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Part 5: A Hodge Podge of Washing, Drying, Folding, and Ironing Tips!
"I keep a box of chocolates hidden near the laundry. It makes me want to go there..."
- Spoiled Rotten Newborn
"Laundry is part of my morning routine! The computer is in the basement and the laundry room is upstairs. First run down the stairs to turn on the computer. Then run up and throw in a batch of laundry. Back downstairs, check email and delete all the spam until the washer is done. Run upstairs again and move clothes to dryer. Run downstairs and finish reading email and other sites on the Internet until I hear the buzzer. Run back up to get all the dry clothes folded before the wrinkles set in. If I do 2 or 3 loads, I can say I blessed my heart for 10 or 15 minutes!" - Finally flying in Upstate NY.
From our members....
- I fold my laundry on the dryer and immediately go and put it away, even though I still have wet ones ready to go in. If I don't do it this way, the clothes can sit folded for days. (shhh, don't tell Marla)
Reducing the amount of clothes you own, reduces the time spent on laundry and on what to wear. (I've been listening, Marla) - Flybaby from Maryland
- What has helped me in the laundry department - with 4 little kids - is folding everything as it comes out of the dryer. No dumping piles of "clean but wrinkled" clothes for "later" when they look amazingly like the piles of still dirty clothes and I have to start all over because I can't tell wat's clean, or the dog decided they made a nice nest. I also have little baskets in the laundry room for each bedroom/destination (hubby and I share, two youngest girls share, bed/bath linens and kitchen linens) so that everything is not only folded but sorted by where it goes. Then no one has an excuse not to take things upstairs! The baskets aren't big - because then it's "too heavy" and I'll wait for DH to carry everything up in one or two HUGE trips! I also posted a list of everyone's sizes on the wall, so DH can tell which clothes belong to which girl...little undies all look the same to him, now he looks at the tags and is willing to help! I fell like we finally have tamed the laundry monster at our house...Flying in Cape May, NJ
- I found a use for my old baby monitor. I placed the base unit near the washer and dryer and when I am doing laundry, I carry the monitor and can hear when the bells for the washer and dryer go off. They are too quiet to hear in other parts of the house and this way I don't forget I have a load going.
- I am 43 y/o, and one of my smartest purchases ever, was a coated drying rack, that folds up. I have saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars with that item, and my clothes last longer. When I lived in apartments, I put items on it to hang dry, to save money and energy. I've continued to do the same in houses that I've owned. The stubborn part of me refused to throw quarters down the drain, if the item could air dry. I've never been one to let my laundry pile up, so this system worked well for me. If you have a ceiling fan, plant the rack under that and the items will dry even faster. I think that this would be a great gift for a wedding shower, or a college student with space for the rack.
Sincerely, from Grand Ledge, Michigan
- Dear Flylady,
One thing that has really helped me with laundry is we no longer have baskets in the bedrooms of the kids or their bathroom. No more lost item's no more thinking I'm caught up when I'm not. We do a laundry round up 5 mins every day. All their disgarding items they have to grab off their floors, and their bathroom, and put them in the two baskets I have on top of my machines in the laundry closet. One is dark blue one is white, so they don't get confused while they sort it as they dump it. My DD is 10, and DS is 6 & DS 4. They all help, and they quickly learned that they have many more choices daily to wear when they do this simple 5 min flykids task.
I almost never hear "Mom! I can't find my favorite shirt/jeans/socks". If I'm a little behind in the wash, I can always just tell them well pick something else (because I know they have clean clothes if those baskets aren't too full), your item 'must still be in the system' as we call it. lol Like the cycle of the rain, so goes our wash, as long as they evaporate every day a little bit they will have clean fresh clothes to fill their drawers. LOL :o)
So my tip in short is less baskets equals more clean clothes. :o)
Sincerely and Gratefully,
Flybaby in TN,
- Funny this came up when I felt I had it resolved. I suffer from arthritis in my legs and hands and have a hard time with laundry. This is no biggie now that my DH and I live alone.
Through the week, I take care of my daily hot spots and give ONE room deep cleaning. On Saturday, I put dinner in the crockpot and go downstairs to take care of about 7 loads of laundry. I get more exercise (which I also put off). While I am down there most of the day, I dust and vacuum my family room and bedrooms. The extra bathroom gets a good "shining". Also, I have more time to tackle that cluttered room where the "later" stuff goes.
Thank you FlyLady for getting me organized and put my life in order. I smile every day at how tidy my house is and don't have a big mess to clean at the end of the week. Next task - my shoes!
- Alberta
- I have four children and have finally found a system to work for us! I
bought 4 SMALL baskets and wrote names on each. These baskets stay next to
my dryer. I fold OUT OF MY DRYER and put the clothes in the appropriate
basket AS I FOLD. Kids take their baskets and put their clothes away and
return for the next day. I used to always have laundry on my couch. No
More!! Doing a little bit each day, with an efficient sorting system has
made a wonderful difference!
