Oh Laundry - Need Helpful Tips - Your Laundry Process?

I don't separate towels and sheets from other laundry. I don't sort by color either. I wash everything in cold, dry it, and put it away.
I am single, work full time, and have an active social life, so I usually do laundry in phases. Put a load on to wash when I get home from work. Move it to the dryer when it's done. Put another load in to wash. If the dryer finishes before I go to bed, fold and put it away, and start the next load drying. If there is more to wash, start another load. If I go to bed before the dryer finishes, I fold and out away the load before I go to work the next morning if I have time. If not, it stays there until I get home from work.
I don't hang towels in the bathroom. All my clean towels are folded and put in the linen closet. When I take a shower, I grab a clean towel from there.
I out clean sheets on my bed as soon as I strip it. Otherwise, my mattress would soon be covered in cat and dog hair. It takes me less than five minutes to put clean sheets on the bed.
Laundry isn't really a tiresome thing for me. The machines do most of the work, It's not as though I have to carry the clothes to the river in a basket on my head and beat them on a rock.

We have three sets of sheets for every bed, though some are flannel and we don't use them in summer. But every bed has at least two sets to use at any given time, so we always wash one and put a different, clean set on while the dirty ones are in the laundry. It's just too much to wash, dry and remake the beds all at once without anyone needing to sleep in the meantime.

For towels, my husband and I have two complete sets and the kids each have 3-4 towels. Again, take out the dirty ones and replace with different, clean ones.

2 sets of everything.

As for a process: every night just before bed I rotate all the laundry. Dry clothes come out of the washer to be washed, wet clothes from the washer go into the dryer, new load of dirty stuff goes into the washer. So, every night, 1 new load of laundry gets started, and 1 clean load gets folded.

My laundry is on the 2nd floor of my house next to my bedroom, which makes this process super easy to do right before bed.

I am so ashamed!! I do laundry once a WEEK! I just sorted this week's enormous pile and I have eight loads to do. That's not including sheets!

Such great advice here- I'm going to try to start doing a load a day. Maybe I wouldn't dread/hate laundry so much!

To answer your question... I am obviously NOT efficient with laundry, but I do wash sheets and put them right back on the bed. We have an extra set for each bed in case of emergencies (someone gets sick in the middle of the night), but like Nervy Girl, we seem to have a ton of blankets, but not so many sheets.

On thing that does help me is that I gather my hangers and keep them in the laundry room when it's time to get it done- this way, when casual shirts come out of the dryer, they go straight onto a hanger and the kids can take them to their rooms. I have an over-the-door thingy that I hang everything on until it's time to take it all upstairs.

Most of our clothes are done in cold water, but undies and towels get a hot wash. I'm a borderline germaphobe.

Laundry- ugh!! Thanks for asking this! I've learned some new tips!

I am a laundry heretic. I do not sort anything except for handwashables and I wash nearly everything on cold.

I strip beds and do them the same day. (two beds, full and queen, just pillowcases, fitted sheet and duvet covers) We don't have extra linens handy. (Tons of blankets, but not enough sheets, go figure.)

Towels get thrown in as they are used, they get washed with everything else.

We will occasionally wash something on hot if there is a health reason for it, otherwise, I don't worry about it. We just throw our dirty laundry down the basement steps and I run it when we have a full load. Sometimes that's two loads in one day, sometimes one, sometimes one every other day. I fold them about two-three loads at a time. I don't usually get tired of it because I'm a SAHM and just consider this as part of my job. Plus, I don't usually watch tv during the day, so if I'm folding and have it on a cooking show or something, that's a treat for me.

I wash every day. I have one set of sheets and towels. I do sheets every Friday, all bed linens every other week. I do towels every few days.

With cloths, I either do a load first thing or last thing, depending on what there is, but I check every morning and every night before dinner. I like to keep our hampers empty.

There are 5, one toddler, in the house.

Laundry is just part of my life. My dad jokes when he comes over that I am always doing laundry. When there are little ones in the house, you do do laundry all the time. It just is what it is. We are also paperless, so there are always napkins, towels, etc.

Life is tiresome sometimes. It is what it is.

Per Flylady I try to reboot laundry everyday. (Washer to dryer, fold, put away, but another load in washer).
Sometimes I put the freshly laundered sheets back on the beds, sometimes ( like you, if time crunch occurs) I put the other sets on.
We have more towels then a set per person ( more like 4 sets per person ) so I do a towel load when the shelf is getting low.
I replace hand towels in both bathrooms about every other day.
I have about 6 hand towels for each bathroom.

