Why You Need a Laundry System + What's Working for Us

Laundry got you down? Today I’m sharing a super simple laundry system that helps me stay on top of those never-ending piles!

I’ll be the first to admit that laundry is NOT my favorite chore. As a matter of fact, I used to put it off as long as humanly possible. You know, until the husband is asking if he has any clean socks. Yeah, I was that girl. Fast forward a few years, and I decided that in order to stay on top of it, I’d throw it all together in one giant load, wash it on cold, and call it clean. My grandmother would cringe even reading that sentence, ha! Since those days, I’ve created a simplified laundry system that I’m actually able to stay on top of. The best part, there are never giant piles of dirty clothes. Win!

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As a full disclaimer here, there is one major factor that has contributed to being able to keep the laundry done. Simplifying our wardrobes. I couldn’t keep up with it all when we had closets and dressers shoved full of clothes. Proof of that is the fact that I used to just throw all of it (silk white shirt, dark washed denim, and dish towels…yes, I did) in one big load. Maintaining a manageable amount of clothing has made all of the difference. If you’re interested in how I simplified my wardrobe, and then how I went even farther, you can read these posts:

Sorting the clothes…

For starters, I decided that it was high time to start sorting my laundry. I decided this only after a brand new white striped shirt got washed with a brand-new pair of dark jeans…You know what happened. The white shirt had faint blue stains, and I was not a happy camper. Since I have less to wash, I figured it was time to start separating them into three groups. Darks (denims, blacks, browns, and the occasional red), whites (Only whites and things I won’t be devasted about being bleached), and lights (pinks, khakis, floral prints, etc.). This is not new to me. This is how my momma taught me to do laundry. She even went a little further with her separating and did specific colors together. She had three girls to raise so there was always pink and purple to wash. Since we have less clothing these days, theses three groups are the perfect amount.

Sorting laundry always created more loads of laundry, to me. Which is why I never sorted it. (I am sure that is skewed thinking, and the reality is we just had too many clothes!) So, sorting wasn’t the magic that turned the laundry train around here. It’s the baskets. They hold just enough for a medium sized load of laundry when they’re full. Everyone knows that the gray basket is lights, the white/clear basket is whites, and the black basket is darks. We throw our dirty clothes into the corresponding basket, and off we go. When any of the baskets are full, we throw the whole basket into the washer, and do a wash cycle. It’s really that simple. There’s no overwhelming amount of laundry because the baskets only hold so much before the clothes have to be washed.

I also realized that I’m better at putting the clean clothes away!

Since the loads are smaller, and not nearly as overwhelming, I can get a whole load of dark clothes folded and put away while the basket of whites is washing. It’s been nice to have the clothes washed, dried, AND put away on the same day. Ya feel me?! haha

Why YOU need a laundry system…

You may have read that whole post and thought, “yeah, good for you…and this benefits me how?!” Well, since you asked, I told you my whole story to inspire you to take action against the piles of dirty clothes in your own house. Gather every single piece of dirty laundry and determine to get it all under control today. Staying on top of it is so much easier than playing catch up. Once it’s all clean set a system in place that best suits your family. Maybe it’s exactly like mine, maybe it’s throwing it all together and having one load a day, maybe it’s micro sorting and washing only the same colors together. Whatever it is, figure it out, and start making it work for you.

One thing I’ve learned through my years of homemaking is that having systems in place mean less work for me. They almost become automatic, and it’s a beautiful thing.

I’d love to hear if you’ve recently changed up the way you do something, especially if it was your laundry system. (Or maybe if you plan to change it after reading this;) ) Sometimes change is daunting, but once the kinks are worked out, it is usually a good thing. At least that’s been my experience.