Dear FlyLady,

In reading ahead, I see that the August habit is daily laundry.

I live in an apartment building and the laundry room is in the basement.  Much as I would love to have a washer and dryer available to me in my own unit, it’s not allowed so I depend on the basement laundry room.  As you can imagine, with over 200 apartments in the building, daily laundry is not only impossible but would be very costly – over $4.00 for one washer and dryer load.  At best, I’m able to get my laundry done every couple of weeks.

Is there any way you can come up with a system for people like me who live in an apartment building and must pay for each load of laundry we do?  It would be such a great help.

Jane

Dear Jane,

There is nothing wrong with doing laundry once a week or even once every two weeks if you live alone. I know because I have done it. Big families need to do at least one load a day or the dirty laundry will become Mount WashMore.

I even remember not having enough money to go to a coin laundry. That is when I got into my pioneer mode. Our ancestors did their laundry by hand and so can we. My grandmother was always washing her undies in the sink and hanging them over the bathtub to dry. She used a drying rack that folded up.

At Girl Scout camp we had to do our laundry by hand too. It is not beyond the realm of possibilities to do laundry by hand. We have become accustomed to using a washing machine. That doesn’t mean we have to use it all the time.

Washing machines and dryers can play havoc on our expensive clothing. This week wash a few items by hand in your bathroom sink. You may be surprised to find you like the way your clothes hold up. It doesn’t take much soap.

Laundry is August’s habit.

Laundry has 5 steps: Sort, wash, dry, fold, and put away. So remember if you do a small load and air dry them in your tub; be sure to put them away.