My Updated Laundry System

Of all of the jobs around the home, laundry is the worst. Seriously, I’ve time-tracked it, and laundry takes the longest. So I’m always looking for new approaches to optimize our laundry system. Two years ago I wrote about my laundry system at the time, and while I still love it, some things have changed. I also recently listened to a great podcast episode on the topic: The Lazy Genius Does Laundry. So today I’m rounding up all of my thoughts on laundry and sharing an updated overview of my laundry system.

When To Launder

I usually do laundry one-day-a-week, but I pivot to one-load-a-day when I’m traveling a lot or in a busy season. If you work out of the house, I recommend one-load-a-day. But if you work in the home, I recommend a laundry day.

If you do a laundry day, the day you choose for your laundry is so important. It shouldn’t be a weekend, because they’re too inconsistent. It needs to be a weekday so that it’s a consistent routine. I like Fridays because I have the fewest work commitments on Fridays. Choose whichever day is slowest and/or has the most freedom.

How to Launder

Folding

The other reason I like Fridays for a laundry day is because it’s a good night for a movie night, and I still like to end my laundry day with a movie night for any follow-up folding. (As I wrote about in my original blog post on laundry!)

A big lesson I’ve learned since then, though, is that you can’t leave ALL of the folding for the end of the day. As much as possible, fold and put away loads RIGHT when they come out of the dryer. I tend to want to procrastinate this task, but the more I fold immediately, the more I’m realizing that it doesn’t actually take that long. It’s usually under 10 minutes, and sometimes as little as 3 minutes, depending on the load. Plus, folding laundry when it’s warm reduces wrinkles and takes less time because you don’t spend extra effort smoothing out the clothing item mid-fold.

Load Scope

In my laundry system, I launder everything on laundry day: clothes, bedding, towels, miscellaneous, etc. And the order of these laods matters. In the podcast that I recommended in the introduction of this post, Kendra Adachi recommends moving from the hardest load to the easiest load. But my preferred order is as follows:

• Bedding: Instead of making the bed in the morning, strip it and start this load right away. Instead of re-making the bed with a different set of sheets and folding the washed set of sheets later, you will ultimately save time if you just put the same set back on when it’s ready. You have enough time because you started right away in the morning, and you’re going to be on top it today since it’s laundry day. Plus, once you’ve finished the bedding, you’ll feel like a super-hero. It’s like the ripping-the-band-aid-off of laundry. (Although, some weeks I skip this altogether…because sometimes I’m just human, and not a super-hero.)
• Youngest kid: My goal is to wash, dry, fold, and put away this load before the kid’s nap time.
• Oldest kid: I keep my kids’ loads separate because they have separate rooms and thus separate laundry baskets. It’s just easier to stay organized this way. If you have kids who share a room, or if you’re short on time, you could easily combine the kids’ loads.
• Towels: Kids’ laundry is difficult to fold, but towels are much easier. So I view this placement as a good half-time break.
• Adults: I split this category into multiple loads: delicates, dry-fits, and cottons. I don’t see a need to separate by color because I wash everything on cold. These loads usually spill into the evening and become what I fold during movie night.
• Miscellaneous: If there’s time, I do other miscellaneous loads at the end—special stains, rugs, bath mats, dish towels, etc. Sometimes I let this work carry over into the next day or the weekend, depending on what’s going on. I always try to have it wrapped up by Sunday though.

Speed

The key to getting through all of these loads in one day is to set a timer with every load. Not a reminder, but a timer. A reminder will give you a badge or notification, but depending on your settings, this is usually too passive. You won’t see it right away, but later in the day. Rather, you need to set a timer, which will actively alert you at the exact moment the load is ready to be switched. Then you need to act pretty soon after (similar to if you we’re baking something in the oven, and you would respond immediately).

Yes, sometimes you might be in the middle of something else that can’t be interrupted. In that case, just set a follow-up timer for the first chance you’ll get to switch the load. But if you’ve chosen a good day for your laundry day, hopefully you’re doing something you can interrupt for laundry.

A core principle to understand is that, for a laundry day to truly work well, you need to prioritize laundry on that day. It is the chief interrupter. But then the good news is that you don’t have to worry about laundry for the rest of the week. It’s wonderful!

Personally, I find myself getting into a rhythm with this laundry system. I can fold and put away while I listen to audiobooks, or even work meetings or training. And, as I mentioned, I fold a good amount at the end of the day with movie night. It runs smoothly and fits together quite naturally, which means that I don’t dread it as much as I used to.

Bonus Laundry Tips

• Temperature: I wash most things on cold to avoid any concerns with sorting colors. You really only need to wash on hot for linens that you want to sanitize. I wash our bedding and towels on hot, as well as baby clothes when they’re still in the blow-out phase.
• Stains: I highly recommend this Puracy Stain Remover for ALL types of stains. For particularly tough stains, you can always Google a specialized method, but this stain remover will usually do the trick in 1 or 2 tries. I was even able to get a 10-year-old stain out of one of my husband’s jerseys the other week!
• Hanging Clothes: Lay hanging clothes flat in an aligned pile. Then you can add a hanger and flip the top down, and then rinse and repeat (pun intended). Credit for this quick and easy method goes to The Clean Mama!

Happy laundering!