Laundry. I may be one of the lonely few who enjoy laundry (kind of), but it may be because of the simple systems we’ve implemented to stay on top of laundry with our family of six. Maybe a strategy or two will resonate with you also.
Declutter
This is a crucial first step. If you have too many clothing options, it’s easy to pull another pair of jeans out of the closet rather than do that laundry because you’re running low. Especially for my children, this has kept us accountable to regular laundry. Each one has about a week’s worth of regular clothing for each season. That may be too sparse for some families, and that’s ok, but because we’ve built this laundry muscle up, we rarely have a problem. I’m not quite as minimal with my own clothing, but the same principle applies. Less clothing means less of a pile-up.
Frequent Loads
Besides a load of clothes I might have for the day, I usually throw towels, sheets, or random items into the washing machine, and I try to keep them moving so my washing machine is free for clothing.
Laundry Day Assignments
I once found a YouTube video posted by a mom of thirteen children. She said she spent about four hours a week on laundry, and sorting and folding took up the most time. She developed a system to have a laundry hamper for each child and assigned them their laundry day. This sliced the time on laundry by 82%! NO MORE SORTING by person! Genius!
I decided to test this out in my home about a year ago. I had been doing a community laundry basket, and sorting and putting a little laundry away every few days was a pain. This was a great way to recruit my children’s help and teach them an important life skill. They each do their own load from start to finish. Previously, I was doing washing, sorting, folding, and putting away, but now we share the responsibility.
Relaxed Clothing Storage
I used to Kon Mari fold everything. Remember those little folded T-shirt squares that could stand up on their own? Spark joy? Not when I tried to do it for six people. What 5-year-old can live up to that kind of pressure? If I wanted my kids to help, I’d have to relax. So, I allow my kids to fold pants and shorts lightly and toss in pajamas, socks, and undergarments. My youngest also has a no-fold system for causal shirts since hangers are tricky.
Timing is Everything
We have a few items that would need ironing if I left them in the dryer, so I time loads so I can be there to take them out and hang them up. The beauty of homeschooling is that we are home and can tackle this chore in bits throughout the day. Flip that laundry as soon as you hear the buzzer, pull stuff out of the dryer as quickly as possible, and use the time folding to catch up with your kids in a relaxed atmosphere, listen to an encouraging sermon or podcast, or breathe a little.
What an opportunity to thank the Lord for the clothing he has graciously provided for our family and to pray for the people who wear it. Little socks remind us to ask God to guide our children’s feet. Grass-stained jeans help us praise God for childhood. Work shirts that cover the back of the hardworking husband who provides for our family cause us to be grateful for him. The comfy clothes I wore because I get to stay home with my children and teach wearing sweats some days… Hallelujah! Wow. Who knew such a seemingly menial task could be such an act of praise and worship. And hey, you could be working with a washboard and clothesline, so why not thank God for those working washing machines, too!
https://fpmca.org/governmentclass/
https://www.emmausclassical.org/register?category=f3d93d00-d2ae-4422-a482-1102e603be9b