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Feb 11, 2018

A Laundry Routine That WORKS…For Every Size Family!

A simple and efficient laundry routine that WORKS for every size of family, large and small. It will also save you time sorting and folding!

I do a lot of laundry.  With six kids and eight people in our home, it can pile up very quickly. Not just clothes–sheets, towels, snow clothes, swimsuits & towels and the list goes on and on!   Long ago I developed my own method of doing laundry. I’ve used it since my first child was born–with the addition of five more kids, and many different sizes of laundry rooms.  It’s simple, and I love it! I get asked quite frequently about my laundry routine, so for those looking for new ideas, I thought I’d share what works for me. The best part about this laundry schedule is that it’s efficient, and works for my large family, and any size family!

A Laundry Routine That Works For Any Size Family!

HOW MY LAUNDRY ROUTINE WORKS…AND WHY: 

It’s based on a few main ideas:  doing laundry every day 5-6x a week), not keeping any laundry in my laundry room, and not combining everyone’s clothes together to wash them.

For me, it works much better to do a little laundry every day, than to save it all up for one day a week and eat up an entire day. Honestly, I wouldn’t even have enough time to get it all done in one day, especially including towels and sheets.  I also simplify anywhere I can, including my kids’ clothing, so I need to wash their clothes more than once a week.

I’ve also never kept any laundry in the laundry room. I know that seems counterintuitive, but I don’t like piles of clothes sitting out.  I like a clean and neat laundry area, and I prefer to have designated hampers in each room for clothes and towels. Those hampers come down to the laundry room when I’m ready to wash them–then back up again.

This also works best because I don’t combine our family’s clothes to wash them, so even if I had enough room in my laundry room to keep baskets for dirty clothes, I wouldn’t.  It’s much more streamlined for me to keep them separate–and saves me a lot of time. Having to sort out whose clothes belong to whom while folding just takes so much longer!

A Laundry Routine That Works For Any Size Family!

MY LAUNDRY ROUTINE DETAILS

  • Every bedroom has their own clothes hamper, and I keep them in the closets.  My twin girls share a room, my twin boys share a room, my other two (oldest and youngest) have their own rooms, plus the master.
  • When a hamper is full, it’s brought down to the laundry room in the morning so I can wash it that day. I separate that hamper as needed–whites, darks, and delicates. The hampers aren’t small, so there are plenty of clothes for all the loads.
  • I wash and dry the loads during the day, then fold at night. It’s the time I watch my favorite shows, fold, and maybe eat a little chocolate!  Some of my kids are old enough to fold their own laundry, and they fold and put them away before they go to bed that night. For the loads I fold at night, the next morning the hampers with the clean clothes go back to the bedroom, and they’re put away by the kids they belong to.
  • I wash sheets once a week on the days I don’t have as many clothes to wash. I do have extra sets of sheets, but I prefer to wash them and put them right back on the beds. It takes me only 5 minutes to make a bed, and then I don’t have to worry about folding them. Which, let’s be honest–folding fitted sheets are a pain! 
  • Towels are done every few days, and I do the same thing as the sheets. I wash and put them right back in the bathrooms on their hooks. It means less folding, which is happy news for me!
  • I keep dirty rags and cleaning cloths in a bucket in my laundry sink, and I wash them every day–every other at the least.
  • Other things that I don’t wash as frequently, but add into the rotation on a monthly basis are mattress pads, quilts, pillows, and seasonal items.
  • During the winter, I wash snow clothes once a week, or more often, as needed. My kids keep an extra set at school, so they bring those home to be washed as well. The same goes for swimsuits and towels in the summer, although I wash them more often than once a week, due to the chlorine.

I don’t keep a strict schedule as to which loads I do on which days, because I like to make that decision daily.  The need changes so much that a schedule just doesn’t make sense. It also depends on my personal schedule. Some days are busier than others, so I may only do one or two loads on that day, and make them up the following day.

When my children turn 13, they take over their own laundry, so I help them figure out what will work best for them–and for me. I’ve only had one child turn 13 so far…the other 5 have varying degrees of responsibility. As I mentioned above, some are able to fold and put away, others just able to put them away.  Even the littlest can help fold rags and match socks!

This routine has worked for me for such a long time, and I love that it hasn’t mattered what size of laundry room we have. We’ve had some REALLY tiny ones before, including one that when I was pregnant I couldn’t even stand inside! It is a routine, but completely flexible, which is perfect for my lifestyle.  It keeps dirty laundry where I can’t see it, and my laundry room stays nice and neat!  It’s not fancy, and really simple, but it definitely works!

A few more ideas you might like:

  • EASY DIY FARMHOUSE SHELVES
  • FARMHOUSE KITCHEN PANTRY ORGANIZATION
A Laundry Routine That Works For Any Size Family!

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Filed Under: Cleaning, Family Life, For the Home | 11 Comments

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Lovely comments

  1. Qwendy says

    Jan 11, 2018 at 4:51 pm

    This is almost identical to my routine! I only wash a load from that person’s room. No co-mingling! No sorting!! I also use shout color catchers to ensure my colors never run! Best thing ever when I realized that laundry was a giant pain because I was constantly folding and sorting into different “people” piles.

    Reply
    • Simply Kierste Design Co. says

      Jan 12, 2018 at 12:37 pm

      Yes! No sorting saves SO much time!!! xoxo

      Reply
  2. Kara says

    Jan 14, 2018 at 3:32 am

    Who in their right mind actually *folds* a fitted sheet?! It’s gonna get crumpled the minute you go to bed. Ball it up like the rest of us and shove it in the linen closet. ;)

    Reply
    • Lynne says

      Jan 20, 2018 at 2:36 pm

      There are some wonderful YouTube videos on how to fold a fitted sheet. I fold it so it’s flat like it comes in the package. This way it fits nicely in a drawer. ?❤️ I enjoy folding though. It’s not for everyone.

      Reply
      • Simply Kierste Design Co. says

        Jan 24, 2018 at 4:40 pm

        I don’t mind folding…those darn sheets are just a pain, lol. I should check out the videos…thank you!!

        Reply
        • Barbara says

          Nov 2, 2018 at 12:21 am

          Once you get the hang of it, folding sheet sets is no biggie. We own a small bed & breakfast; and always fold and iron the sheets. I get some crazy satisfaction in seeing the neatly organized sets waiting to dress a bed; and the beds make up nicely…without any wrinkled sheet edges!

          Reply
          • Simply Kierste Design Co. says

            Nov 7, 2018 at 9:02 am

            That sounds wonderful! I love the sight of freshly laundered sheets, nicely folded and ironed!

            Reply
  3. Shannon says

    Jan 17, 2018 at 8:36 am

    What a great routine… simple and straight forward. A bit of laundry everyday and it never becomes overwhelming! Beautiful laundry room… #goals

    Reply
    • Simply Kierste Design Co. says

      Jan 19, 2018 at 12:00 pm

      Thank you, Miss Shannon! It was fun to see your name pop up here. :) xoxo

      Reply
  4. Jen says

    Jan 19, 2018 at 12:32 am

    I always co-mingle for my family of 5. I fold and stack into 5 different colored baskets in the laundry area. I thought it saved water and time by co-mingling, only washing full loads. But I may just have to re-think that. With a large family we sure spend a lot of time on laundry so it is always good to take a moment to think about the job, so thanks for the post.

    Reply
    • Simply Kierste Design Co. says

      Jan 19, 2018 at 11:59 am

      If you try it, you’ll have to let me know how it works for your family! I always have full loads, with few exceptions, so it’s really worked for me. xoxo

      Reply

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