First off, is there such thing as a mom who isn’t busy? Didn’t think so. Like dirty dishes and dusting, laundry is a never-ending chore. But, if we let dusting go for a couple weeks (cough… months) it doesn’t affect our day-to-day lives.  The dust-bunnies pretty much keep to themselves. Laundry, however, is a different story entirely. Not staying on top of the laundry can mean the start of a very bad day at the least. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve planned to wear a certain outfit only to find out that a key article of clothing to that outfit was dirty. If that doesn’t put you in a bad mood, I don’t know what will.

Unless you outsource your laundry, it isn’t going away. Oh, and if you do outsource it, you still have to put it away.  I don’t know about you, but that’s my least favorite part!

Let me tell you how I used to do laundry and see if you can relate:

1. I’d only be reminded to do it when I was out of underwear. Am I alone in this?
2. I’d do laundry when my hamper wouldn’t close anymore.
3. I’d do laundry when I needed a certain article of clothing that was dirty.

Anyone else been there?

Last year, I took a good look at our home and my day-to-day life and really targeted pain-points. I realized they were things that affected my family’s lives every single day that simply were not good… mainly because I wasn’t good at them. Laundry was high on that list along with meal-planning. You can read more about that here

Unlike meal planning, there is no alternative to laundry. When I fail with meal planning there are LOADS of ways to fix it; a frozen pizza, take-out, have a spontaneous family night out to eat, left-overs, text my mom to see what they are having because that always leads to an invite… seriously, I could go on. But laundry is not that way. There is no plan-b. Just plan-a: do it.

So, laundry takes the cake. It’s the worst. It’s worse than dusting. It’s worse than meal-planning. So, I had to figure this out.

Let me preface with this: I’m not a laundry expert, and every family has different laundry needs based on the size of the family and/or the season the family is in. I have a small family compared to most, but let me tell you, the laundry doubled with the arrival of our son. So, take my advice and mold it to fit your family and situation.

1) Do a small load every single day.

I got this tip from one of my favorite people on social media, Emily Ley. She does a load of laundry a day. Throws whatever is dirty (within reason) in the same cold wash, folds it and puts it away all in the same day. I decided to try this for myself. Y’all, I’m not going to lie, the first load was terrible. Like, there were physically too many dirty clothes to fit in one load. So, I did one load that day: washed, dried, folded, and put away. I did the other huge load the next day: washed, dried, folded, and put away. Took me forever. Then magic happened on the third day. There was a tiny load in comparison and it took me a fraction of the time to fold it. Again, on the fourth day… tiny load. It really took me no time.

Am I successful in doing every single day? Absolutely not! But here’s the thing, 2 or 3 days is a whole lot easier than 7-14 days! Make the goal to do laundry every day, and it will never be a huge issue.

2) Use the delay start on your washing machine.

I was about to say the delay start feature might be only on newer washing machines, but my machine is probably 9 years old and it still has this function. So, check your machine and see it is an option. Before you leave the house the morning, load the washer with all dirty clothes and add the soap. Set the delay start for whenever you want it to begin. Like magic, it will come on whenever you program it. I like the clothes to have just finished when I arrive home… and not sitting damp all day. Set a timer, write yourself a note, do whatever you have to do in order to remind yourself to put the clothes in the dryer. And then I stop whatever I’m doing when the dryer goes off to fold the clothes. Since it’s a small load, it doesn’t take much time at all.

Ok, now I want to hear from you! What’s your biggest pain-point in motherhood? Leave me a comment below! I can’t wait to hear!

In case you were wondering, I like to switch up my detergents. But this is my current favorite. It makes my clothes smell so fresh and so clean, clean!
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