I have the rotational system - that is, backups. Once I strip a bed (or a towel rack), I want to replace what's needed right away. Otherwise, I may get involved in other things and not get back to it until evening. That isn't what I want to do in the evening.

When the children were growing up, I did a load of laundry every day. It didn't bother me. The laundry was there, and it had to be done - it wasn't going to do itself, unhappily. If it's easier on the laundrymaid (me - and you) to have a little laundry job on the list every day, like brushing teeth, then that's fine. My machine has adjustable water levels so I can do small loads. I had clothes baskets for each member of the family so they all could put their own clothing away. And all the children learned how to iron.

Now that the children are grown, I do laundry every few days. Yes, I do some sorting; I've had enough white underwear come out pink to know I need to do that. The days I change the bed linens and towels is a biggish laundry day, but again, it needs to be done. I'm not going to mope over it. The sooner I do it, the sooner I'm finished. (When the grandchildren come to visit, I'm back to every day, or at least every other day.)

You might experiment and try putting your sheets through the washer first instead of last. Because you know they do take longer, if they're first on your list you'll get the job done sooner. Play around with it.

how did doing laundry become so complicated? make your life easier n organize your time-put fresh sheets n towels on when you take off dirty..i was a single mom to 2 kids worked n went to school-its all about being organized

Wash and replace. I hate folding sheets.

I am so jealous you only have 3-4 loads a week!!!!!

I suppose having more than 4 loads of laundry contributes to the process for me. I do laundry as it needs doing. I don't have a "schedule" for it. Being a SAHM pretty much means I can do laundry every day if I want, or only certain days, or whatever... but I don't like to devote a DAY to it. I'd rather do it as it piles up so that the piles are more manageable and if something comes up (someone is ill or I get busy out of the house and can't do a load for a couple of days) that there is no harm, no foul.

When the jeans/dark clothes are piled up enough for a load, I wash them. Move them to the dryer and see what else has enough dirty to run a load of.
(I only picked jeans/darks for my explanation as an example, since once you start on something you just keep the process in constant motion. Laundry is never "done"... there are always more things to wash unless you do your laundry naked).

Yes, we have more than one set of sheets per bed. If doing the sheets for my bed, I pull a set out of the closet and put them on, and fold and put the clean ones in the linen closet when they come out of the dryer. For my kids' beds, it depends. If they strip them and put fresh sheets on later in the day, they pull a clean set out of the closet and I replace the freshly washed ones in the closet when they are done. If they strip the beds early enough in the day, then they can put the ones from the dryer back on their beds.

Yes, we also have more than one set of towels per person. That would drive me batty to not have extra towels. Yikes. I do about 2 loads of towels per week. And I have a front loader that holds a lot of towels. I tend to reuse my towel a few days (and hang it spread out to dry immediately after each use)... but my kids don't. And we have a pool, so they will often grab another towel for when they've been in the pool, or we've been at the beach. And then there are towels only for drying the dog after a bath. And towels for when we have company. And son does high school sports, and they are required to shower as soon as practice or matches are over before they leave the facility.

So, as soon as a load comes out of the wash, it goes in the dryer. If I expect I will be available (not gone to bed, or to take a child to an activity, etc) I assess what's left to be washed and take the most needed (or whatever there is the most OF: darks, whites, reds, colors, etc) and throw in another load. I fold the dried clothes and put the newly washed in the dryer. The cycle continues, unless I am not here anticipating having time to fold/put away the stuff in the dryer. I will allow things to sit in the dryer (and turn it back on a few minutes to knock most of the wrinkles out before I fold them/put them away on another day), but not wet in the washer.

Some weeks I do 4 or 5 loads. Some weeks I do 12. It depends on what is dirty. I usually get down to a mostly bare laundry room at least one day out of every 7-8. But there is always one pair of black socks, or one white karate uniform that didn't show up until that color was already washed, when I get to the end. That's fine. It can sit a few days until there is enough of that color to wash. :)

We have 3 sets of sheets for our bedroom and my kids always had at least 2 sets and sometimes 3. I would strip the beds and make them right then. As far as towels go I have approximately 20 lol. I have some that match and some that don't. I only put out matching towels for company. But we gather them and then put clean folded towels on the shelf in the bathroom as they are used I replace them with clean ones after a couple uses.

