One of the most often-cited nagging tasks of adulting is laundry. Which makes sense. After all, it’s constant, time-consuming and involves a lot of steps, none of which are fun. But it’s a necessary evil, and as someone who is NOT a fan myself, I’ve spent years honing my laundry responsibilities to a bare minimum. And today, I share my favorite laundry hacks with you!

General Hacks

One of the key stresses that comes with laundry is forgetting about it. When it’s left in the washer too long, it gets gross and you have to start the whole process over again. Ugh. And if you leave it in the dryer too long, everything gets wrinkled and you’re forced to iron or steam everything before you wear it. Either way, more work and time you’d rather spend elsewhere.

To overcome this challenge, I use a timer. (I actually use a timer for a lot of things – check out my time management article here). Forty-five minutes for the washer and an hour for the dryer. This keeps the process moving along.

Next, I batch activities. Despite doing laundry for four people, including the three beds we sleep in, I only do laundry two days a week. Thursdays are the two loads I have to do for more little guys. And on Sunday, I wash everything the adults wear and use. Which brings me to my next point.

Ideally, you have at least three loads of laundry collecting at any given time, namely your whites, colors and linens (bedding and towels). Each of these loads requires different care. Ideally you are washing your towels and bedding in hot water to kill bacteria. Whites stay whiter when you wash them in warm. Which leaves your colors, which you’ll wash in cold. Worried you’ll forget? You can remember at least two out of the three this way: cold = colors and warm = whites.

I speak from experience when I say do NOT overfill the machine. Most washers will just stop mid-cycle when the weight of the clothing and water becomes too much. Which means you’re left pulling wet articles of clothing out and now you have to do the two loads anyway. And when you overload the dryer, your heavier items like jeans and towels, tend to still be damp and everything comes out wrinkled. Not ideal!

Having the right supplies on hand is important as well. When it comes to the dryer, I’ve started using wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets for a few reasons:

1. I got sick of putting a load of clothes in the dryer to conveniently remember I was out of dryer sheets
2. The dryer balls are significantly cheaper
3. The dryer balls are better for my dryer and the environment

Last but not least (of the general hacks, that is) is ideal for when you want to dry a load even faster: toss a clean, dry towel in. It will help absorb the moisture faster, speeding up the overall process.

Let’s break the rest of the hacks down by age group. 

Adults’ Laundry Hacks

In our house, underwear, swimsuits and sports bras and tanks are not folded and are tossed in drawers as is. If no one is seeing them and/or the material is wrinkle resistant, there’s no point to taking the time to fold and stack nicely.

Speaking of folding, I’d rather fold than hang. So any garment that won’t wrinkle when folded, for example, knit blouses, get folded and put into a drawer as opposed to hung in the closet. I also always find drawer space more plentiful than closet space, especially once I started living with my husband.

Children’s Laundry Hacks

Again, I have two little ones that I’m doing laundry for as well (four and two years old, to be specific). And from day one, I knew the additional laundry responsibilities were going to be a drag, so I’ve embraced a few more hacks for them specifically. 

First, I don’t fold anything. Since I’m pulling their stuff out of the dryer immediately (thanks timer!), they lay in the drawer nicely without wrinkling easily. 

Next, I honestly just wash all of the two year old’s stuff in one load and the four year old’s stuff in another. They’re both boys, so without looking at tags it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between their clothing when washed together.

Third, don’t forget the stuffed animals! This one has gotten tricky with my two year old who is very attached to a few, but think about all of the places their favorites get dragged. Outside, the dinner table, the car, under furniture- they’re pretty gross. I was their favorites every week.

Finally, I only dress my kids once a day and that’s before bedtime. They’re too little to get sweaty and we aim for comfort, so they are usually wearing gym shorts and tee shirts anyway. I see no point in putting them in pajamas, just to fight them into a new outfit the next day.

I hope you found at least one thing you can do to make laundry a bit more bearable. The key is finding the aspect that bothers you the most and developing a plan to manage that. Good luck and God speed! 

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