Laundry Hacks

Laundry is one of my least favorite things to do. It is probably also the thing I do the most often. I have two kids in school where they wear uniforms, which means I buy a lot of uniforms. I try to buy bigger ones so they can wear them all year long. This means I need to pay very close attention to washing instructions to keep them looking new and staying nice. But have you ever read those washing instructions? It looks like gibberish and it takes forever to follow properly.

So I have become an expert on making it simpler. I keep three baskets near my washer. One for items that need cold water, one for warm, and one for hot. The kids' clothes get labeled with a permanent marker:

Red = Hot

Blue = Cold

Purple = Warm

Each basket also has a label. The kids throw them in the basket when they need to be washed, but I have trained the kids to look for spots (with two elementary-aged kids there are almost always spots). I leave a spray bottle with the pre-treat solution next to the baskets and they can spray it before dumping it in the basket. Finally, I come along and set up a load according to which basket is fuller.

It seems like a lot of work but it cuts down on the needing to read and check everything every time we launder. Now it is much more streamlined. Which let's face it, makes it a lot more tolerable.