The Best Homemaker’s Laundry Routine
Laundry is a part of our every day life, even if we aren’t washing clothes every day. We still have laundry piling up and waiting on us to tend to it. Today, I’m sharing a homemaker’s laundry routine.
Laundry is a never ending process when you are a homemaker. You are always wearing clothes, which means you are always needing to launder something at some point.
My laundry routine has evolved over the years from something I did once a week to something I now maintain a little bit every day.
Now that my kids are older and able to do their own laundry, it has alleviated so much of the workload that was on my plate.
I will be sharing a few tips about how I taught my kids to do their own laundry later on in this post.
I know laundry is something many homemakers struggle with, so I’m going to share some thoughts on tending to this chore.
What is laundry?
Most of you would probably say that laundry is the Mount Everest of homemaking, and I don’t think you’re wrong. It is an endless task that only builds up unless we tackle it.
I struggled so many years with being able to keep this chore under control. It wasn’t until my kids were a bit older that things got considerably easier.
So, if you are in the newborn season, tuck this information away and snuggle that baby until you have no more clean clothes to wear. 😉
As a homemaker, you have to do laundry. It is a part of your daily life, so why not make it as lovely of a task as possible?
A few ways I make laundry more enjoyable are:
- Have pretty baskets for hampers
- Use a pretty, wooden basket to hold my laundry things in on top of the washer
- Keep the tops of my washer and dryer clean
- Listen to podcasts/music as I fold
- Maintain a mindset that laundry is a worthy task that is worth doing well
- Make yourself a seasonal DIY dryer ball spray to use on your wool dryer balls
What is a good laundry process?
The best laundry process is one that you can repeat over and over. Sometimes, it take a bit of trial and error to figure out what type of system works for you.
There are a couple of thoughts when it comes to this process:
- Once a week- This process is when you save all of the laundry and tackle it all once a week. If you have a busy life, this might be the best option. I know a lot of people that do their laundering this way. They don’t have time to break it up throughout the week. I used to do this when my kids were itty-bitty. What I found, personally, is that it was too much all at once and I rarely got the clothes all folded. I wore out when I let it all pile up. Now, that might have also been because I was in a season with little ones, too.
- Daily or Maintenance laundering- This is when you wash the laundry a little bit at a time. This is what I prefer at this point in my life. I like throwing a load in before school and another around lunch time. This means, I complete (wash, dry, and fold) two loads a day. I find that daily laundering helps me to stay motivated to do it because it is part of my routine and I don’t have a mountain of laundry piling up in everyone’s hampers.
How to store unwashed laundry
Storing unwashed laundry will be different for everyone depending upon where the hampers are located. If a hamper is in a closet, I prefer to have an open hamper, without a lid, so that the laundry can breathe a little while it waits to be washed.
If the hamper is out in the open, say in a corner of a bedroom, then a hamper with a lid is best to conceal the dirty clothing.
Baskets for Hampers
My favorite way to contain unwashed clothing is in a cute, wicker basket with a lid. If the laundry must sit outside of a closet, then a basket with a lid is the most attractive way to do that.
I am a basket fanatic, so it’s no surprise that I love using them for laundry, too.
Laundry Hamper Cart
We have our laundry in our closet, so I use a hamper cart for our clothing. The cart is a canvas material that has three sections. I highly recommend this if you have clothing that needs to be washed as a delicate.
Having the three different sections makes it easy to pre-separate your clothing as you toss it in the hamper, instead of having to separate it all on washing day.
You can use one section for whites, darks, and delicates.
A Simple Laundry Guide for Washing Clothes
My mom was such a great homemaker and she always washed and folded my clothes. She would even set them on the steps for me to take to my room.
It wasn’t until I went off to college that she showed me how to wash my clothing. It was a simple process of separating the lights and darks- nothing complicated or intimidating.
As I got older and had a few years of laundry under my belt, I got married and had my husband’s clothing to wash, too. The pile of clothing that needs my attention has only grown since then.
I’m going to share some very elementary tips for how to wash clothes.
How to wash white clothes
I wash my white clothes in warm water. I also wash underwear and socks in warm water, too, to get them extra sanitized.
If you notice your whites are looking dingy, toss in 1/2 cup of vinegar to the wash. It helps to brighten your whites naturally.
