My teenage boys all did their own laundry. They learned quickly that they had to do it or run out of clean clothes. I also didn't spend a lot of time in their room so their clothes on their floor or messy dresser drawers wouldn't really bother me. My husband and one son used to just keep his clean clothes in a laundry basket because they didn't want to fold laundry. Just relax and let them find their own style. If they are teens they are perfectly capable of doing their own laundry. I had to learn that just because they weren't doing it my way didn't mean they were doing it wrong.
Dawn from the Minimal Mom inspired me to stop folding as much as possible. I hang all my shirts except for PJ tops. I also have all my work pants hung up. Jeans are folded in a drawer, but that is it. I have cube storage where I shove my unfolded leggings, shorts, PJs, and socks. I've sat with it for about six months now, and I love it!
I've learned that as seasons of life change, so do our systems. And the best system is the one that works for you right now! I've also learned the key to laundry success is DEFINITELY a minimal wardrobe. The more clothing we have the more overwhelming laundry becomes. So, I try to keep our quantity to about a week's worth of clothes per person.
Dawn’s laundry ideas were a game changer for me! My kids were able to take over their laundry at 4 & 6 with a tiny bit of help from me when I switched to categorized bins with no folding (I help hang shirts). My one big exception is I veeeeery much prefer for the kids to have their own hampers or I spend sooo much time sorting. The baby’s gets done with the bathroom near his room. When I get behind I too take a folding break. Baby’s gets sorted and tossed in his drawers, my pjs get tossed in their drawer, leggings in the bib, etc. it’s all sorted and easier to find than in a laundry basket! And if I find the time it’s easy to come back and organize a drawer or two. I have the same washer and dryer as you and a tiny laundry closet! I use big ikea bags tucked beside the washer for when I need extra laundry “baskets.”
We use our washing machine as our hamper and just turn it on whenever it is full, which is daily because we are a family of seven. Everything gets washed on cold, and I don’t buy anything that can’t be machine washed. The kids are responsible for taking their dirty clothes and towels to the washer after every shower. It’s on a different floor of the house than our shower, but after a while it’s just a habit. We each have one after dinner chore (someone wipes the kitchen counter, someone vacuums the dining room, etc.) My daily chore is to turn on the washing machine and take the previous day’s clothes out of the dryer and sort them. It takes about five minutes because it’s only one load. Then we all put our own clothes away. It doesn’t get overwhelming because it’s only one day’s worth of clothing for each person to put away.
Consider the "College Student Two Hamper System" for teens. One hamper for dirty and one hamper for clean. Only fold/hang and put away special ocassion clothes. Dress from the capsule wardrobe in the clean hamper. Students pretty much only wear the same wrinkle resistant jeans/sweats/leggings and Ts/sweatshirts/pullovers. Sock Hack: Buy all the same socks or a big pack of black and a big pack of white if sock matching is an issue. If tops look too wrinkled, spray with a fine water mist just before dressing. Soccer Mom Hack: Run the laundry at the same time each evening and make sure the kids know that if they don't get their soccer/basketball/hockey/etc laundry items in the washer by a certain time, you will understand that they have decided to wear their uniforms again as is. All the sports and exercise fabrics get washed together with whatever stink-release detergent that works for you. Synthetic fabric care for active adults is a different reality than washing grade school clothes. Laundering the same day helps if you have enough to run a full load or can adjust the load size on your washer. If you have a timer on your dishwasher offset the time to the middle of the night so your hot water heater can recover.
That is what my kids started doing because they hate to hang or fold their laundry, they are young adults now and still live out of their laundry baskets....save yourself some money and don't buy dressers just 2 laundry baskets and they are good to go! (drives me nuts by the way, I love doing laundry and hang 95% of my clothes as we have a large closet)
I was very lucky. Our school district still teaches Home Ec (now called Family and Consumer Science), and grade six included a unit on laundry. They were required to do a load at home and have a parent sign off. Once that happened, I told that since they now know how to do it, it was their responsibility. Mwahahahaha. But - by the time they left home, it was just part of their routine - one less thing for them to have to master at a time when so much is new. When they saw their friends struggling, they gained a whole new appreciation for their laundry knowledge.
When my kids were teens, they each had a laundry basket in their rooms. It was up to them to figure out when to wash and to put away or not. They both had a lot of clothes on the floor, mixed clean with dirty. It was frustrating to me so I mostly kept out of their rooms and let them deal with it. I posted an instruction sheet next to the washer and dryer. I'd like to say they learned good habits, but nope. Even as young adults living on their own, their clothes are still a jumbled mess, but it's not my problem anymore.
Sounds like a good strategy to avoid the "not sure if it is dirty or clean so I'll just have mom wash it" and avoiding the room cleaning method of just giving mom everything on the floor to wash regardless if it has been worn. You are definately on the right track. Be patient. Your kids will realize consequences as the let go of resistance to responsibility. And the beautiful part of it is that you accomplish more by doing nothing. Tough love, my dear.
My teens do their wash in the summers, I do it during the school year. I will fold their clothes, will not take the time to match socks, then put it on their beds for them to put away. That way they have to put it away before they go to sleep. Idk. Works for us.
Dawn's the best! Each season is different Robyn, so for your sanity I am with you and revamping! I do do 1 load per day, but I have mine specifically assigned. I do not have 1 hamper, but every child has one and then my husband and I share. I took Dawn's advice and do the no fold too. All the time for children, and sometimes even for my husband and me (but mostly for ours I actually roll bc it's quicker). ⭐Mondays I wash sheets, swapping every other week ours and children's. ⭐Tuesdays I wash all my cleaning cloths. ⭐Wednesdays I wash my husband's and mine clothes. ⭐Thursdays my 9.5 yo washes her and her 4yo sister's clothes. ⭐Fridays my oldest 11.5 washes hers and her 6yo brother's clothes. ⭐Saturdays (after they all watch their morning shows) they all put away their clothes. I do the no fold method with them and they just throw in underwear, socks, and PJs into one drawer, tops in another drawer, and bottoms in another. Even my 4yo can do this! Church clothes get hung up (I do the littles). Saturdays also I wash all our bath towels. And once a month run a cleaning cycle. Sunday is a day off laundry!
