Organized Moms, I Need Laundry Help!

Oh! I'm with you! I hang everything up except underware and socks, and if something doesn't fit, I take it off him right then (hard to do, as he is "dressed") and throw it on the closet floor. About once a month I scoop up all of the clothes that are too small, toss them into a big plastic bag, and take them to a friend's who has a younger son. Good excuse to drink coffee together and catch up!

i match up the kids outfits and hang them on hangers that way even dad can make the girls look good. I buy the cheap walmart hangers that have clips so i can clip the pants then out the shirt with them. works great

O.k., I don't qualify to answer, since I'm not organized. I'm mostly answering so that you can feel batter about yourself when you are compared to me. Also, I live in Loveland (an hour north of you) so imagining some crazy, wild-haired momma with no organization so close to home might make you feel less alone. I have four daughters, ages 10 and under, and a 3 bedroom house. The 10 year old has her own room because it's really small. The three others share the "dorm room"--it's large and easily holds both a set of bunk beds and a day bed for the youngest (not that they ever sleep in their own beds, mind you.) I also publish and edit my own magazine from home (http://www.getbornmag.com) and am fighting stage IV breast cancer. Needless to say, laundry gets done when my husband says, "I'm gonna have to do the laundry--I'm out of undies." So he does. And I help, because by that time I feel guilty for being a sorry excuse for a homemaker. My eldest has finally decided she hates living in squalor, so she's starting to keep her room neat. The other three? Well, let's just say walking through their room most days can be somewhat hazardous to your health. So i have no tips, except to say that when I let go the need to have things in order, I sort of got some of my sanity back. It took a long time for me not to believe that my value was somehow related to my housekeeping skills, and I still struggle with feeling like I should at least do SOMETHING, but I usually let myself off the hook. Sorry to be so off-topic, but I wanted to share.

I have thought long and hard about this issue and will share what works for me.

I pretty much hang all tops in their closets and keep pants, socks and underwear in their bureaus. The rest of the bureau is used to store hand-me-downs for upcoming seasons. The reason I hang everything is that you can easily see it all AND you don't have to spend time folding it all. If everything is folded in a bureau drawer, you end up wearing only the top 2 or 3 layers that you can see and never wear anything that's down deeper. I also think that it's easier for kids to learn to hang a shirt on a hanger than to fold it.

I have twin boys and found it extremely helpful to have one boy wear white socks and the other wear black or navy blue.

I have also done away with all laundry baskets except for the clothes hampers for dirty clothes. When I used laundry baskets to transport dirty clothes to/from the laundry, I found that clean, unfolded clothes ended up overflowing in them frequently. Now, I just carry dirty clothes to the laundry in my arms, and when they're all done, I dump them on a chair in the living rm until I have time to fold them. (I like sorting/folding in the LR 'cuz I can watch tv.) If something is needed before it's been sorted & put away, it's easy to find in the pile. When I'm organized, I try to do a load a day and then will have a day or two when there are 2 or 3 loads to do. Otherwise, I sort the laundry into piles on my bedroom floor. When I'm ready to sort and/or fold, I make a pile for each person and line them up on the stairs for them to take up to their rooms and put away. (Once in a while I will sort and wash the clothes by person. So easy when it's done--just dump the whole pile right on his/her bed!)

Good luck!

My kids clothes are put away in the drawers in their rooms , I have a drawer for underwear/socks , then a drawer for pants & tops and a drawer for PJ's. As soon as it is washed and dry and fold it and put it away. Out of season clothes I keep in clear storage boxes (the flat type on wheels) and those are stored under the bed. Anything that is too small (if my sons) I either check if friends want it for there sons or it goes to charity. My middle daughters clothes hands down to my youngest daughter. Handed down clothes I also keep in storage boxes.

As for the amount of clothes they have , I keep to a rule so they don't end up with too much , I have 7 of each item (except underwear where I go for 10).

Good luck with the sorting!!

Aack! I HATE laundry too and with little clothes it is even worse. I have a toddler girl that goes through three outfits per day and 4 year old at one outfit per day and a 9 year old in sports so he is a two outfit per day guy, then the worst - my husband who is a contractor, two to three outfits per day and more clothes that all of us combined! I get the whole laundry battle!

