Five Ways to Make Laundry Day Easier
I hate laundry. I really, really do. Just check out the sign I hang in my laundry room for the proof (see below). The more I can limit laundry duty, the better. If your sentiments are similar, then try out a few of these tips and see if you can cut down your laundry time, too. [Note: My family doesn't have a lot of clothes that require special treatment and we have a laundry room; use what works for you and forget any ideas that don't apply.]
1. Prep clothes for laundry before they even hit the laundry basket. This lets you grab and go on laundry day. Zip up pants, check the pockets (my husband has sent utility knives into the wash more than a few times), turn items inside out (to prevent wear), and spot your stains right when you take them off. We keep a stain stick on the floor by the laundry basket for convenience. It’s not attractive, but I’m a big fan of catering to my own laziness, and this habit lets me be lazy.
From my laundry room. Subtle, right?
2. Install a clothes bar in the laundry room instead of buying a drying rack (if possible). A bar over the washer and dryer lets me hang-dry a ton of clothes in a small space. While a lot of folks swear by drying racks (if you do, please share your thoughts in the comments), I hate the space they take up. Even more, I hate the added step of laying the clothes out to dry, then having to take them off and then hanging them for the closet.
With a closet-style hanging bar, you can hang up clothes straight out of the dryer (I put them in for 5-10 minutes), let them air dry, and take them directly to the closet.
3. Use cold water. With cold water washing (special detergents are on the market for this purpose), sorting colors is a heck of a lot less necessary. Colors don’t run and you use a ton less energy: yay!
4. Sort clothes by drying time. To cut down the total time I’m doing laundry, I start out with a load of clothes that all need to hang dry (which is most of our day-to-day clothes). After the wash, they hit the dryer for about 10 minutes, then come out and hang (sweaters go on foldable sweater racks). Since my dryer takes a heck of a lot longer than my standard wash cycle, I can get two loads cleaned and air drying in the time it normally takes to do one complete load. The final load(s) I do are things that can be dried completely in the dryer (sheets, anything that won’t shrink, etc.).
5. Invest in a lingerie bag. This little bag can be filled with your delicates, separately your laundry automatically. Since the heat of the dryer can break down the delicate elastics in undergarments, you can easily keep these items out of the dryer without hunting them down. (I keep clothespins ready to hang dry these items.) Keep the bag by your laundry basket for max convenience.
More Cool Laundry Tips:
I don’t do these, but they might be right up your alley!
1. Replace fabric softener with vinegar. Pour half a cup of vinegar in during the rinse cycle. This is way cheaper than expensive fabric softeners, it doesn’t stink, and it won’t trouble those with sensitive skin or allergies.
2. Wash delicates (sheers, laces, fringed or beaded items, etc.) in a knotted cotton pillowcase. Forget the dry cleaners; with this method, you should be able to wash specialty items in a standard wash mode; stick with cold water.
3. Stick a tennis ball or two in your dryer. Tennis balls are absorbent, so they soak up excess water and should cut your drying time. (I never know whether a tennis ball has been in Roo’s mouth or not, so I’m not taking my chances on this one!)
4. Save your used dryer sheets to use for dusting. Keep a container on hand to throw them in as needed. A washed out coffee or cocoa container would be ideal. (I’m going to have to start doing this!)
5. Safety-pin shoelaces to a heavy pair of pants for cleaning.
*If anyone’s curious about why I’m stuck with laundry duty, it’s not a gender thing. My husband takes care of the cooking and yard care, and I handle laundry and house cleaning. I can’t remember how we reached this arrangement, but it works decently for us.
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This post has 28 comments
May 11th, 2009
Hi Sara,
I love these tips! I have a drying rack that I use for clothes that can’t go in the dryer. I’m like you that I don’t like the space it takes up and I also don’t like the lines it leaves through the clothes. I do have a portable garment rack I think I’ll try that instead…it never occurred to me to use that instead of the drying rack. Thanks!
Sherri (Serene Journey)s last blog post..Favorite Finds Of The Week
May 11th, 2009
Good ideas. I have a beaded dress that has never been cleaned, because the dry cleaners refused it (the sequins & beads.) It’s only been worn twice (2 weddings), but it really should get cleaned — I’m going to try the pillowcase trick. Thanks!
