For all the research you’ve done on cleaning routines, you should create your own “tried & true” routine that you could share on your channel. “The Awkward Cleaning Routine” 😁 Love your videos.😊
I do a load of laundry every day. My best tip is (if your washing machine has this setting) to put the load the night before and set it on delayed wash. That way it can automatically wash one hour before I wake up. By the time I wake up I put it in drier, and then fold/put away right before work. If I miss to fold and put away, then I do it before bed. I don’t allow myself to start a new load before putting away the previous one.
I do it somewhat similar. Our machine doesn't have a delay feature, so I start a wash load before bed, when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I hang up what doesn't need to be dried and start the dryer. In the morning, while the coffee is being prepared, I fold and put away.
@davidlawrence2313 I do kind of the same thing. I usually have more than one load to do, so whatever stage my laundry is in at bed time, I get it to the next stage and start a new load if I've just freed up the washer. The next morning, I move the laundry to the next stage. In between, during the day, I just do a stage of laundry already in progress, whenever I have a few minutes. That way, I don't end up with any piles of laundry lying around all day.
My dryer is heat pump and takes 4 hours to dry a load. I'd never get a weeks worth done in a day. We also have a septic system. We somehow have 2 to 3 loads of washing every day
Dana K White is an absolute legend. She has such simple solutions for anyone who really struggles to keep up with things in their home, and I will be forever singing her praises to anyone who will liisten. The laundry day is the only routine of hers that I dont follow, but that is mainly because we hang laundry to dry. I'm also one of those odd people who doesn't mind laundry, and it was one of thee easiest daily routines to implement for me as a SAHM with an easily-accessible laundry room (another reason why laundry day makes sense for those with basement laundry rooms - less days trekking up and down the stairs!)
I'm glad you found the answer for you! I've been married 50 years and learned that in homemaking if it works for you, it's good. Congratulations on becoming a Laundry Queen!
Yes!!!!! It's marvelous that we are all so different and that there are different ways to get to to our goals...and even nicer that everyone is trying to help each other find their way. When I was newly married it was one day a week, when there were younguns it was once a day (well, I didn't do them if there weren't many to do that day...I wasn't crazy!), and now that I am retired it is when the dark basket is full or the light basket is full. Whatever works, works!
@@saramichaels3853 exactly! I was stuck on one way of doing things for so long because of how I was raised, that when my life took a turn that made that way impossible, I got overwhelmed and just let things go. When I got desperate and and had enough, l of the overwhelm, I started binge-watching de-clutter v9deos, cleaning method videos, organizing videos, recovering hoarding videos, you name it! And I found one cleaning method and one organizing method that I was able to adjust to my home and needs, and use tips from all of the others, to come up with my own system. I'm still climbing out of clutter in some areas, but I no longer feel trapped by it, because my home is slowly and steadily becoming more tidy and more functional. But I would probably still be stuck in overwhelm (about 6 months later) if not for all these wonderful youtubers sharing their success, failures, and tips!
Yes! I'm the kind of person who needs a similar routine every day or else everything starts to fall apart (i.e., a load a day works for me), but that doesn't mean that EVERYBODY operates the same way I do. I'm also the kind of person who needs to organize by keeping everything in sight, grouped into big categories, which is the opposite of how I get told is the "correct" way to organize. The truth is that I need to do what works for me, and you need to do what works for you. ❤
@LivetolearnMama you said you need everything in sight in big categories! You sound like someone who would absolutely LOVE The Clutter Bug (Cassandra Arsson!). She helps people figure out their organizational style by their messy and clutter habits. You sound like a butterfly in your organizational style (in sight, on display, and macro-organised). I'm convinced I'm a butterfly/lady bug hybrid. Lady bugs are also macro-organisers, but they want everything hidden. I need some things hidden, but lots of other things have to be out and easy to see. In both cases, I am not a micro-organiser (extremely detailed) whether hidden or out in the open, my things have to be as easy to put away as they are to take out and use, for the most part.
I think whatever works for you is great. I used to do laundry once a week, but now that we have five kids, that doesn’t work for me anymore. I average 10-12 loads a week when you factor in towels, sheets, kitchen towels, etc in addition to the clothes. One load a day has been a game changer for me. Otherwise I was trapped in the house for the entire weekend doing nothing but laundry and getting resentful and overwhelmed. One or two loads a day keeps me sane. But everyone is different, and I’m glad that you found what works for you!
Me too! With 5 kids, 4 of them boys who never make it with clean clothes till night, I have to do 2 at least loads per day. Otherwise, stains will never come out!
I have a cabinet (Ikea) with 4 baskets in it: white 60 degrees celsius, white 40 degrees celsius, black/colour 40 degree celsius and black/colour 60 degree celsius. Everyone puts the dirty clothes directly in the correct basket and the clothes are hidden as the cabinet has a door. When one basket is full, I will wash (&dry, depending on the fabric) the clothes. One basket equals one load of my washing machine. We are 3 people, I do 4 loads a week (each basket gets full within the week). This system works okay. I force myself to fold and put away the clothes max. 1 day after it dried (airdry or dryer), to keep up with everything. Greetings from Germany, I really enjoy your channel.
I have always done laundry once a week and it works great. The one thing NO ONE talks about is STOP CREATING SO MUCH LAUNDRY! When I had small kids it was way harder especially a sick baby who created 6 loads a day! BUT... the kids and adults don't need to wear and use so many clothes. Jeans 1 pair a week (unless in construction) shirts SAHM 3 shirts a week (unless spit up is on them) working dads and mom if it's not stinky put on a hook and wear again in a few days. Towels 1 per person per week. With that system and older kids I do 1 load per kid a week and 1 load for mom every 2 weeks and dad every 2 weeks. 1 load sheets 2x month. 1 load towels/week. So STOP MAKING SO MUCH LAUNDRY for yourself! Said in love but people need a wake up moment sometimes. 🙂 Love your videos by the way and I think you're doing just fine! One other thing...I do each persons laundry in their own load. That way I don't have to sort anything and can just take it to the right closet or give it to the kid to fold theirs.
Yep we have the same system. The teens do their own laundry on their designated days once a week. Even hubby does his now. So I have mine and the household stuff. And I can pretty much do 2-3 loads on one day or two if I want and done. And same reason, I work from home most days so I basically have 2 outfits that week, once they're clean, another if I need to go to the office but that's it. Everyone uses the communal one for underwear which I handle as needed so nobody runs out haha When kids are small then it's a battle and we all have to go through it
So happy you’ve found the answer to your laundry woes. Growing up, Monday was laundry day. Tuesday my mom ironed - yes, I am old lol. When my mom started working, Saturday became laundry day with us kids helping out. I do laundry once a week, no ironing, but I do fold/hang everything.
in the old days washing day was monday (wash by hand and hang on line to dry) and cold meal for the evening, usually leftover roast meat from sunday lunch
I do a hybrid of this: -a load goes in at night and timed clean just before i get up for work - put in dryer before leave work - redry/dewrinkle short 15 min when get home - fold while dinner simmering So a load a day, but weekly put up Doesn't work as much with younger kids but will when older. Mostly it's what works for you. But- i don't put it up. We have basket or spot for each person Everyone is responsible for their own put up- on Sunday it has to be done A game changer for me- even with babies/toddlers- was only having amount of clothes needed for that age. Minimal Mom idea of how much inventory to manage- i found my daughter and i did best if we both had less
Flybaby here too and her system worked when I worked outside the home. Now that I work from home, I have Laundry Day - two days a week. For me that's Monday & Thursday (no wash on the weekends, YAY!). I can focus two days a week on laundry so it's 'top-of-mind' all that day and I don't forget it - just like Dana. l leave the laundry basket near the laundry room door as a reminder that clothes are being washed that day. Also, I did away with the dressers & drawers and replaced them with racks (shelves) and bins. I do smaller loads so they take less time to fold. When the dryer is finished, I take the bins to the dryer and fold and put the clothes in their bins. Then the bins go back on the racks. There are never piles of clothes waiting to be folded because there's never unfolded clothes outside of the laundry room. On my last trip to put the bins away, I put the laundry basket back.
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice. I like the designation of two different days for laundry because I don't think I could do all of mine and just one day but the one loaded a day kills me
One load a day seems like a good idea. But I’m the same way I could never keep up. “Luckily” I live without a washer and dryer so I we do it every two weeks at the laundromat 2 hrs later 6 loads done! Everyone’s different and this has been a struggle since clothing has been invented. You got this ❤
Same. Every two weeks at the mat. I'm sure the $16 a month is more cost effective than a load every day, and it's definitely better on time. Plus, my kid and I get a treat of dinner at our fave Chinese restaurant which is next door.
$16/mo? Man my laundromat is WAY more than that, at least $10/load wash & dry (suburb in Michigan). Thankfully I only had to use it once when my washer broke. 6 regular loads was over $60 and the clothes were completely damp, I brought them home and finished drying. $100/mo - my washer paid for itself in less than a year! IF it was $16 for 6 loads, I would ABSOLUTELY go to the laundromat! Getting it ALL done in a couple hours is ALMOST priceless!
I go to the laundromat too, we live in Toronto in an old building that has one coin operated washer and dryer for 18 units, in a filthy basement that recently had a mold problem. I can physically walk with three loads, so I genersl take things with the same dry time, and off I go
Nice to see that other mothers are also overwhelmed with the household. For me, however, the laundry is not the problem. I have a laundry basket in the bathroom and when it is full, laundry is done. Approximately two machine loads fit in this laundry basket. Depending on what's going on in our lives, I wash more or less often. I put away the robe of me and the baby. Everyone else gets a pile with their foldet robe placed on their bed. I make sure that it is put away by bedtime at the latest. My problem is more the kitchen, even though we have a dishwasher. I have the feeling that no matter how often I clean the kitchen, after 30 minutes at most, dirty dishes appear again as if by magic and start piling up. In the end I think you just have to find a system that works for you and your household.
I tried washing a load daily. I felt like I was meeting myself on the stairway going up with clean folded clothes as I was headed downstairs with the hamper! I’ve been married 42 years. I’ve only found success in keeping one or two days a week as dedicated laundry days. When I had babies, the second day was only diapers and spit up cloths! You got this!
I am a firm believer that the location of the laundry area/ room also impacts the laundry routine. I have learned that I need my laundry area next to the kitchen to have any kind of success.
@@MrsPumpkinCatit’s true. It’s such a barrier, it’s really not a big deal to walk downstairs but when your to do list is already long and you’re tired, it becomes a mental road block
Yup, one load is day means you spread it out unnecessarily and basically feel like you're doing nothing else than laundry day in and day out. Doing it all at once is great as it also gives you the feeling of "reset". I have been doing this for the past 14-15 years, but with the twist of flexible days, as I just do it once my huge laundry basket (holding about 4-5 loads of 6 kg each) is full, so I also get the benefit of having mostly only full loads. I do some pre-sorting (normal dark, normal light, fine/delicate clothing and/or wool, white clothes, bedding, whatever stuff), so I get a good overview of how much of every category needs attention when I just open the basket, a wide wood frame. What makes it easier for me is that we (husband, 2 teenagers & I) usually change our clothes or get (un)dressed in the bathroom, so everyone automatically leaves their used dirty clothes directly on the laundry basket. This might not work when you have a house and a dedicated laundry room, but most rental apartments here in Berlin (or Germany in general) have their washing machine installed in the bathroom (tumble dryers are not as common as they are in America, I think). I then sort the dirty clothes into "my piles" at the end of the day (I mostly am the first to get up and the last to go to bed), so I have full control over the sorting. The advantage of hanging it in the bathroom also (I'd have nowhere else to put it in winter) is that mostly the family just picks up what they want to wear from the hangers in the bathroom in the morning, so that by the time I might feel like folding and putting away the clean clothes, most of it has been plucked and worn again already. I find it fascinating that Mount Laundry seems to be a problem for many people and thus there are solutions to that as many as there are struggling moms (it's mostly moms, let's be real here). How great that you have found a way that works for you! But even better for us that you let us peek into your life with these amazingly funny videos. You could read the phone book and I'd be entertained by your narration and style alone, but your editing and the content makes it even greater. Thank you!
