What Is Your Secret? - West Mifflin,PA

I make my kids fold and put up their own. I do it two days a week so that its not so daunting. I also never separate colors........life is too short.

The minute I get up, I throw a load in...every morning, on my way to the kitchen to get my coffee. No coffee until washer is going!!!

When I finish coffee/packing lunch/spoiling the dog/nagging my family, that load is done and I throw it in the the dryer and hang any that needs to air dry, on my way back to the bedroom to get dressed.

Later in the evening I ATTEMPT to fold what was done that day and give everyone their "pile." If it doesn't get folded and someone needs something, they are free to "go fishing" in the clean laundry : )

I put one load of laundry in the wash before I go to work and then put it in the dryer when I get home. That way one load gets done every day.

For me it's not the washing - it's the putting it away in drawers and closets.

Ugh.....

ancient chinese secret. just joking. my secret is I do it perpetually. I put a load in when I get home from work. I put a load in when I lay my girl down for nap. and while I'm cooking dinner. I put a load in while we're getting ready to go to church and put it in the dryer when we get back. There is always a load goin at any one time. I also get lots of help from the troops. everybody helps.

Oh ____@____.com! I've got wet laundry in my washer that needs to go into my dryer. Obviously, I rely on Mamapedia and questions like this to help keep up with my laundry. Laundry is my nemesis. Don't get me started!

Hi T.
Hire a laundry housekeeper.
Just a thought.
D.

My secret is to wash the laundry, then put it in clean piles on the kitchen table until my husband comes home and folds it all by himself, and we put it away together. I wash about 1 or 2 loads every 3 days or so, better than having one mega laundry day. Sounds like your kids are old enough to pitch in... I was doing my own laundry by the time I was 8 or 9, but I was helping way before that.

Sounds like we are the same - only I also do my MBA at home full-time also! EEEKK!! It's a lot of work, but this is my last year and I'm SO glad!

We all help with the laundry, kids too. If we get backed up, it takes a whole day on Sunday to catch up. So today when I got home from work I unloaded the dishes, my 6 year old brought down dirty clothes and started the washer, I have the pork tenderloin sitting in hot water to cook for dinner, and I vacuumed the living room (after my awesome 6 year old offered to pick it up.) I also need to sweep and mop, but that shouldn't take too long. Hubby will help when he gets home, but he has a 4 hour drive each day on top of his 8 hour workday, so he's normally beat. Doesn't get him out of helping since I do my 9 hour wok day, the running with the kids, the cleaning, and dinner...then homework.

I think the secret is to not let it get behind. Can you come home at lunch? Start a load in the am, toss it in the dryer at lunch, take 15 minutes to fold it and put it away when you get home while the kids are getting ready for their activities :).

You have an incredibly busy schedule, which makes it more tricky. I have laundry bins designated for each type of laundry I do: whites, lights, darks, reds, towels&sheets. Everyone puts the laundry where it goes when it is dirty. I can tell in an instant which loads need to be done. I typically do my laundry on Tuesday and Wed. Iron on Tues and Wed. night. On Mondays, I do towels and sheets. But, I'm home all day, so I have more time to dedicate to the laundry on those days. Perhaps you can do a load a night after work. If it is already sorted, then that would be an easy task, and you wouldn't have piles of dirty clothes divided on your floor, which drives me nuts. :)

I do what I can which tends not to be start to finish. So each of our family members have their own laundry basket so I sort out of the dryer into their basket. Although my intent is to get back and fold and put everything away they all tend to live out of their baskets.

Clothes I put on hangers so that the whole outfit is on the same hanger. That I do as I pull them out as well.

So pretty much I do what I can as I pull out the clothes and it doesn't progress much past there.

We get it washed by throwing loads in daily, I try to bring it upstairs from the basement and sort and fold and put it back in baskets. From there the baskets usually make it upstairs to our room, where they either sit until we've worn/used everything out of the baskets, some things have gotten put away on the weekends (Saturdays usually since that's the only day we're both home at the same time and I can go upstairs to do that), but most often it is never "done," just clean. We have 3 boys ages 4 and under and we both work full-time opposite schedules. He goes to work right after church, so Sundays are shot for me, too. :)

I work full time. Weekends are for running around and getting things done. When we have a party or something to go to, I really scramble. If we are out all day, I put on a load, get something done, then come home to hang it up or put in the dryer, start another and run out again. I also put some on at night during the week and my kids hang them up or dryer. I also have my girls wash their own blankets and sheets as well as a load of regular clothes if needed. My older kids are 12 and have been doing laundry for a year now. They do "forget" but then they end up missing out on stuff. I always wash the needed stuff first like school clothes and my work clothes and then worry about everything else.

