Time-Saving Laundry Tips

Here are some of our family laundry tips to avoid the laundry-room blahs:



• Laundry is for everyone in our family! I share this chore with everyone, including my 7 & 9 year old.

• Younger children can sort laundry, fold towels, load/unload the washer and dryer.

• Teenagers should be assigned a day where they have the laundry room to themselves. They should also take care of their own clothes.

• Fold clothes in the same space every time. I don’t have a folding area in our laundry room so I use my bed. I make sure my bed is made to ensure lots of room to sort & fold. My 7 year old loves to sort. Just tell them to find “like things”!

• After folding, but the clothes away right away.

• Place dirty clothes directly in a hamper. Each of my children has their own pop up mess laundry basket in the linen closet. Everyone has a different color. Each of these hampers typically equals one load of laundry. You can buy them at the dollar store or any discount store for cheap. Hampers don’t have to be “pretty” or expensive if they are hidden in the closet! These mess pop up hampers also fold up & are super convenient to bring on vacation! Just throw them in your suit case (they take up basically no room at all). Then your laundry is already sorted when you get home from vacation! How sweet is that?!

• If a hamper is full in the morning, I throw that load in the washer right before I jump into the shower. Once I’m done getting ready for work, my load is done washing. I throw the wash in the dryer right before I leave for work. I come home from work & I already have one load washed & dried! I usually fold after dinner or after the kids are asleep. If you do this often, the laundry won’t pile up. If I fall behind & get lazy then I spend the weekend doing laundry UGHHH.

• If everyone has their own hamper, it cuts down on sorting between this child’s clothes versus this child’s clothes versus mom or dad’s clothes. This definitely costs down the sorting time by half, if not more!

• If possible, avoid purchasing clothing that requires special care, such as hand washing and ironing. I dry everything! I don’t have time to wash or dry anything in a “special” way. Keep that in mind when shopping for clothes.

• Consider buying kid’s play clothes at garage sales or Goodwill. This saves money & also reduces stress. No need to worry about if a $2 pair of jeans from Goodwill gets grass stains or holes! Have a special drawer just for play clothes.


For our family, these tips help us keep the laundry running smoothly. Just remember to relax and KISS (Keep it short and simple).