As a woman with a husband and three boys and a daughter (ages 3-9) with ADHD (I am so tired), I soooo relate to your explanation of why you took it back, why you're making it a step process, and how hopeful you are that they will be adults that aren't a burden on others. Thanks for your inspiration to get inventory 👇 so functioning can go up👍 for everyone. Bless you!
My laundry is in my kitchen. So it's important to not let it pile up. Since there are three of us I do the laundry and my husband will carry it upstairs and sort it. I generally do it three times a week. I don't find it a huge burden. I use these laundry bins they double as the hamper too. I tend to fold everyone's , my husband folds his own and piles the others on our beds.
What I like about the one load a day is clothes are almost always clean, there's less for each kid to put away, and no laundry on the floors. Win, win, win!
Easiest way to get my kids clothes under control, had them declutter it. My daughter has a very simple wardrobe, my son reduced a little bit, but then when he started welding in school it got super simple, Mom, can I have white shirts and black jeans.... that worked in the summer, he has switched to black shirts now. 🤣
I admit, I did my sons laundry as long as they were home, primarily because it is the one household chores I actually enjoy. When my older son went off to college, he called and asked where to get quarters for the washing machines in the dorm. But both sons figured it out and do their own laundry now that they are out on their own. My system is to do frequent loads, hang or fold everything, except sheets and towels - those go right back on the bed or on towel hooks.
Thank you CS, I totally agree. They will figure it out when the time comes. They know how to do it anyway, but this is my house and I want it clean without harassing them all of the time. Not good for any of us
completely agree that the inventory is the bigger problem..if kids have enough clothing to wear something different for 14 days they will! Having the basket in a different location than the room is a good idea too
No hampers, I do all morning loads, 1 load… the kids come home fold, sort and put away. I do keep 2 hampers, 1 dirty, 1 if we need for folding extra loads. Yes, reduce inventory!:)
Love seeing your kids clothes under the bed, and the random stuff in drawers…it made me chuckle. I have a 12 year old with ADHD and the drawer looks familiar. When I give him steps to washing his clothes, and then remind him as he goes along step by step. It seems to help…
I like the idea from Cas of Clutterbug. If you don’t like to fold, bring a load of hangers to whereever you’re processing the cleanlaundry. Slipping the hangers in takes less time than folding, things are easier to put away and there are fewer wrinkles. Toss socks, underwear and pjs in drawers or bins, hang everything else. Going back to Dawn I’m sure she’d say this works if inventory is reasonable - no cramming clothes into a closet.
@2:58: I got a flash of that mom way back when who parked a lawn chair on the family home's roof and went on strike! I don't recall if Laundry was the straw that broke her camel's back but I hear ya!
I have never had an issue with my laundry. I wash a load every other day, because I only have 2 pair of jeans. Then towels & sheets on the weekends. But my husband & daughter both struggle with laundry. They both tend to wait until they are out of something or late on Sunday evening. They both have alot of clothes and don't want to let any of them go.
When you deal with bed bugs and or lice, you learn real quick how to pair down on what you really need at any given time in regards to laundry and how not to care what is sorted or NOT!
Can I speak to this topic from a mom of 3 married children? They learn to do laundry when it’s important to them, not a real need to learn at home unless they are living there after high school. What helped me the most was having a 3 basket system in the laundry room. They learned to sort their clothes into: whites, darks, delicate Every day I washed one and dried the previous load from the washing machine . No big deal. Them Putting away is another story. 🤣
Good point. I don't remember doing laundry all that often but if my mom asked I helped. Otherwise she mainly did it. I learned and did it solo when I had to. Now I have one more child than she had!
Just wanted to say how much I like the idea of a laundry room. Where I live everyone has a washing machine at home, but they're situated in the bathroom or, in some flats, in the kitchen (right next to the dishwasher or so😂) and there is hardly space to put racks or hangers or whatever close to the machine (our bathrooms are small: 2 people make them feel crowded - because they are...)
I am the only one to do laundry in my house, It's something I enjoy. It is so simple to just fold each item as it comes out of the dryer and put the piles on the appropriate bed to be dealt with. I used to do one load a day, whites, lights, darks, and then sheets/ towels, but now I we have so few things I can do 3 loads in one day and be done for the week.
For my 5 yr old, I have one of those plastic 3 drawer bin in his closet, easy for him to access. For my 1 yr old, I have a 3 compartment hanging shelf. Only myself and my husband hang shirts! It really helped alot!
I do it like this too. Mainly because I hate doing the laundry so much. Thus I set the timer on Thursday night so the first load will be done when I get up and the 2nd can start. We're 4 people here with pretty much darker coulored clothes thus I don't need that many cycles. Works for us😊
@@MinimalistHome yeah. It’s not for everyone! When I was a single mom I never did my daughters’ laundry once they were about 8. Kind of a necessity more than a lesson in responsibility. I think I did the towels. I am now 72 so it’s easy for me to do it on one day. I like your channel. Cheers!!
My husband tshirts go on hangers, in the past I would fold his undershirts but after Dawn I started to toss them in the drawer, same for underwear and socks.
@@MinimalistHome yeah I do it for lack of space, we have one tall dresser. One is for my underclothes , toiletries and makeup the other 3 for my hubby’s underclothes and shorts. Not folding has been a lifesaver
I wash clothes and towels for 6 people (My son and his family live upstairs and their laundry area is under construction). Each person has a day that they must bring their clothes down to the laundry area. I do towels and sheets on one day for everyone. I fold everyone's clothes (I enjoy folding). I hand my shirts (I am the only one that likes my shirts hung up. Everyone takes their laundry basket and puts their own clothes away. By summer I will be down to 3 people to do laundry for.
My kids start “helping” with laundry literally as soon as they can walk. They are following you around and into it anyway. They can through things in and out of baskets or machines. Alittle older they can sort and match things. By about 8-10ish they are doing their own laundry. It is completely up to them when they want to do their laundry, when to put it away, and if it gets wrinkled that’s on them too. It’s not overwhelming because it’s only their own clothes so for instance all the socks in the dryer are there’s so they don’t have to be sorted out. Some kids wait till they have no clean clothes and do it in a panic and never seem to learn otherwise. I have one that does it every Saturday morning. My teen son had years of looking homeless because his clothes were so wrinkled. I didn’t love that period but it was his choice. Simple for them and not my problem anymore. And no teen boy wants to be stinky or they will be repulsing all the girls so they will figure this out. Fyi 2 of mine have pretty severe ADHD and still get through this in whatever way works for them. The issue was more about me letting go of control.