Hubby does ALL of it. =)

My husband gets it washed and I put it away. Only three people isn't bad BUT our son who is only 4.5 will change his clothes all day long.

He cracks me up and his nickname is either Cher or Madonna when he does a new "costume change."

Laundry is a task I do not mind. I do home daycare, so have alot with that plus my family of 3 and alot of gym clothes and extra towels. I wash and dry and fold ASAP while its warm. Hubby carries most of the baskets up for me (I am injured now and am not supposed to). I can toss loads in during the day and such, so that is nice. As a kid, Sunday was laundry day for mom!

I hate putting stuff away, so everyone does their own...towels can back up till we are pulling from the basket but it drives me BONKERS, so I try to avoid that.

I'll tell you what it is... when I find the bottom of the pile! Until that happens all I do is throw a load in, in the morning and switch it at night. Atleast 2 loads are getting done... even though that's not enough with the 7 of us in the house!

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Laundry definitely ebbs flows in our household. Our best method so far is just to do it a little at a time - I most often have an AM/PM cycle. A morning wash load goes in the dryer at bedtime when I put in another load to run while we're sleeping and then all over again the next day. An upstairs laundry definitely makes it easier to keep up with too - no hoofing baskets up and down 2 flights of stairs! I'd never have any laundry done! : )

My secret is that my hubby does his own, my oldest daugther has been doing her own since she was about 8, and my youngest daughter has been helping since she could crawl. We share the washing of the towels and linens. I wash things in the evenings and on the weekends.

First thing I do in the morning is put a load in the wash. Then at some point during the day it gets dried and folded on my bed. That way it HAS to be put away before bed-- or we can't get in! One load a day (plus maybe an extra or two on the weekend) should keep the pile away!

NO MATTER what, put a load in when you wake up and put one through when you get home, fold the one you bring up immediately and put away, never leave it in a basket. Put a load through before bed. If you follow this formula, you'll only put away 2 loads per day and some clothes will sit in your machines. Do fairly small loads and wash and dry on warm with drayer balls or on the slow dry until dry method. That way the clothes won't be jumbled in a ball and getting worse wrinkled. Hang clothing up right away and most wrinkles will hang out. If you do this all 7 days per week, then you'll have some days you can afford to pass or you can do blankets some days so they never get behind.

It's not fun to be so regimented. But I hate laundry catch up days with a passion. The best thing in the world is to get the family involved as soon as they are old enough to hand clothes up. 2-3 people fold and put away a load faster than 1.

Whenever I have enough for a load I put it in the washer. I don't worry too much about it running when I am not there. I have an option on the dryer to delay start if I need to. Then I set it to be finished about the time I get home.
Other than mine and my husband's clothes that need to be hung up right away, I have one of the boys fold and put away the laundry. Before the older one left for college, I made sure he knew how to do the laundry and will be doing the same with the younger one.

I'm a working mom of three little boys so laundry is a big thing! I put a load on in the mornings (I only use the half-hour cycle to save power and water), and one or two in the evenings. I do not separate anything, including delicates. If they can't survive in there, then they don't deserve to exist! After the washing, everything but my stuff (yes, I'm a bit selfish, but I need my clothes to be wrinkle-free and decent for work) goes in the dryer. I don't follow the instructions on the clothes. I think I might be a laundry rebel. The folding and putting away of course is a problem, but I'm working on it!

I do a load or two everyday. I "reboot" in the morning (washer to dryer, fold & put away, new load in the washer). I hate having to do mountains of it on O. day. And we are only 3 people, but I swear, it breeds in the laundry chute!

How about throwing in a load in the morning & dry when it when you get home.
Then have the kids help fold & put away.
Or if they are old enough? They can do their own laundry on the weekends.
Otherwise can you do it on the weekends? Saturday after the games & Sunday after church? That way you're not too tired during the week.

When I worked outside the home - I did several things.

1. gathered laundry the night before, separate it and put one load in the washer before bed. Take it out in the AM and put the next load in and then take it out after I get home....

2. Put as much in the dry cleaners as possible to keep my in-house loads lower...I was working - so it made sense!! :)

3. If that wouldn't work - then I would do it all on Sunday - start a load before church and work it from there.

My kids are 9 and 11 and they have to put their laundry away. They've been doing it since they were in Kindergarten.

GOOD LUCK!!

When we were kids, we did our own. Now, my husband does it a lot. Otherwise, I wait until the bin is full and then get to washin'. I feel no pressure to stay on top of that.

Delegated it to hubs. Clever secret huh???

He does it once a week. DS will be put to work as soon as he is capable. I remember playing "match the socks" with my grandmother when still a toddler. I plan to have little one follow suit.