Fluttering in Florida
- I hang everything on hangers except the underwear and sox. They go in small baskets on a closet shelf. Putting the clothes on hangers takes a third the time of folding. It saves time looking for clothing, and you can always see what is clean. The kids can start putting clothes on a hanger at a very early age and love to hang their clothes in groups in the closet, I have often found them rearranging the clothes by color, outfit and type. Lots more space in the house without all those bureaus, less dusting too.
- Flying high in Humboldt County California
- This is very petty but I think it's indicative of how much I've grown
through the Fly Lady system.
One thing that used to make me crazy was when my husband, trying to help,
would take the laundry basket upstairs. It sat there, still full --a
reminder to me of all I hadn't done. It made me mad at my husband, who was
just trying to help --why couldn't HE unload the thing? I bet he didn't
even know where our clothes belonged!
Well, first I went to a smaller laundry basket, which made me have to empty
it and put the laundry away more often. This cut down on the "stinkin'
thinkin'" by about fifty percent. But I was still mad at him for never
putting those clothes away. He kept carrying the darn thing upstairs and
there it would sit until I unloaded it. He really felt he was helping. I
wanted to throttle him. I never had the basket downstairs when I needed it
and I tripped over it every time I walked into my bedroom.
So then I took the ultimate step: I got rid of the laundry basket
altogether! Now I do the same amount of laundry and I still put it all away
myself but I don't really even mind. It's not sitting there, transported
away from the washer. It's done and each load is put away by the time the
next load needs to be done. I'm not mad at my husband over something so
silly and I recognize that it was all about my attitude and nothing to do
with him. -
Fluttering in Austin, Texas
PS: I used the same strategy in the kitchen and got rid of the dish drainer!
Now I wash the pans and put them away immediately--there's no resting place
for them!
- Hi FlyCrew....
Folded laundry is REALLY something I struggle with at my house. I DESPISE
folding clean laundry..have no problem staying on top of the washing, but
just can't stay up on the folding. So....instead of forever battling what
won't be, on those times when it starts becoming a mountain, I just put a
really good movie in and tell myself I'll ONLY fold for an hour....I have
NEVER had more than 45 min worth of folding (and that includes putting our
DD back to bed several times)....so I guess its not nearly as bad as I
always imagine.
Thank you, all of you, for all you do for all us Flybabies.
God Bless!!
L. in Washington
- Dear FlyCrew,
I got out of the habit of leaving my clean laundry in the basket for days
on end by simply leaving my laundry basket in the closet when it came time
to take the clothes out of the dryer. Now I stand at the dryer and fold
each item on top and stack it on top of the washer. After that, it is easy
to take each stack directly to the appropriate bedroom dresser and out it
away. The laundry seems much more manageable when I tackle it one piece at
a time!
FlyBaby from Santa Clara, California
- People with old houses will probably recognize this situation.
Bedrooms upstairs, and washer & dryer in the basement. Stairwells were narrow. Toting that laundry up and down was KILLING ME. It was such a horrible job, I would put off doing a load for DAYS. Can't believe it took me 5 years to come up with the perfect solution. We converted one corner of our basement to a family dressing area! We put in shelves and hanging bars on one wall. On the other wall are two plastic bookshelves for folding clothes which go into baskets and plastic containers. Now the dirty clothes are conveniently located next to the washer & dryer - NO CARRYING! The only items I keep upstairs now are linens and the baby's clothes. It has worked great for us.
- FlyCrew,
I put a shelf over my washer and dryer and put 16(l)x10(w)x8(h) baskets, one for each of my 5 family members, on the shelf in age order. I fold laundry directly out of the dryer into these baskets. Each person, including my ds-10, ds-8, dd-7, are responsible for retrieving their baskets daily and putting away. I even include the towels and sheets that go to their bathrooms. They are also required to bring all their dirty laundry to the laundry room each evening and sort in the laundry sorter there. This process has eliminated the bed, couch and kitchen table being covered with unfolded laundry and the laundry rot in hampers their bedrooms. I am free to tackle whatever is in the laundry room each day without all the unfolded buildup!
Flybaby in Florida
- My laundry always used to be on the dining room table. Loaded sometimes 3 feet high! The 4 children would change their clothes in the diningroom because that was where the clothes were stacked. Everything was wrinkled, and as I am a parent that does not iron, everything stayed wrinkled, even for church. My house was a mess, with dirty clothes laying on the floor all the time and the kids not being able to find clean socks in the pile. That all changed now I am a fly baby. One of the routines has now become a habit, and that was making my bed. Never never in my life have I seen a point to making it when all you do is jump in it at night. I remember how I always hated my bedroom because it was so ucky - I realize now the problem was not my bedroom, but my messy bed. Now, my laundry goes straight up to my bedroom, onto my made up bed
and sorted, folded, and put away before I leave the upper floor. My clothes are wrinkle free, the children always have their socks, and my dining room is much cleaner.