May 11th, 2009
Great ideas here! I hate doing laundry but these ideas make it seem a little bit easier. I also use my dryer sheets after they’ve been in the dryer. I put them in my closet between sweaters that are in stacks or I tuck them into shoes to makes them smell fresh!
Positively Presents last blog post..the power of adversity: a book review
May 11th, 2009
Oh, and I was trying to remember how I did laundry in my apartment days, so I could offer some tips for those without laundry rooms and I can’t remember! Apparently, I hated laundry so much then that I’ve blacked out all memories of doing laundry outside of the dorms…
But I do remember that laundry baskets were *way* more convenient than laundry bags. Laundry bags sucked and got the clean clothes all wrinkly…
May 11th, 2009
I hate laundry too! Thanks for the tips!
May 11th, 2009
The vinegar thing really works. A big jug of store-brand white vinegar for $1.50 lasts the better part of a year. For extra ease, get yourself a Downey Ball and put the vinegar in there so you don’t have to wait around for the rinse cycle.
May 11th, 2009
We are in an apartment – the washing machine is in the kitchen, which is pretty common in the UK. We use a clothes rack. It does take up space but it’s portable – we usually have it in the spare room. We don’t use a dryer at all because it’s very environmentally unfriendly (and expensive to run) and also harsh on your clothes.
I would suggest that delicate items need to be hand-washed. If you don’t care too much then try the pillow case in the washing machine (preferably on delicate rather than standard cycle) but if it’s something good I would either take it to the dry cleaner or hand wash it myself. Certainly the beaded dress that kirwin is talking about would be much better hand-washed. I hate hand washing though.
May 11th, 2009
I like these tips. I’d like to add that a great way for me to stop complaining about laundry is simply to remember how EASY it is now compared with the past.
Vered – MomGrinds last blog post..Happy Mother’s Day To The Moms Who Blog
May 11th, 2009
I liked this. It made me smile. I LOVE hanging my laundry on the line. It’s almost a spiritual exercise. It’s serene and peaceful with nothing to listen to but the songbirds. It’s one of my favorite chores, the actual hanging out, not laundry in general. Here a a couple of my thoughts on line-drying: http://valeriedykstra.typepad.com/valerie_dykstra/2005/05/spring-robins-and-line-dried-clothes.html
May 11th, 2009
Very good point Vered! We do have it easy relatively speaking…I’ll have to remember that
Sherri (Serene Journey)s last blog post..7 Little Indulgences – Very Little Guilt
May 11th, 2009
Living in a NYC apartment with shared laundry in basement, and small, expensive dryers (that were out for several months while they converted to electric from gas), we’ve reverted to using a combination of drying racks (for underwear, lingerie, small stuff like socks and pantyhose) and a folding garment rack (of the type they use for coats at events; it folds up into one tall bit that is easily stores aside our bookcases–it is the single best buy ever)
For dark clothes, we still need a few minutes in the dryer to get off “lint” and stuff from wash (I hate, hate, hate, hate the new “high-efficiency” washers. Ugh. They do not clean better, even with the expensive detergents, etc. which must be used.)
We still need to do sheets and towels in the dryers cause there is just no room here for them to dry. It’s bad enough the space they take up for the 12 hours or so it takes to air dry the stuff mentioned above.
What I miss in our old laundry room is the very old fashioned line type dryers that pulled out from the walls and went back inside a heated area. They were great. You could dry towels in them.
I don’t mind the time, energy and money for laundry, what I hate is when these so-called improved washers and dryers basically do a lousy job on cleaning clothes, plus, they’re mildew traps ( a real issue in a building where they are shared and no one actually cleans them!) and they destroy your clothes.
If I had a home, I’d line dry everything, where possible.
(You can’t line dry in any city. The dirt in the air…our windowsills every day are black and we clean them off at night.)
For us, the biggest thing is hauling our stuff downstairs and back up. Thank goodness there are laundry carts available. You need them.
I have to laugh when I hear home owners complain about the “time” it takes to do laundry.