My mom was a stay at home mom and I grew up with laundry day. my first decade as an adult I had to go to the laundry mat, so laundry day was over by noon on Saturday and it was kind of an escape cause I left the kids at home with their dad. But when I finally got at W/D at home, I found I hated I wasting Saturday on laundry because I worked a standard M-F job. then the kids reached the age of weekend activities, I didn’t have all day Saturday free, that’s when we started the one a day system. So keep that in mind for the future. Of course by then your kids will be old enough to help sort and fold and eventually run the machines. When/if you have to try the one(or two) a day method again, i suggest timing how long it takes to fold a single basket of laundry. It’s one of those tasks, like emptying the dishwasher, that LOOMS over you like a black cloud, taking up a lot of your headspace and sofa space, but once you time it, you’ll wonder why you let it seem like such a torturous job as in reality, it takes less than 10 minutes.
my mother had a folding table near her washer and drier, as soon as things came out of the drier, she would wash and fold or hang things on the rod near her, .It took her no time at all .I always put my clothes in order and piles while folding. So when i put them away I have a handful of socks or underpants of a certain person.
I can keep the wrinkles down by sorting/and slightly folding at the dryer, I use the dryer door to hold things then organize them into my basket I'm carrying the clean items upstairs. At least this way things are organized and if I get interrupted they are ready for me to finish in just a few minutes and can be done just at a chair rather than taking over the bed or sofa. I think using up all that space makes it seem daunting too. If I can get all the work done just using my lap or the back of a chair it seems smaller, more manageable. Perception really has a role in completing/starting these seemingly endless tasks.
I use the door of the dryer to hang things over and it keeps wrinkles from forming if I can’t get to hanging them right away. They can lay on the carpet in the room for a night, I’m fine with it! It doesn’t take as much time as I once thought, either, and doing a few loads a day means we never run out of anything, which was becoming a problem!
I do laundry every day, but not from start to finish. I wash and dry a load, then fold and put away the next day. Sometimes, I start another load, sometimes I wait until the next day. Works great for my family of 4.
I’ve been doing laundry once a week since your first video about it. It has been a game changer. My kids (starting at age 5) put all their own clothes away so I just have to sort each load into each kid’s “clean” clothes basket. Now I just have to find a solution for dishes!!
Something that has helped me with dishes is just reducing the amount of dishes that I keep in my kitchen (extra for guests are stored away so I still have them but they don’t get used regularly). Game changer!!
I do my dishes 3x a day. After each meal. I do it this way because otherwise if I leave it to do it after dinner I'm gonna procrastinate because it's too much which means overwhelming. So the less it is, the more likely I'm gonna do it. So my dishes are always done.. even if it is 3x a day to keep it a less overwhelming job. Once a day wouldn't get them done. I'd avoid it like the plague 🤣I break down everything into smaller jobs even if it means I do it more frequently.
My sister has 3 kids. She started washing her kids clothes separately so she no longer has to sort. She said it has saved her soooooo much time. She used to spend hours sorting and now she never has to sort.
One interesting dishes routine I saw online (that is actually similar to an old suggestion from the FlyLady) is to keep a “dirty dishes”rackt/tub on the counter. All dirty dishes go there throughout the day instead of the sink or even the dishwasher. This way you have a clean, useable sink all day even if you weren’t able to unload the dishwasher in the AM, and then can do all the dishes at once in the evening (or next day if you’re sick or something comes up). Thought might be helpful if batching tasks works well for you.
I laughed so hard when your husband asked what's for dinner again and you socked him. 🤣😂🤣 I'm glad Laundry Day was the answer to your prayers. One thing that has helped me over the years is hanging everything up rather than folding. To me the folding is the horrible part - so boring - and the cause of piles that sit and wait to be folded, because we all hate it. Tiny hangers for the kids and big hangers for the adults. This works best if you have a laundry basket for each person and take that basket with their dried clothes to their room, and then hang everything up. Socks and undies can go in drawers unfolded. For me this has been a huge time saver and if I hang everything up promptly, no wrinkles. Love your channel. ❤️🤗
My bestie loves laundry day. I love almost everyday laundry. We both playfully "tease" each other about our preferences. I'm glad you found a great system for you!
Yes!! Firstly, I have LOVED you sharing her system with me! LIFE CHANGING!! Once my kids got older, I was told to assign each child a DAY for their laundry. So this is where I first heard of the one day a week. Monday was my day - to wash towels, sheets, hubby’s and my clothes and out it all away. As the children got older and were able to do their own laundry (with Mom’s help at first, but then learning and taking it over), THEY had their OWN day. So my 8 year old had Tuesday, 6 year old had Wednesday, and 5 year old had Thursday. Now they are 23, 21, and 20 (and they have a 17 year old brother now) who all have their own day for their laundry and it has been WONDERFUL!! So as your children grow up, you might consider giving them their own day for their laundry. Just something to consider. Thanks for all you do!!! ❤ your channel!!!
Hi Ariele, first of all, I Love your channel!! I have the same problem as you with laundry, And I know WHY we have such a problem. Our Washer/Dryers are in the basement. If we had a first floor laundry, in between all the other things you’re doing, you could throw a load in. Or fold a load. It seems time consuming to go up and down the stairs, you with a baby and me with my 62 year old knees. Lol I also have a Daughter on Life Support that I care for 24/7 so it’s easiest for me to do it once a week, when my husband is home. We have a finished basement with a Tv, so I stay down there, till it’s done. I hope this helps. You have a Beautiful Family. 😊
I wash as soon as I have enough laundry for the washing machine. In Germany we have the washing machine usually in the bathroom, where you leave the clothes anyway. Some have it in the kitchen, where you are working every day.
I'm so glad you've found a system that works for you! Everyone has a different situation, or their situation changes and your routines have to change with it. I currently line dry (no dryer) or indoor dry on racks, so it makes sense for me to do it daily, little and often. But previously I've had to rely on a laundromat once a week. Or hand washing in the bathtub daily and hanging it over the range! I'm fortunate enough to have a decent washer, and as I work from home it's no biggie. For you, though, daily was clearly not working, and I'm delighted that you've found your answer
I naturally just always did laundry on Saturdays. Then I also wanted to try and do one load a day so that I didn’t have to do like 6-8 loads in a day…it worked great for a little bit!…just a little bit. And then something happened that broke my brand new routine and I was back to laundry in a day. One thing though that helped with the amount of laundry done that day was minimizing the amount of inventory I had to wash (Minimal Mom❤). Now my laundry is finally manageable and not stressful at all! I still do laundry on the weekend and try to have it all done by the end of the day Saturday. I’ve gotten better about running a load in the middle of the week if it needs it, and when your kids are old enough ( mine are 4, 6, and 8 and fold their own…the four year old is a girl and she just more naturally wants to do hers already) they can fold their own!
Dana k white also changed my life. Her container concept is so simple but a stroke of genius the way she explains it. I've always done laundry in big batches, a habit from laundrymats in college. It's all about finding what works for you, not following any one system with fidelity.
I'm using the container concept to deal with my late mother's belongings. She lived here with me and had lots of "memorabilia," and I just decided a few days ago that her cedar chest will be the container. Whatever fits will go in there. Everything else will have to go to new homes. One example: Her clothes will go to our church and to a local ministry that distributes them to anyone who needs them. Her shoes are a half-size too small for me, my daughter, and my granddaughters, so they'll go with the clothes. Dana K. White for the win!
Great video; good review of your struggle. Yay, Dana. She is the reason I finally had success with decluttering. It makes sense to start the week with everything clean. Then all of your clothes are clean and available when you need to get dressed but I don't have a dryer or much space for a drying rack so i do a load when the drying rack is available. Dana has RUclips videos, podcasts, and audio books available in Libby app or Libraries
I’m 67- I started a load of day in with our first baby. I often put that load in the dryer the next day and same with folding and putting away. Even if it takes 3 days to process -- --it still works with the load a day. And I used the toss it in a drawer or basket on a shelf method. Over time I got better and the load a day was done the same day . Then the kids grew up and left home and I drifted off to a once a week method. That worked great until - -Multiple Sclerosis and I’m back to a tiny load a day. I simply can’t manage a big laundry day anymore. Different seasons of life.
I remember hearing Dana talking about laundry day and thinking it wasn’t for me since I have to line dry (also doing the laundry wasn’t something I disliked). But then I watched the video she made about laundry day and I realised I’d often run out of things like socks and having to do an emergency load or a piece of clothing could stay in the laundry room for weeks while I prioritised washing other stuff. Now I collect all laundry on friday after work, sort and start the first load. Then I just work through the loads; starting another one when there’s room on the line or the previous load is dry. I really love this system since no clothing is left for to long waiting to be washed and I love seeing the piles of laundry disappear. Sometimes it almost feels like a sport trying to get the laundry done as soon as possible.
I'm in the same boat, line or rack drying. But I don't have enough racks (or room to put them) to do all the laundry in one day if it's raining, snowing, etc. What do you do then? I will do all I can when it's a sunny summer day (tend to plan around that rather than having a set day), but in the winter it's generally drying racks. I have three, each of which holds a large load - but we do around 10-12 load a week counting sheets, towels, etc. So I generally do at least one load a day.
@@raggsj38 Hi I don’t finish it in one day. I have about 6m of line in the laundry room plus one rack so I’m not dependent on the weather. Typically I’ll do 1-2 loads on friday evening, then 2 loads on saturday when the previous loads are dry. Then another 2 loads on sunday and 1-2 loads on monday. Then everything’s dry on tuesday. If I’m busy on the weekend it sometimes takes an entire week to go through the laundry but it doesn’t bother me if it’s just once in a while. I just love having friday as my cut off day and knowing that I have a limited amount of laundry and I can see the piles disappearing as opposed to doing all the work only for more laundry to appear on top of the piles. I hope you’ll find a system that works great for you. :)
@@Jessicaaljp ah, that makes sense then! I thought you had one laundry "day" - just one_ and was trying to figure out how! LOL. Your setup sounds about like mine, doing more on Saturday (as much as I can find room to hang, usually threes or four loads if I use the indoor lines too), then finishing the rest throughout the week.
I'm so glad you found something that works for you. I think location of washer/dryer really makes a difference too. It is easy to forget the laundry when it is in the basement! I enjoy your entertaining videos!
I do regular laundry twice a week from start to finish. And if it's not in a hamper, it doesn't get washed. Blankets/sheets as needed. I have always enjoyed doing laundry. I fold it right out of the dryer & put it away. I would never put it back in a basket, couch, etc. Seems like a recipe for a pile-up & more work. My kids are grown now, but I have always done it this way, but I may be odd 😂 Really enjoy your videos👍🏼
The best thing I ever did was give a basket or hamper to every member of the family. Even if the kids are too young to do their own laundry, you wash their laundry without commingling any other clothing. The stress relief was enormous and everyone had their own basket with clean, folded laundry. (Folding is a must right after the dryer.) Once the kids got older, they were able to wash their own laundry and they did it on their "chore" day once a week which was Sunday.
I think I went on this same journey about the same time. I did the same thing and was doing a load a day for years….always having unfinished laundry hanging over my head as an unfinished task every day!! Then I found Dana K white about 3 months ago and had the same life changing feeling you did. Every day other then my laundry day I kept thinking ooh I gotta go finish my load and it was like I got a surprise snow day because I’d then remember “yes it’s not laundry day today I am freeeeeeee”. It is awesome. Did you know back in the day when they did laundry by hand they did it all on Monday because it was the day after resting and it was such a physical job it was the best day to do it. Interesting right? Love following you and you not taking yourself too seriously. Keep it up!
Like several other comments I grew up with laundry day being on Monday. My first memories of laundry day was my mom washing clothes with a wringer washer. Talk about an all day job and lots of work! I do my laundry on Friday or Saturday. There are only two of us now but even when our four kids where growing up it was laundry day once a week. Glad you found what works for you .
This is great…I have been binge listening to Dana’s podcasts…I started about 2 weeks ago and I’m at 54! LOL…I’m very much enjoying your cleaning guru reviews! I’ve made my own “blend” of several that have really helped maintain a tidy home without being overwhelmed or “always cleaning”. Thanks for your great content! 🥰
I “check” laundry daily, take clothes down to the basement every morning and if enough for a load then I do the load and do not consider it is done until it dried and put away. Much is hung to dry, so that is put away with the next day laundry check. I also fold and hang as I take clothes out of the dryer. I sometimes do two loads a day if I feel like it. Of course there are litter boxes in the basement to be scooped twice a day so it is not much of a stretch to check up on the laundry. The key is to find out what works for you.
I'm so similar to you, I dump all my clean laundry on my spare bed, not folding it and I can go more than a week sometimes without doing the laundry. In the end, I end up putting a Netflix film on my phone and JFDing it. Then I'll be good for a few days lol. Love your videos xxx
I do colors once a week 3 different loads and everyother week I have 2 loads of white added to those. Once a month I wash the blankets in the winter and everyother month in the other seasons.