I don't sort anything.
But, with bedding, I do that by itself because it is bulky/heavy and it is a full load itself.
Everything else, I wash all together. ie: clothing/towels.
I wash everything with cold water.
And I never have a problem with anything I wash.
My washer, has typical settings for light/medium or heavy levels of dirtiness.
And hot/warm/cold water settings.
And delicate or regular or bedding or heavy duty stuff etc.
And for "quick" wash or regular. The quick wash setting does it in like 1/2 hour. The regular wash is like 1 hour.
This is an HE washer.

Anyway, I just do laundry as quick as I can. I don't sort laundry unless I have to. I wash clothing and towels and whatever all together.
But sheets separate.
I wash all kinds of colors together too. It does not run or get into my whites. I never have a problem with my laundry.
I can't be bothered with separating colors.
And with "delicates" I put that in a net-bag, and stick it in with the regular wash and I never have a problem with it.

I do laundry about 3-4 times a week. And I time everything. While also anticipating what I have coming up per when the wash/dryer is done. And that is when I do laundry.

Per sheets, I wash it, dry it, then put it back on the beds.

Typically, I do laundry in the morning as soon as I get up. Then by the time I take the kids to school etc., and come home, the laundry is done. Then I put it in the dryer. Then by the time I have to get to work... the dryer is done and I have folded and put away everything.

And if I am on the fly and have important things to wash, quickly... I do the "quick" wash setting, dry it, fold and put it away, and that's it, and I am out of the house.

Basically, I do laundry for what is fastest and most convenient for me. Meaning, I don't really sort laundry, I wash it, dry it, and put it away. The fastest I can.
And I don't let a wash sit in the washer for a long time until I stick it in the dryer. Because at least where I am, the laundry gets smelly if you let it sit wet, for too long.

I have a second (and third) set of sheets for all of the beds in our house. Same with towels. That way, I'm not in a mad rush to get everything washed and put back on the beds, or hung up in time for showers, etc.

My method for doing laundry is to sort all the laundry (actually, I've trained my kids to do this part). I have a laundry bag for each load:
1) whites
2) darks
3) delicates
4) sheets/towels (this is usually 2-3 loads)
5) husband's work clothes (he's in construction; his stuff gets grungy and has to go through the sanitize cycle)

Then, I have a clean laundry basket for each person in our family, plus one for sheets/towels. I place the baskets on the floor of the laundry room. As each load comes out of the dryer, I sort the items into the correct basket. This makes the folding/putting away process much faster. Plus, I can hand my kids their own baskets, and they fold their own stuff and put it away. ;)

We have 2 sets of sheets for the boys' beds, so I strip theirs and make them immediately. Usually before I even put the dirty sheets in the wash. I wash their sheets and pillow cases together. I don't wash their comforters as often, but I probably should try to do those more often.

I'm like Nervy Girl - I wash everything in cold and just throw things (towels, jeans, whatever) in as they come.

I try to do at least one load each day. I just grab from hampers and then see if there are any towels that need to be washed. We just use our towels a couple of times and then toss them in the hamper, but I usually double check all the hanging towels to see if I think they need to be washed, even if the user isn't concerned yet. (Did I mention I'm the only girl living with 3 boys/men?) We do have lots of towels - probably too many.

Whatever works and keeps the family happy :-)

M. H-

I don't do laundry. Hubs is more particular about how its done, so he does it. We have one child and live in a co-op with a communal laundry room. He does all the laundry once a week, folds it, and does the ironing too. He will put away his and baby's and the linens, and leave mine stacked on my dresser. We wash towels about once a week or so, and bedding every 3 weeks or so. Having multiple commercial washers that do quick work of the laundry helps.

if you want to simplify your laundry routine, try to generate less laundry.
Towels used to dry your freshly washed hands and body aren't really dirty (in my mind), they just need to be hung to dry and can be re-used until they are musty or for about a week.
Bedding too, we shower twice a day, once at night before bed (to wash away the day), and again in the morning (to get those eyes open), unless someone is sick in the bed, again, no need to wash all that frequently.
jeans and sweaters can go a couple of days before being washed unless there is a spill or they get grimy.

Best,
F. B.

