I hate to be a Betty Bragger but I never have laundry just sitting around waiting to be put away. I never have heaps of dirty clothes piling up until I get to them on the weekend. And I never get stressed or overwhelmed by the amount of laundry I have to keep up with. Ok, so maybe I am bragging a bit. And maybe I even secretly call myself the “Laundry Ninja” behind closed doors. But I am proud to say I have my family of five and all their dirty clothes under control.
Want to be a Laundry Ninja too? Come, my little grasshopper, and let me show you how to master your washing machine…..
DO give your bras a fighting chance by putting them in a mesh bag before washing. I have seen too many of finest bras fall victim to the washing machine.
DON’T separate whites from darks. This may be met with controversy but I have never separated by color nor will I ever. Are my husbands white shirts sparkly… no. Are my kids white socks bright… no. Do I save a ton of time… yes.
DO time yourself the next time to put away clean clothes. Why the timer? It give you a realistic idea of how long folding and putting away laundry actually takes. What you think takes 30 minutes might actually only be 10.
DON’T iron unless you absolutely must. In fact, don’t buy clothes that needs to be ironed. And if you or your husband needs nice dress pants spend the extra couple bucks to buy a better quality material that you don’t need to iron. Oh, and never buy kids clothes that needs to be ironed either.
DO hang the clothes you need to iron until you have time to tackle them. It keeps them from becoming even more wrinkly.
DON’T be your family’s maid. I have taught my kids from a young age how to start taking care of their own laundry. The youngest can bring their dirty ones to the washing machine, 7-9 yrs. old can fold and put away their laundry and teenagers can do their own wash from start to finish. Unless it makes sense for you to do it for them put as much of the responsibility of washing their own clothes on your kids – their older selves will thank you one day.
DO store your clothes using a system that makes it easy to put them away. I hang a ton of clothes from pants to sweatshirts to sweaters (yes, even sweaters and most of them do not stretch out). I also use canvas totes to coral items that don’t need to be folded like socks, underwear, and baby onesies.
DON’T let it pile up. Doing smaller loads throughout the week spares you from having to enjoy a nice day changing loads every hour. For my family of five, I do one load every 2-3 days. I DO NOT do laundry every day as I would probably go insane.
DO finish the task of doing laundry from start to finish. Don’t let other things sidetrack you. It’s easy to put off cleaning stacks of dirty shirts when there is other work to do or your favorite show is on or you just simply don’t want to do it. By all means, FINISH THE LAUNDRY. Delaying only makes the task more daunting.
DON’T overload the laundry but find the most you can fit in and still come out with clean garments. I load that baby as much as I can. Don’t waste your time with small batches.
DO plan on doing a load of laundry when your kids says he is out of clean underwear! It may be time, just sayin’
In the end, my best Laundry Ninja advice is to NEVER STRESS about the laundry that is piling up. There are far more important things in life than clean, folded, pressed laundry. Yes, it is a necessary evil but isn’t most household chores? Do it when you can, the quickest you can and with the least amount of effort youcan and you, too, can become a LAUNDRY NINJA.
Comentários