Finding a Laundry System That Works for You
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Today I’m vlogging (with three adorable assistants in the background) about how I’ve finally conquered the laundry monster. It’s something I struggled with until very recently, and the key for me was taking bits and pieces of other people’s systems and creating a system that fits our lifestyle.
There is an embedded video in the post, and if you’re reading this by email or in a feed reader, you may need to click through in order to view it.
What tricks do you use to help you stay on top of the laundry?
I recently found your blog and I am so thankful that you covered laundry today. We are adding a new baby to our family very soon and my laundry system needs an overall! Thanks again.
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Love the video! I actually love the idea of a family closet and actually might implement that. My girls clothes never seem to get put away since I usually do laundry when they are sleeping. Thank you for that idea.
BTW, how did you get your girls to sit still and stay quiet? LOL!
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Love the idea of family closet and totally agree on the washer/dryer in the kitchen. It works so well for me.
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Wow! That is inspiring! Thanks for sharing your ideas. I would love to see the family closet. I just can’t wrap my head around it. How big is the laundry area/closet? How big do you think it would need to be to work? Thanks a ton!
Elizabeth´s last blog ..I ain’t no Martha-ite
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Totally agree on the laundry being near the kitchen! I am also very lucky that my childrens rooms are next to the laundry area. We live in a one floor house. The laundry gets folded and goes right into their rooms. I really love your site. Thanks for sharing these great ideas.
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Great tips, love the idea of a family closet, our kids clothes overtake their room! It would be great to have the space to have one!
I have to say, I’m so so impressed that your girls sat there the entire time so quietly! WOW!
Donna S´s last blog ..Christmas Cookie Exchange Part 2
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I would love to do a family closet. I have lived with an unfinished laundry foom for almost 4 years. there is no way to organize stud walls and plywood floors. Now that we are moving this is one of the areas I am really looking for in a new house. Thanks for the tips!
Bekki´s last blog ..10 years ago…
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Thank you for the look into your laundry routine. It always helps to see how someone else is getting through it all! I am going to try folding straight from the dryer. Too often, we end up with a big pile of clean laundry that never makes it to the rooms until we have a big family marathon folding session. It actually can be an adventure trying to keep the one year old from rolling in our neatly stacked piles.
We have a new thing we have been trying at our house for our many, many socks. Each of the kids (we have 5 ages 1-7) has a plastic container (with a lid) for their shoes. We keep these boxes close to the front door. Each container has a zippered mesh bag in it for the kiddos to put their socks in as they rip everything off when they come in the door from school. Shoes and socks are then contained in each box and when the bag is full, I just throw the bag into the laundry and once it comes out of the laundry, they each get their own bag of clean socks back to fold and put away. We just started doing this and one of the perks is that we haven’t ended up with as many single socks. Also, one person doesn’t end up having to sort through fifty pairs of other people’s socks to find a match.
I would love to read more tips from others!
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Loved you vlog! I use to have a “kid” closet in the laundry room until I got selfish and need the space for my “Mommy Office!” Sometimes “the Mom” just needs to have some space to herself…LOL! However, I do hang and fold right away (every weekend I have the kids bring their empty hangers to the laundry room to stock up when clothes come out of the dryer). Thanks again for sharing!
Thea´s last blog ..My Carpet Ride
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Mandi,
The Doodle girls are even cuter in person and very well behaved. I like the idea of the family closet. I’m not sure where we could have one in our house though. I would love a laundry room upstairs but again lack of space. I like the idea of folding the clothes by type. I fold clothes by who they belong to and make my piles that way. Thanks for the tips and a chance to see the Doodle girls live.
Rana´s last blog ..Puppies, Projects, and Play dates
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I really like the idea of a family closet! Our laundry is upstairs – a switch from our previous house that I *thought* would be an improvement. I thought that not dragging laundry up and down the stairs would make it easier to get it all done. NOT the case. I long for a downstairs laundry room since the rest of the day’s activity happens on the lower level.
