Dear FlyLady,

I’ve been flying for a few years now.  We just moved a couple of months ago (what great moving advice you gave, thanks so much for that section on your website) and my youngest of four children is now six months.

I am swimming in piles of laundry!  With the move came loads of laundry and with my husbands new job, came even more laundry.

And to make things even more difficult, our water is so hard that even with a water softener I have to add softener to the wash and let it soak for 30 minutes or things will not get clean.

Help me please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drowning in Clothes

Dear Drowning in Clothes,

There is hope, I promise! We have hard water too! We had our plumber to install a canister water filter on our cold water line. The filter inside has to be changed once a year. There are other big systems that cost much more that use salt. Here is another type of system I found in a Google search.

You are overwhelmed with all the piles of dirty laundry. I have a solution; go to the laundromat. I know that this idea may not be to your liking but hear me out.

Much of the laundry you have is linens and towels from the move. You can do more at one time in a bigger washing machine. Here is a list of the things to do.

1. Get the whole family involved in a laundry scavenger hunt. Strip all the beds too.
2. Clean out a drawer for every person in the family.
3. Sort all the laundry at home. (no need to air dirty laundry in public)
4. Bag up the piles of sorted laundry into one load portions.
5. Use white or clear trash bags so it does not get mixed up with trash.
6. Count your loads to figure out how much money you will need. $1.50 average for washer and dryer. Rob you change jar or go by the bank.
7. Gather up every laundry basket that you own. You can use the declutter kit too.
8. Gather up hanger for your good clothes.
9. Take a garbage bag for the clothes that are beyond saving.
10. Take a Bag for give away clothes that don’t fit.
11. Take plenty of laundry detergent, bleach, softener, or dryer sheets.
12. Don’t get in a hurry; stagger the start on the washers. This will help with folding.
13. Dry good clothes on delicate low heat to keep from setting wrinkles.
14. Some clothes don’t need to be dried. Just pull on them a little and put on a hanger to dry at home.
15. Fold while you are at the Laundromat. Sort clean clothes as you fold per person.
16. Fill up the laundry baskets and head home!
17. Do not stop here! Put all the clothes away and make your bed with fresh sheets immediately when you get home.

Now here is my tip for your hard water once all your laundry is done at the laundromat.

Our focus for August is to do one load of laundry a day. So until you get a plumbing fix for your hard water; fill your washing machine up with water and put the softener in and just let is set all night. Then first thing in the morning put your load in and wash it. If your washing machine has an extra rinse then set it.

My feeling is that the 30 minute wait is what has been your stumbling block. By filling up the washer in the evening and getting the water softened is the key to keeping you on track.

Nothing says “I love you” like clean underwear! You can do this. Now go put the clean sheets on all your beds. What a great feeling!

FlyLady

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