Confession: How I Actually Do Laundry

Laundry isn't my favorite chore (really - who actually likes to do laundry?). We have come up with a system that works for us even if it is a bit unconventional:

1. A laundry basket is kept in the hall outside the bathroom. As clothes come off, they go straight into the basket. Dirty towels get thrown straight into the basket. Its even close enough for me to launch dirty washcloths and towels from the kitchen into the basket :)

2. When the basket is full, it gets dumped into the washer - no sorting. I drop in a detergent pod and let the washer fill with cold water. Once it has agitated for a couple minutes, I open the lid and let it sit for a few hours (usually I start this process before I leave for work). This lets the stains soak and also prevents wet clothes from just sitting in the washer after the cycle. The clothes don't sour this way.

3. At lunch, or when I get home from work, I shut the washer and let it finish cycling.

4. Clothes are hung to dry on the clothesline I strung up on the deck if the weather allows, or just tossed into the washer if its rainy/cold. (Clothes on the line do get a 5 minute tumble when they come in just to make sure no spiders or leaves are hanging out).

5. The clean clothes sit in a basket at the foot of our bed. We pick out of the clean clothes each day until the dirty basket is full again and the clean basket is close to being empty.

6. As the clean baskets stack up, I keep consolidating them down. I will fold the easy things like the big towels, making more room in the clean baskets :)

7. When I run out of laundry baskets or get sick of tripping over the piles at the end of my bed, I fold the clothes and put them away. Usually this happens once a month or so.

We wash 2-3 loads of laundry per week for three people. And I will also confess - I let DD go to sleep in whatever clothes she was wearing that day (if they are not too dirty), or I will change her into a clean outfit to wear to bed. No jammies :) Less to wash, and it makes our mornings easier.