I actually got turned on to flylady.com from MamaSource and after a couple of months and applying her ideas with my own household needs I found a system that works - FINALLY! Here is what I do:

- I run a load once per day
- I am sure to dry the load and fold it right away (cuts down the ironing)
- After a day or two of this routine my basket is full then I take it upstairs to be put away
- Once upstairs, I organize by kid and type, i.e., long pants, short pants, shirts, socks/undies, hang, iron.
- I have each kid organized the exact same, anything long (long pants, long sleeve shirts, dresses, etc.) gets hung, anything short goes in drawers, I have one drawer for shirts, one drawer for shorts/sweats (I don't hang sweats), one drawer for socks, undies and pajamas.

In short, I run each day, I put away every two days or so, I bring the new basket of dirty clothes down to the laundry room on the days I put away.

Another tip, I use one laundry basket for everyone! Not sure why I started that, it just seemed to simplify my life. I keep 4 baskets in the laundry room, one for clean clothes, and the other three for sorting.

The biggest thing I have learned however is to go light on the clothes for kids. Every time I get too many then I dread putting things away because there just isn't enough room, it is overwhelming to weed though it, etc. To keep the clothes quantity to a minimum, I run through them once a month. I don't take but 5 to 10 minutes to quickly go through and pull anything they have outgrown, has a stain on it, a hole in it, whatever. I don't think about it, I just get rid of it or in my two boys' case I store by size for when the younger one gets old enough to wear them.

I still hate laundry primarily because it is never done but at least now, I can keep up with it and I don't get piles of overwhelming clothes horror!

Good luck!

Drawers are much quicker for putting clothes away, if you can handle some wrinkles. After each load (or 2) of laundry, I sit on the bed (that's where I sort) and separate daddy's, mommy's and kids. Then of the kids, I lay them in piles by child and short sleeves, long sleeves, shorts, pants, and socks. I don't fold, just lay out in piles, then carry each childs piles to her room and dump in that dresser drawer. One drawer is shirts, short sleeve on the left and long on the right, separated by one of those adjustable dividers; same thing for short & pants. Socks get matched and paired in sorting so I'm not looking for random socks later when we're rushing out the door. Church clothes get hung up. 10 minutes and done.

I also have hooks in their rooms near the dresser or closet to hang worn but not dirty yet clothes, so I'm not washing a shirt that can be worn a 2nd time--saves on laundry.

As soon as it is too small, I throw the item in a box (labeled (NAME)'S TOO SMALL), which is in a closet, convenient but out of the way. When the box is full, I fold the contents neatly, label it with the sizes, and take to the attic, or put in the younger kid's dresser.

This is also a good opportunity to teach those boys how to help out around the house. They can help carry a pile to their room and put it in the right drawer. Do the kids help you by putting their dirty clothes in the laundry basket? They are certainly able!

Also, I have have 2 laundry baskets in my room--one for darks and one lights, so I don't have to sort them out to start a load... saves SOOO much time and mess.

In my daughter's closet I have a closet doubler-the bar that hangs halfway down from the top bar. I used to keep it nice & organized in there, but I've gotten lazy! haha I would separate out complete outfits, t-shirts, long-sleeve shirts, pants, skirts, jackets, etc. Now it's all just put in where it fits... haha

As far as folding, she's got a 3-drawer dresser. The top drawer is small and inside is divided into 3 sections. Her socks go on the right, panties in the middles, and seasonal things (like gloves, mittens, swim suits) go on the left. I don't worry too much about the organization of these things. They are within reach of my daughter so she can grab new panties & socks when she needs them. The second drawer has blankets in it. The last drawer has white t-shirts and her pjs. I do fold those, but I don't worry about them getting messy.

I do a load of laundry every day when I wake up, clothes get pulled out of the dryer one at a time and hung up or ironed right then. Clothes are hung on a rod in the laundry room, separated by family member. Underwear, socks, pj's are folded and put in bins, one for each person, that sit on a shelf above the washer/dryer. This way, there is never anything that is clean sitting in a laundry basket, most clothes are wrinkle free or just need a touch up, and no one is ever searching for their soccer uniform etc. they know right where to find them. Once a week the kids get their clean clothes and put them away in their room. I have five children + we've had over 25 foreign kids live with us over the years.