That does work if you have a laundry room. Boys need to learn laundry at the point where they have night dreams. To help with the embarrassing things, they need that independentcy. That is why my boys start to do their own laundry at about the age of 13/14. It is more expensive, they stop keeping the whites, white. They definitely did their laundry their way. I now steal my youngest boy's whites to whiten them. At 17 he is finally interested in clothes being white.
Now, I'm having problems with a Pre-teen girl, we are under the assumption that she might have Autism. I have had 4 min-strokes, cannot afford to be over stress with the little things or the big things. She had been refusing to go to school for 3 weeks. We finally had her IEP this Monday. She agreed to drop a very stress causing class. She been better and has 3 days to school. Having her bathe was another war, that seems like I just won this week two, too. She is abit like Ms. Hoarder's Heart and has alot of things. She is between holding on to her childhood and wanting to be a young lady. She is not ready to give up her toys and is starting her big girl stuff/things. So, I have won two battles, still in a war. She just turned 12.
Seeing the clothes under the bed im like my daughter is the same. I have 1 child who does her own laundry, folds it, puts it away, the other is the opposite. I just want them both to have that skill. But I have done the same I have gone back to washing her clothes! Going to try and adopting the basket system for her laundry. Thanx!
Yes, sometimes you just need to do it. I was chatting with my 16 year old yesterday. He knows how to do it, but he also has a lot to balance right now, so I’m happy to just be his mom and do it for him.
Robin. You are going great! You probably already know this raising children with ADHD, but the less they have (clothing) the less overwhelmed and distracted they will feel. Perhaps try having a conversation with each of them about their laundry and what's not working or feels overwhelming. I used to be a former special education teacher and had several kids with ADHD. My classroom had to always contain less stuff (less "decor" on the walls and supplies (books, materials, etc ) had to be contained/ "hidden" so that it was not a distraction for them. It worked! They were less stimulated and were able to focus on the task at hand. A big part of my job was working with the parents at home- schedule, transitioning, meals, bedrooms, etc. It always came back to SIMPLE. Simplify EVERYTHING! Mom to 2 teenage girls here and so I do understand the laundry pain. Leslie
Sounds like a great plan in this season for you. By age 10, each of my kids were in charge of their own laundry. They each have a basket in their room. If they don't do their laundry the way they were taught to, that is up to them. My son is a natural minimalist and does his when he sees the basket 1/2 full. My ADHD daughter has her clothes all over the place just as you described. I have reduced her inventory but if she doesn't heed the reminders or ask for help, then there isn't anything I can do. If she wants to wear wrinkled or dirty clothes, I figure that is up to her. I am sorry if that sounds rude, but I need to have less things to be responsible for. I have my laundry separate from my husband because I didn't like my clothes smelling like his. :)
Oh my goodness, I have a no hamper 'habit'. I call it a habit because it's probably a bad one. Well, according to my husband it's bad. Lol. I used to live in a house with a long hallway and the laundry room was around the corner. I had little kids, a ton of cooking going on, and messes happnin'. After I would wipe something up, I would toss the rag or towel down the hallway in the general direction so that I could get back to it later when it wasn't so chaotic🤪🤣🤣
I ❤doing laundry! Unfortunately, it has been overwhelming lately. Quilts, blankets, mittens & scarves have been taking over the house. I've recently started whittling down bed linens & dish towels. My Achilles heal seems to be my love of scarves. No matter how hard i try, 1 small rubbermaid container(about 12) is my minimum!! 😢😉😳😄🤦
We have four kids in what is considered a large house, with a VERY difficult (annoying) layout. I always say it is like taking care of three houses as there are three main parts that are just like their own home. Unfortunately our laundry area is in a bathroom in the "main" living area and NOWHERE near the bedrooms. I have greatly reduced the clothing inventory, and tried individual hampers, a single upstairs hamper, no hamper upstairs, but still haven't come up with a great solution. There are always clothes everywhere. It is still a major effort to keep laundry under control!
If your kids are over the age of six, the solution is fairly simple really. Designate a place for dirty laundry. Explain the the children that anything that doesn’t make it to that spot will not be laundered and then stick to your word. They’ll figure it out soon enough when they are wearing dirty clothes or their favorite clothes are filthy.
If they have enough for 1 load of each (just shirts, just bottom and then the rest socks underwear ) putting it away is so much faster.. grabbing hangers for all tops next another load of bottoms .. it works well for boys.
Laundry has never been A issue, we have a basket for darks and a basket for whites when they get full,they go in to wash and dried, folded and put away we never let it overflow or get out of hand.
And we are all visual clutterbugs, they asked me several years ago to start hanging clothes. I hang shirts on the hangers they are going to go into closets on, fold pants, toss underwear/socks in the basket and they put stuff away.
Hope it is going well, knowing the steps is the biggest part of the battle. My brother was clueless when he went to college. Both my kids know how, but it functions better when I do it since I'm home all day.
I have ADHD (inattentive) and two of my three kids have ADHD (hyperactive and combined). The biggest tips I have to keeping up and being less overwhelmed is having one kind of socks per kid (white, black and girly for my only daughter) buy a couple packs at a time and they are exactly the same. Downsize their clothing so it's easy to put away. (I used to have to fold their clothes a certain way so it would all fit in their drawer. Now they get two drawers each for current clothes and they can fold their clothes, or don't, their way and they fit fine) They all have their own laundry baskets and do their own laundry. This keeps me from having to sort clothes out for each kid. They can do their own laundry from start to finish (ages 4,7,8). On the occasion I have to do a big load of clothes, I will sort the basket in the living room, throwing each kids clothes in their pile and they will fold it and put it away. (I planned on letting them just put them in their drawers if the folding didn't work out, but they caught in really quickly and they fold. Don't underestimate them)
When my children were young, they would occasionally leave money in the pockets of their clothes. I told them that it was obviously a 'thank you' gift for the laundry lady, me. And that I would thankfully accept it. Rarely happened more than once! 😂
That is my 'mom tax' for laundry. Taxes apply to anything a mom might want to 'try'. Lol. That ice cream sundae?? Mom taxes off the top- hand it over! 😜
Not folding? That's sacrilege! I've done my own laundry (as well as most of the family's) since I was a preteen with no issues. I say if you can restore a Volkswagen Bug, you can wash your clothes. ❤
Robyn, I enjoy each and every one of your videos and have found great tips and motivation in each. With this one, I was wondering why each person in the household could not be not assigned his own small hamper (kept in his room) and a day of the week to bring it to the laundry area before breakfast. Then, start the load (everything is washed with cold water and a detergent pod, no guess work), it takes only five minutes. Even though mom takes over from there, she has very little to sort and does it on the bed of that person. Weekend is for towels and bed linens. I could not handle all those mixed up clothes !
