Laundry day can feel like the most overwhelming day of the week, so in many families, it becomes a once a month chore instead that is even harder to tackle. Whether you have the support of your entire family or must go through the process alone, there are many ways to make laundry a lot less work. Try these five tips to get through your next laundry day with your sanity intact.
Sort by More Categories
Sorting ensures the best washing results and prevents damage to your clothing, but it’s also one of the most time-consuming parts of preparing laundry to wash. Get the family to do this step for you by setting out multiple hampers for the categories of clothing. Don’t just separate white and colored clothing either. Go one step beyond by setting up hampers for both heavily and lightly soiled clothing in both color categories as well. Some families even separate out towels and other heavy items like jeans. This gives you the best cleaning results after each wash without the risk of overwashing barely soiled clothes.
Get Towels Cleaner
Feeling like your older towels are less absorbent and starting to smell even when clean? Drop the bleach and forget about just using more laundry detergent. Wash the towels in hot water with a cup of vinegar first, then immediately put them through another hot cycle with a half cup of baking powder. Dry them outside in full sun, and you’ll find you’ve got like-new towels again, at least regarding absorbency and a fresh smell. Skip the fabric softener when you’re washing them regularly as well because the residues build up to reduce absorbency.
Scrap the Sock Search
Tracking down missing socks and trying to pair them up can take up the majority of a laundry day and leave you exhausted before you wash a single load. To cut down on this, declare a day of sock renewal for each year and simply go out and stock up on a few pairs of the same socks for each family member. Move any missing ones into the rag pile, even if you eventually find its mate, and you’ll soon have a much easier time keeping everything matched up. This also refreshes your sock supply so that hole-filled pairs don’t keep ending up in the hamper and running through the wash.
Use Shorter Washes
Not all clothing needs to go through the full wash. Check out the settings on your washer and see what kind of short cycles are available and use them for the less soiled clothing you’re sorting out now. While extra rinses and double wash cycles may be great for those mud caked jeans your kids keep bringing home, they’re doing unnecessary wear and tear on your more delicate items.
Spin Twice to Dry Once
One part of the wash cycle that is almost always worth repeating is the spin cycle. Especially when you’re washing absorbent towels and other thick cloth, another spin cycle squeezes as much water out as possible. This reduces the amount of time your clothes spend in the dryer, saving money and extending the life of the fabric.
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