Okay, here’s how I do laundry:
1. Cram as much as I can into the 30-year-old washing machine.*
2. Don’t sort colors.
3. Put in some detergent, maybe some baking soda or vinegar, too, if it’s a tough load.
4. Set the machine for a cold, large load.
5. Start the machine.
6. When it’s done, check for stains that didn’t come out and cram the rest in the dryer.
7. Later, ask the boys about 8 times to go down and get the laundry.
8. Let clean laundry sit in basket for a day to get nice and wrinkly. Only put it away when there is new dirty laundry to be washed.
9. To put it away, sort into piles … have the boys throw their pile on a dresser for later putting away; have Callie put the girls’ pile on the bed until I can get to it.
My friend Ellen has the System. She has 5 kids and does laundry daily. Her kids are totally trained to bring down dirty laundry, and they each have a milk crate in the basement so she can sort their individual laundry into each crate. They pick up their crate later, put their stuff away and return their crate. WOW. That is going to be me when I grow up.
See how I’m World’s Best Wife? My poor husband only has white underclothing when he takes it out of the package. And I’m not even sure where the iron is located at this moment.
*Diapers are a completely different story
I like parts of your system! Checking for stains AFTER you've let the machine have a try is much smarter than checking for stains before you put stuff through. Half the time the stain spray doesn't work anyway, so you end up checking again before they go to the dryer...
ReplyDeleteI am always learning things from you that Martha and Heloise neglect to mention. Thank God for a fellow slacker wife!
tresa ... loyal fan: i thought for sure you'd think i was a loser for doing laundry that way! but hell, if i'm actually HELPING and TEACHING you, I may have to start CHARGING for my tips. there is no "fellow slacker wife" to this, dear. you don't seem to understand that if I could afford to have a wife, I would totally choose YOU b/c you are so capable! and i'm not hitting on you, so don't get all excited.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I stopped sorting a while ago too. And I stopped buying things that needed ironing too. And I don't have a dryer so stuff hangs forever until it is needed or I have to remove it to hang more.
ReplyDeleteI'm no slacker... just effortlessly efficient :)
omg lmao! Nice system-I would think you were a guy. But alas, I rarely iron anymore either. (I just make Tim do it! HA!) That Downy Wrinkle Release stuff works REALLY good when you are in a pinch!
ReplyDeleteI can't talk-all our clean laundry sits on the guest room bed and we just pick out of the piles what we need each day! HA! I haven't put my clothes away in MONTHS! Just pick from the pile! and I have not even SEEN the top of Caleb's dresser in YEARS.