subject: How To Get Help Doing The Laundry [print this page] Doing the laundry, and even separating the laundry prior to washing it can be very time consuming and for those of us who have larger families, keeping up with the constant flow of laundry can be overwhelming at times. If you cannot get everyone in the family to take turns doing the laundry or have them each do their own laundry, consider the following:
Laundry rooms need organization too. If you have enough room in your laundry room, set up different laundry baskets and/or bins for different colors ("whites", "darks" and "colors"), "special care" and "rinse first" items. Next, label these baskets/bins so that EVERYONE in the family will know where to place each item.
For parents who do a lot of laundry- How many times have you seen a dirty mud covered sock all bunched up and inside out and thought to yourself, I do not want to put my hand inside of that! If kids can't be responsible enough to have their clothes properly prepared for the laundry basket, try setting up a "rejected" bin as well and place any clothes that were not properly prepared into this bin. Have a list of reasons why clothes would end up in this bin posted right next to it such as clothes that have items still in the pockets, clothes that are inside out or bunched up or even clothes that are not placed into the proper laundry basket. After you have "rejected" a certain amount of clothing, your children will soon decide it is worth it to do what needs to be done the first time and you should no longer need a "rejected" bin. Just make sure, ahead of time, that everyone in the family is aware of the "rejected" bin, what the rules are and what they will need to do to avoid having their clothes end up there.
When folding clothes, have a designated spot in your laundry room, on a shelf or using cubbies, right next to your washer and dryer for each person in your household and have THEM be responsible for putting away THEIR OWN pile of laundry each day. This designated spot can also be used for separating the mail and anything else that was not previously put away by each member of the family. If you do not have time or just don't want to bother folding smaller items such as socks, have a "Clean Bin" available to place them in and have everyone grab what is theirs out of the bin each time they pick up their pile of clothes.
If everyone in the family does their part to pitch in, laundry will become an easier chore to keep up with and everyone will benefit with clean clothes and less stress.