We actually have tried this and (so far) have failed at it. We don’t mix the kids clothes with ours. I currently have them folded on my couch and the kids are going to put them away before dinner…Thanks for the awesome comment though!
I have 5 kids. This is what we do now and I can't tell you how much we ALL love everyone having their own basket and laundry day. Kids are so happy to not have to sort or fold endless baskets of everybody else's clothing. They do it all themselves and put it all away in their dressers (I do help the littles) It has been keeping me from getting overwhelmed.
I think I must be an anomaly. I like doing laundry. I find folding very relaxing. My daughter has been responsible for her own laundry since she became a teenager but I often surprise her by folding her laundry. The laundry room is on the first floor and she is mainly on the second floor.
I enjoyed this video and the great tips you suggested. However, what tips can you suggest for families who don't have their own washer & dreyer at home? We live in the city and the majority of people do their laundry in a public laundromat, so washing one load each day would be time consuming and tiring due to packing clothes, going to laudromat, packing again, then unpacking at home...There's more work involved when someone doesn't have their own machines at home. I would appreciate any helpful tips you can think of. Thank you!
Hmmm, great question. Definitely would be best to reduce the amount of clothing. Washing by person might make more sense as well. Do you have any tips you can offer?
I have a car and at one point the washer and dryer were unavailable in our rental. I waited. Then took a month's worth of laundry to a laundromat that had not many customers. I sorted laundry by person, by color and used 6-7 machines. Sure it took about 4 hours to get it all wash, dryed, sorted, and organized but hey, it was a MONTH'S worth of articles. Very satisfying. But also anxiety provoking as I couldn't count on the laundromat always having that many machines open for that long on any day I decided to do this run. But for the few months I did it it worked like a charm. Your mileage may vary.
I was a teenager back in the day when tighter was better so I would wet the tops of my jeans in the tub and then put them in the dryer on high so they would shrink lol, my mom would so mad. It makes me laugh now but oh my poor mom.
Let it go. Kids will eventually run out of clothes and will have to manage. When I started teaching my kids I had a different coloured basket for each kid to put their clean cloths in out of the dryer. They picked it up from the laundry room and put it away and return the basket. My mum’s theory was if the kids could operate electronics they could run the washer and dryer and that is what we did. Another thought is shut their door.
I enjoy laundry folding, but I acknowledge that it takes up far too much time. I think it’s important for my children to learn to fold laundry - in case they decide they want to keep their own homes this way, or they need to help someone fold - but that doesn’t mean our daily lives need to include folding. We won’t be slaves to tradition and expectations. So, we keep clean laundry in assigned baskets on a shelf in the laundry room, and dirty laundry gets sorted below into darks, lights, delicates, and towels and socks. As my kids are learning to wash and dry, I have them do everyone’s laundry together, because I hate running the machine for one person’s laundry. When they get older and want to wear the same outfit on repeat, it will be motivation for them to do laundry for everyone. That’s my hope!
my husband started doing all of our laundry when I was pregnant and we lived in a 4th floor apt with laundry in the basement. (I still folded and put away my clothes tho don't worry) we've been in our home 2 years now and he still does it. I got lucky and hoping he doesn't realize I can do it now 😂
If kids are smart enough to learn skills with computers, cell phones, etc, then they can learn laundry skills. Stop doing their laundry. Natural consequences are wearing dirty clothes in front of their school friends, and girlfriend/boyfriend. 'Tough love.
My teenage boys all did their own laundry. They learned quickly that they had to do it or run out of clean clothes. I also didn't spend a lot of time in their room so their clothes on their floor or messy dresser drawers wouldn't really bother me. My husband and one son used to just keep his clean clothes in a laundry basket because they didn't want to fold laundry. Just relax and let them find their own style. If they are teens they are perfectly capable of doing their own laundry. I had to learn that just because they weren't doing it my way didn't mean they were doing it wrong.
Dawn from the Minimal Mom inspired me to stop folding as much as possible. I hang all my shirts except for PJ tops. I also have all my work pants hung up. Jeans are folded in a drawer, but that is it. I have cube storage where I shove my unfolded leggings, shorts, PJs, and socks. I've sat with it for about six months now, and I love it!
I've learned that as seasons of life change, so do our systems. And the best system is the one that works for you right now! I've also learned the key to laundry success is DEFINITELY a minimal wardrobe. The more clothing we have the more overwhelming laundry becomes. So, I try to keep our quantity to about a week's worth of clothes per person.
Absolutely!! Thanks for the comment Stephanie
Dawn’s laundry ideas were a game changer for me! My kids were able to take over their laundry at 4 & 6 with a tiny bit of help from me when I switched to categorized bins with no folding (I help hang shirts). My one big exception is I veeeeery much prefer for the kids to have their own hampers or I spend sooo much time sorting. The baby’s gets done with the bathroom near his room. When I get behind I too take a folding break. Baby’s gets sorted and tossed in his drawers, my pjs get tossed in their drawer, leggings in the bib, etc. it’s all sorted and easier to find than in a laundry basket! And if I find the time it’s easy to come back and organize a drawer or two.
I have the same washer and dryer as you and a tiny laundry closet! I use big ikea bags tucked beside the washer for when I need extra laundry “baskets.”
That’s awesome Shelby! Thanks for sharing!