Enjoyed the vlog – and your sweet little girls!
RLR´s last blog ..Thursday Thanks #24
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We just moved to a house with the laundry room in the basement. My laundry monster is getting huge! The house we moved from had the laundry room on the second level. This was also where all the bedrooms were. It was just heaven…I really miss my old house.
Jackie @ Lilolu´s last blog ..New "Cook Yourself Thin" Recipes
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This was great! I’m thinking I need to change a few of the things I’m doing. Thanks!
Catie´s last blog ..Jewelry Giveaway
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I agree. I would love to see your family closet. I have my laundry room in the basement, so I’m not sure how it would work, but I’ve been thinking about trying it for awhile. Do you and your husband have your clothes there, too?
Jennifer´s last blog .."I Need Thee Ev’ry Hour"
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I just blogged on this last week.
Here are my tips
http://organisingtips.blogspot.com/2009/11/keeping-up-with-my-most-hated-chore.html
And seriously, I hate hate HATE doing laundry so it’s got to be as easy as possible
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Thanks for this! I see some tips I am already using and other great ideas. It was fun to see you and your ADORABLE girls!
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A family closet is such a great idea! When kids are little it makes such perfect sense to have all their clothes in one place. I wish I had thought of it when my kids were young.
Over the years my family laundry process changed significantly but some things remain constant. One is washing and folding loads based on the reverse order of how I put them away. For example, like Mandi, I always wash jeans, pants and darks first, then colors, then whites (underwear).
I know some people prefer doing daily loads but I always wanted it over and done with so when my kids were little I did laundry twice a week. When they got older I switched to once a week. It meant a long day of laundry but I liked not having to think about it again for another week.
Getting started the night before is very useful. I discovered my washing machine has a delayed wash feature so I put in a load at bedtime and time it to run early in the morning. It gives me a jump start on the job.
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I have a basket full of unfolded laundry sitting in my room from last week…
It happens all to often, so I try to get in the habit of dumping it on my couch which forces me to fold it…and I can watch tv, so it makes it less painful. But you are right…laundry baskets = procrastination!
Shannon´s last blog ..Christmas Pretties From Etsy
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Thanks Mandi! This was a great segment. I love the idea of a family closet. We actually do something similar, except I use two 5-shelf utility storage units. The first unit is used for the family and each person has their own shelf and then the second unit is used for sheets, towels, blankets, etc. I fold and put the clothes on the shelves until they’re too full, at which point I take the clothes up to our closets. You’re so right about the laundry room on the first floor. My laundry room is in the basement and it is such a pain to go up and down all day – but if I don’t, it really piles up! And I have to get better about folding right out of the dryer – very good tip – because once my “clean” pile starts to build on my folding table, it becomes overwhelming. Oh well, I try! Thanks again for giving us a peek into what works for you – very helpful.
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my dream has always been to have a family closet, but it is not going to happen in this house. My laundry room is also off my kitchen, and I love that. I have tamed the laundry monster in different ways at different times, but right now what is TOTALLY working for me is just making sure that i follow through on ONE load before I get to start the second one. Because we are 7 people in this family I can’t let it slide, I need to get the first load through and put away and start on the next one. I have a transit basket, that I fold clothes into, and carry around to put away. Every person has a basket in their room (dh and I have two) so that each load contains only ONE person’s laundry, (I also have a linen basket in the landing upstairs, and a downstairs basket in the bathroom) which makes put away so much easier. When I have folded a load and am ready to put it away, I start the water running for my next load (no front end loader here yet), take my transit basket, put away the current load, move to the next family member’s room and dump their clothes into the transit basket and take them immediately to the washer.
It makes me so happy to only be dealing with one load at a time and not have a load in the washer, a load in the dryer, a couple of loads waiting to be put away and more waiting to be folded. UGH
Prairie Chick´s last blog ..Laundry Love
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