Laundry Woes

My kids start doing their own laundry at age 9. They are taught laundry basics including loading and operating washer and dryer. Soap, bounce sheets, stain treatment, etc. Washing colors separate from darks. Warned not to shrink mom or dad's clothes...

Main laundry day for the kids is on Saturday. They are responsible for getting their clothes together and getting a weeks worth of outfits ready for the next week.

Saturday is also the day they are responsible for changing their sheets and towels.

Each kid is assigned a color. Maddie is purple. So her sheets are purple (2 sets each kid), her towels are also purple, (2 per kid). This color also extends into drinking cups to reduce the amount of cups washed daily. As well as school supplies, coats, etc. It is usually the kids favorite color.

Towels and sheets: Put away all beach towels, guest towels, scraps of towels, etc. where the kids aren't likely to go looking for them. This will cut down on the amount of towels you are washing. The same goes for sheets.

At age 11, they are old enough to do their own ironing and convenient if you need something ironed as this is a chore they like to do...and one I do not!

Each kid has a personal laundry basket. They are responsible for getting their dirty clothes to the laundry room during the week. When I happen to do some of their laundry, I return their clothing the way I get it. For example, if the shirt is inside out, it goes back in the laundry basket inside out.

After school, the goal is for each kid to take their laundry baskets back to their room with their clothing, whether I laundered them or not.

Something else that has proven very helpful is to only keep clothes out that match the season. It can be the dead of winter and my youngest child will wear shorts and a t-shirt. Since then, I put up all their winter clothes if it's summer and vice versa. This will reduce the amount of laundry you do daily.

Also try to remember, don't start a load unless you can finish it. Try to do at least one load a day. I have a friend who does all her laundry once a week and she says this works for her...whatever works for you.

Again, just some ideas.

In my laundry room I have four tall standing laundry baskets. Darks, lights, whites and towels & sheets. On a top shelf I have four smaller wicker baskets. Drycleaning, kids matched socks, mom and dad's matched socks, and spare socks. We found it easier to keep the socks where the shoes are instead of their individual drawers. They grab a pair of socks, shoes and they are a go.