We use our washing machine as our hamper and just turn it on whenever it is full, which is daily because we are a family of seven. Everything gets washed on cold, and I don’t buy anything that can’t be machine washed. The kids are responsible for taking their dirty clothes and towels to the washer after every shower. It’s on a different floor of the house than our shower, but after a while it’s just a habit. We each have one after dinner chore (someone wipes the kitchen counter, someone vacuums the dining room, etc.) My daily chore is to turn on the washing machine and take the previous day’s clothes out of the dryer and sort them. It takes about five minutes because it’s only one load. Then we all put our own clothes away. It doesn’t get overwhelming because it’s only one day’s worth of clothing for each person to put away.
Oooh! Thanks Stephanie! That is a really great system!
Consider the "College Student Two Hamper System" for teens. One hamper for dirty and one hamper for clean. Only fold/hang and put away special ocassion clothes. Dress from the capsule wardrobe in the clean hamper. Students pretty much only wear the same wrinkle resistant jeans/sweats/leggings and Ts/sweatshirts/pullovers.
Sock Hack: Buy all the same socks or a big pack of black and a big pack of white if sock matching is an issue. If tops look too wrinkled, spray with a fine water mist just before dressing.
Soccer Mom Hack: Run the laundry at the same time each evening and make sure the kids know that if they don't get their soccer/basketball/hockey/etc laundry items in the washer by a certain time, you will understand that they have decided to wear their uniforms again as is. All the sports and exercise fabrics get washed together with whatever stink-release detergent that works for you. Synthetic fabric care for active adults is a different reality than washing grade school clothes. Laundering the same day helps if you have enough to run a full load or can adjust the load size on your washer. If you have a timer on your dishwasher offset the time to the middle of the night so your hot water heater can recover.
That is what my kids started doing because they hate to hang or fold their laundry, they are young adults now and still live out of their laundry baskets....save yourself some money and don't buy dressers just 2 laundry baskets and they are good to go! (drives me nuts by the way, I love doing laundry and hang 95% of my clothes as we have a large closet)
@@JamieKoblas And in their minds, they are process engineers, skipping unnecessary steps, thinking outside the box; or rather, outside the dresser.
Wow!! Awesome tips Eileen!! Thanks!
I was very lucky. Our school district still teaches Home Ec (now called Family and Consumer Science), and grade six included a unit on laundry. They were required to do a load at home and have a parent sign off. Once that happened, I told that since they now know how to do it, it was their responsibility. Mwahahahaha. But - by the time they left home, it was just part of their routine - one less thing for them to have to master at a time when so much is new. When they saw their friends struggling, they gained a whole new appreciation for their laundry knowledge.
Haha, I love it!
When my kids were teens, they each had a laundry basket in their rooms. It was up to them to figure out when to wash and to put away or not. They both had a lot of clothes on the floor, mixed clean with dirty. It was frustrating to me so I mostly kept out of their rooms and let them deal with it. I posted an instruction sheet next to the washer and dryer. I'd like to say they learned good habits, but nope. Even as young adults living on their own, their clothes are still a jumbled mess, but it's not my problem anymore.
Sounds like a good strategy to avoid the "not sure if it is dirty or clean so I'll just have mom wash it" and avoiding the room cleaning method of just giving mom everything on the floor to wash regardless if it has been worn. You are definately on the right track. Be patient. Your kids will realize consequences as the let go of resistance to responsibility. And the beautiful part of it is that you accomplish more by doing nothing. Tough love, my dear.
My teens do their wash in the summers, I do it during the school year. I will fold their clothes, will not take the time to match socks, then put it on their beds for them to put away. That way they have to put it away before they go to sleep. Idk. Works for us.
Hey!! I like that!! They can do it in the summer! You are awesome Luanne! Thanks!
Dawn's the best! Each season is different Robyn, so for your sanity I am with you and revamping!
I do do 1 load per day, but I have mine specifically assigned.
I do not have 1 hamper, but every child has one and then my husband and I share.
I took Dawn's advice and do the no fold too. All the time for children, and sometimes even for my husband and me (but mostly for ours I actually roll bc it's quicker).
⭐Mondays I wash sheets, swapping every other week ours and children's.
⭐Tuesdays I wash all my cleaning cloths.
⭐Wednesdays I wash my husband's and mine clothes.
⭐Thursdays my 9.5 yo washes her and her 4yo sister's clothes.
⭐Fridays my oldest 11.5 washes hers and her 6yo brother's clothes.
⭐Saturdays (after they all watch their morning shows) they all put away their clothes. I do the no fold method with them and they just throw in underwear, socks, and PJs into one drawer, tops in another drawer, and bottoms in another. Even my 4yo can do this! Church clothes get hung up (I do the littles).
Saturdays also I wash all our bath towels. And once a month run a cleaning cycle.
Sunday is a day off laundry!
Great system Jenny!! Wow, thanks for sharing
As a woman with a husband and three boys and a daughter (ages 3-9) with ADHD (I am so tired), I soooo relate to your explanation of why you took it back, why you're making it a step process, and how hopeful you are that they will be adults that aren't a burden on others. Thanks for your inspiration to get inventory 👇 so functioning can go up👍 for everyone. Bless you!
Thank you SO much for getting this Jennifer!! You are awesome!
My laundry is in my kitchen. So it's important to not let it pile up. Since there are three of us I do the laundry and my husband will carry it upstairs and sort it. I generally do it three times a week. I don't find it a huge burden. I use these laundry bins they double as the hamper too.
I tend to fold everyone's , my husband folds his own and piles the others on our beds.
Thank you for saying it. Teaching the kids definitely slows EVERYTHING down. Patience is a major struggle for me
Right?! Me too!!
The pile of gloves made me scream out in laughter!😂
What I like about the one load a day is clothes are almost always clean, there's less for each kid to put away, and no laundry on the floors. Win, win, win!
Yes!! I love this too!
Easiest way to get my kids clothes under control, had them declutter it. My daughter has a very simple wardrobe, my son reduced a little bit, but then when he started welding in school it got super simple, Mom, can I have white shirts and black jeans.... that worked in the summer, he has switched to black shirts now. 🤣
Absolutely! Declutter is key!
I admit, I did my sons laundry as long as they were home, primarily because it is the one household chores I actually enjoy. When my older son went off to college, he called and asked where to get quarters for the washing machines in the dorm. But both sons figured it out and do their own laundry now that they are out on their own. My system is to do frequent loads, hang or fold everything, except sheets and towels - those go right back on the bed or on towel hooks.