For me it's Saturday, since I'm usually home a good part of the day, or I do it between running errands.

I also find it helps to do a load or two during the week. I can put a load in when I come home, before we eat dinner put it in the dryer, and fold in the evening.

Kids of any age can help, make it part of their chores

Every two days, whatever has piled up, after work in the evenings. Otherwise it's a monster of a pile on weekends!

little at a time... I'm a full time working mother of three; football season right now, plus choir all the time and all kinds of school functions. So I know exactly what you mean... I try to do most of mine on Saturday and Sunday, a few batches each day. Lately, I've been doing 1-2 batches on Friday night. Also, when I get behind, I'll put a load in the morning before I go to work and then dry it when I come home from work, and do a batch at night. (I do not iron clothes unless they need too be)

My husband does the laundry (except for bedding and I do that on the weekends). He washes and dries then I fold it all and put it away.

I would recommend separating by loads. Before you go someplace or when you get home, put a load in the washing machine, add soap and turn it on. Walk away. The next time you come home or get ready to go out, move the completed load to the dryer (or solar clothes dryer if you have one). Put the next load in the washing machine, add soap and go.

When you get home, move the clothes out of the dryer. Move the load out of the washing machine to the dryer. Go.

Repeat until done.

I made the solar clothes dryer for my wife. It was a little more bother, but it sure cut down our electricity bill. The clothes smelled so much better.

Good luck to you and yours.

I do a load that does not matter if it gets folded right away, like towels or bedding before I go to bed. I can make sure it is dry in the morning and if not I can reset it. Then I can fold it when I get home from work. I try and make sure the clothes we need for the week are done over the weekend. Everyone helps. I sort and fold, but the two oldest are responsible for putting their own clothes away. I have had Andy ( my Significant other) doing his own clothes for a long time. His work clothes have to be washed separately from everything anyway. I do help him if he starts a load before he goes to bed by making sure it gets in the dryer. I think the biggest thing is just keeping up on it. If things get hectic and I get overwhelmed I will just go to a laundry mat where I can do a bunch of loads at once, it may not be economical, but it is worth my peace of mind. Try not to let it get piled up though.

We both work with three kids too! I swear it multiplies. My husband helps : ). We do it as we can, and not let it pile up. We will throw some in the wash in the evening, or I'll put a load in in the am when I wake up, then toss in the dryer before I leave for the day.

Keep it moving. All laundry goes into a common hamper. As soon as it fills, we start a load. I have designated times in the day to move laundry onto the next stage, whatever that is. We also try to have relatively few pieces of clothing per person. This means that at a certain point we *have* to put the laundry away because there is no more in the closet.

It should be noted that our clothes are all cotton and fairly worn. I don't worry about stains or wrinkles unless it's a special event. This means our laundry consists of "dump in washer, dump in dryer, put on hanger and/or on body." I rarely do special stain work and I do not iron.

If you're doing a lot of careful fabric care, I can't advise you. I specifically changed our laundry expectations to simplify my workload!

I find myself pulling dirty gym clothes out of the hamper for myself at the last minute on the way to zumba more than I'd like to admit, so I don't know.

My secret is having a small laundy room-when laundry builds up it is impossible to ignore........so I get busy doing laundry!!

Hampers in each bedroom + laundry room w/ spot for colors/whites/uniforms. Wash one load daily. School aged children do laundry in my home. Laundry services are an alternative.

I only have 1 kid. MY clothes, I wear 2, 3 and sometimes 4 times before washing it. I work in an office so its not like my stuff gets 'dirty' so I just hang it back up.(obviously not the undergarments though). My hubby wears a suit to work so I only have to wash his white shirts, underwear and socks. I was everything my daughter puts on (they get dirty) I do laundry 1 day a week (usually thursdays ) and I am not allowed to go to bed until its done. I start it in the morning, and Im usually done by 10pm (after getting home at 530) Also NOTE...we do leftovers for dinner that night. Im not in the kitchen

Sunday afternoon is usually laundry time. I typically have four loads (son, daughter, mine and household, hubby does his own). I put on a family movie and we all sort and put away while eating popcorn etc

Well this is how I do it..... Thursday is my slowest day so all laundry is done on Thursday but not folded. All clean loads coming out of the dryer get thrown into baskets and pushed down the wall like an assembly line. Then, hubby is home on the weekends where he does all the laundry that has piled up in the last 2-3 days since Thursday. Then, Sunday evening while our family watches Americas Funniest Home Videos (my kids love this show) we have a big folding party.

I do laundry first thing every morning. I also throw a load in every night. There are seven of us so I have to do it everyday.