I think both systems are good, and the key is doing one or the other - diligently. Before the pandemic, I had a great weekly routine. I had five huge (almost-loveseat sized) baskets. We have an old (1902), steep and narrow staircase, and I had to turn sideways to get upstairs! But I needed the big baskets to hold a week’s worth of laundry. I’d wash it all on Monday, and fold it all and put it away on Wednesday, with a cup of coffee and RUclips. :) During the pandemic, I was interrupted too much to keep this up, and I decided to try something new. I had three small round baskets and bought three tiny rope baskets. I did daily laundry and put my kids’ stuff in the tiny baskets on the stairs with a quarter for each load to start. Once the habit to put their (folded by me) clothes away, I stopped the quarter and made it a recurring HH contribution. This summer, I’m doing something new. I got them larger “hamper” baskets (13x13 that fit in IKEA cube shelving). They now do one load of their own laundry per week and take it to their rooms. If they don’t fold or hang it? Up to them. If they skip a week? They inevitably run out of something like shorts or PJ sets, but they learn the natural consequence of delaying maintenance chores. They were 5/5/3 when I started the rope baskets and 8/8/6 when I started teaching them to manage their own laundry.
I had the exact same experience as you and I also have a toddler and an infant which causes me to get distracted repeatedly throughout the day. When our washer was broken and I had to do all our laundry at the laundromat, I loved the fact that all my laundry was done right then and there. So now I dedicate Sundays and Mondays to all the laundry. I do as much as possible on the first day and whatever I don’t get to then, I finish up the following day. I watch as much RUclips as I want and I don’t have to think about it the rest of the week except for accidents and a small load of cloth diapers. Plus I do less loads overall since I bring together the whole family’s clothes. It’s so refreshing!!!
So glad you mentioned Minimal Mom, and Dana K White, these ladies have helped change my household so much with the minimislm tips and tricks! You got this, the baby and toddler stage is pure survival mode, I have a 4 year old and am just starting to feel like I have some routine and control back in my life ❤ I personally don't have a dryer so laundry is a few days process in winter time anyways (NZ)
I’m an RN who works 12 hr shifts. Mandatory schedule includes every other weekend. I can’t make a Saturday schedule that isn’t every other week. The rest of the week shifts are all over the map. So doing one a day works for me. I hate being tied to a house for 8 hrs. I have 10 loads a week.
I have used Dana’s method for 4-5 years. I love how I just don’t worry about laundry except on Mondays. Whether it’s one load or 4-5 loads, I finish up and it’s DONE. I fold mine on top of the washer and put it away as I fold. But binging is good too!
Ariel, I‘ve had basement laundry and “dedicated-room-next-to-the-bedroom” laundry, and I think that (basement) is part of the struggle. It is hard to drag laundry baskets up and down two or three flights of stairs. Especially with kids. So, I’m totally with you on doing a binge watching day. May I also suggest: IKEA makes these shopping backpacks (the blue Gorsnygg), but I use them for laundry if I have to haul it somewhere. They are *huge* and stable but lightweight. I’m sure you can find something comparable if you don’t have an IKEA.
Yes, 1 day of laundry worked best for me too. 4 Loads: -towels -whites -red -colors There use to be a sheet that you could throw in & it would prevent colors from “running” into each other.
Glad you found something that works for you! I'm blessed enough to have a hubby that does the washing and drying (once a week) and I fold... most of the time. We have a 13 yo, 8 yo, and 4 yo and they have to wash and fold their own clothes. The 8 and 4 and both boys so their clothes are together. It might not be perfect, but it takes it off of us. We figured out over the past several years that I stink at routine whereas he thrives on it. So he takes care of the every day stuff (dishes, laundry, etc.) And I handle, with the kids helping, the bigger project like tasks. Fridays are housecleaning days and everyone, except for hubby, has assigned, age appropriate tasks. This has helped a lot while pregnant with number 4 since I have had practically no energy whatsoever. Apparently, the biggest thing that made an impact on my husband was early on I voiced that I needed his help with the house... we were both working at the time and I made it clear that I couldn't do it on my own. He heard and he's been so good to me ever since when it comes to housecleaning assistance. Now I'm just trying to convince him that he can let the daughter have the dishes, but he can't let it go...😅
Daily works for me, but I have big kids who help with their own. But what I think is even more helpful than one day a week (which I think is a valid option and I have used in the past) is lower inventory. Less clothes to wash makes even that one day of laundry so much easier to do. Start on laundry day by removing items from drawers when you go to put it away that you haven’t chosen to wear (or your kids haven’t) in a while. The clothes that you just washed are usually the faves that they want to wear all the time-OR the only clothes that were clean. Remove less wanted items to have room for the faves. I’m a new sub and I love your channel so far!
I’m a family of 5 n do laundry on Wednesday n Sunday during school year n only Sunday during the summer. There’s times I skip Wednesday when the kids have 4 day school days (twice a month) but on Wednesday I start a load of school uniforms or/and school related stuff Wednesday evening after school and on Sunday I start the wash for everything early n be done by 8p. Most times I fold Wednesday laundry with Sunday laundry.
Although be careful with that. Accidents can happen and sometimes there will be a a leak. One day I was washing and the machine went crazy and water was spilling out all over my hardwood floors! Thank God the water didn't sit for hours. The floors and maybe even some furniture would have been ruined. I caught it so fast we just had to shop vac it and use fans on it.
I'm glad you found something you enjoy and works for you! The thought of getting up early and doing laundry all day sounds awful to me, BUT I'm in a completely different stage of life. My kids are teens and do their own now. I remember having difficulty keeping up when they were little. Thanks for your videos and sharing your life with us. You're great!
After years of using the sofa for a laundry basket, LOLI finally figured it out. Get rid of a lot of clothing until you're living minimally. Then you have less to wash. Next, make it a routine to put a load in every morning. Kind of like eating breakfast. A priority. There won't be very much when you do it every day. And there won't be very much to put away either. Less really is more... less gives you peace ❤ I wish you continued peace in your laundry routine, continuing with what works best for you!!!
That was exhausting! I like the principles "to scale" and "on demand". As a single person, I don't have to do laundry more than maybe one load every two weeks. I separate into 40 degrees (Celsius), 60 degrees and 60+ironing. When the drawer is out of one category, the hamper for that category is full, and that fills the washing machine. I don't have a lot of my sh1t together, but this is a pretty smooth system. I also feel a need to comment on "Everyone always tells us that the only way to", on a general note. The effect of that has really been a stumbling block for my personal growth. It's so easy to just accept what everybody tells us, without questioning it. I think you're brave, and clever, to challenge "conventional wisdom", which often turn out to be misconceptions, or things taken out of context, and really investigate what works for you. I'm renaming this month "Skeptember" 😀
I don’t have children at home anymore so makes laundry easier but I do have a husband who works construction so this makes more laundry. In Ontario we have times where hydro is cheaper per day/ week which is evenings after 7 p.m. and before 6 a.m. as well as weekends or holidays. I do my laundry every Saturday and hang out if possible rather than dryer, to lower costs and better for environment. I also don’t fold much or quick fold and I now have shelving unit with bins to put clothes in rather than drawers. I find this easier and faster. I don’t fold underwear or socks. And I just quick fold the rest. I only hang dresses, some skirts and shirts but I don’t own many of these since not needed. Laundry has gotten a lot easier and faster for me. Fun video as usual
I do laundry when I have a load. My trick to not having piles to be folded is to fold it as I take it out of the dryer. Upstairs with the folded laundry, put it away, hang the other things and not more thinking about it until I have another load that needs to be done. I have baskets for clothing, another for bath towels, and one for kitchen items. That way it’s easy to see when I need to toss a load in the washer. When I had kids at home it was daily. Now it’s every other day. Glad you found what works for you!!
I do it in two. One day for sheets, bedding and towels. The other day is for clothes, loads by type (underwear, socks+sweatshirts+fluffy pjs, shirts, dress clothes aka hanging clothes and jeans) starting with the most daunting to the ones that if I forget the lest load in the dryer won’t wrinkle and could wait until morning to put up if I’m tired. I hang the towels up in the bathroom rather than folding them (only fold the ones you store). I do fold wash clothes and dish towels. I make the beds as soon as the sheets come out of the dryer. I know with babies you have to have extras, but your extra emergency sets of sheets should only come out when there is an accident. This has saved me a large amount of time and my sanity. Love your channel!
My washing machine takes forever. How do you have enough time to get all of your laundry done in one day? It takes about 4 hours just to wash/dry one load. I could maybe get 3 loads done in an entire day. But that's only if I was on top of it and making sure to switch it immediately. (Which I'm not always the best at lol) Is your washing machine/dryer faster?
@@bunny_0288 my washing machine is fairly quick, but my dryer takes forever. My dryer is also pretty big though, so I'll oftentimes wash 2 loads of laundry in a row and then dry them together. I generally do about 5 loads on Monday, but I actually save bedsheets for a different day.
@@manda1804 Oh mine is the opposite! My washing machine spins a million times to get as much water out as possible, so it usually dries a lot quicker. I think this is how the newer more eco-friendly machines are. Since drying uses a lot of electricity. I always wondered how people could do so many loads in a day, but this makes a lot of sense! Thanks for explaining. I personally do a load Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday is an optional/catch up day, and I take the weekends off. This works well for me. I get overwhelmed if I have an entire mountain of laundry. I would rather wash smaller loads more frequently. But it's all about what works for each individual!
i have lived in a country where the water supply was organized by big tanks on roof the top and once a week they would be filled and that was the one day with running water (keeping the tanks refilled) for the whole day. So "water day" automatically became"laundry day", doing as many loads as needed. The drying was air drying, so one day was load after load after load and hanging it hanging and hanging it and then one or two days later when it is all dry, fold it and put it away. And in the old days, I think it was normal to dedicate one day a week to laundry. I prefer now doing one (small) load a day, I don't have a dryer, I all airdry it on a rack. The advantage of that system is, before even folding it, I grab it off the rack and use it, socks, towels, t-shirts etc.
Monday-Thursday I do 1-2 loads a day and then Friday is for putting anything away that didn’t get folded throughout the week, then weekends I’m off of laundry duty.
I am very happy you found a solution. I don’t have kids but I kind of do the same. Once a week. But! I also did something else: decluttering. I went through my clothes and my husband went through his and then I went through things like towels and bedding.. since we now only have the things we love and use plus some extra that means we are also out of clean things faster which drives me to do the laundry because there is no clean replacements left. Another thing we do is to try to see if certain items can be saved from being put into the laundry by maybe hanging it out to freshen up. Finally: as my husband once read in a book about survival: don’t forget to stay clean. Now that might sound obvious but if we then translate it into our laundry - and we did - we found out that for example: some clothes could have been avoided ending up so quickly in the laundry if one had used an apron while cooking but you can also use one while eating and also have a separate one for when you clean or paint or something and then likely not spill on your clothes. ❤
Whatever works for YOU is the best way. BTW, when you were trying to do one load a day, I kept thinking that you could SET AN ALARM on your phone remind you to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer. So I laughed out loud when you said you set Alexa or Google reminders on your phone on your once a week on laundry day. 😂 As always, I love how you put a humorous spin on things. Another great video. ❤
I do laundry when it's needed, not everyday, not every other day. I have a house of 6 people. 4 of which I am responsible for their laundry. The other 2 do theirs once a week or whenever their baskets get full. I have certain days for sheets(Friday), rugs on Saturday, shower curtains on Saturday and everything else is whenever the basket gets full which is usually once a week and 2-3 loads. I put them on my bed so I can't go to bed until it's folded. I wash everything together on cold or cool, except towels. Those are separate and on HOT and soak for 2 hours. You gotta find what works for you and what motivates you. Glad you found it. ❤
I used to have a laundry day. I had to stop doing it when I got a new washer and dryer in a house with no laundry room. The garage is either an oven or deep freeze. Which deters me! If I can make three trips into that hospitable place I’m happy. One trip to load washer. One to move clothes to dryer, and one to retrieve them. The new washer and dryer capacity is hampering my ability to do large loads and the front loader takes an hour per load and the energy efficiency dryer takes an hour generally as well. Doing more than two loads in a day is a challenge. I developed a strategy for my clothes which generally need special care and I can use the hand wash cycle and hang them to dry. I do a quick one of those and then follow up with the regular wash. I do laundry on a schedule. Whites on Monday, colored and delicates on Tuesday, husband jeans in hot alternating with my jeans in cold on Wednesday and all his dark stuff on Thursday. Friday I wash the 3000 microfiber towels bought to save on paper towels, Saturday I do sheets and towels. My washer can only do one set of sheets at a time. So I might do the other set on Sunday. It’s part of a VERY simple morning routine. Three essentials- make bed, unload dishwasher and start laundry. If I’m really ambitious I load the washer in the evening, toss in my tide pods and then in the morning it’s just push start. It’s working but I still hate folding. Ive never ever put laundry on the couch! No, it goes on my bed. Makes me do it or sleep under it. Not fun.
