At our house, the laundry room is the first thing I see when I walk in the door. Trust me, if the first thing I encounter after a long day of working or momming hard is dirty laundry—or worse, clean laundry crammed into a basket—laundry becomes my kryptonite, so the only way to overcome it, is not to avoid it, but to embrace it.
My first step was to create a space that I enjoyed being in. I’m a big believer that you can become a product of your environment if you don’t change your perspective, so if your environment is always dark and dingy…well, eventually your laundered soul can become that at well. With the right lighting, tools and accessories, and organizational holders can make a world of difference.
Next, “Marie Kondo” your closet—or find some consistent means of routine for folding and organization. For us, that meant cleaning out old clothes and clothes we never wore (or should never wear) to create space so that we could actually put our clothes away without hassle. Then we labeled drawers and shelves appropriately so that there would be no mistakes on what went where and a super perk of this extra step: any child or helper can put items away!
Finally, we were ready for business! Here is what we did.
1. We asked for help. Admittedly, the weekend we started tackling our mountain of laundry journey to the promise land of finished laundry, we dropped off all of it at a cleaners. Yes, occasionally I still drop off a bag stuffed full of clothes—especially after a vacation (except towels and sheets) and for about $30, and one day later, my laundry is magically clean and beautifully folded.
2. We found what worked for us. We do laundry every single day. At least one load from start to finish. This is the secret. EVERYDAY. If you need motivation to keep climbing that mountain, clothes wrinkle less when folded while warm from the dryer. Stains are much easier to lift when treated immediately. A couple of stain removing tricks include chalk for oil/butter splatters, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide for blood and grass stains, Oxy Clean or lemon slices and hot water for brighter whites.
3. We taught our son how to separate and fold at a young age. Once he knew his colors, he simply pulled out all of the “white” color material then left the rest in a “color” pile. Tiny hands love to match socks, and the repetition of “corner to corner until it makes a square” made it fun and easy for him to help fold towels. Later he graduated to folding pants, and with the help of a fabulous t-shirt contraption, he still loves to fold tees. Now 16, he independently does all of our laundry for the entire household from beginning to end at least 3 times a week.
Laundry is really a beautiful part of motherhood, filled with the memories of the day, weeks months and years of our families experiences. It is a great reminder that the view is so much more beautiful from the top after scaling your laundry mountain. Enjoy!
