How to Turn the Laundry Monster into a Laundry Routine

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Last updated on February 21st, 2023 at 09:46 pm

4 Tricks to Avoid Being Overwhelmed by Laundry

Laundry is one of the chores that never ends. Sometimes when I do laundry I begin to understand why someone might become a nudist simply to stop washing clothes!

It’s amazing how much laundry can pile up even with only three people in a household. We are incredibly blessed to have all these clothes to wear, but there are days I walk into my bedroom to a mountain of clothes and wonder how it ever came to this. You feelin’ me?

Fortunately, there are ways to keep the laundry monster under control and efficient.

Limited laundry hubs

I only have two baskets. One basket is large and the other is medium. Once they’re full, I know it’s time to do a few loads.

Those two full baskets will fill up my washer, sorted, of course. You will have to experiment to figure out which size laundry baskets will fill up your washer and dryer with a minimal amount of loads.

I typically do 2-3 loads (whites, colors, delicates) every 3 days. Since there are only three people in our home, our laundry schedule is more spread out. If you have a lot more people in your family, I can’t guarantee that you will only have to do laundry once every 3 days. Kudos to you if you can, but you might need to do one load per day.

If it works, it works.

Smaller wardrobes

The best way to reduce laundry loads is to pare down your wardrobe. If you have a ton of clothes, you start thinking, “I don’t need to do laundry. I have plenty of clothes.”

And then you realize your favorite shirt that you want to wear for a concert is at the bottom of the laundry basket. *sigh*

Owning fewer clothes means you will have to do laundry more often because you won’t have as many clothes to choose from in your closet. It also means that the laundry monster is less likely to come knocking.

One way I have limited my wardrobe is by creating a capsule wardrobe. More importantly, by learning how to shop for pieces that can be reworked and worn in multiple ways. I learned how to do this by following the Putting Me Together blog.

I also reduced the clothing in my daughter’s wardrobe. Since we potty trained a few months ago the laundry coming out of her room has increased (accidents, you know) so I have had to keep a few extra pants and undies around. It’s all about lifestyle, which I talk about in this post.

Wash after multiple wears/uses

Want to know a secret? You shouldn’t wash all your clothes after every wear. The most prominent example: jeans.

I only wash my jeans after multiple wears (as long as my child hasn’t put sticky fingers on them). It helps to keep them from fading and helps to keep their shape. Also, only wash your jeans on the delicate cycle, inside out, and never put them in a regular dry cycle.

Other items I don’t wash after every use: bath towels (since technically you’re clean when you use them) and usually pajamas.

This article has a lot of great information on caring for every fabric you own. The most important thing to do is read the labels and treat the stains immediately!

Don’t put it off

Once you’ve taken the steps above, it’s time to implement the number one trick to stopping the laundry monster: do it now!

When you see that your baskets are full, do it right away! Stop procrastinating! You’ve done this before, and you know you will regret it.

When all else fails …

One load a day keeps the laundry monster away. 😊

Now you know about the 4 tricks I use to keep the laundry pile under control by:

1. limiting the number of baskets,
2. paring down your wardrobe,
3. washing after multiple wears/uses, and
4. doing the laundry when the hubs are full or doing one load per day.

So what are you waiting for? Go tackle that monster!