Home » Home & Style » Organizational Tips » Laundry Management

Laundry Management

© Judy Brown

Think yourself lucky that you are living in an age where you have the modern convenience of the washer and dryer. You don't have to go out into the river and pound your clothes on a rock to get them clean.

Believe it or not when my children were young we were lucky to have a 'wringer washer' and I can tell you that I once got so frustrated and angry at the wringer wrecking my clothing (smashed buttons, ripped seams etc)that I actually threw the washing machine across the basement floor.

I am only 5'4" and at that time only weighed about 125 pounds so, all I can say is that they are right when they say enraged people have great strength. Needless to say the next day my husband went out and bought me one of those new-fangled, automatic washing machines. :)

So let's assume that you have a washing machine that works and a dryer that also works. There should be no problem keeping up with the laundry..right? There are two schools of thought on how to manage laundry.

1/ Wash everyday as laundry presents itself.

2/ Schedule a weekly laundry day.

---

It doesn't really matter which method you prefer, just adopt whatever is most convenient for your family's needs.

There are a number of things that you can do, and teach your children to do, to reduce the amount of laundry to be done each week.

Change from your work clothes to your casual clothing as soon as you get home from work. Encourage children to change from school clothes to play clothes as soon as they come home each day.

Inspect your clothing as you take it off. If the items are not soiled, they may be worn again, take care to hang them up right away so they don't end up in the laundry hamper.

If you notice that an article of clothing has a spot on it but it is relatively clean, try spot cleaning. Make a paste of soap and water and rub it into the stain. Rinse just that area and let dry. Often times you can avoid having to wash the whole outfit.

When buying clothes, check the care tag, this will indicate whether the item can be cleaned by washing and will give you any tips for drying or dry cleaning.

When shopping for clothing, buy well made brands and don't be afraid to spend a bit more for good quality. It actually saves you money in the long run.

The copyright of the article Laundry Management in Organizational Tips is owned by . Permission to republish Laundry Management in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.