Why I’m Letting My Laundry Pile Up & Loving It
Oh, laundry. The ever-present, never-ending task. Even when you feel like you’re “done” with it, you’re still wearing clothes that are becoming dirty and then will need to be laundered… As someone who finds satisfaction in crossing off items on my to-do list (probably too much so), laundry just about drives me crazy, because it’s never truly DONE! So lately I have set out on a mission to make laundry more efficient and less miserable, and I think I’ve finally figured out a system that is working well for me.
My Laundry Problems
For the past year, I have tried to do one load of laundry a day. This worked well for a bit, especially as I’ve been working from home. It was never too overwhelming, just a little bit every day. But after a while it started to drive me crazy. Starting and switching the load throughout the day was easy, but then towards the end of the night I would lose my energy to fold it and put it away. I even started procrastinating my bedtime because of it (which, as you might know, I did NOT like!).
So I knew I needed to make a change. What’s the opposite of doing laundry every day of the week? Doing laundry only once a week. So I decided to give it a try!
My primary concern with doing our family’s laundry only one day per week was that it would be too much work for one day, especially when it comes to FOLDING, as that usually seems to be my biggest bottleneck (lol!). So I decided I needed some motivation for that step, which I have finally figured out…
Once a week, on laundry day, we do a MOVIE NIGHT. This gives me something to look forward to, but it’s also my designated time to fold all of the laundry for the week. Folding laundry is a somewhat mindless activity, so it’s easy to focus on something else, like a movie. The bigger issue with folding is that it’s time-consuming… But if you’re already planning to sit down for a couple hours uninterrupted, you don’t have to worry about that!
My Laundry Solutions
My new laundry method is as follows:
- I start a load right when I wake up.
- When it’s finished, I switch that load and start another.
- I continue this process throughout the day, putting the clean clothes in a pile on the couch or the bed (or wherever I plan to watch my movie).
- At the end of the day, while we watch a movie…
- I fold the clean pile, sorting by category and final location.
- I lay hanging clothes flat in a pile and place hangers in each item. (Note: I collect all of the hangers ahead of time and use this Clean Mama method.)
- Before going to bed, I put everything away. This is usually a pretty fast process since everything is already sorted and on hangers. Worst case scenario it spills into the next day, which still isn’t a problem since it’s relatively quick.
A Note on WRINKLES: If you are concerned that this method of letting the clean laundry pile up unfolded all day long creates more wrinkles in your clothes, you’re not wrong. If you’re extremely particular about wrinkles, this method might not be for you. BUT there are a few things I do to help prevent them:
- I order my loads strategically so that the items I care most about NOT being wrinkled are done LAST. I then grab my very last load right before starting the movie, and I fold it while it is still warm.
- Since I’m not as worried about time while I’m enjoying the movie, I try to take my time to fold well, shaking and smoothing out items before folding them.
Why It’s Working
What used to be my least favorite part of doing laundry is now my favorite, and I’m able to do it with higher quality. And on top of it all, batching my folding process has made my overall laundry process more efficient! (Ex. I only have to put away socks once per week instead of a few nights per week.) The key for me was simply pairing up an activity I love with the one that I dread.
What do you do to make your laundry process a little bit happier and a little less miserable? I would love to hear in the comments below!