- from Ontario, Canada
- My best FlyLady lesson was to plan to complete all the steps of laundry rather than allowing the loads to languish into piles of wrinkles in the dryer. I turned the buzzer back on and now I see it's signal as a help rather than as someone yelling at me!
I like to make games out of folding and putting away, since that's my least favorite part of the job. I put on peppy music and try to fold all the clothes in the basket before one song is over. Then I try to put it all away during the next song. I end up running around the different rooms in our house laughing and hoping no one is looking in the windows. It's fun (we all can use more moments of play), it's fast and it gets my blood pumping, too!
Flybaby in Michigan
- hang up all of my shirts and pants (including our T-shirts,
turtlenecks, and jeans) because all of my family members (including me!)
are really bad about stuffing things in drawers. I keep an ample supply
of hangers near my dryer, and hang up all the shirts and pants as I
remove them from the dryer. It is easier to put away the hung items
right into the clothes closets.
Attempting to fly in Southern Maine!
- My husband is business casual most days at work, so therefore wears lots of polo type shirts or mock turtlenecks, etc. I have two drying racks that fit between my washer and dryer. When washing anything knit, I dry for 5-10 min, then remove and hang on the drying rack. With polo type shirts, I button all the way up and stand up the collar before hanging over the rack. Each rack holds 10-15 items, depending on the size of the items. I never have to iron these shirts (or my kids) and they stay looking brand new for quite a while, because there's not as much wear and tear from the heat of the dryer.
Flybaby, Nahville
- One thing I do is to divide my ironing by how high the temperature can
go for the item. I do the 100% cotton first followed by the blends and
finally cloth napkins (higher I need it now followed by when evers). As
for the napkins, they are just a nice touch which makes me feel good
about the table. I put on a video tape (usually PBS) and iron away. I
can stop it at any time and fast forward the ads.
Back when I had to use the laundromat, I had a pre packed bag with
detergent stuff but magazines or a book so I could fill my time.
Flying in Houston, TX
- For me, the all time best purchase I have made has been my professional upright steamer. I do not like to stand over an ironing board to iron my families clothing but yet I like everyone to look crisp and clean. I can steam in half the time, it takes up much less room than the board, and you can use it on any fabric. You can roll it to touch up curtains, tablecloths or my favorite, the shower curtains that you can never get the creases out of.
Chirping in Phoenix, AZ
- I live in a country where clothes dryers are very rare. We are a family of 5. I was whining one day about the ironing and a neighbor lady gave me a tip that has saved me an unbelievable amount of ironing time. She said instead of taking them off the line and throwing them in the basket, fold each item as you take it off the clothes line. Wow that lady was sent from God himself. I have less than half of the ironing I used to have. So if there are any other ladies out there who don't have access to a clothes dryer, fold them as you take them from the clothes line and watch that pile of ironing turn from a mountain into a mole hill. thanks Flylady and all your crew for all that you do for all of non-BO ladies...
- I am a SHE. As a child I remember that my mother never put things away until they were ironed. Consequently, we always had a big basket of ironing just waiting to be ironed and put away. When it got overwhelming there was an ironing marathon and everything was taken care of...until the next load came out of the laundry. My friend, who is a BO does all of her ironing for the week on Monday night. Neither of those methods work for me. First, a basket of ironing can't be completed in 15 minutes so why start...by the time I got to the marathon session, my kids had outgrown the clothes (I'm not kidding about that!) or the clothes were out of season. And there no way I can do all of my ironing in one night...plus I'd have to look at that basket of work all week. How depressing.
One of my dear friends gave me this advice and I love it. Put it away or hang it up when you put the rest of the clothes away. It's going to get smashed in the closet anyway and need to be re-ironed. Now I can take care of all the ironing I need to do during my bedtime routine. Another added advantage is that my dh started ironing his own shirts. I guess he liked having choices in the closet as opposed to rifling through the ironing basket looking for one.
Thanks for all you do.
starting to fly
- When I have a lot of ironing to do (husband's business clothing), I rent or borrow a good movie or two! Not the kind of movie I'd want to take notes on, but just something fun to keep the creative side of my mind happy while I work!
- Dear FlyCrew,
I do not have a 'laundry table' and I hate to iron. My solution: Set up the
ironing board as the laundry table while folding laundry then after the
folding, the ironing board is already set up for the ironing. Because
getting started is the hard part this gets the ball rolling and all I have
to do is turn on the iron. I am getting it done weekly instead of monthly so
it is a much more manageable.
- from Pennsylvania
"I've found the secret to keeping the laundry caught up is to
have someplace to put it at the end of the whole process.
Because my dresser drawers and closets were stuffed full of
things I didn't wear, I got dressed from the laundry basket.
The things I loved were either spilling over a big basket in the
bathroom, in the washer, wrinkled in the dryer, or in a plastic
basket on top of the dresser.
I'm working on the closets, the drawers now close without
bursting, and my laundry is caught up.
And the cats no longer sleep on my clean clothes." - a member
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