I have a second (or third) set of everything except for bed pillows. I strip the bed, put the pillows in the machine first. I remake the bed with the extra set of bedding so all I have to do is put the pillows back on. Washing everything on the California King bed is an all day process. Matress pad is it's own load as is the quilt. All 3 pillows make up one load. The rest of the sheets and pillow cases are another. I do both boys on the same day. I start with their pillows as one load and their comforters as a second load because I don't have spares of those. Sheets, pillow cases and mattress pads I have extra.
All bath towels I have at least 2 sets so I can swipe them all up to wash and immediately put a fresh set up in each of the 3 bathrooms.
There are not enough hours in the day to only have 1 set of anything. I always have at least 2 sets, sometimes more. My youngest is in a toddler bed so her bedding is smaller and I can do the whole thing in one load. I have a lot more extra bedding for her since she's littler.
I have had to strip and remake the bed more times than I can count in the middle of the night after having one of the three get sick all over their beds so that's a big reason. It's nice at 3 in the morning to just strip it all off, quickly remake it and get the first load washing with the rest on the garage floor then go back to sleep and deal with it in the morning.
I don't have a set day I do everyone's bedding or anything like that. I rotate it out depending on need and how much energy I have.

I do not have a "process" for laundry or kitchen cleaning.
I do laundry whenever is necessary, but I do not expect the laundry hampers (kid's room and master bedroom) to be full. My kids know that whenever their hampers are half full, they need to take them downstairs to the laundry room, sort their clothes and put them in the sorter hamper; the same when laundry is ready, the kids take their clean clothes and put them away.
I do a couple of loads for towels only (dark and light colors), perhaps once a week usually Fridays. I do keep a different set of clean and fresh towels for every one in the house while washing the others.
I wash sheets separately from anything else once a week, Fridays also,and as with the towels I have a set of clean sheets for everyone in the house while the others are being washed.
Laundry in general is doing whenever is needed. I rather do laundry 3 times a week than waiting to build up large loads of it. In the end, the washer and dryer are doing the job for me!
One thing I do without procrastinating, is folding and putting away immediately the clothes that have been washed.

I haven't had just one set of sheets and towels since living in a college dorm. :-) We have many clean towels available in the bathroom cabinet and at least 4 sheet/blanket sets for each bed (cotton for summer, flannel for winter). We never run out of available clean towels or sheets.

When dirty sheets are stripped, the bed is remade with a different set. I wash towels when that section of the sorter is full. The only time towels are hung is when they are drying after use, otherwise they are folded and in the cabinet.

I usually do laundry once per week unless there is something specific that I need. I enjoy doing it all at once and watching tv while I fold a big pile of clean stuff.

Having multiples of things means you can do laundry at your convenience. Having one set of things means you have to be on top of it with no procrastination.

That said, there is such a thing as too much! I know I need to cull my linen closet and bathroom cabinet. It is pretty crowded in there.

I always take off the old linens and remake the beds right away with a new set of linens. That way, the bed is made, and I can fold clean clothes on a bed that's made and not have to find another place to do that job.

I also usually wash all my wash the same day. I usually wash my daughter's clothes separately--she usually has 2 loads, a white/underwear and a dark. Then I wash mine and my husband's--sometimes 4-5 loads, depending on what's there--white/underwear, T-shirts, darks, dress clothes. I hang up quite a few of the clothes in the basement to dry (husband has seasonal allergies, so we don't dry clothes outside); the rest go in the dryer. Since we have a full and a queen bed, I usually wash sheets separately, otherwise the load is too heavy.

For towels, there are a certain number of towels in the upstairs bathroom and a certain number in the downstairs bathroom; we usually never run through all of them. So while I'm washing towels, there are still towels that can be used.

I also work at home as a freelance editor, so I am able to work washing into my office/work schedule.

Then, a few days later when the clothes that are hanging up drying from the rafters are dry, I take all of them upstairs and fold them.

In my house there is only me and my 17 yo daughter. She is responsible for her own laundry. I usually have 2 loads of my own, one dark and one light, and I do those on Saturday. I work 2 jobs during the week and there is no way on earth that I'm doing laundry too. Bedding gets washed and put back on the bed because I hate to fold any of it, and I pay my daughter to do the towels because I don't want to do them. She does those on Friday and her clothes either after I am done on Saturday, or on Sunday.