I haven't folded clothes since before I heard of the minimal mom. I started being lax on folding when I was overwhelmed with kids 7 years ago. Then back in spring of 2019 when I found the secret slob she talked about not folding, and I paused and honestly felt a little free. Never really looked back. I didn't find minimal mom till that fall. But A few weeks ago before school started I was talking to my 6 year old though, encouraging him to get rid of some of his shirts so they fit better in the drawer. He asked if we could fold them so there was more room. I said if he wanted to do that he could, so I made him a shirt folder and now that part of his chores. He strangely loves it. The folding, not that actual putting the clothes away... also for me, doing a little bit of laundry throughout the week really works better then a dedicated laundry day
Dana White rescued me from my laundry, too. I’m not perfect at it, but seeing your video has revived the single day laundry love within me. …..I fell back into a load a day annnnnnnnd, now I’ve got clean piles everywhere again. 😅 Thanks for the confirmation that I can do it another way!
I don't understand how people generate enough laundry to wash a load daily unless they have a bunch of kids, host a lot, and are involved in jobs or activities that get you really dirty. I'm so glad you found Dana K. White's video about how we should go back to laundry day. That's a routine I can get behind, and if there's too much, do it twice a week (or give each person their own laundry day if you separate it by person instead of fabric type--FYI texture is more important than color except maybe whites). More than that is just overkill and feels never-ending.
Laundry is a hot topic here! When it comes to housekeeping, do what works best for you and whatever phase of life you are in, and in a way that makes sense with the way your house is laid out. And whether you wash all on one day or wash some every day or so, enjoying a little TV or iPad video is such a treat!
Yay! Glad you found what works for you! I do one a day and will never change. I like that it takes literally less than 15 minutes a day. I hang almost everything and don’t separate clothes by colors unless absolutely necessary. The empty washer serves as the laundry basket. For me the key has been minimalizing my household inventory including clothes. Thanks for sharing your journeys!❤
I do laundry mon-fri and I wash specific things on specific days, for example towels on Tuesdays. But... I end up with piles of clean clothes that never get put away too... I Might try this laundry day
Haha ❤️❤️ You're so sweet! I post every other Saturday, so I will have a new one out in a couple of days! When both kids are in school then I'll have the opportunity to start posting more!!
Amazing that your solution is to go back to laundry day. My mom washed on a Monday - and it took all day! No automatic machines then. Dinner was meat and potatoes cooked on Sunday and reheated in the oven with, usually, a rice pudding which was put in a low oven first thing. I had 5 kids and a full-time job, so daily laundry worked for me. Fortunately I had a good sized utility/laundry room which is a huge advantage. I think people need to recognise how much work, time and space is necessary to keep a family functioning. Thank goodness we have machines now to take the backbreaking toil out of it.
I like the all day laundry day for you as a young mom but for me it wears me out. One load a day or 3 loads a couple days a week works great for me. ❤I have a small basket in my closet for my clothes and hubby has a hamper. He has heavy work clothes so I do his 2x a week. When my small basket fills up I wash it. I also have to wash a lot of pet bedding.
I am glad you found something that works for you in this season! Maybe it will always work. There are 9 of us, so the idea of doing the laundry only once or twice a week gives me the shivers! 😂 We do it daily and I love it. Does that mean I’m old?
Daily for me, and I love it! Only doing laundry once a week would horrify me. I'm so glad we all find a way that works for us. 6 of us and dirty mechanic clothes included. They would smell so bad if they were left to be washed for a few days even. Enjoy your laundry day. ❤
I always do laundry only on Monday.of course if there is a stomach bug or blow outs I'll wash and dry those but they won't be folded and put away until Monday..
Hmmmm...I just re-evaluated my laundry routine 2 days ago, and really looked at how many loads I actually do (excluding emergency messy clean-up towels and other unpredictable laundry that you just have trmo do as needed...not every day) and I realised that I go through 8 loads a week, plus emergency laundry. And, I concluded that I actually could break it down to 2 loads a day for 4 days, so that I have 3 days of no laundry (exceot mayve rmergency layndry. I just got myself all caught up yesterday, and I have no scheduled laundry to do until Sunday. I'll take that over doing it every day, AND over being overwhelmed with tons of laundry in one day. But you and Dana K. White were the ones who conviced me to have a laundry day. Wel now I have laundry days, but it's not every day. Thank you❤
When I have a ‘laundry day’ something comes up unexpectedly and then I am waaay behind. And it just overwhelmed me. My routine is to check the laundry every morning and evening. Sometimes I have a full load to start or switch and sometimes I have nothing to switch. Every morning that I do have dry clean laundry I can sort it and put it away in 15 minutes (no folding kids’ stuff per minimal mom - my kids were just unfolding it all anyway). The kids are expected to help, but it goes faster when they don’t. The evenings are when I focus on doing the dishes and tidying the kitchen.
I have a household of 7 each person has a day to wash their clothes and bedding. It's been a great way to do laundry. I do have older kids so that helps but even when my kids were small we would set days to get each persons laundry done. I'm glad you found a laundry routine that works for you. I love watching your channel.
I have tried both methods of laundry everyday and laundry all in one day. With 5 people in our house, my husband working blue collar with large dirty clothes everyday, two kids under 3, and chronic fatigue- for me I have found the minimal moms 1 load a day and having my kids throw their clothes in bins works the best for us. (I have to fold my own laundry though lol) I get exhausted from doing laundry in our basement all day. Remembering definitely is a struggle no matter what system you use, but I’m so glad you found what works best for your family right now. It seems laundry systems always will continue to evolve with the stage of our families.
Ultimately, there's no one correct way to do it. You do what works for you in your particular circumstances, and change it up if needed when your circumstances change. I'm a teacher, so right now in the summer I do all the laundry one day a week. That is not feasible the rest of the year. Also, the "one-load-a-day" philosophy assumes that people own their own washer and dryer. Where I live, that's a HUGE assumption as many people live in apartments and most apartment buildings were built decades ago with no laundry hookup in the individual units. If you live in a building with a laundry room, they generally aren't open 24/7, and have days and times when they get crowded and you have to wait for a machine or come back later. If your building doesn't have a laundry room, you're either lugging all your clothes to a laundromat or paying for a wash-and-fold service.
I'm with you!! Even if I could remember to do a load a day, it would be utter torture for me!! I'm a task oriented person, so to have to do laundry EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. would be unbearable! Even when my kids were little and I was doing 8-10 loads a week, it would be (mostly) in one day. If there was a newborn in the mix that needed stuff washed more frequently, I would do those as needed. But otherwise, I'd pick a day, pile everyone's laundry together (mostly just clothes), sort into loads and go at it for the better part of the day. Thankfully, between Cas at Clutterbug and Dana White and her AWESOME book, I've really gotten to know that whatever works is the right way to do it :) Thanks so much for your funny (and awkward) videos :)
Sunday is laundry day! It all gets washed, dried, folded, hung up, and put away. 9 loads on Sunday - no problem! Thanks to Minimal Mom I no longer fold underwear or match socks. My kids can find their own socks. I got my husband 2 packs of the same socks & got rid of any that weren't the same - now they all match. I'd encourage you to start with underwear and socks then try not folding kitchen wash cloths & see how you feel. Then add in not folding bath wash cloths. To make me feel better, the wash cloths go in a container so I don't have to look at them unfolded. Everything else at my house gets folded because I can't NOT fold shirts, pants, and towels. It's not all or nothing. You will save hours and hours of time giving yourself permission to not fold socks and underwear. :) Thanks for your fun videos!
I struggled with forgetting to get the load out of the wash and having to wash the same load multiple times. The 1 day a week you recommended from Diana k works so much better for me too thanks. What I do is empty everything out on the bathroom floor into their wash piles, then every time I walk last or wash my hands et c I'm reminded to move the loads thru. Dependant on weather, but I tend to do towels as my last load so I can put them into the dryer and forget about them without any issues :)
Well, I never have searched for cleaning routines, but I watch your videos about them. They are so helpful! Thank you!! I think, because I have little ones as well, what is particularly helpful is hearing you share about the struggles. My kiddos, 6 and 4, help sort, fold, and put away. It's been like climbing a mountain to get to this point, but I'm rather hands-free when it comes to getting the kids' clothes and the non-gigantic linens folded. The way I started was to make them separate out the linens (all things that aren't clothing). The act of pulling things out of the laundry basket was something I had to keep preventing them from doing anyways😉 so at least, this way, they were learning to be productive with their deconstruction of my laundry piles!😅 The sorting training was so helpful when the time came to teach them to get one pile folded. Another step I took early on was to have them help me carry their laundry to their room, help with opening the dresser drawers, and help with orienting the clothes neatly. Best wishes to all you mommas out there who are working on all this, too! Little by little, inch by inch, we can train the kiddos to help. 😊 And don't think I'm speaking from the mountaintop...I'm still climbing the training mountain, too, but goodness it feels so worth it because they can now handle about half of the laundry with only minor supervision!
I tried and I think it would work for me and my hubby but currently we still have an 18 and 19 year old at home. Just a little too much laundry each day. We have work clothes x4, workout clothes x4, at home clothes x4, and pj’s x4. This doesn’t even account for the towels and other random things sheets, etc things in the house that get laundered. It would be a great system if we didn’t wear so many sets of clothes in a day. By the time I got to laundry day it was like 10-12 loads which was just to much.
Can everyone wear their at home clothes and PJs more than once? I sleep in a tank top and I usually wear it 3 or 4 times. If you sweat at night that won't work. ❤
GOOD FOR YOU! Laundry changes with the seasons of life and the LOCATION of your washing machines. As a new mom I would never think of going into the basement everyday! I did laundry when it was safe for my baby to be left upstairs. As a foster mom I did laundry every night after the kids were bathed and in their pjs. BECAUSE THE WASHER AND DRYER WERE BESIDE THE BATHROOM! In England most washers are in the kitchen, how easy is that!? Growing up Laundry was Saturday. Now at age 72, retired couple. Every two weeks. Great video! ❤
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
For all the research you’ve done on cleaning routines, you should create your own “tried & true” routine that you could share on your channel. “The Awkward Cleaning Routine” 😁 Love your videos.😊
Yessss!!!!! Please do this!
Yes please!
Yesss!!!
Yes!
She should!!!
I do a load of laundry every day. My best tip is (if your washing machine has this setting) to put the load the night before and set it on delayed wash. That way it can automatically wash one hour before I wake up. By the time I wake up I put it in drier, and then fold/put away right before work. If I miss to fold and put away, then I do it before bed. I don’t allow myself to start a new load before putting away the previous one.
I do it somewhat similar. Our machine doesn't have a delay feature, so I start a wash load before bed, when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I hang up what doesn't need to be dried and start the dryer. In the morning, while the coffee is being prepared, I fold and put away.
@davidlawrence2313 I do kind of the same thing. I usually have more than one load to do, so whatever stage my laundry is in at bed time, I get it to the next stage and start a new load if I've just freed up the washer. The next morning, I move the laundry to the next stage. In between, during the day, I just do a stage of laundry already in progress, whenever I have a few minutes. That way, I don't end up with any piles of laundry lying around all day.
Wish my washer had a delayed setting!
@@FaithInEveryDay mine does but we take showers at random times which has the negative side effect of cooking the person in the shower.
My dryer is heat pump and takes 4 hours to dry a load. I'd never get a weeks worth done in a day. We also have a septic system. We somehow have 2 to 3 loads of washing every day
Dana K White is an absolute legend. She has such simple solutions for anyone who really struggles to keep up with things in their home, and I will be forever singing her praises to anyone who will liisten. The laundry day is the only routine of hers that I dont follow, but that is mainly because we hang laundry to dry. I'm also one of those odd people who doesn't mind laundry, and it was one of thee easiest daily routines to implement for me as a SAHM with an easily-accessible laundry room (another reason why laundry day makes sense for those with basement laundry rooms - less days trekking up and down the stairs!)
