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Organize + Energize: 10 Ways to Simplify Your Laundry

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

 

It spills onto the floor of the laundry room. It’s overflowing in hampers, and it’s taking over your dining room table. Dirty and clean unfolded laundry seems to be taking over your home. 

Do you constantly struggle with the chore of tackling your laundry? Do you feel like you can never seem to get ahead? I’ve spoken to many people who are overwhelmed and stressed because they just can’t seem to get a handle on their laundry. You can add more overwhelm and stress to this if you are disorganized. 

Here are 10 helpful tips to help reduce the overwhelming effect that laundry causes: 

  • Plan ahead. There are a couple of ways you can plan ahead. You can take a look at your schedule on a Friday for the following week and see where there are any holes in your schedule that you can dedicate to tackling your laundry. You can also pick one day during the week and choose this as your laundry day. 
  • Pre-sort.  If you get overwhelmed with sorting all of the clothes, keep sectioned laundry baskets in everybody’s rooms. Get everybody on board with the system and follow up with everybody on a regular basis to make sure the system is being followed.
  • Separate by person.  How many mismatched socks do you have? Eliminate the lost sock issue by keeping every family member’s laundry separate.  Have a basket for each family member.  Wash each family member’s clothes separately. You’ll never lose clothes again.  
  • Complete the task. Wash your laundry, take it out of the dryer and fold it right away. Break down this process. Don’t continue throwing washes in and neglect to fold them.  Do a wash, put another wash in and fold the load that just came out of the dryer. If you are tackling a few loads, you can fold it all at once, but be sure it gets done by the time all of the laundry is done. It won’t take you as long as you think it will. 
  • Folding station. If you are washing loads by person, fold in or near the room where everything is stored. If you have a washer/dryer in the basement, don’t bring the clothes up to the dining room or den to fold. Bring the laundry to the room that it belongs in and fold there and save time. 
  • Delegate. If your kids are old enough, enlist them to do their own laundry. If you don’t trust them with the washing machine; dry their clothes, put them in their designated basket and leave them on their bed for them to fold and put away. They will have to eventually do this at some point in their life. Why not start them early?  It will make it even easier for them to put them away if they have an organized and systemized bedroom.
  • Is it really dirty? Are the clothes you wore for a few hours really dirty? How many clothes are you washing that are actually clean? Your clothes will last longer if you don’t wash them as much. 
  • Re-use. How many times do you use the towel you shower with? Can you go a few days or so with that one towel?  You are clean when you get out of the shower; think about getting a few more days out of that towel. 
  • Organize your laundry room. Nothing is worse than working in an inefficient space. Keep everything you need on hand in this room. Create systems just as you would in any other room in your home. Regardless of how little space you may have, you still can create systems and function efficiently in this room. 
  • Make it easy. Create a simple system that will eliminate stress and overwhelm. Be sure everybody’s rooms are organized. Putting away laundry into an organized space is sometimes half the battle. If closets and drawers are organized, with a little maintenance, items will stay folded and hung nicely.

Get into a routine with tackling your laundry. Plan ahead. Fold laundry right away. Follow some or all of the tips above and tweak them to work for you. Sit for a minute and map out how you want to function with your laundry routine and put a plan into motion. 

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on talkstreamradio.com.   

 

Related Slideshow: Organizing Products For Your Closet

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Scarf organizer

You love your scarves, but it takes you forever to locate one and you have to throw 5 around to find the one you are searching for. Use a scarf organizer and you will be able to see all your scarves and find them at a moment’s notice. Bed Bath and Beyond has a few different types of scarf organizers, including this one for $9.99.

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Belt organizer

How are you storing your belts? Are they in a tangled mess? Purchase a belt organizer for a cheap solution—they can be as inexpensive as $6.99 from the Container Store.

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Tie organizer

Keep your ties organized and hanging on a tie rack, or keep then rolled in a drawer organizer. Whichever way you choose to organize them, treat them with care. To take care of both your belts and your ties in one fell swoop, check out this organizer from the Container Store.

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Drawer organizer

This is a must for your underwear, socks, bras, nylons, etc. Drawer organizers will help to maximize space in your closet. You won’t believe the amount of space you will have once you contain these items in drawer organizers!

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Jewelry organizer

Are you always trying to detangle your necklaces? Think about how you grab your jewelry and then purchase an organizing system according to how you function. Before you purchase your container, take inventory of what you own and purchase accordingly.

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Shoe rack

Did you know people who didn’t own shoe racks were 7 times more likely to show up late for an event? Are your shoes in piles on the floor? Get them off the floor and contain them in a shoe rack. There are many options out there, like this one from Bed Bath and Beyond. Choose the shoe rack that is going to fit what you need to hold and fit in the space you are working with.

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Hangers

Are you hanging your clothes on the wire hangers from the dry cleaner? Those hangers will ruin your clothes. Get rid of them and store your clothes on the hanger of your choice, but be consistent and stick with one type of hanger.

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Handbags

How are you storing your handbags? Are they stored all over your closet? Are they in bins or crumpled up on the floor? It’s time to organize your bags. There are many options depending on the space you are working with. You can stand them up on a shelf, you can hang them, or if they are small, you can store them in a canvas bin. The choice is yours. Think about how you function and develop a system from there.

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Baseball cap organizer

How many baseball caps do you own? How are they organized in your closet now, and how long does it take you to find one? The Container Store (pictured here), Bed Bath and Beyond, and other stores sell this baseball cap organizer. I have a few clients that have purchased them and they love them!

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Function over flash

There are many variations on these products. Choose the product that is right for you. There are some organizing products I would never use, but other people might choose to use them. Choose the one that is going to be the most efficient and productive product for you and your family. Don’t choose a product because it’s pretty, choose it based on functionality. Search online for different products before you rush out and purchase a product. You may find that one store is more expensive than another. Don’t forget if you are going to Bed Bath and Beyond to use their 20% off coupons. If you don’t want to purchase these items, get creative and re-purpose items around the home, or make your own!

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Kristin MacRae

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on Mondays at 8:30am on www.talkstreamradio.com.

 
 

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