-I do a load of laundry every day only because I don't mind it & these might be our favorite clothes or husband's work clothes.
-If I do one load a day, it doesn't seem insurmountable nor do I have to
spend all day on a weekend doing it when I can be having quality time
w/my family.
-I do sheets on the weekend but have a second set for every bed in the
linen closet ready to make those beds while they are washing. Doing it
this way means I don't get stuck at night having forgotten to make up the
beds.
-So basically yes I have a 2nd set of everything so while it's washing I can
put up the clean/fresh towels etc.
-I do not wait for the entire laundry process to be done (wash, dry, fold put
away) before starting a new chore or a 2nd set of laundry in washer.
-I try to do 2 things every morning (put in a load of laundry & start the
dishwasher we've loaded the night before).
-I save "big" chores for the wkend when hubby is home so I don't have to
worry about the youngest child.
-I try to put things away as I see them. For instance, as I type this I see
some games, pet toys that need to be put away....I will get up & put those things away as soon as I am done w/MP. (taking a well deserved
break right now.) ;)
-I try not to keep dishes in sink for long. They get loaded in dishwasher
right away.
-Since hubby was home today, I did all of the dusting, mirrors, vacuuming
and cleaning of bathrooms.
-So my timesavers? Do other things while dishes/laundery are washing but then I finish that particular chore. However, I never fold clothes & put away before starting another load. Never. I'd never get the 2nd load in &
done. I am almost always interrupted by a young, sweet face. ;)
-When dishwasher gets turned on in a.m., I wipe down the kitchen counters & clean off the kitchen table.

I wash the sheets and put them back on the bed but I have more time at home than most. If I were you, I'd consider getting a second set for everybody. I think it would make the process less hectic. Kind of like, I used to yell at my son as a teen for not putting his lunch bag out from his backpack all the time. Finally I bought a $2 extra lunch bag and the house got quieter! Sometimes we would be better of with extra stuff and this comes from a tightwad.

We have plenty towels so I wash when I have a load of them and 19 yr old home for the summer does his when he has a load. We hang the used one till dry. Socks and undies go in with the towels.

Clothes get done when there is a load or more. When there is more I split into light and dark. Otherwise, I use a color catcher.

I do laundry every single day as a general rule. Some days I skip if there's not much in the basket. We have 1 set of sheets per bed. Saturday mornings the beds get stripped. They are made back up sometime throughout the day. They won't be used again until night time anyway. This routine works great for our family of 4.

ETA: We have 4 towels, 1 per person. All get washed as they are used. I sort nothing. It all just gets tossed together into a single load. Except for sheets and blankets which are washed together once a week.

ETA 2: I should also add that my family practices minimalism. So we purposefully only own what we use and not extra.

We wash towels as the hamper for towels gets full. I think you should wash them separately from other clothes though. They leave fluff on the clothes they're washed with.

Sheets and other big items. Clothes and other smaller items get in the folds and then they don't agitate and get clean. They ball up and get wrapped tightly.

I wash mattress pads first, hot water, detergent, bleach, and some fabric softener. They go in the dryer and sheets start. I wash them pretty much the same as the other load because I was them sanitized and even if they're black microfiber sheets I add about 1/4 cup of Clorox Bleach.

HOW I DO BLEACH

If it's a top loader washer I start the water, add the powder detergent, add about 1/2 cup of liquid Clorox Bleach. Then I let the load continue filling. When it starts agitating I'll add the clothes/sheets/dark stuff to the agitating water.

This keeps the items from having bleach spots on them.

To a front loader with a drawer for added items. I put the detergent in the space. Then I put the fabric softener in it's spot. I put the bleach into it's space and add a little water to it to keep it from being so strong when it goes down into the wash load.

I put some amount of bleach in almost every single load I wash. Darks, whites, colors, etc. If it's costly leos I don't add bleach to that.

I figure if I'm pulling sheets and other bedding off the beds it needs to be done first thing in the morning so I have time to get them completely done before bedtime, in case I forget them...lol.

I also wonder about your question pertaining to the towels. Are you saying they use the same towels all week? And rehang them to dry? We do that but we don't go for a week. Usually a few days and we get clean towels. Even when you're clean the action of the towel rubbing across your skin removes dead skin cells and bacteria so using them repeatedly for days and days isn't very sanitary.

If we shower/bathe every day we would have 2 towels for me, 2 towels for my daughter, 1 for boy kiddo, and 1 for hubby. That's nearly a whole load. If I wait 2 days and everyone showers each day then that's 12 towels of various sizes. Our hair towels are thinner regular bath towels but my body towel is 72" long. My granddaughter's and my grandson's towels are 64" long. Hubby has towels of both lengths. So they're not small bath towels they are beach style towels.

If everyone used a clean towel each time I'd probably do a load of towels every other day regardless of other laundry.

I wash then put back on. I think it's silly to pull sheets and stuff then remake the bed. Then wash and dry and fold then put up the clean ones. I'd rather save time and effort.

I'd also have a shelf in the bathroom where extra towels can be stored. Then when they use a towel for a few days they can drop the used towel into the main hamper so I can wash them when it's full.