I'm glad you found the answer for you! I've been married 50 years and learned that in homemaking if it works for you, it's good. Congratulations on becoming a Laundry Queen!
Yes!!!!! It's marvelous that we are all so different and that there are different ways to get to to our goals...and even nicer that everyone is trying to help each other find their way. When I was newly married it was one day a week, when there were younguns it was once a day (well, I didn't do them if there weren't many to do that day...I wasn't crazy!), and now that I am retired it is when the dark basket is full or the light basket is full. Whatever works, works!
@@saramichaels3853 exactly! I was stuck on one way of doing things for so long because of how I was raised, that when my life took a turn that made that way impossible, I got overwhelmed and just let things go. When I got desperate and and had enough, l of the overwhelm, I started binge-watching de-clutter v9deos, cleaning method videos, organizing videos, recovering hoarding videos, you name it! And I found one cleaning method and one organizing method that I was able to adjust to my home and needs, and use tips from all of the others, to come up with my own system. I'm still climbing out of clutter in some areas, but I no longer feel trapped by it, because my home is slowly and steadily becoming more tidy and more functional. But I would probably still be stuck in overwhelm (about 6 months later) if not for all these wonderful youtubers sharing their success, failures, and tips!
Yes! I'm the kind of person who needs a similar routine every day or else everything starts to fall apart (i.e., a load a day works for me), but that doesn't mean that EVERYBODY operates the same way I do. I'm also the kind of person who needs to organize by keeping everything in sight, grouped into big categories, which is the opposite of how I get told is the "correct" way to organize. The truth is that I need to do what works for me, and you need to do what works for you. ❤
@LivetolearnMama you said you need everything in sight in big categories! You sound like someone who would absolutely LOVE The Clutter Bug (Cassandra Arsson!). She helps people figure out their organizational style by their messy and clutter habits. You sound like a butterfly in your organizational style (in sight, on display, and macro-organised). I'm convinced I'm a butterfly/lady bug hybrid. Lady bugs are also macro-organisers, but they want everything hidden. I need some things hidden, but lots of other things have to be out and easy to see. In both cases, I am not a micro-organiser (extremely detailed) whether hidden or out in the open, my things have to be as easy to put away as they are to take out and use, for the most part.
I think whatever works for you is great. I used to do laundry once a week, but now that we have five kids, that doesn’t work for me anymore. I average 10-12 loads a week when you factor in towels, sheets, kitchen towels, etc in addition to the clothes. One load a day has been a game changer for me. Otherwise I was trapped in the house for the entire weekend doing nothing but laundry and getting resentful and overwhelmed. One or two loads a day keeps me sane. But everyone is different, and I’m glad that you found what works for you!
Same here! I have 7 kids😊 And seriously committing to doing that and getting into the habit was a game changer for keeping our house going.
Same
Me too. I love my little load a day! Having a whole day of nothing but laundry sounds like HELL to me. I used to do that; laundry is no big deal now.
Me too! With 5 kids, 4 of them boys who never make it with clean clothes till night, I have to do 2 at least loads per day. Otherwise, stains will never come out!
I have a cabinet (Ikea) with 4 baskets in it: white 60 degrees celsius, white 40 degrees celsius, black/colour 40 degree celsius and black/colour 60 degree celsius. Everyone puts the dirty clothes directly in the correct basket and the clothes are hidden as the cabinet has a door. When one basket is full, I will wash (&dry, depending on the fabric) the clothes. One basket equals one load of my washing machine. We are 3 people, I do 4 loads a week (each basket gets full within the week). This system works okay. I force myself to fold and put away the clothes max. 1 day after it dried (airdry or dryer), to keep up with everything. Greetings from Germany, I really enjoy your channel.
I love how your husband is always such a good sport in these videos, LOL! Much love to you and your family Ariel! 🌹❤️🥰
I love how you make this sound as complicated as it REALLY IS! Still struggling with this after 12 years
I have always done laundry once a week and it works great. The one thing NO ONE talks about is STOP CREATING SO MUCH LAUNDRY! When I had small kids it was way harder especially a sick baby who created 6 loads a day! BUT... the kids and adults don't need to wear and use so many clothes. Jeans 1 pair a week (unless in construction) shirts SAHM 3 shirts a week (unless spit up is on them) working dads and mom if it's not stinky put on a hook and wear again in a few days. Towels 1 per person per week. With that system and older kids I do 1 load per kid a week and 1 load for mom every 2 weeks and dad every 2 weeks. 1 load sheets 2x month. 1 load towels/week. So STOP MAKING SO MUCH LAUNDRY for yourself! Said in love but people need a wake up moment sometimes. 🙂 Love your videos by the way and I think you're doing just fine! One other thing...I do each persons laundry in their own load. That way I don't have to sort anything and can just take it to the right closet or give it to the kid to fold theirs.
Yep we have the same system. The teens do their own laundry on their designated days once a week. Even hubby does his now. So I have mine and the household stuff. And I can pretty much do 2-3 loads on one day or two if I want and done. And same reason, I work from home most days so I basically have 2 outfits that week, once they're clean, another if I need to go to the office but that's it. Everyone uses the communal one for underwear which I handle as needed so nobody runs out haha
When kids are small then it's a battle and we all have to go through it
So happy you’ve found the answer to your laundry woes. Growing up, Monday was laundry day. Tuesday my mom ironed - yes, I am old lol. When my mom started working, Saturday became laundry day with us kids helping out. I do laundry once a week, no ironing, but I do fold/hang everything.
in the old days washing day was monday (wash by hand and hang on line to dry) and cold meal for the evening, usually leftover roast meat from sunday lunch
Wow, I'm older than I thought!😂
I do a hybrid of this:
-a load goes in at night and timed clean just before i get up for work
- put in dryer before leave work
- redry/dewrinkle short 15 min when get home
- fold while dinner simmering
So a load a day, but weekly put up
Doesn't work as much with younger kids but will when older. Mostly it's what works for you.
But- i don't put it up. We have basket or spot for each person Everyone is responsible for their own put up- on Sunday it has to be done
A game changer for me- even with babies/toddlers- was only having amount of clothes needed for that age. Minimal Mom idea of how much inventory to manage- i found my daughter and i did best if we both had less
Flybaby here too and her system worked when I worked outside the home. Now that I work from home, I have Laundry Day - two days a week. For me that's Monday & Thursday (no wash on the weekends, YAY!). I can focus two days a week on laundry so it's 'top-of-mind' all that day and I don't forget it - just like Dana. l leave the laundry basket near the laundry room door as a reminder that clothes are being washed that day. Also, I did away with the dressers & drawers and replaced them with racks (shelves) and bins. I do smaller loads so they take less time to fold. When the dryer is finished, I take the bins to the dryer and fold and put the clothes in their bins. Then the bins go back on the racks. There are never piles of clothes waiting to be folded because there's never unfolded clothes outside of the laundry room. On my last trip to put the bins away, I put the laundry basket back.
Could you post a pic of the rack and bins? That sounds like a better plan than what I have. Thanks
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice. I like the designation of two different days for laundry because I don't think I could do all of mine and just one day but the one loaded a day kills me
One load a day seems like a good idea. But I’m the same way I could never keep up. “Luckily” I live without a washer and dryer so I we do it every two weeks at the laundromat 2 hrs later 6 loads done! Everyone’s different and this has been a struggle since clothing has been invented. You got this ❤
Same. Every two weeks at the mat. I'm sure the $16 a month is more cost effective than a load every day, and it's definitely better on time. Plus, my kid and I get a treat of dinner at our fave Chinese restaurant which is next door.
>laundromat
If there was one near me, I'd probably do the "x loads in parallel"-method as well.
$16/mo? Man my laundromat is WAY more than that, at least $10/load wash & dry (suburb in Michigan). Thankfully I only had to use it once when my washer broke. 6 regular loads was over $60 and the clothes were completely damp, I brought them home and finished drying. $100/mo - my washer paid for itself in less than a year!
IF it was $16 for 6 loads, I would ABSOLUTELY go to the laundromat! Getting it ALL done in a couple hours is ALMOST priceless!
I go to the laundromat too, we live in Toronto in an old building that has one coin operated washer and dryer for 18 units, in a filthy basement that recently had a mold problem. I can physically walk with three loads, so I genersl take things with the same dry time, and off I go
Nice to see that other mothers are also overwhelmed with the household. For me, however, the laundry is not the problem. I have a laundry basket in the bathroom and when it is full, laundry is done. Approximately two machine loads fit in this laundry basket. Depending on what's going on in our lives, I wash more or less often. I put away the robe of me and the baby. Everyone else gets a pile with their foldet robe placed on their bed. I make sure that it is put away by bedtime at the latest.
My problem is more the kitchen, even though we have a dishwasher. I have the feeling that no matter how often I clean the kitchen, after 30 minutes at most, dirty dishes appear again as if by magic and start piling up.
In the end I think you just have to find a system that works for you and your household.
The baby has a robe? How cute is that!? ❤
@@dianasimplifies Yes, thanks to Google translator 😜
@@tinetrauumt 😆😆😆😆😆
Dana’s method has changed my house. The fold right out of the dryer part is extremely helpful
I tried washing a load daily. I felt like I was meeting myself on the stairway going up with clean folded clothes as I was headed downstairs with the hamper!
I’ve been married 42 years. I’ve only found success in keeping one or two days a week as dedicated laundry days. When I had babies, the second day was only diapers and spit up cloths!
You got this!
I am a firm believer that the location of the laundry area/ room also impacts the laundry routine. I have learned that I need my laundry area next to the kitchen to have any kind of success.
I dream of the day I have a house where mine aren’t in my garage. What were the people in the 70’s thinking putting it there! Lol
Exactly what I was thinking. It seems this persons machines are in a basement. I’d never get laundry done if I had to go back and forth to a basement.
@@MrsPumpkinCatit’s true. It’s such a barrier, it’s really not a big deal to walk downstairs but when your to do list is already long and you’re tired, it becomes a mental road block
I agree, location is key!
I don't need it near the kitchen, but I can't have it down in the basement - let alone laundromat!
😳
@@MrsPumpkinCat Agreed!
Yup, one load is day means you spread it out unnecessarily and basically feel like you're doing nothing else than laundry day in and day out.
Doing it all at once is great as it also gives you the feeling of "reset". I have been doing this for the past 14-15 years, but with the twist of flexible days, as I just do it once my huge laundry basket (holding about 4-5 loads of 6 kg each) is full, so I also get the benefit of having mostly only full loads. I do some pre-sorting (normal dark, normal light, fine/delicate clothing and/or wool, white clothes, bedding, whatever stuff), so I get a good overview of how much of every category needs attention when I just open the basket, a wide wood frame.
What makes it easier for me is that we (husband, 2 teenagers & I) usually change our clothes or get (un)dressed in the bathroom, so everyone automatically leaves their used dirty clothes directly on the laundry basket. This might not work when you have a house and a dedicated laundry room, but most rental apartments here in Berlin (or Germany in general) have their washing machine installed in the bathroom (tumble dryers are not as common as they are in America, I think). I then sort the dirty clothes into "my piles" at the end of the day (I mostly am the first to get up and the last to go to bed), so I have full control over the sorting.
The advantage of hanging it in the bathroom also (I'd have nowhere else to put it in winter) is that mostly the family just picks up what they want to wear from the hangers in the bathroom in the morning, so that by the time I might feel like folding and putting away the clean clothes, most of it has been plucked and worn again already.
I find it fascinating that Mount Laundry seems to be a problem for many people and thus there are solutions to that as many as there are struggling moms (it's mostly moms, let's be real here).
How great that you have found a way that works for you! But even better for us that you let us peek into your life with these amazingly funny videos. You could read the phone book and I'd be entertained by your narration and style alone, but your editing and the content makes it even greater.
Thank you!
My mom was a stay at home mom and I grew up with laundry day. my first decade as an adult I had to go to the laundry mat, so laundry day was over by noon on Saturday and it was kind of an escape cause I left the kids at home with their dad. But when I finally got at W/D at home, I found I hated I wasting Saturday on laundry because I worked a standard M-F job. then the kids reached the age of weekend activities, I didn’t have all day Saturday free, that’s when we started the one a day system. So keep that in mind for the future. Of course by then your kids will be old enough to help sort and fold and eventually run the machines.
