light, one hot, & one red. That way the kids separate out their own clothes as they put them in there.
Dawn dish washing liquid is great for grease stains. I once got red lipstick out of white carpet with it.
“You’ll get your socks back the way you gave them.” So true. My family does this even with shirts and pants. If they’re inside out, they’re staying inside out.
This doesn’t actually simplify anything, but I much prefer doing laundry on as-needed basis. Doing one load at a time is so much easier for me, and it keeps enough space in the laundry room to hang everything up. If I wait until a specific day, it builds up and I end up looking like the woman in the picture.
Just a little simplifying trick for those who share washing machines and dryers with other people: 1- stock up on quarters (I know that’s a given) 2- use as many machines as you can at once, and set a timer for when your clothes will be done. I can get three loads of laundry done in just under an hour and a half rather than having it be an all-day event. I agree with folding the laundry as soon as it’s out of the dryer too. One of my goals is to never have to iron!
I read somewhere that you’re really helping the environment if you let your clothes air dry (hang them out in the sun) instead of using up all that energy with the dryer (weather-permitting, of course). It certainly doesn’t make life easier, but it is simpler.
Thanks everyone for your comments! I really appreciate them.
Zack - Good point with the shirts and pants.
Sara - Hmmm… I don’t know if that would work for me. It would feel too much like I was constantly doing laundry. I’m more of a bite-the-bullet kind of guy I guess. :)
Norda - It’s amazing how quarters are worth more than 25 cents when laundry time rolls around.
Marelisa - An excellent point. I grew up in Oregon so those opportunities were few and far between. ;)
Great post. Here’s a useful tip I provided my wife by accident. At the end of the day, I take my socks off, careful to insure they are outside out and stuff them together. This provides two great opportunities. One, I can make a bank shot to the laundry basket from my bed. Two, my wife does the laundry while the socks are already paired. When the wash is done the socks are already mated and ready to put in the drawer. Talk about livin’ simpl.
You could even try pawning off the chore of laundry to someone else. It may not be simple to connive someone into doing it, but you will save some time.
Oh how I despise doing laundry. As if doing it wasn’t bad enough, you have to fold, iron and hang it all too. Good grief! Great tips! ;-)
In today’s Oregonian, The Edge “Useless fact o’ the day”: The average housewife will push an iron 215 miles over her lifetime.
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I air dry my clothes, but I hang them on their hangers on a metal bar hanging in the indoor laundry room. They dry just fine there and it’s less work than putting things in the dryer then remembering to fold them or hang them when they’re done.
I also don’t use fabric softener of any kind. The little bit of difference it may make isn’t worth the hassle or cost.
Meg - do you have any problems with static cling if you air dry?
I especially love the picture of the woman. I like the tip of throwing the detergent cup in the washer, I do that one too.
I air dry my clothes too and don’t use any fabric softener, and I actually find there is less static cling. I’m not sure if it has more to do with the method or the type of fabric.
@LivSimpl
None that I’ve noticed.