My boys share a bedroom which means they also share a dresser. I don't know what your closet looks like, but I have a mini walk-in closet in the kids' rooms. I have taken a 5 drawer dresser and in the top 2 drawers I have one son's clothes...1 drawer shirts, other drawer pants, the middle drawer holds both boys pajamas and the bottom 2 drawers hold the other son's clothes....1 drawer shirts, the other drawer pants. In the closet there is a shelf and I bought 4 baskets of 2 different colors to put on the shelf. I separated the baskets into underwear and socks. The 2 different colors are specific to that child. I also bought a shoe organizer and put that in the closet where they keep their shoes. I hang anything that buttons or slacks for church.

For my daughter's room I hang almost everything. She does not have a dresser, at walmart they have kids hangers and kids hangers with clips. I bought 4 baskets for her closet shelf and put her socks, underwear, jammies and swimming suits in them. I hang everything else, and she also has a shoe organizer.

Poor M.! I feel your pain!
I have three sons and a good friend who is actually a professional organizer. She helped me makeover my kids' closets about a year ago and it saved my sanity. Here's what she did for me:
-the two older boys share a room, dresser and closet. I organized the dresser according to what they could do for themselves, hence, socks and undies are in the bottom drawer because they can both put those on without a lot of help. They are in seperate box compartments inside the drawer. I used shoeboxes until I found something cuter that fit right.
-My toddler has his own closet for now but no dresser. I have a hanging cubby-hole-style hanging organizer in his closet because his clothes are so little and I don't have room to hang them all up. (Plus, who wants to hang up a bunch of little onesies? It's just not necessary.)
-With my toddler, I tend to sort his clothes more according to outfit than clothing type. Meaning, if his brown bear onesie and his brown pants are a set, then I fold or hang them together instead of putting one in the onesie section and the other in the pants section. There are of course sections for individual items that mix and match and things such as socks and hats, but keeping outfits together has made it easier for my (super-cute) husband to help dress the baby.
-T-shirts and shorts and pajamas are in the bigger kids' drawers. Nicer shirts and pants are in the closet on two rails. The older child has the lower rail so he can reach his clothes, since he can dress himself. The younger child still needs help, so it's OK if he cannot reach his things just yet.
-All kids' shoes are in the laundry room closet. I cannot tell you how much energy I have wasted looking for shoes before I instituted this policy. I'm sure my irritation could have powered Amsterdam. Now, shoes are off as soon as we get home, and shoes go on right as we leave. If your kids' rooms are far away from where you arrive home, consider keeping their shoes somewhere more central, or even in the garage.
-Banker boxes have saved my life! I now have two boxes in the bottom of each kid closet, one labeled "too small" and one labeled "next size." When I pull out an item of clothing and discover the child has outgrown it, I do not hang it back up or put it back in the drawer, I just drop it into the "too small" box. When I buy clothes for them to grow into or pull out items from storage that is for the next season or still a bit too big, I place them in the "next size" box. Then, about once a month, I rotate the "too small" stuff down to my basement in Rubbermaid storage bins (labeled by size) and bring the empty "too small" box back up to the closet floor. As they grow into the next size, I start adding those items into the mix. I also put items I want to donate in a bag and put the bag in my car, so I can drop them off when I'm running errands. Doing this has made the piles seem so much less chaotic and even if I don't have a chance to sort all the time, things stay neat because I am not rooting through things that just don't fit. Also, I am not washing things I know they will not wear. Immediately removing items from circulation has simplified my whole life. Banker's boxes or other cardboard storage boxes (I got mine at Costco) in the closets have been a major life improvement for me.
-I do tons of laundry, but I try not to do it on days when I won't be home to fold it and put it away right away. Doing only one or maybe two loads and putting it away right away is better for me than doing tons and letting in crumple in piles on the bedroom floor.
-It's helped me a lot to include my children in laundry chores. My oldest has been able to sort laundry since he was about 3, and could start the washing machine by the time he was 5. He's now 7, and he is a *huge* help to me. He is teaching the four-year-old how to sort and start the machine and move things from the washer to the dryer and carry the full basket upstairs to me, and my 18-month-old loves to help put laundry into the machines and put away socks. They all like to help put away laundry--I send them on "missions": "Here's your next mission; to the pajama drawer with clean jammies for your brother! Keep them nice and flat!" and they zoom off to put their stuff and other people's stuff away as I fold it. It might take longer initially, but do not miss the opportunity to teach your little kids how to help with this never-ending chore. It is SO worth the investment of time so they know how to help.
Hang in there, and best wishes!