When/if you have to try the one(or two) a day method again, i suggest timing how long it takes to fold a single basket of laundry. It’s one of those tasks, like emptying the dishwasher, that LOOMS over you like a black cloud, taking up a lot of your headspace and sofa space, but once you time it, you’ll wonder why you let it seem like such a torturous job as in reality, it takes less than 10 minutes.
my mother had a folding table near her washer and drier, as soon as things came out of the drier, she would wash and fold or hang things on the rod near her, .It took her no time at all .I always put my clothes in order and piles while folding. So when i put them away I have a handful of socks or underpants of a certain person.
I timed mine & it’s about 15 min per load to fold & put away.
I just have the std. size washer and dryer. Takes me under FIVE minutes to fold a load and put away.
I can keep the wrinkles down by sorting/and slightly folding at the dryer, I use the dryer door to hold things then organize them into my basket I'm carrying the clean items upstairs. At least this way things are organized and if I get interrupted they are ready for me to finish in just a few minutes and can be done just at a chair rather than taking over the bed or sofa. I think using up all that space makes it seem daunting too. If I can get all the work done just using my lap or the back of a chair it seems smaller, more manageable. Perception really has a role in completing/starting these seemingly endless tasks.
I use the door of the dryer to hang things over and it keeps wrinkles from forming if I can’t get to hanging them right away. They can lay on the carpet in the room for a night, I’m fine with it! It doesn’t take as much time as I once thought, either, and doing a few loads a day means we never run out of anything, which was becoming a problem!
I do laundry every day, but not from start to finish. I wash and dry a load, then fold and put away the next day. Sometimes, I start another load, sometimes I wait until the next day. Works great for my family of 4.
This
I’ve been doing laundry once a week since your first video about it. It has been a game changer. My kids (starting at age 5) put all their own clothes away so I just have to sort each load into each kid’s “clean” clothes basket. Now I just have to find a solution for dishes!!
Something that has helped me with dishes is just reducing the amount of dishes that I keep in my kitchen (extra for guests are stored away so I still have them but they don’t get used regularly). Game changer!!
I do my dishes 3x a day. After each meal. I do it this way because otherwise if I leave it to do it after dinner I'm gonna procrastinate because it's too much which means overwhelming. So the less it is, the more likely I'm gonna do it. So my dishes are always done.. even if it is 3x a day to keep it a less overwhelming job. Once a day wouldn't get them done. I'd avoid it like the plague 🤣I break down everything into smaller jobs even if it means I do it more frequently.
My sister has 3 kids. She started washing her kids clothes separately so she no longer has to sort. She said it has saved her soooooo much time. She used to spend hours sorting and now she never has to sort.
A dishwasher?
One interesting dishes routine I saw online (that is actually similar to an old suggestion from the FlyLady) is to keep a “dirty dishes”rackt/tub on the counter. All dirty dishes go there throughout the day instead of the sink or even the dishwasher. This way you have a clean, useable sink all day even if you weren’t able to unload the dishwasher in the AM, and then can do all the dishes at once in the evening (or next day if you’re sick or something comes up). Thought might be helpful if batching tasks works well for you.
I laughed so hard when your husband asked what's for dinner again and you socked him. 🤣😂🤣 I'm glad Laundry Day was the answer to your prayers.
One thing that has helped me over the years is hanging everything up rather than folding. To me the folding is the horrible part - so boring - and the cause of piles that sit and wait to be folded, because we all hate it.
Tiny hangers for the kids and big hangers for the adults. This works best if you have a laundry basket for each person and take that basket with their dried clothes to their room, and then hang everything up. Socks and undies can go in drawers unfolded.
For me this has been a huge time saver and if I hang everything up promptly, no wrinkles.
Love your channel. ❤️🤗
Gotta love Dana K. White for many reasons! For me, she has more logical approaches to decluttering than anyone else. Like I said, gotta love her!
My bestie loves laundry day. I love almost everyday laundry. We both playfully "tease" each other about our preferences. I'm glad you found a great system for you!
Yes!! Firstly, I have LOVED you sharing her system with me! LIFE CHANGING!! Once my kids got older, I was told to assign each child a DAY for their laundry. So this is where I first heard of the one day a week. Monday was my day - to wash towels, sheets, hubby’s and my clothes and out it all away. As the children got older and were able to do their own laundry (with Mom’s help at first, but then learning and taking it over), THEY had their OWN day. So my 8 year old had Tuesday, 6 year old had Wednesday, and 5 year old had Thursday. Now they are 23, 21, and 20 (and they have a 17 year old brother now) who all have their own day for their laundry and it has been WONDERFUL!! So as your children grow up, you might consider giving them their own day for their laundry. Just something to consider. Thanks for all you do!!! ❤ your channel!!!
Great idea
Hi Ariele, first of all, I Love your channel!!
I have the same problem as you with laundry, And I know WHY we have such a problem. Our Washer/Dryers are in the basement. If we had a first floor laundry, in between all the other things you’re doing, you could throw a load in. Or fold a load. It seems time consuming to go up and down the stairs, you with a baby and me with my 62 year old knees. Lol I also have a Daughter on Life Support that I care for 24/7 so it’s easiest for me to do it once a week, when my husband is home. We have a finished basement with a Tv, so I stay down there, till it’s done. I hope this helps. You have a Beautiful Family. 😊
After watching your videos and researching many of these cleaning methods, ive concluded that a mixture of these methods is key.
I found Dana K White’s laundry day video months ago and its changed our laundry life!
I wash as soon as I have enough laundry for the washing machine. In Germany we have the washing machine usually in the bathroom, where you leave the clothes anyway. Some have it in the kitchen, where you are working every day.
I'm so glad you've found a system that works for you! Everyone has a different situation, or their situation changes and your routines have to change with it. I currently line dry (no dryer) or indoor dry on racks, so it makes sense for me to do it daily, little and often. But previously I've had to rely on a laundromat once a week. Or hand washing in the bathtub daily and hanging it over the range! I'm fortunate enough to have a decent washer, and as I work from home it's no biggie. For you, though, daily was clearly not working, and I'm delighted that you've found your answer
I naturally just always did laundry on Saturdays. Then I also wanted to try and do one load a day so that I didn’t have to do like 6-8 loads in a day…it worked great for a little bit!…just a little bit. And then something happened that broke my brand new routine and I was back to laundry in a day. One thing though that helped with the amount of laundry done that day was minimizing the amount of inventory I had to wash (Minimal Mom❤). Now my laundry is finally manageable and not stressful at all! I still do laundry on the weekend and try to have it all done by the end of the day Saturday. I’ve gotten better about running a load in the middle of the week if it needs it, and when your kids are old enough ( mine are 4, 6, and 8 and fold their own…the four year old is a girl and she just more naturally wants to do hers already) they can fold their own!
I love your content. You are so funny. If I am down I go to your channel and laugh so hard it resets my mindset. Thank you so much!
Dana k white also changed my life. Her container concept is so simple but a stroke of genius the way she explains it. I've always done laundry in big batches, a habit from laundrymats in college. It's all about finding what works for you, not following any one system with fidelity.
I'm using the container concept to deal with my late mother's belongings. She lived here with me and had lots of "memorabilia," and I just decided a few days ago that her cedar chest will be the container. Whatever fits will go in there. Everything else will have to go to new homes. One example: Her clothes will go to our church and to a local ministry that distributes them to anyone who needs them. Her shoes are a half-size too small for me, my daughter, and my granddaughters, so they'll go with the clothes. Dana K. White for the win!
Great video; good review of your struggle. Yay, Dana. She is the reason I finally had success with decluttering. It makes sense to start the week with everything clean. Then all of your clothes are clean and available when you need to get dressed but I don't have a dryer or much space for a drying rack so i do a load when the drying rack is available. Dana has RUclips videos, podcasts, and audio books available in Libby app or Libraries
I’m 67- I started a load of day in with our first baby. I often put that load in the dryer the next day and same with folding and putting away.
Even if it takes 3 days to process --
--it still works with the load a day. And I used the toss it in a drawer or basket on a shelf method.
Over time I got better and the load a day was done the same day .
Then the kids grew up and left home and I drifted off to a once a week method. That worked great until -
-Multiple Sclerosis and I’m back to a tiny load a day. I simply can’t manage a big laundry day anymore.
Different seasons of life.
I remember hearing Dana talking about laundry day and thinking it wasn’t for me since I have to line dry (also doing the laundry wasn’t something I disliked).
But then I watched the video she made about laundry day and I realised I’d often run out of things like socks and having to do an emergency load or a piece of clothing could stay in the laundry room for weeks while I prioritised washing other stuff.
Now I collect all laundry on friday after work, sort and start the first load. Then I just work through the loads; starting another one when there’s room on the line or the previous load is dry.
I really love this system since no clothing is left for to long waiting to be washed and I love seeing the piles of laundry disappear. Sometimes it almost feels like a sport trying to get the laundry done as soon as possible.
I'm in the same boat, line or rack drying. But I don't have enough racks (or room to put them) to do all the laundry in one day if it's raining, snowing, etc. What do you do then? I will do all I can when it's a sunny summer day (tend to plan around that rather than having a set day), but in the winter it's generally drying racks. I have three, each of which holds a large load - but we do around 10-12 load a week counting sheets, towels, etc. So I generally do at least one load a day.
@@raggsj38
Hi
I don’t finish it in one day.
I have about 6m of line in the laundry room plus one rack so I’m not dependent on the weather. Typically I’ll do 1-2 loads on friday evening, then 2 loads on saturday when the previous loads are dry. Then another 2 loads on sunday and 1-2 loads on monday. Then everything’s dry on tuesday.
If I’m busy on the weekend it sometimes takes an entire week to go through the laundry but it doesn’t bother me if it’s just once in a while.
I just love having friday as my cut off day and knowing that I have a limited amount of laundry and I can see the piles disappearing as opposed to doing all the work only for more laundry to appear on top of the piles.
I hope you’ll find a system that works great for you. :)
@@Jessicaaljp ah, that makes sense then! I thought you had one laundry "day" - just one_ and was trying to figure out how! LOL. Your setup sounds about like mine, doing more on Saturday (as much as I can find room to hang, usually threes or four loads if I use the indoor lines too), then finishing the rest throughout the week.
I'm so glad you found something that works for you. I think location of washer/dryer really makes a difference too. It is easy to forget the laundry when it is in the basement! I enjoy your entertaining videos!
I do regular laundry twice a week from start to finish. And if it's not in a hamper, it doesn't get washed. Blankets/sheets as needed. I have always enjoyed doing laundry. I fold it right out of the dryer & put it away. I would never put it back in a basket, couch, etc. Seems like a recipe for a pile-up & more work. My kids are grown now, but I have always done it this way, but I may be odd 😂 Really enjoy your videos👍🏼
I enjoy laundry too. Mine isn't piled up on the sofa either. Sometimes I do let hubby's pile up there but he ends up putting it away if I don't.
The best thing I ever did was give a basket or hamper to every member of the family. Even if the kids are too young to do their own laundry, you wash their laundry without commingling any other clothing. The stress relief was enormous and everyone had their own basket with clean, folded laundry. (Folding is a must right after the dryer.) Once the kids got older, they were able to wash their own laundry and they did it on their "chore" day once a week which was Sunday.
I think I went on this same journey about the same time. I did the same thing and was doing a load a day for years….always having unfinished laundry hanging over my head as an unfinished task every day!! Then I found Dana K white about 3 months ago and had the same life changing feeling you did. Every day other then my laundry day I kept thinking ooh I gotta go finish my load and it was like I got a surprise snow day because I’d then remember “yes it’s not laundry day today I am freeeeeeee”. It is awesome. Did you know back in the day when they did laundry by hand they did it all on Monday because it was the day after resting and it was such a physical job it was the best day to do it. Interesting right? Love following you and you not taking yourself too seriously. Keep it up!
Like several other comments I grew up with laundry day being on Monday. My first memories of laundry day was my mom washing clothes with a wringer washer. Talk about an all day job and lots of work! I do my laundry on Friday or Saturday. There are only two of us now but even when our four kids where growing up it was laundry day once a week. Glad you found what works for you .
Same.
This is great…I have been binge listening to Dana’s podcasts…I started about 2 weeks ago and I’m at 54! LOL…I’m very much enjoying your cleaning guru reviews! I’ve made my own “blend” of several that have really helped maintain a tidy home without being overwhelmed or “always cleaning”. Thanks for your great content! 🥰
I can’t get over how funny you are 😂😂😂
I “check” laundry daily, take clothes down to the basement every morning and if enough for a load then I do the load and do not consider it is done until it dried and put away. Much is hung to dry, so that is put away with the next day laundry check.
I also fold and hang as I take clothes out of the dryer. I sometimes do two loads a day if I feel like it.