Oh heavens! I thought I was the only one who went through that!!!!
Thank you CS, I totally agree. They will figure it out when the time comes. They know how to do it anyway, but this is my house and I want it clean without harassing them all of the time. Not good for any of us
completely agree that the inventory is the bigger problem..if kids have enough clothing to wear something different for 14 days they will! Having the basket in a different location than the room is a good idea too
Very true, thanks Jean!
No hampers, I do all morning loads, 1 load… the kids come home fold, sort and put away. I do keep 2 hampers, 1 dirty, 1 if we need for folding extra loads.
Yes, reduce inventory!:)
I love that!
Love seeing your kids clothes under the bed, and the random stuff in drawers…it made me chuckle. I have a 12 year old with ADHD and the drawer looks familiar. When I give him steps to washing his clothes, and then remind him as he goes along step by step. It seems to help…
Oh man, we get each other!
I like the idea from Cas of Clutterbug. If you don’t like to fold, bring a load of hangers to whereever you’re processing the cleanlaundry. Slipping the hangers in takes less time than folding, things are easier to put away and there are fewer wrinkles. Toss socks, underwear and pjs in drawers or bins, hang everything else. Going back to Dawn I’m sure she’d say this works if inventory is reasonable - no cramming clothes into a closet.
Thanks!! Good idea
@2:58: I got a flash of that mom way back when who parked a lawn chair on the family home's roof and went on strike! I don't recall if Laundry was the straw that broke her camel's back but I hear ya!
haha, totally!
I have never had an issue with my laundry. I wash a load every other day, because I only have 2 pair of jeans. Then towels & sheets on the weekends. But my husband & daughter both struggle with laundry. They both tend to wait until they are out of something or late on Sunday evening. They both have alot of clothes and don't want to let any of them go.
This was the best video! I have young kids, but it was so relatable! You are so reasonable about your choices.
I've been Flying for twenty years. D from D is great. Love learning new things too!
When you deal with bed bugs and or lice, you learn real quick how to pair down on what you really need at any given time in regards to laundry and how not to care what is sorted or NOT!
Especially when you have littles and are pregnant on top of things!
I cant wait to see how this turns out. I had my teens switch rooms every 6 months = auto deep clean.
What a great idea
It resulted in multiple bags of trash and a declutter. They weren’t fond of it but it worked.
I like that idea!
Can I speak to this topic from a mom of 3 married children? They learn to do laundry when it’s important to them, not a real need to learn at home unless they are living there after high school. What helped me the most was having a 3 basket system in the laundry room. They learned to sort their clothes into: whites, darks, delicate
Every day I washed one and dried the previous load from the washing machine . No big deal. Them Putting away is another story. 🤣
Good point. I don't remember doing laundry all that often but if my mom asked I helped. Otherwise she mainly did it. I learned and did it solo when I had to. Now I have one more child than she had!
I really appreciate this Lynette. Thank you I!!
Laundry is a life skill that everyone should learn. I've been doing my own laundry since I was 9 (I'm 63).
Just wanted to say how much I like the idea of a laundry room. Where I live everyone has a washing machine at home, but they're situated in the bathroom or, in some flats, in the kitchen (right next to the dishwasher or so😂) and there is hardly space to put racks or hangers or whatever close to the machine (our bathrooms are small: 2 people make them feel crowded - because they are...)
Yes, Laundry spaces are good. I can’t complain about my closet now!
I am the only one to do laundry in my house, It's something I enjoy. It is so simple to just fold each item as it comes out of the dryer and put the piles on the appropriate bed to be dealt with. I used to do one load a day, whites, lights, darks, and then sheets/ towels, but now I we have so few things I can do 3 loads in one day and be done for the week.
That's great Ginny!
For my 5 yr old, I have one of those plastic 3 drawer bin in his closet, easy for him to access. For my 1 yr old, I have a 3 compartment hanging shelf. Only myself and my husband hang shirts! It really helped alot!
Oooh! Love this, thanks!
I love the Dana K White method of having one laundry day a week. She’s “A Slob Comes Clean”
I do it like this too. Mainly because I hate doing the laundry so much. Thus I set the timer on Thursday night so the first load will be done when I get up and the 2nd can start. We're 4 people here with pretty much darker coulored clothes thus I don't need that many cycles. Works for us😊
I’ve tried that, but not loving it…
@@MinimalistHome yeah. It’s not for everyone! When I was a single mom I never did my daughters’ laundry once they were about 8. Kind of a necessity more than a lesson in responsibility. I think I did the towels. I am now 72 so it’s easy for me to do it on one day. I like your channel. Cheers!!
My husband tshirts go on hangers, in the past I would fold his undershirts but after Dawn I started to toss them in the drawer, same for underwear and socks.
Yes, we just hang our clothes, but we are SUPER casual (most of the time), so we are just hanging tshirts 😂
@@MinimalistHome yeah I do it for lack of space, we have one tall dresser. One is for my underclothes , toiletries and makeup the other 3 for my hubby’s underclothes and shorts. Not folding has been a lifesaver
I wash clothes and towels for 6 people (My son and his family live upstairs and their laundry area is under construction). Each person has a day that they must bring their clothes down to the laundry area. I do towels and sheets on one day for everyone. I fold everyone's clothes (I enjoy folding). I hand my shirts (I am the only one that likes my shirts hung up. Everyone takes their laundry basket and puts their own clothes away. By summer I will be down to 3 people to do laundry for.
Wow!! Good for you Karen!
My kids start “helping” with laundry literally as soon as they can walk. They are following you around and into it anyway. They can through things in and out of baskets or machines. Alittle older they can sort and match things. By about 8-10ish they are doing their own laundry. It is completely up to them when they want to do their laundry, when to put it away, and if it gets wrinkled that’s on them too. It’s not overwhelming because it’s only their own clothes so for instance all the socks in the dryer are there’s so they don’t have to be sorted out. Some kids wait till they have no clean clothes and do it in a panic and never seem to learn otherwise. I have one that does it every Saturday morning. My teen son had years of looking homeless because his clothes were so wrinkled. I didn’t love that period but it was his choice. Simple for them and not my problem anymore. And no teen boy wants to be stinky or they will be repulsing all the girls so they will figure this out. Fyi 2 of mine have pretty severe ADHD and still get through this in whatever way works for them. The issue was more about me letting go of control.
