As homemakers we have a lot of tasks to stay up on consistently. Laundry being one that never ends. Incorporating a laundry schedule into your life can be very helpful not only organizing, but getting in everything that you desire as a homemaker. A laundry schedule can be so helpful to make sure everything is clean and ready to go for when they are needed.
What is a laundry schedule?
A laundry schedule is simply lining up what laundry to wash, dry, and fold on certain days.
Some people don’t use a schedule. They may wash laundry when a basket fills up. Or they may do a load a day no matter what day it is.
My brain loves to have things in order, and a laundry schedule is one of my longest lasting schedules that I use consistently. I also find great benefit in sorting my laundry. This is washing like colors with like colors, as well as towels, sheets, blankets, and clothes with only each other.
Like with like-the power of sorting laundry
I have experienced a few unwanted outcomes when washing a pile of laundry without sorting.
Have you ever washed a blanket with a favorite soft sweater? Well, I have, and unfortunately, my sweater came out with blanket “fur” all over it! I did not like this outcome as I was picking red fuzz off of my black sweater all day.
When I made a trip to China in college, we had to wash our laundry by hand in the bathroom sink. Very different than here, of course. When I put a few dark items into the sink I started to see the dye in the water. Now, these clothes weren’t new-they had been washed many many times before. So I realized that day, that often times the dye in our clothes can still effect the other items being washed together.
This is why I sort my laundry. I now sort all of my laundry into these categories:
- darks
- colors
- whites
- colored towels
- white towels
- colored sheets
- white sheets
- light blankets
- dark blankets
My laundry room, really a little nook in my kitchen, has a basket for darks, colors, whites and towels. Our family sorts our clothes this way each day.
Putting them into a schedule
Over time, I have assessed about how much laundry in each category we dirty. This is probably the most important and challenging part of creating a schedule.
Then I plug the categories into the days I wash. I was laundry Monday through Saturday. Resting on Sunday as a Sabbath practice.
I noticed that we fill the darks basket and colors baskets the most often. So these categories will be several times a week. Our whites basket barely has anything in it until after Wednesday when my kids are required to wear white shirts for their uniforms. Whites are then scheduled on Thursdays.
I have read and learned that towels need to be washed every 2-3 days, so those are put into the schedule like-wise. I alternate between white and colored towel days. Since I make my families beds Wednesdays on my cleaning days; the kids will strip the sheets from their beds that day. I typically throw into the wash the next day, Thursday. I occasionally add in comforters and blankets.
My current laundry schedule is:
- Monday: darks and towels
- Tuesday: colors
- Wednesday: darks and towels
- Thursday: whites and colors
- Friday: darks and linens (this can range from blankets, sheets, towels to comforters)
- Saturday: Brian’s work clothes and towels
- Sunday: rest
I assess my laundry schedule often and tweak as needed.
Managing the laundry schedule
Now all that has to be done is wash, dry, fold and put away (hopefully) the clothes each day. I typically start a load of laundry pretty early in the morning. Then once a laundry washer or dryer cycle is finished I come back to it and switch it over. Always trying to keep the flow going.
I am not perfect, and right now I’m working on getting each load folded and put away each day. This can be difficult, because I use my kitchen table as my folding area. So the task of folding must be done at certain times – not around dinner time as we do our best to sit at the table.
Laundry products I love
These are the laundry products I have used for a while and love:
- Molly’s Suds Original Detergent Powder, Unscented
- Hogwash Laundry stain scrub
- Branch Basics Oxygen Boost
- Wool Dryer Balls
Hanging laundry
If I am planning on hanging laundry outside, I do this load first. This allows enough time in the day for the laundry to dry completely. If a day is going to be sunny and 75 or hotter, I choose to hang certain items.
I have a beautiful hanging rod in my laundry nook. My dad put in for me years ago. I can hang my wet laundry to dry here in the colder months. This bar is also used for the hanging items- then it will be transferred to each individual closet. I hang clothes based on age, in order, to find and transfer quickly to each room.
Putting away laundry
Each family member is responsible to put away their own laundry. This is usually a small pile each day. I often move their piles into their rooms. Some kids put them away quickly and others take a few days or until we get to the weekend. I’m not a stickler of when because sometimes their days are busy or late. But I do encourage them each weekend to have it all put away.
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Interested in how to do a deep cleaning on laundry, check out my post on Laundry Stripping.
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