Of course there are litter boxes in the basement to be scooped twice a day so it is not much of a stretch to check up on the laundry. The key is to find out what works for you.
I totally agree, everybody's schedule is different so 'one-size' fits very few. Adaptation is the golden rule in my book.😊
I'm so similar to you, I dump all my clean laundry on my spare bed, not folding it and I can go more than a week sometimes without doing the laundry. In the end, I end up putting a Netflix film on my phone and JFDing it. Then I'll be good for a few days lol. Love your videos xxx
I do colors once a week 3 different loads and everyother week I have 2 loads of white added to those. Once a month I wash the blankets in the winter and everyother month in the other seasons.
I think both systems are good, and the key is doing one or the other - diligently.
Before the pandemic, I had a great weekly routine. I had five huge (almost-loveseat sized) baskets. We have an old (1902), steep and narrow staircase, and I had to turn sideways to get upstairs! But I needed the big baskets to hold a week’s worth of laundry. I’d wash it all on Monday, and fold it all and put it away on Wednesday, with a cup of coffee and RUclips. :)
During the pandemic, I was interrupted too much to keep this up, and I decided to try something new. I had three small round baskets and bought three tiny rope baskets. I did daily laundry and put my kids’ stuff in the tiny baskets on the stairs with a quarter for each load to start. Once the habit to put their (folded by me) clothes away, I stopped the quarter and made it a recurring HH contribution.
This summer, I’m doing something new. I got them larger “hamper” baskets (13x13 that fit in IKEA cube shelving). They now do one load of their own laundry per week and take it to their rooms. If they don’t fold or hang it? Up to them. If they skip a week? They inevitably run out of something like shorts or PJ sets, but they learn the natural consequence of delaying maintenance chores.
They were 5/5/3 when I started the rope baskets and 8/8/6 when I started teaching them to manage their own laundry.
I had the exact same experience as you and I also have a toddler and an infant which causes me to get distracted repeatedly throughout the day.
When our washer was broken and I had to do all our laundry at the laundromat, I loved the fact that all my laundry was done right then and there. So now I dedicate Sundays and Mondays to all the laundry. I do as much as possible on the first day and whatever I don’t get to then, I finish up the following day. I watch as much RUclips as I want and I don’t have to think about it the rest of the week except for accidents and a small load of cloth diapers. Plus I do less loads overall since I bring together the whole family’s clothes.
It’s so refreshing!!!
So glad you mentioned Minimal Mom, and Dana K White, these ladies have helped change my household so much with the minimislm tips and tricks! You got this, the baby and toddler stage is pure survival mode, I have a 4 year old and am just starting to feel like I have some routine and control back in my life ❤ I personally don't have a dryer so laundry is a few days process in winter time anyways (NZ)
Me, who from being a kid did this and now married has set Saturday as our laundry day: finally. She has found inner peace and happiness.
I’m an RN who works 12 hr shifts. Mandatory schedule includes every other weekend. I can’t make a Saturday schedule that isn’t every other week. The rest of the week shifts are all over the map. So doing one a day works for me. I hate being tied to a house for 8 hrs. I have 10 loads a week.
I have used Dana’s method for 4-5 years. I love how I just don’t worry about laundry except on Mondays. Whether it’s one load or 4-5 loads, I finish up and it’s DONE. I fold mine on top of the washer and put it away as I fold. But binging is good too!
Setting timers for me is a must.
Ariel, I‘ve had basement laundry and “dedicated-room-next-to-the-bedroom” laundry, and I think that (basement) is part of the struggle. It is hard to drag laundry baskets up and down two or three flights of stairs. Especially with kids. So, I’m totally with you on doing a binge watching day. May I also suggest: IKEA makes these shopping backpacks (the blue Gorsnygg), but I use them for laundry if I have to haul it somewhere. They are *huge* and stable but lightweight. I’m sure you can find something comparable if you don’t have an IKEA.
I have had to pull from a few people to come up with my own routine that works for me. Dana, clean mama and how Mari Kondo folds. 🤣
Yes, 1 day of laundry worked best for me too.
4 Loads:
-towels
-whites
-red
-colors
There use to be a sheet that you could throw in & it would prevent colors from “running” into each other.
Color catcher. I got some for my college bound granddaughter.
Color Catchers
Glad you found something that works for you! I'm blessed enough to have a hubby that does the washing and drying (once a week) and I fold... most of the time. We have a 13 yo, 8 yo, and 4 yo and they have to wash and fold their own clothes. The 8 and 4 and both boys so their clothes are together. It might not be perfect, but it takes it off of us.
We figured out over the past several years that I stink at routine whereas he thrives on it. So he takes care of the every day stuff (dishes, laundry, etc.) And I handle, with the kids helping, the bigger project like tasks. Fridays are housecleaning days and everyone, except for hubby, has assigned, age appropriate tasks. This has helped a lot while pregnant with number 4 since I have had practically no energy whatsoever.
Apparently, the biggest thing that made an impact on my husband was early on I voiced that I needed his help with the house... we were both working at the time and I made it clear that I couldn't do it on my own. He heard and he's been so good to me ever since when it comes to housecleaning assistance. Now I'm just trying to convince him that he can let the daughter have the dishes, but he can't let it go...😅
Daily works for me, but I have big kids who help with their own. But what I think is even more helpful than one day a week (which I think is a valid option and I have used in the past) is lower inventory. Less clothes to wash makes even that one day of laundry so much easier to do. Start on laundry day by removing items from drawers when you go to put it away that you haven’t chosen to wear (or your kids haven’t) in a while. The clothes that you just washed are usually the faves that they want to wear all the time-OR the only clothes that were clean. Remove less wanted items to have room for the faves. I’m a new sub and I love your channel so far!
Hey, Ariel! I’m so glad you found a system that works for you! Yay! Go you!🎉🎉🎉
I’m a family of 5 n do laundry on Wednesday n Sunday during school year n only Sunday during the summer. There’s times I skip Wednesday when the kids have 4 day school days (twice a month) but on Wednesday I start a load of school uniforms or/and school related stuff Wednesday evening after school and on Sunday I start the wash for everything early n be done by 8p. Most times I fold Wednesday laundry with Sunday laundry.
Not the baby saying it by having 21 blowouts 😂😂😂😂 and couch sized laundry baskets 💀
If you don’t want to get up early om laundry-day, you can also start your washer with delayed start the night before….
Although be careful with that. Accidents can happen and sometimes there will be a a leak. One day I was washing and the machine went crazy and water was spilling out all over my hardwood floors! Thank God the water didn't sit for hours. The floors and maybe even some furniture would have been ruined. I caught it so fast we just had to shop vac it and use fans on it.
I'm glad you found something you enjoy and works for you! The thought of getting up early and doing laundry all day sounds awful to me, BUT I'm in a completely different stage of life. My kids are teens and do their own now. I remember having difficulty keeping up when they were little. Thanks for your videos and sharing your life with us. You're great!
After years of using the sofa for a laundry basket, LOLI finally figured it out. Get rid of a lot of clothing until you're living minimally. Then you have less to wash. Next, make it a routine to put a load in every morning. Kind of like eating breakfast. A priority. There won't be very much when you do it every day. And there won't be very much to put away either. Less really is more... less gives you peace ❤
I wish you continued peace in your laundry routine, continuing with what works best for you!!!
That was exhausting! I like the principles "to scale" and "on demand". As a single person, I don't have to do laundry more than maybe one load every two weeks. I separate into 40 degrees (Celsius), 60 degrees and 60+ironing. When the drawer is out of one category, the hamper for that category is full, and that fills the washing machine. I don't have a lot of my sh1t together, but this is a pretty smooth system.
I also feel a need to comment on "Everyone always tells us that the only way to", on a general note. The effect of that has really been a stumbling block for my personal growth. It's so easy to just accept what everybody tells us, without questioning it. I think you're brave, and clever, to challenge "conventional wisdom", which often turn out to be misconceptions, or things taken out of context, and really investigate what works for you. I'm renaming this month "Skeptember" 😀
I don’t have children at home anymore so makes laundry easier but I do have a husband who works construction so this makes more laundry. In Ontario we have times where hydro is cheaper per day/ week which is evenings after 7 p.m. and before 6 a.m. as well as weekends or holidays. I do my laundry every Saturday and hang out if possible rather than dryer, to lower costs and better for environment. I also don’t fold much or quick fold and I now have shelving unit with bins to put clothes in rather than drawers. I find this easier and faster. I don’t fold underwear or socks. And I just quick fold the rest. I only hang dresses, some skirts and shirts but I don’t own many of these since not needed. Laundry has gotten a lot easier and faster for me. Fun video as usual
I do laundry when I have a load. My trick to not having piles to be folded is to fold it as I take it out of the dryer. Upstairs with the folded laundry, put it away, hang the other things and not more thinking about it until I have another load that needs to be done. I have baskets for clothing, another for bath towels, and one for kitchen items. That way it’s easy to see when I need to toss a load in the washer. When I had kids at home it was daily. Now it’s every other day. Glad you found what works for you!!
I do it in two. One day for sheets, bedding and towels. The other day is for clothes, loads by type (underwear, socks+sweatshirts+fluffy pjs, shirts, dress clothes aka hanging clothes and jeans) starting with the most daunting to the ones that if I forget the lest load in the dryer won’t wrinkle and could wait until morning to put up if I’m tired.
I hang the towels up in the bathroom rather than folding them (only fold the ones you store). I do fold wash clothes and dish towels. I make the beds as soon as the sheets come out of the dryer. I know with babies you have to have extras, but your extra emergency sets of sheets should only come out when there is an accident.
This has saved me a large amount of time and my sanity.
Love your channel!
I spend my whole day, every Monday just working on laundry, I've been doing that for years now. It works great for me and my family✌
My washing machine takes forever. How do you have enough time to get all of your laundry done in one day? It takes about 4 hours just to wash/dry one load. I could maybe get 3 loads done in an entire day. But that's only if I was on top of it and making sure to switch it immediately. (Which I'm not always the best at lol)
Is your washing machine/dryer faster?
@@bunny_0288 my washing machine is fairly quick, but my dryer takes forever. My dryer is also pretty big though, so I'll oftentimes wash 2 loads of laundry in a row and then dry them together. I generally do about 5 loads on Monday, but I actually save bedsheets for a different day.
@@manda1804 Oh mine is the opposite! My washing machine spins a million times to get as much water out as possible, so it usually dries a lot quicker. I think this is how the newer more eco-friendly machines are. Since drying uses a lot of electricity.
I always wondered how people could do so many loads in a day, but this makes a lot of sense! Thanks for explaining.
I personally do a load Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday is an optional/catch up day, and I take the weekends off. This works well for me. I get overwhelmed if I have an entire mountain of laundry. I would rather wash smaller loads more frequently. But it's all about what works for each individual!
i have lived in a country where the water supply was organized by big tanks on roof the top and once a week they would be filled and that was the one day with running water (keeping the tanks refilled) for the whole day. So "water day" automatically became"laundry day", doing as many loads as needed. The drying was air drying, so one day was load after load after load and hanging it hanging and hanging it and then one or two days later when it is all dry, fold it and put it away. And in the old days, I think it was normal to dedicate one day a week to laundry. I prefer now doing one (small) load a day, I don't have a dryer, I all airdry it on a rack. The advantage of that system is, before even folding it, I grab it off the rack and use it, socks, towels, t-shirts etc.
Monday-Thursday I do 1-2 loads a day and then Friday is for putting anything away that didn’t get folded throughout the week, then weekends I’m off of laundry duty.