I love this. I think I need to take control for now. I like the idea another commenter gave about having them do theirs in the summer…might do that!
That does work if you have a laundry room. Boys need to learn laundry at the point where they have night dreams. To help with the embarrassing things, they need that independentcy. That is why my boys start to do their own laundry at about the age of 13/14. It is more expensive, they stop keeping the whites, white. They definitely did their laundry their way. I now steal my youngest boy's whites to whiten them. At 17 he is finally interested in clothes being white.
Now, I'm having problems with a Pre-teen girl, we are under the assumption that she might have Autism. I have had 4 min-strokes, cannot afford to be over stress with the little things or the big things. She had been refusing to go to school for 3 weeks. We finally had her IEP this Monday. She agreed to drop a very stress causing class. She been better and has 3 days to school. Having her bathe was another war, that seems like I just won this week two, too. She is abit like Ms. Hoarder's Heart and has alot of things. She is between holding on to her childhood and wanting to be a young lady. She is not ready to give up her toys and is starting her big girl stuff/things. So, I have won two battles, still in a war. She just turned 12.
Gotcha!! Thanks LB!!
I love to do laundry. The only thing I get ugh about is putting it up.
Right! It's the worst!
Seeing the clothes under the bed im like my daughter is the same. I have 1 child who does her own laundry, folds it, puts it away, the other is the opposite. I just want them both to have that skill. But I have done the same I have gone back to washing her clothes! Going to try and adopting the basket system for her laundry. Thanx!
Yes, sometimes you just need to do it. I was chatting with my 16 year old yesterday. He knows how to do it, but he also has a lot to balance right now, so I’m happy to just be his mom and do it for him.
Robin. You are going great! You probably already know this raising children with ADHD, but the less they have (clothing) the less overwhelmed and distracted they will feel. Perhaps try having a conversation with each of them about their laundry and what's not working or feels overwhelming. I used to be a former special education teacher and had several kids with ADHD. My classroom had to always contain less stuff (less "decor" on the walls and supplies (books, materials, etc ) had to be contained/ "hidden" so that it was not a distraction for them. It worked! They were less stimulated and were able to focus on the task at hand. A big part of my job was working with the parents at home- schedule, transitioning, meals, bedrooms, etc. It always came back to SIMPLE. Simplify EVERYTHING! Mom to 2 teenage girls here and so I do understand the laundry pain. Leslie
Oh thank you so much Stephanie!! I appreciate this comment for sure
Sounds like a great plan in this season for you. By age 10, each of my kids were in charge of their own laundry. They each have a basket in their room. If they don't do their laundry the way they were taught to, that is up to them. My son is a natural minimalist and does his when he sees the basket 1/2 full. My ADHD daughter has her clothes all over the place just as you described. I have reduced her inventory but if she doesn't heed the reminders or ask for help, then there isn't anything I can do. If she wants to wear wrinkled or dirty clothes, I figure that is up to her. I am sorry if that sounds rude, but I need to have less things to be responsible for. I have my laundry separate from my husband because I didn't like my clothes smelling like his. :)
I like your system!
Oh my goodness, I have a no hamper 'habit'. I call it a habit because it's probably a bad one. Well, according to my husband it's bad. Lol. I used to live in a house with a long hallway and the laundry room was around the corner. I had little kids, a ton of cooking going on, and messes happnin'. After I would wipe something up, I would toss the rag or towel down the hallway in the general direction so that I could get back to it later when it wasn't so chaotic🤪🤣🤣
Now I toss it down the stairwell as my laundry room is downstairs😬
I totally get this!!
I ❤doing laundry! Unfortunately, it has been overwhelming lately. Quilts, blankets, mittens & scarves have been taking over the house. I've recently started whittling down bed linens & dish towels. My Achilles heal seems to be my love of scarves. No matter how hard i try, 1 small rubbermaid container(about 12) is my minimum!! 😢😉😳😄🤦
Sometimes, we love what we love. I do like minimizing items, but maybe keep your scarves, but declutter some gloves,etc.
We have four kids in what is considered a large house, with a VERY difficult (annoying) layout. I always say it is like taking care of three houses as there are three main parts that are just like their own home. Unfortunately our laundry area is in a bathroom in the "main" living area and NOWHERE near the bedrooms. I have greatly reduced the clothing inventory, and tried individual hampers, a single upstairs hamper, no hamper upstairs, but still haven't come up with a great solution. There are always clothes everywhere. It is still a major effort to keep laundry under control!
Your house sounds like of like mine!
If your kids are over the age of six, the solution is fairly simple really. Designate a place for dirty laundry. Explain the the children that anything that doesn’t make it to that spot will not be laundered and then stick to your word. They’ll figure it out soon enough when they are wearing dirty clothes or their favorite clothes are filthy.
This was well timed. My laundry has creeped back up to being out of control too....
I hope it helped!
If they have enough for 1 load of each (just shirts, just bottom and then the rest socks underwear ) putting it away is so much faster.. grabbing hangers for all tops next another load of bottoms .. it works well for boys.
Hmmm, smart!!
I buy only white or black socks. Makes it easier to do laundry. I do my daughter socks one day and then wash mine the other day.
Genius!
Laundry has never been A issue, we have a basket for darks and a basket for whites when they get full,they go in to wash and dried, folded and put away we never let it overflow or get out of hand.
Very good!!
Oh, and we do have hampers, but 90% of the clothes all go in the bathroom. Right next to the washing machine. Lol.
And we are all visual clutterbugs, they asked me several years ago to start hanging clothes. I hang shirts on the hangers they are going to go into closets on, fold pants, toss underwear/socks in the basket and they put stuff away.
Hope it is going well, knowing the steps is the biggest part of the battle. My brother was clueless when he went to college. Both my kids know how, but it functions better when I do it since I'm home all day.
haha, want to know something funny? My husband’s side of the bed is next to the hamper! where does he put his clothes? Yes, the floor!