I see you have plenty of responses, but I will go ahead and give mine incase it has something different.
here is how I organize for my one year old. He has three bars in his closet. On on bar I put the shirts/outfits that fit now. On another I put his church clothes and on the third bar I put both the next size up and the out of season clothes (short sleeves). I put pants, onsies, and sleepers in a drawer in his dresser. If the pants specifically go with a top, I hang them together. I have the last drawer in his dresser for next size up pants. His socks are in a box in his closet (I had a smaller dresser at first and just never changed it)I keep a box in his closet for clothes he has outgrown. If I put it on him and it is too small, I take it off and put it in the box right away. My resolution for the year is to fold and put away laundry on the same day! Something I am very bad at. I have a laundry basket at the bottom of the closet for dirty clothes. Then it is easy to put the dirty stuff in after taking it off.
My 5 year old daughter is basically the same. Her socks, panties and tights are in a drawer.
A place for everything and everything in its place! Good luck with your organizing.

I am a "lazy laundry lady". I buy only clothes that will not bleed, shrink, or otherwise require special attention. I never sort and I do not fold! (Actually, I fold towels for ease of putting then away, but nothing else.) All of my clothes come out clean and wonderful and I don't waste a lot of time fussing over unnesseccary details.

I grew up folding my clothes, but find that my kids just rifle through their drawers when looking for clothes and essentially unfold it all anyway, or they'll drop the neatly folder pile on their way to their room. Why bother? With all the other stuff I am sure you do, this is one detail that can go by the wayside.

When you do laundry have your kids help you sort the clean stuff and put it all away. Start them young.

As a side note, my 8 year old has started folding her own clothes unprompted.

As you sort the clean laundry get rid of stuff that is worn out or too small.

I usually do laundry over the weekend. I haul it all down to the laundry room, sort and run it. As it comes out of the dryer I fold it and put it in baskets and we each get our own basket. When the laundry is done each person gets to put away their own basket of clothes: my kids are 3 and 5. The kids have armoirs (like a chest of drawers) and they sort of neatly put things away in the drawers. Their closets are full of organization shelves and hold most of their toys. The only thing I (they) hang is outerwear; snowpants/jackets because they're too bulky to fit in drawers.

I used to put all our clothes into a communal basket and try and sort it as I put it away, but ended up with huge piles of laundry as I hated to put it all away. Having individual baskets has made things waaaay easier for us. GL!! Hope you find a system that works for you.

My 2 little ones (ages 2 & 4, boy and girl) share a room and a dresser. The only stuff I hang is nice stuff for church. They each get 4 smallish drawers (pjs, shirts, pants, and underwear/socks - plus there's one more for misc.) The big thing that has helped me is that I don't "let" them have TOO MANY clothes! (And when it's wintertime, I don't even have their summer clothes in the drawers, they're packed under the bed) Besides taking out things that are too small, if we were given some more stuff, etc. I get rid of a few things so that it all still fits in the drawer. If it doesn't fit, I downsize. While having more clothes means not having to do laundry as often, it also means more mess, more clutter, more headache, and all that clothes needs to get washed, too. They have less clothes, I do laundry a few times a week and there's always room to put it away right away. I also have been teaching my kids not to dig through their drawers (hard to do, I know) and my 4 year old knows how to "fold" a little bit, which really helps things not to get so messed up. Good luck!

Another thing . . . my sister's trick: She takes her clothes out of the dryer and puts them on her own bed, any time of day. When it's time for her to go to bed, she has to fold them (absolutely no chucking it on the floor, that's the hard part!)

Laundry is never ending! Its every day and I feel your pain :) Thought I was the only one.
Also, if you are like me, I tend to WAY overbuy clothes for my daughters. Its ridiculous and of course, closets and drawers are packed. Buy enough but make sure you don't buy too much.

I like to hang everything, it's just easier. I don't hang undergarments and p.j.s but all the rest.

When the weather changes, fall & spring, unload and give away or donate.

Sounds like they might have too many clothes! I know you have two, but really, how many clothes do they need each. Weed some stuff out and organize the drawers...underwear, socks, pants, tops...hang l/s shirts and dress clothes and maybe sweaters if you don't have enough drawer space.