How to wash dark clothes
Dark clothing needs to be laundered in cool water due to the dyes in the fabric. The cool water preserves the color in the clothing and also helps to prevent bleeding of the fabric.
If you have a “quick wash” cycle on your washing machine, use that for darks to reduce the wear of the clothing.
How to wash delicates
Delicates consist of any clothing that is “hand wash” only or has delicate fabrics, such as lace. Often times, a lady’s undergarments need to be washed as a delicate to keep it from showing wear.
The best way to wash delicate undergarments- such as bras and lace clothing, is in a laundry bag for delicates.
These bags prevent too much friction in the washer and dryer and it keeps things from snagging said clothing.
Most of these items shouldn’t be tossed in the dryer, so the laundry bags make it easy to see and fetch them out.
Delicates should be laundered with cool water on a gentle or delicate cycle. This cycle keeps the tossing to a minimum.
Most of your delicates will also need to be laid to dry or hung up to dry to keep the fabric from shrinking or wearing out. The label on your clothing should give you this information.
Non Toxic Laundry Detergent
I used the “free” laundry detergent when I was a young wife.
I thought that since it had no scent that it must be fine, but I learned that many of those detergents still have a lot of chemicals that are bad for us in them.
In my experience, it is worth it to find a good, clean detergent because you are wearing your clothing every day. You are also drying off with your bath towels and sleeping on your sheets.
Having a non toxic laundry detergent greatly reduces your exposure to everyday chemicals. I will list a few below that are worth trying out.
- Thieves Laundry detergent
- 9 Elements Detergent
- 365 Everyday
- AspenClean
A Simple Laundry Guide for Drying Clothes
How to prevent static in the dryer
This topic goes along with non toxic laundry detergent. There are so many unhealthy ingredients in dryer sheets.
The things that are in dryer sheets coat your clothing and it’s almost impossible to get it out of the clothing fibers.
I prefer to use wool dryer balls. These are cheap and you can put essential oils on them to freshen your clothing as it tumbles.
I replace mine every six months.
How to dry delicates
Delicates need to either hang to dry or lay flat. I don’t have a good area to lay a bunch of clothing, so I tend to hang them.
I do think laying them is better since it prevents the weight of the damp fabric from stretching as it hangs, but most people don’t have the space for this.
A rod in the laundry room is a perfect remedy for hanging delicates. I also use my white, plastic chairs in our dining room to drape delicates over.
Do not lay your wet clothing on wooden tables or chairs since the wet fabric can damage your wood furniture.
Laundry Tips for Teaching Kids
I have long said that teaching my kids to help with household chores has revolutionized my homemaking.
Each child has his/her own laundry hamper for their clothing. I don’t have them separate their clothes.
Most of what they wear during the week can be washed in one load, so they simple toss in their clothes and wash them!
Laundry is one of those things that is easy to teach them early on. Sure, they won’t be able to do it all right from the beginning, but they can do more than one might think!
- Step 1- Teach kids to sort clothes as you fold them
- Step 2- Have kids pair socks together and stack undies, have them put them away
- Step 3- Folding shirts in a simple way and laying in a neat stack, then put them away
- Step 4- Teach kids to fold pants- fold in half lengthwise, then in half again widthwise, then put them away
- Step 5- Train your kids to load their laundry and switch it from the washer to the dryer
- Step 6- They are now capable of doing their own laundry
My personal laundry routine
My approach to tackling the laundry has changed from season to season, but for now I seem to be settled in on a daily laundry routine.
I have four days that I wash certain things. The other days are open for me to wash whatever is needing attention.
Having a set day to wash things that routinely need care helps me to keep things afloat in our home.
- Monday- Laundry Mark and I’s laundry
- Tuesday- Kid’s laundry
- Thursday- Wash Sheets and bedding
- Friday- Towels, washrags, rugs/mats get washed
Free Laundry Room Printable
Enjoy this free printable!
Hi! have you settled on a favorite laundry detergent since writing this post?
Honestly, I am using one from Target that isn’t super, duper clean, but that I feel like is a good medium ground. It’s called Ever Spring and I make sure to do an extra rinse to try and really clean it out of the clothes after being washed.