@@MinimalistHome lol, I don't have one of those. 🤣
I have ADHD (inattentive) and two of my three kids have ADHD (hyperactive and combined). The biggest tips I have to keeping up and being less overwhelmed is having one kind of socks per kid (white, black and girly for my only daughter) buy a couple packs at a time and they are exactly the same. Downsize their clothing so it's easy to put away. (I used to have to fold their clothes a certain way so it would all fit in their drawer. Now they get two drawers each for current clothes and they can fold their clothes, or don't, their way and they fit fine) They all have their own laundry baskets and do their own laundry. This keeps me from having to sort clothes out for each kid. They can do their own laundry from start to finish (ages 4,7,8). On the occasion I have to do a big load of clothes, I will sort the basket in the living room, throwing each kids clothes in their pile and they will fold it and put it away. (I planned on letting them just put them in their drawers if the folding didn't work out, but they caught in really quickly and they fold. Don't underestimate them)
Thank you Fawn!! This is super helpful!
When my children were young, they would occasionally leave money in the pockets of their clothes. I told them that it was obviously a 'thank you' gift for the laundry lady, me. And that I would thankfully accept it. Rarely happened more than once! 😂
That is my 'mom tax' for laundry. Taxes apply to anything a mom might want to 'try'. Lol. That ice cream sundae?? Mom taxes off the top- hand it over! 😜
haha, that is so funny! I don’t even think that work with my boys!
I did that too! I told them any money I found in the washer and dryer was mine.
Not folding? That's sacrilege! I've done my own laundry (as well as most of the family's) since I was a preteen with no issues. I say if you can restore a Volkswagen Bug, you can wash your clothes. ❤
That’s a good yardstick
Awesome! 👏
One of them does their laundry on Wednesday, the other one on Thursday.
I like that system
Robyn, I enjoy each and every one of your videos and have found great tips and motivation in each. With this one, I was wondering why each person in the household could not be not assigned his own small hamper (kept in his room) and a day of the week to bring it to the laundry area before breakfast. Then, start the load (everything is washed with cold water and a detergent pod, no guess work), it takes only five minutes. Even though mom takes over from there, she has very little to sort and does it on the bed of that person. Weekend is for towels and bed linens.
I could not handle all those mixed up clothes !
We actually have tried this and (so far) have failed at it. We don’t mix the kids clothes with ours. I currently have them folded on my couch and the kids are going to put them away before dinner…Thanks for the awesome comment though!
I have 5 kids. This is what we do now and I can't tell you how much we ALL love everyone having their own basket and laundry day. Kids are so happy to not have to sort or fold endless baskets of everybody else's clothing. They do it all themselves and put it all away in their dressers (I do help the littles) It has been keeping me from getting overwhelmed.
I think I must be an anomaly. I like doing laundry. I find folding very relaxing. My daughter has been responsible for her own laundry since she became a teenager but I often surprise her by folding her laundry. The laundry room is on the first floor and she is mainly on the second floor.
Yes, you are an anomaly, haha
I enjoyed this video and the great tips you suggested. However, what tips can you suggest for families who don't have their own washer & dreyer at home? We live in the city and the majority of people do their laundry in a public laundromat, so washing one load each day would be time consuming and tiring due to packing clothes, going to laudromat, packing again, then unpacking at home...There's more work involved when someone doesn't have their own machines at home. I would appreciate any helpful tips you can think of. Thank you!
Hmmm, great question. Definitely would be best to reduce the amount of clothing. Washing by person might make more sense as well. Do you have any tips you can offer?
I have a car and at one point the washer and dryer were unavailable in our rental. I waited. Then took a month's worth of laundry to a laundromat that had not many customers. I sorted laundry by person, by color and used 6-7 machines. Sure it took about 4 hours to get it all wash, dryed, sorted, and organized but hey, it was a MONTH'S worth of articles. Very satisfying. But also anxiety provoking as I couldn't count on the laundromat always having that many machines open for that long on any day I decided to do this run. But for the few months I did it it worked like a charm. Your mileage may vary.
I was a teenager back in the day when tighter was better so I would wet the tops of my jeans in the tub and then put them in the dryer on high so they would shrink lol, my mom would so mad. It makes me laugh now but oh my poor mom.
Haha, that is cute!
Let it go. Kids will eventually run out of clothes and will have to manage. When I started teaching my kids I had a different coloured basket for each kid to put their clean cloths in out of the dryer. They picked it up from the laundry room and put it away and return the basket. My mum’s theory was if the kids could operate electronics they could run the washer and dryer and that is what we did. Another thought is shut their door.
Thanks Terri!
Here's how I fold.
A fast snap in the air, then I fold quickly, giving myself only 5 seconds per item.
I love this! I think I am down to about 2-5 secs per item! You & me! We got this!
I have 2 teenagers. I sometimes have to do 2 loads a day.
Totally!!
I enjoy laundry folding, but I acknowledge that it takes up far too much time. I think it’s important for my children to learn to fold laundry - in case they decide they want to keep their own homes this way, or they need to help someone fold - but that doesn’t mean our daily lives need to include folding. We won’t be slaves to tradition and expectations. So, we keep clean laundry in assigned baskets on a shelf in the laundry room, and dirty laundry gets sorted below into darks, lights, delicates, and towels and socks. As my kids are learning to wash and dry, I have them do everyone’s laundry together, because I hate running the machine for one person’s laundry. When they get older and want to wear the same outfit on repeat, it will be motivation for them to do laundry for everyone. That’s my hope!
Haha, what is funny is mine will wear clothes on repeat x 7! or more! I REALLY have to watch them. Oh, teen boys 🤦🏻♀️
my husband started doing all of our laundry when I was pregnant and we lived in a 4th floor apt with laundry in the basement. (I still folded and put away my clothes tho don't worry) we've been in our home 2 years now and he still does it. I got lucky and hoping he doesn't realize I can do it now 😂
Haha, I love it Holly!
If kids are smart enough to learn skills with computers, cell phones, etc, then they can learn laundry skills. Stop doing their laundry. Natural consequences are wearing dirty clothes in front of their school friends, and girlfriend/boyfriend. 'Tough love.
Only the problem is that my kids don't mind wearing dirty clothes and it bothers me
@@MinimalistHome I tried this logic and it didn't work for my child either. :( She just plain doesn't care. I'm the opposite.
🤣awesome