Heck. It’s your own house, you don’t share, you can run anytime, 24/7. Don’t need quarters or special cards. What’s the problem?????
And consider the folks who live in walk-ups. They really have issues with laundry.
FYI: Given the cost of machines these days, it’s no wonder that a lot of people in cities now pay to have their laundry done. Depending on how many pounds you have, you may actually save money.
I had about five glorious years, long ago, when I first moved to the city. Once, I lived across from a laundromat that was run by a marvelous woman who did laundry (I was working three jobs and literally could not go to do my laundry.) for me and others. And then, I lived in a building where the landlord and his wife ran the laundromat underneath the building and also did an incredible job with the clothes. Sigh. they never lost or ruined anything.
Those days are gone, gone, gone and the family-run businesses for laundry and cleaning that are left are awful.
May 11th, 2009
I’m not sure if they still sell them but many years ago I invested in some sturdy stacking laundry baskets. The tops are slanted so that when stacked and facing front, they are all accessible (you can put stuff in them without having to move the ones on top). We have 3 baskets in a central spot (the storage closet in our apartment); they are labled whites, lights, darks. When we take off our clothes, we toss them directly into the correct basket. Once I have a full basket, off I go to the (shared)laundry room with my pre-sorted clothes.
May 11th, 2009
My wife and I also split chores and this one is mine – boring but important…
Christophers last blog post.."Have You Seen Her" by The Chi-Lites
May 11th, 2009
Vered: Word.
And Mletta, thank you for squashing my desire for a fancy new washer/dryer. Seriously, thanks.
May 12th, 2009
Oh! I LOVE doing my laundry! (Yes, I know I’m strange… =P)
There’s something so nice and methodical about hanging things out on the line to dry.
I very much agree with Valerie:
“It’s almost a spiritual exercise. It’s serene and peaceful with nothing to listen to but the songbirds.”
Friday Eudaemonisms last blog post..bible quote: joy
May 13th, 2009
I hate sorting socks so I safety pin them as I take them off. It has saved time and no lost socks! I have even trained my kids to do this – (11 yr olds)and now no one has to sit and sort socks!
May 13th, 2009
I like doing laundry too — it’s my favorite household chore. MUCH better than cleaning!
I have to try the vinegar idea. I do like to add a bit of borax or baking soda to the water — cuts soap and any musty odors.
May 14th, 2009
I hate doing laundry too, and I love your sign. unfortunately most of the tips you give won’t work for me, and my tips won’t really work for anyone else- we live in a teeny, tiny house, with no laundry room or dryer. I also have three kids, so laundry is a mountainous, daily event. Blech.
But Valerie and Friday Eudaemonism, I love your idea about it being almost a blessing for the family- I think I need to work harder on seeing the benefits of it.
Kelly from Almost Frugals last blog post..College and Money
May 14th, 2009
I use a 72″ expandable shower curtain rod above our washer-dryer, it doesn’t mar the walls in our rental. It worked so well I bought a second – for $10 – our laundry room is the width of the washer dryer. We hang all but undies on plastic clothes hanger on these rods, even jeans on hangers with clips.
May 15th, 2009
Sara
To be fair, there may well be new high efficiency type machines that perform as advertised. I haven’t tried them all and I do have a friend who got them and raves about it.
However, of those I’ve tried, in our building, and in laundromats, they don’t work. This could be an issue with the commercial and not residential models.
I suspect that even though these machines use less water, that the commercial ones use even less than the amounts they are supposed to, which would account for the difference in how the clothes look and feel now. (Or it could be something with the high efficiency laundry liquids, but I use Seventh generation, so…)
If you are set on them, I would try one at a friend’s house. And try a model by the manufacturer you are most interested in.
Once upon a time, before these machines (which by the way, require you to bend down or kneel down to fill them–something that is hard for me and I’m only 5 foot 2 inches, imagine if you’re tall–and hurt your back), doing laundry was truly a zen thing as others have noted.
Even in the heat of summer, I can remember the satisfaction of putting in dirty clothes and getting clean ones out. Soft, clean, feeling and smelling CLEAN. No more, alas.
There is nothing worse than wasting a couple of hours and your clothes don’t look or feel or smell “clean” or soft. Sigh.
