Dear FlyLady,

I got excited when I saw that this month’s habit is Laundry!

I have already gotten a head start on this even before I heard of you about a month and a half ago. I’ve added your ideas to my own and now have a really great system! We have two boys, ages 8 and 11, and they go through clothes like they go through water! I was starting to feel very overwhelmed. I kept telling myself, if I could just get a handle on the laundry, then the rest of the house wouldn’t be such a problem!

So I decided to get each of the boys their own laundry basket, much like another FlyBaby did for her own kids. I don’t sort darks and lights… (is that bad?) I just wash everything in cold water, except my towels and sheets, or unless it is delicate. This helps to save energy! Which is a great thing.

I do at least one load a day and I do one person at a time. I wash and then I dry and as soon as it comes out of the dryer, I hang, fold, and put away! Or I have the kids put their own clothes away.

Another thing that has really helped is that I have labeled all of the drawers in our boys’ rooms, and even my husband’s drawers are labeled! This helps them to help me to put the clothes in the proper drawers instead of mixing it all together! The boys (and my husband) have a bad habit of just throwing everything in the same drawer. Then they can never find what they need!

LOL I read in one of your articles that you do the same thing! I guess “great minds think alike!” I must admit that at first, I hesitated about labeling the drawers, because it really doesn’t look “pretty”… but I decided to let go of my perfectionism and I forget about how it looked.

Just the relief in knowing that everything is in its place is enough for me. And maybe before long, everyone will memorize where their clothes go and then we can take the labels off!

Thanks for all your very valuable information and advice! You have blessed many, MANY families through this wonderful program you have going on! God bless you!!!

FlyBaby Liz in LA

FlyLady here: Our habit for August is working on Laundry.

A load a day keeps CHAOS away!

Do you have a story or tips that will help other FlyBabies with this habit?