This summer our drier went on the fritz. It was making an awful sound and each time I used it I was afraid it was going to blow up or burn up. Since we enjoy a climate with hot sun and dry air, and I LOVE the smell of sun-dried laundry, AND since we had a couple other things needing our financial attention all at the same time, I decided to try only hang-drying our laundry. The only problem with this is that I only had one clothes line and it barely was enough to hold one load of laundry. I never liked the whole "laundry day" thing anyway, which was what I had been trying to make work previously.
So, something had to change. The answer for me was to do one load of laundry each day, except Sunday. If I was caught up I would skip a day or use that day to do something I normally wouldn't pay attention to like curtains or rugs. If I felt behind, I'd do two loads a day. Flexibility is the name of the game, right?
I did this for about 6 weeks and loved it! My goal is always to get it started first thing in the morning, because I tend to forget about laundry - out of sight and out of mind! It gives me the whole day to remember to finish it and put it away. I have to admit there were a few nights when I went out in the dark to collect laundry off the line!
Well, after 6 weeks of the best smelling laundry ever, we were ready to get a new drier (thank you, Craig's list). Now that it's cold outside, I'm glad not to have to hang dry the clothes, but I've kept the same system of about one load a day. It's made doing laundry almost a joy!
How do you manage keeping your family's clothes clean? Are you an "all in one day", "once a day, every day" or "whenever my baskets are overflowing or we've run out of clean socks" laundry family? I've been each of these types at one point or another!
Who does the laundry in your family? Husband or wife? Do you enlist your children's help? How so?
To be honest, we're usually the "out of clean _____" or I notice the baskets seem full and I have time... thankfully I have a gracious husband and my kids don't care yet!
ReplyDeleteI'm a "do laundry on Mondays and Thursdays" type of gal. Seems to work to keep the beast under control. :)
ReplyDeleteWe've been a little of each...Laundry day is Monday, or Laundry is out of control, bring it out and I'll get it done.
ReplyDeleteThen Alec got tired of the laundry not getting done, so he asked me to teach him how to do it--Best. Day. Ever! So then I was only doing mine and Michael's. But after my surgery, he took over mine as well...after a couple of months I was able to take mine back, so now we all do our own. And, it seems to be pretty much whenever we are out of "blank."
I usually do laundry twice a week. Both our boys know how to do and have done it several times, but it is one thing I like to keep for me to do. It is my "fun" time. I sit on the sofa and watch part of a favorite movie or a TV show episode that we have on DVD while I fold laundry. I don't feel guilty for sitting and watching TV during the day because I am working too. I use it as more of a treat.
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