FYI: If anyone is thinking of buying one of those plastic “portable” table top “washers”, Do NOT DO IT!
Unless you have incredible patience and very, very strong arms and chest, you’ll probably be in pain with clothes that take more effort and don’t come out any cleaner than a hand wash.
Rip off city. Our washers were out for several weeks so I thought I’d try one. What a mistake.
FYI: One thing I still love, though do very, very infrequently is ironing.
Growing up, I used to iron to de-stress (what can I say?). I especially loved all cotton and linen stuff. Such a sense of satisfaction.
When I had time as an adult, I used to do it for my collection of antique linens. Those days are gone, alas.
May 16th, 2009
I do agree that having a clothes bar nearby is handy, but really only for shirts on hangers. Pants wouldn’t dry because of being folded on the hanger. And it is pretty useless for little items and big stuff like towels.
I use this portable clothes drying rack and usually put it outdoors on the deck or indoors under the ceiling fan if rainy or cold. Because all the clothes hang freely they dry fast.
May 19th, 2009
i love these tips! i don’t have a dryer now but i will have one again in a couple of months. i really like the idea of the tennis ball and sorting clothes by drying time.
i have tried the vinegar thing and i will have to get in the habit of it.
christys last blog post..Spring Cleaning Party Day 9 &10
May 26th, 2009
Good tips! I was just thinking the other day that I can’t wait until I can pay someone to do my laundry for me. It is painfully tedious.
@SarahMerions last blog post..REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: An Open Letter To Anyone.
May 31st, 2009
Enjoyed this article. I have hung up laundry inside to dry for 20 years. I have a 5 ft 3 tier clothing rack which will let you drop shelves so you can hang clothes (lingerie, socks,little kids clothes) or from the top bar on a hangar if you so desire and it folds to store neatly against the wall. But….. I am lucky that in our house we have molding about 1/2″ deep around all doors and entryways so I can literally hang my clothes from there (upstairs out of sight mostly in my master bath, but closets in all 4 bedrooms have the molding too). I am able to hang pants with those clip/skirt hangars. They rarely ever need to be pressed! It is a very handy, cheap way to dry clothes. No pollen, dirt residue and it goes straight to the closet when dry. I do a lot of laundry as none of my kids or my husband wear anything more than once and there are days when they change clothes frequently for sports, yardwork, play. Clothes go from washer, to dryer for a quick air fluff, onto hangars (or rack)to dry and to closets. So check out your framing/molding see if a hangar will hang from it and you are good to go.
June 10th, 2009
I have a tension rod that fits across our shower area, so that I can hang laundry to dry indoors in cool weather (I hang all our shirts, plus pants, only using they dryer for odds and ends during the winter months). Our laundry area is small, so it gets it all out of the way. The rod tucks nicely away when it’s not in use.
June 11th, 2009
I use a zippered pillow cover to wash my lingerie and other items needing a more gentle touch in the wash. Besides protecting the delicate fabrics of my lingerie, these zippered bags also come in body pillow sizes!
June 19th, 2009
I wash and dry my clothes in machines, but simplify my life by keeping the whole family’s clothes right there in the laundry room. That’s where we go to change our clothes and the dirty ones go right into baskets (or into the washer if it is empty) and the dry clothes get hung on rods or sorted into bins as soon as they come out of the dryer. The clothes never need to make a trip out of the room (except on our backs!) For towels, sheets, jeans, socks, etc, I have large bins I bought at a department store fixture sale. Shelves, drawers, or bins would work equally well.
The other thing we did to simplify our lives was to buy 2 large packs of black socks and 2 large packs of white socks. Period. We happen to be adults and we all wear the same socks which all get tossed into one bin. Socks do not need to be gendered! No sorting/rolling/folding needed! Finding socks for the day is as simple as reaching in the bin and picking any two white (or black) ones out of the bin. It works for us.
July 12th, 2009
I love my clothes drying rack. It is not one of those according types. The best part is I can hang all my shirts directly onto hangers on to the rack to dry then move it to where ever makes sense for the day, outside, under the ceiling fan or even leave it in the launry room.
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