Have you ever woken up late, thinking you would just skip the shower, wash your face, brush your teeth, comb your hair, and pull on your clothes as you’re headed out the door… only to remember that every item of clothing that fits you is still in the washing machine…wet!? Don’t let it ever happen to you again. Here are some tips to streamline your laundry time.
So, the “normal” laundry procedure goes like this:
- Sort
- Wash
- Dry
- Hang/Fold
- Put Away
How could anyone improve on this? 🙂 One or more of these tips might help.
- Timer/Alarm – vow to yourself, right now, that you will never start another load of laundry without setting a timer or alarm. It can be the oven timer or your cell phone alarm or anything in between. Just promise me you’ll set it. And, of course, when it goes off, do the next step in your laundry process. And then, re-set the timer.
- 3-Bin Sorter – use these hampers for sorting your clothes the moment you take them off. Now, there’s one less step to doing the laundry! You can find one to fit your choice of fabric, style, color, and budget. (Note: I have friends that have had great success with the new Shout Color Catcher product. They say they don’t sort laundry anymore. The Color Catcher will catch any colors that bleed into the washing machine water. Sounds amazing to me. I haven’t tried it yet. If you’ve tried it, Comment below to let us know how you liked it.)
- Time It – how long does it take you to do an average load of laundry – from the moment the thought occurs to you through putting the hung or folded items away? If you don’t know, time it. When you know how long, promise yourself not to start a load of laundry that you cannot see through to completion. Yes, there will be interruptions and slight time extensions. But, if you make this pact with yourself, you’ll stay way ahead of the curve.
Have you ever thought about how your buying decisions affect laundry time? Here’s a bonus laundry tip for you to consider.
- Socks – for everyday sock wearing, consider one brand of sock per color per person in your household. For example, there are three people in my household. For white socks, I use ankle height with pink Hanes lettering. My husband uses ankle height with red Hanes lettering and grey reinforced toes/heels. And, my son uses “you can’t see them” height with no lettering. So, I always know whose white socks are whose. We do a similar thing with black socks. Of course, we have a few pairs of colored/patterned socks each. But for everyday wear, we use this everyday plan.
Try one or more of these tips. And, keep me posted on your success! You can do this.
“Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.” Psalm 107:28 (New International Version)
Hello, my name is Tina Bonifacio, and I am a Professional Organizer working with residential and commercial clients in the greater Savannah, Georgia area. For more information, visit https://organizedbytina.com. Thanks for stopping by. You are welcome back anytime.