I am very happy you found a solution. I don’t have kids but I kind of do the same. Once a week. But! I also did something else: decluttering. I went through my clothes and my husband went through his and then I went through things like towels and bedding.. since we now only have the things we love and use plus some extra that means we are also out of clean things faster which drives me to do the laundry because there is no clean replacements left. Another thing we do is to try to see if certain items can be saved from being put into the laundry by maybe hanging it out to freshen up. Finally: as my husband once read in a book about survival: don’t forget to stay clean. Now that might sound obvious but if we then translate it into our laundry - and we did - we found out that for example: some clothes could have been avoided ending up so quickly in the laundry if one had used an apron while cooking but you can also use one while eating and also have a separate one for when you clean or paint or something and then likely not spill on your clothes. ❤
Whatever works for YOU is the best way. BTW, when you were trying to do one load a day, I kept thinking that you could SET AN ALARM on your phone remind you to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer. So I laughed out loud when you said you set Alexa or Google reminders on your phone on your once a week on laundry day. 😂
As always, I love how you put a humorous spin on things. Another great video. ❤
Right I agree. If you forget just set some type of timer you can't just randomly shut off and forget about
I do laundry when it's needed, not everyday, not every other day. I have a house of 6 people. 4 of which I am responsible for their laundry. The other 2 do theirs once a week or whenever their baskets get full. I have certain days for sheets(Friday), rugs on Saturday, shower curtains on Saturday and everything else is whenever the basket gets full which is usually once a week and 2-3 loads. I put them on my bed so I can't go to bed until it's folded. I wash everything together on cold or cool, except towels. Those are separate and on HOT and soak for 2 hours. You gotta find what works for you and what motivates you. Glad you found it. ❤
I used to have a laundry day. I had to stop doing it when I got a new washer and dryer in a house with no laundry room. The garage is either an oven or deep freeze. Which deters me! If I can make three trips into that hospitable place I’m happy. One trip to load washer. One to move clothes to dryer, and one to retrieve them. The new washer and dryer capacity is hampering my ability to do large loads and the front loader takes an hour per load and the energy efficiency dryer takes an hour generally as well. Doing more than two loads in a day is a challenge. I developed a strategy for my clothes which generally need special care and I can use the hand wash cycle and hang them to dry. I do a quick one of those and then follow up with the regular wash. I do laundry on a schedule. Whites on Monday, colored and delicates on Tuesday, husband jeans in hot alternating with my jeans in cold on Wednesday and all his dark stuff on Thursday. Friday I wash the 3000 microfiber towels bought to save on paper towels, Saturday I do sheets and towels. My washer can only do one set of sheets at a time. So I might do the other set on Sunday. It’s part of a VERY simple morning routine. Three essentials- make bed, unload dishwasher and start laundry. If I’m really ambitious I load the washer in the evening, toss in my tide pods and then in the morning it’s just push start. It’s working but I still hate folding. Ive never ever put laundry on the couch! No, it goes on my bed. Makes me do it or sleep under it. Not fun.
I haven't folded clothes since before I heard of the minimal mom. I started being lax on folding when I was overwhelmed with kids 7 years ago. Then back in spring of 2019 when I found the secret slob she talked about not folding, and I paused and honestly felt a little free. Never really looked back. I didn't find minimal mom till that fall. But A few weeks ago before school started I was talking to my 6 year old though, encouraging him to get rid of some of his shirts so they fit better in the drawer. He asked if we could fold them so there was more room. I said if he wanted to do that he could, so I made him a shirt folder and now that part of his chores. He strangely loves it. The folding, not that actual putting the clothes away... also for me, doing a little bit of laundry throughout the week really works better then a dedicated laundry day
Dana White rescued me from my laundry, too. I’m not perfect at it, but seeing your video has revived the single day laundry love within me. …..I fell back into a load a day annnnnnnnd, now I’ve got clean piles everywhere again. 😅 Thanks for the confirmation that I can do it another way!
I don't understand how people generate enough laundry to wash a load daily unless they have a bunch of kids, host a lot, and are involved in jobs or activities that get you really dirty. I'm so glad you found Dana K. White's video about how we should go back to laundry day. That's a routine I can get behind, and if there's too much, do it twice a week (or give each person their own laundry day if you separate it by person instead of fabric type--FYI texture is more important than color except maybe whites). More than that is just overkill and feels never-ending.
Laundry is a hot topic here! When it comes to housekeeping, do what works best for you and whatever phase of life you are in, and in a way that makes sense with the way your house is laid out. And whether you wash all on one day or wash some every day or so, enjoying a little TV or iPad video is such a treat!
Yay! Glad you found what works for you! I do one a day and will never change. I like that it takes literally less than 15 minutes a day. I hang almost everything and don’t separate clothes by colors unless absolutely necessary. The empty washer serves as the laundry basket. For me the key has been minimalizing my household inventory including clothes. Thanks for sharing your journeys!❤
I do laundry mon-fri and I wash specific things on specific days, for example towels on Tuesdays. But... I end up with piles of clean clothes that never get put away too... I Might try this laundry day
I have one large basket that gets filled and when It's full it gets put away so that tends to average out to about every other day.😊
I need more videos! I have been watching this over and over again😂
Haha ❤️❤️ You're so sweet! I post every other Saturday, so I will have a new one out in a couple of days! When both kids are in school then I'll have the opportunity to start posting more!!
Just love your videos❤️❤️❤️
Amazing that your solution is to go back to laundry day. My mom washed on a Monday - and it took all day! No automatic machines then. Dinner was meat and potatoes cooked on Sunday and reheated in the oven with, usually, a rice pudding which was put in a low oven first thing.
I had 5 kids and a full-time job, so daily laundry worked for me. Fortunately I had a good sized utility/laundry room which is a huge advantage. I think people need to recognise how much work, time and space is necessary to keep a family functioning. Thank goodness we have machines now to take the backbreaking toil out of it.
Laundry days is what our great grandmothers use to do and they didn’t have the conveniences we have.
I like the all day laundry day for you as a young mom but for me it wears me out. One load a day or 3 loads a couple days a week works great for me. ❤I have a small basket in my closet for my clothes and hubby has a hamper. He has heavy work clothes so I do his 2x a week. When my small basket fills up I wash it. I also have to wash a lot of pet bedding.
I am glad you found something that works for you in this season! Maybe it will always work. There are 9 of us, so the idea of doing the laundry only once or twice a week gives me the shivers! 😂 We do it daily and I love it. Does that mean I’m old?
Daily for me, and I love it! Only doing laundry once a week would horrify me. I'm so glad we all find a way that works for us. 6 of us and dirty mechanic clothes included. They would smell so bad if they were left to be washed for a few days even. Enjoy your laundry day. ❤
I always do laundry only on Monday.of course if there is a stomach bug or blow outs I'll wash and dry those but they won't be folded and put away until Monday..
Hmmmm...I just re-evaluated my laundry routine 2 days ago, and really looked at how many loads I actually do (excluding emergency messy clean-up towels and other unpredictable laundry that you just have trmo do as needed...not every day) and I realised that I go through 8 loads a week, plus emergency laundry. And, I concluded that I actually could break it down to 2 loads a day for 4 days, so that I have 3 days of no laundry (exceot mayve rmergency layndry. I just got myself all caught up yesterday, and I have no scheduled laundry to do until Sunday. I'll take that over doing it every day, AND over being overwhelmed with tons of laundry in one day. But you and Dana K. White were the ones who conviced me to have a laundry day. Wel now I have laundry days, but it's not every day. Thank you❤
When I have a ‘laundry day’ something comes up unexpectedly and then I am waaay behind. And it just overwhelmed me. My routine is to check the laundry every morning and evening. Sometimes I have a full load to start or switch and sometimes I have nothing to switch. Every morning that I do have dry clean laundry I can sort it and put it away in 15 minutes (no folding kids’ stuff per minimal mom - my kids were just unfolding it all anyway). The kids are expected to help, but it goes faster when they don’t. The evenings are when I focus on doing the dishes and tidying the kitchen.
I have a household of 7 each person has a day to wash their clothes and bedding. It's been a great way to do laundry. I do have older kids so that helps but even when my kids were small we would set days to get each persons laundry done. I'm glad you found a laundry routine that works for you. I love watching your channel.
I have tried both methods of laundry everyday and laundry all in one day. With 5 people in our house, my husband working blue collar with large dirty clothes everyday, two kids under 3, and chronic fatigue- for me I have found the minimal moms 1 load a day and having my kids throw their clothes in bins works the best for us. (I have to fold my own laundry though lol) I get exhausted from doing laundry in our basement all day. Remembering definitely is a struggle no matter what system you use, but I’m so glad you found what works best for your family right now. It seems laundry systems always will continue to evolve with the stage of our families.
I just noticed how close you are to 100K subs! YAY! Keep it up - it's nice to see you grow.
Ultimately, there's no one correct way to do it. You do what works for you in your particular circumstances, and change it up if needed when your circumstances change. I'm a teacher, so right now in the summer I do all the laundry one day a week. That is not feasible the rest of the year. Also, the "one-load-a-day" philosophy assumes that people own their own washer and dryer. Where I live, that's a HUGE assumption as many people live in apartments and most apartment buildings were built decades ago with no laundry hookup in the individual units. If you live in a building with a laundry room, they generally aren't open 24/7, and have days and times when they get crowded and you have to wait for a machine or come back later. If your building doesn't have a laundry room, you're either lugging all your clothes to a laundromat or paying for a wash-and-fold service.
That sounds like a hassle and a half to me.
@@deballen7031It totally is, which is why I’ve been saving up to move!
Lol love the clip you chose of your mom! You’re hilarious 😂.
I'm with you!! Even if I could remember to do a load a day, it would be utter torture for me!! I'm a task oriented person, so to have to do laundry EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. would be unbearable! Even when my kids were little and I was doing 8-10 loads a week, it would be (mostly) in one day. If there was a newborn in the mix that needed stuff washed more frequently, I would do those as needed. But otherwise, I'd pick a day, pile everyone's laundry together (mostly just clothes), sort into loads and go at it for the better part of the day. Thankfully, between Cas at Clutterbug and Dana White and her AWESOME book, I've really gotten to know that whatever works is the right way to do it :) Thanks so much for your funny (and awkward) videos :)
Sunday is laundry day! It all gets washed, dried, folded, hung up, and put away. 9 loads on Sunday - no problem! Thanks to Minimal Mom I no longer fold underwear or match socks. My kids can find their own socks. I got my husband 2 packs of the same socks & got rid of any that weren't the same - now they all match. I'd encourage you to start with underwear and socks then try not folding kitchen wash cloths & see how you feel. Then add in not folding bath wash cloths. To make me feel better, the wash cloths go in a container so I don't have to look at them unfolded. Everything else at my house gets folded because I can't NOT fold shirts, pants, and towels. It's not all or nothing. You will save hours and hours of time giving yourself permission to not fold socks and underwear. :) Thanks for your fun videos!
I struggled with forgetting to get the load out of the wash and having to wash the same load multiple times. The 1 day a week you recommended from Diana k works so much better for me too thanks. What I do is empty everything out on the bathroom floor into their wash piles, then every time I walk last or wash my hands et c I'm reminded to move the loads thru. Dependant on weather, but I tend to do towels as my last load so I can put them into the dryer and forget about them without any issues :)
Well, I never have searched for cleaning routines, but I watch your videos about them. They are so helpful! Thank you!! I think, because I have little ones as well, what is particularly helpful is hearing you share about the struggles.
My kiddos, 6 and 4, help sort, fold, and put away. It's been like climbing a mountain to get to this point, but I'm rather hands-free when it comes to getting the kids' clothes and the non-gigantic linens folded. The way I started was to make them separate out the linens (all things that aren't clothing). The act of pulling things out of the laundry basket was something I had to keep preventing them from doing anyways😉 so at least, this way, they were learning to be productive with their deconstruction of my laundry piles!😅 The sorting training was so helpful when the time came to teach them to get one pile folded. Another step I took early on was to have them help me carry their laundry to their room, help with opening the dresser drawers, and help with orienting the clothes neatly. Best wishes to all you mommas out there who are working on all this, too! Little by little, inch by inch, we can train the kiddos to help. 😊 And don't think I'm speaking from the mountaintop...I'm still climbing the training mountain, too, but goodness it feels so worth it because they can now handle about half of the laundry with only minor supervision!
I tried and I think it would work for me and my hubby but currently we still have an 18 and 19 year old at home. Just a little too much laundry each day. We have work clothes x4, workout clothes x4, at home clothes x4, and pj’s x4. This doesn’t even account for the towels and other random things sheets, etc things in the house that get laundered. It would be a great system if we didn’t wear so many sets of clothes in a day. By the time I got to laundry day it was like 10-12 loads which was just to much.
Can everyone wear their at home clothes and PJs more than once? I sleep in a tank top and I usually wear it 3 or 4 times. If you sweat at night that won't work. ❤
Yep, I'm with you there!😊
GOOD FOR YOU! Laundry changes with the seasons of life and the LOCATION of your washing machines. As a new mom I would never think of going into the basement everyday! I did laundry when it was safe for my baby to be left upstairs. As a foster mom I did laundry every night after the kids were bathed and in their pjs. BECAUSE THE WASHER AND DRYER WERE BESIDE THE BATHROOM! In England most washers are in the kitchen, how easy is that!? Growing up Laundry was Saturday. Now at age 72, retired couple. Every two weeks. Great video! ❤