Laundry Organization and Management

Everyone has their own basket. I make my kids sort and put away their own stuff, if they feel like living out of their basket I have no problem with that. To me it is a matter of picking battles.

Ditto Jo.

You aren't the maid - time to start delegating.

Don't wash what you don't have to. Jeans can usually be worn more than once, for example. I have a tight fitting pair that can look good for 4 days! One towel for the whole week, etc....

You don't say how old the kids are. Everyone can help. Teach them how to fold and put away their own laundry. Or, at least put it away. When you fold it make stacks by ownership. Then before dinner ask everyone to put their own away. .. or leave it on their beds for them to put away. Forget about how it looks in their drawers. Underwear doesn't even have to be folded. Just have a drawer for it. In other words let go of keeping things pristine.

First off, just let me say that laundry is my favorite chore. I know, that probably qualifies me for the mental ward, but so be it. The first thing I would recommend, if you're able and if you don't already have it, is to get yourself the biggest front-loading washer available. I have a Samsung steam washer, but I know others who have Kenmore or LG and like them - the point is, you need a BIG washer (and a dryer of similar capacity). That is the #1 thing that will get you on track, is being able to do big loads of laundry.

After that, I have my kids sort through the laundry on a daily basis as one of their chores. The little one (6) pushes all the laundry carts to the laundry chute (everyone in the family has a light and dark laundry bin on wheels - we bought them at IKEA). She puts all the light laundry down first, and then the dark laundry. Her big sister (9) stands at the bottom of the chute and creates 3 piles (while she is doing this, she makes sure the socks aren't all balled up, etc): light laundry, dark laundry, and things that need to be sanitized (DH's construction clothes, towels, sheets). I taught them how to put Borax in the washer, then the clothes, then the detergent (we use Method detergent, so it's easy to measure - just 4 squirts per load of laundry). They know hot water for whites, cold water for darks, sanitize cycle for the really dirty stuff.

Now, when it comes to the dry cycle, I do that myself. I pull out anything I want to hang dry (I have a drying rack hanging from the ceiling of my laundry room so it's pretty easy). Everything else, I put in the dryer. When it comes out, I separate it into 4 laundry baskets (one for each person in the house). I fold the laundry while I'm watching TV at night. I put the baskets of folded clothes on the stairs and the kids and DH are responsible for hauling their own laundry basket upstairs and putting their stuff away. Then the empty baskets go back on top of the dryer for the next load.

Pretty much, I do laundry every day. I save the Sanitize cycle for the weekend because it takes 2 hours to complete the wash cycle.

Anyway, that's my method and it's not so bad to stay in the routine once you have things under control.

My dream in life is to get one of those irons like they have at the dry cleaners. Someday...

ETA: T., YES! When my kids were pre-reading age, I did put clip art of what goes where on the front of their dresser drawers. Socks, shorts, shirts, underwear, etc. Put the words, too - it's helpful for them as they are learning to read. It worked for me, I think you are right on with that idea!

I have three laundry baskets. One for towels and jeans, one for whites, and one for everything else. Towels/jeans and whites usually get washed every other week and I have a couple of loads a week of the other stuff. I try not to let it pile up because it seems to take forever. If it does pile up to where you have more than 5 loads, go to a laundromat. Take the opportunity to wash your comforters/blankets too. That was a lifesaver for me when we had a big power outage a few years ago.

I hate folding. If it will go on a hanger, it gets hung up. I have a rolling hanger rack that stays beside the dryer and stuff gets hung up as it comes out. My son has two bins that his socks and underwear go in and he helps sort out his stuff and puts it away. I have a closet shoe organizer that has big compartments in the middle. Bras go in one, underwear in another, socks in another, tank tops/pajama shirts in another, pajama shorts in another. Really reduces the amount of folding. I also taught my son how to fold washcloths, small towels, and he sorts out the socks.

I also second re wearing clothes, especially jeans. Pants can be worn 2-3 times, shirts a couple of times, towels can be reused. I don't wash sheets weekly. Usually every 3-4 weeks. That's why my towels/jeans takes two weeks to fill up a load.

Get everyone to help. Give everyone a basket and sort into a basket per person. Then each person who is able (anyone over 5, IMO, but under 5 can still help) folds all their clothes and puts it away. Pop in a movie to watch as a family while you fold. Then have the older kids help you put away sheets and towels and other common items.

Kids about 10-12 can do their own laundry, start to finish.

I've seen a tip about keeping all the family's clothes in the laundry room (clearly, you'd need a laundry room with the space to do this). You have bins or drawers set up and everyone's clothes are in the same place. So, you wash, dry, fold, and put away all in the same room.

My laundry room is too small for this, but I liked the idea.