Organizing Tips for Laundry Day

Handy Hampers
There’s no need to spend your whole day sorting. Use bags and hampers to help keep your dirty clothes organized and ready to toss in the washing machine.

• Let each person in your family decorate their own linen hamper with fabric paint or markers. They’ll be so excited to use their new creations that they’ll toss their laundry where it belongs instead of on the floor.
• Save time by placing a hamper in your bathroom or linen closet, so all your used towels and washcloths will be in one place and ready to wash on laundry day.
• Hang a bag in the laundry room for items that need repair. That way, you can grab a garment to mend when you have a free moment or wait until the bag gets full and drop it off at the seamstress.
• Clip clothespins to the sides of your hampers and teach your family to pin them on clothing to mark stains or spills.

Sock Solutions
Digging through piles of clothes to find your lone sock’s missing match can be as frustrating as hunting for a needle in a haystack. Save yourself the search with these tips to keep your smallest items of clothing from getting lost in the laundry.

• Store safety pins near your hamper and pin dirty socks together at the ankle when you take them off. They’ll stay paired up when you wash and dry them.
• Tack mismatched socks on a bulletin board on the wall of your laundry room, so you can tell at a glance when you’ve found their mates.
• Give every member of your family a mesh lingerie bag for their dirty socks and undergarments. Then, simply toss the bags in the washer and their small items will stay sorted for you.

Washing Whiz
With your clothes neatly sorted, it’s easy to squeeze in laundry whenever you have the time. Toss a load in the washer while you’re cooking dinner, switch it to the dryer before dessert and have your family help you fold while you’re watching TV.

• Do a little at a time. Try dividing up your week and washing a load on each day.
• If you have clothes that need to be washed in cold water or can’t go in the dryer, mark the tags with a permanent marker. You’ll make them easier to identify and save yourself from having to decipher the small print on the tag.
• Save time by keeping extra bottles or boxes of detergent and dryer sheets on hand. You’re more likely to get your laundry done quicker if you don’t have to run to the store first.

Freshly Folded
Laundry doesn’t end with the dryer. Try these tips to help keep your garments sorted and organized in your dresser drawer.

• Shoeboxes or plastic storage containers make great dividers for your drawers. Use them to separate light socks from darks or t-shirts from camisoles.
• Hanging knit items can cause them to stretch out. Instead, store sweaters in a deep drawer with a cedar block to keep away moths.
• In the summer, clean out your dresser by storing cold-weather garments in a closet or under your bed. Read Out-of-Season Storage for more tips on packing away winter wear.

Neatly Pressed
Clothes on hangers need just as much care as those in drawers. Try these ideas to maintain closet organization, so your wardrobe stays wrinkle-free and ready to wear.

• Keep extra hangers in the laundry room to hang wrinkle-prone clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer.
• Use padded hangers to help keep fine fabrics like silk or satin from sliding around.
• For an easy way to clean out your closet, try turning all your hangers in the same direction. Then, when you wear an item, flip its hanger around. At the end of six months, toss or give away all the clothes still facing the original direction.

Speeding up the laundry process is all about finding a method that works for you. Just pick a few of your favorite cleaning tips and weave them into the routine you already have. You’ll fine tune your laundry organization and have more time to enjoy all of life’s fun.

Have any secrets that make laundry day a breeze? Be sure to share yours with the community below.