How to Keep Up With Laundry (6 Easy Tips)

6 Tips for Catching Up on Laundry

If you are wondering how to keep up with laundry in your home, I have 6 simple tips that will make your laundry struggles a thing of the past.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed by piles of dirty clothes, especially if you work outside your home or have children. I know this from first-hand experience.

Before working from home, keeping up with laundry was impossible. I worked 9-12 hour days outside the home while caring for an infant and a toddler. And the worst part, I did not have a home washer and dryer.

There were days when I fell so behind on this household task that I would pack my car before work. If one of my clients canceled at the last minute or no-showed, there was a laundromat nearby I could go to to get a load or two done. But that was stressful!

I couldn’t have lunch with my co-workers because I had to make a laundromat run, and sometimes I would leave my kids’ clothes in the dryer unsupervised to go back to work because my break was over and the clothes weren’t dry on time.

After having gone through that experience, keeping up with laundry is the least of my problems. I am going to share a few easy tips with you on steps you can take to make sure you never fall behind with laundry again, even with a big family!

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How to Keep Up With Laundry

1) Invest in a home washer and dryer:

A home washer and dryer is not cheap, and not everyone can afford one. However, having a washer and dryer in your home is invaluable and one of the best investments you can make, particularly if you have children or a big family.

With two kids, dirty clothes were constantly piling up. And the feeling of not being able to catch up was constant. My husband and I aren’t poor, but we had financial priorities and thought a home washer and dryer was not one of them! But we finally realized that having a washer and dryer would actually save us money and time and make catching up on laundry less of a headache.

Having a washer and dryer will make keeping up with a laundry schedule much doable.

When I used the laundromat to manage my laundry, the circumstances were unpredictable. I would have to wait for them to open at a specific time, or all the machines would be in use, and would have to wait an hour for a washer to become available. And sometimes, there would be clothes in the washer, but the owner would not be on-site to remove their clothes. The list of inconveniences goes on and on. I did this for two years as a mom of two.

Owning a washer and dryer has given me a kind of freedom that many have had the luxury of having, being able to wash my clothes without any hassle.

Now, I can get up a few minutes earlier to start a load of laundry with no problems before starting my day.

So yes, budget and plan or save if you have to for a washer and dryer in your home.

2) Use a multi-sectioned hamper:

When it comes time to put the clothes in the washer, sorting the dirty clothes can be discouraging, especially if you have tons of laundry. Presort your dirty clothes into lights, whites, and darks as they get dirty. This will create a system that will cut hours from your weekly laundry routine, making keeping up with laundry less frustrating.

3) Do laundry multiple times per week:

Laundry is a never-ending house chore. And with you being so busy, you don’t have time to do 6-10 loads of laundry in one day! Doing a load of laundry per day or numerous times per week is a sure way to keep dirty clothes from piling up.

4) Use a laundry schedule:

My editable laundry schedule is an easy way to encourage your household to stay on top of your weekly laundry routine. Laminate this handy editable schedule and hang it in your laundry room.

5) Use mesh bags:

Use a mesh bag for socks, bras and small baby items. No one, I mean no one, likes matching socks, especially if you have to look for them in a big pile of clothes. Using a mesh bag makes matching socks suck less. Give everyone in your family a mesh bag for their socks. When it’s time to do laundry, throw the mesh bags in the washer, and there you have it, life made simple!

6) Get the kids involved:

And finally, get the kids involved! Encouraging kids to participate in family household chores is a big part of teaching them responsibility. It gives the parent one less thing to do when they are matching the socks or folding the small towel. It also makes them feel good about themselves, knowing that they are needed and contributing to maintaining the household.

Other ways for the kids to get involved in managing laundry: