CLEAN – Laundry
The next room for our challenge is to clean the laundry. With 5 members in our house, I am washing 6 out of 7 days. To make it easer on myself I need to keep the laundry tidy and clutter free.
Cleaning task
Today’s cleaning task is to do the following in your laundry:
[wlchecklist name=’CleanDay3′]
Remember just do the tasks above, we will be coming back to the laundry during the challenge to organise and clean other areas.
Here are a few posts I have shared on my blog about organising the laundry:
- Finding time to fold clean laundry
- Laundry room organising tips
- Wash the clothes line
- Declutter under the laundry sink
- Airing my dirty laundry – guest post
- Ironing routine
- How to keep up with the washing when raining
- How I organise all our pet supplies in the laundry
- A day in the life of The Organised Housewife’s day off
- How many school uniforms should I buy?
- My new sorting clean laundry routine
DECLUTTER – Laundry Pile
That is right, declutter your laundry pile by organising the dirty laundry. This is one of my most used organising solutions in our home and I really hope you have the space to be able to implement it in your laundry as it saves me so much time. In fact when I needed a new dryer and I had to purchase one that I could mount on the wall as I didn’t want to lose my dirty laundry system.
I pre-sort my washing into piles:
- Darks
- Colours
- Whites
- Other – Tea towels, wash clothes, tablecloths, mop heads etc
This is my system, it fits in perfectly between the linen cupboard and the washing machine.
How it works
My kids don’t have a dirty clothes basket in their bathroom, there is just no room to store one. After their shower they put their clothes directly into the laundry baskets, sorting into darks, whites and colours as they go. They have done this from a very young age and it is such a great help to me. I have a clothes basket in my bathroom which I empty and sort into these baskets every one to two days.
I find this system eliminates time out of the mundane washing process. Laundry isn’t too much of a chore with this fuss free system. When ready to do the washing all the clothes are there (so no running around to bathrooms or bedrooms picking up clothes), I load the washing machine and continue on with whatever I was doing.
[wlchecklist name=’DeclutterDay3′]
ORGANISE – Laundry Routine
The washing is very much like ground-hog day, however it needs to be done otherwise we won’t have clean clothes to wear. I have a really bad memory, I used to use ‘baby brain’ as an excuse, but my youngest is now 9, so that doesn’t hold up. Creating a laundry routine ensures that I remember to wash everything needed and that the kids go to school at the end of the week with clean uniforms and we eat on a clean tablecloth.
My washing schedule:
Monday – colours
Tuesday – bedsheets
Wednesday – darks & gym gear
Thursday – kitchen linens
Friday – bath towels & gym gear
Saturday – whites & darks
Sunday – day off
I have created some prints for my laundry which includes my schedule above, it helps remind me which load needs to be run each day. This schedule also allows me to have a day off washing each Sunday! These digital prints are available in my shop and can be personalised for your own routine. I have placed the prints in frames and used 3M strips to attach to the wall, brightens up a rather ordinary room.
Laundry schedules are available in my shop. Use coupon code 20dayslaundry to get 20% off at checkout (excludes personalised chart). Click here to download
[wlchecklist name=’OrganiseDay3′]
NEW HABIT – Put on a load of washing.
I put on a load of washing before I start our evening routine, then hang it out to dry that evening as I live on the glorious Gold Coast the sun is up before I am and has it dried by mid morning. Add ‘put on a load of washing’ to your evening or morning routine to help you stay on top of it. Here are some suggestions:
- Put washing on in the evening and hang on the line before breakfast
- Put washing on before breakfast hang before leaving for work/school run
[wlchecklist name=’NewHabitDay3′]
5 MINUTES ONLY – Polish or dust 2 pieces of furniture
[wlchecklist name=’5minutesonlyDay3′]
DOWNLOAD
Print the daily sheet and checklists to keep for reference while you are completing the above tasks.
- DAY 3 DAILY TASK SHEET – file behind ‘Daily Task’ divider – click to download.
- LAUNDRY CLEANING CHECKLIST – file behind ‘Checklist’ divider – click to download.
- BLANK LAUNDRY CLEANING CHECKLIST – use this to create your own checklist, file behind ‘Checklist’ divider – click to download.
199 comments
It’s amazing what a couple of hours + determination + elbow grease can do!! I love my newly organised & clean laundry – I even pulled the washing machine out of the corner and cleaned (vacuumed the floor) (found some odd socks) & cleaned the walls! (washing is up to date too
The sink was the biggest job!! My partner is a painter/spray-painter so there was a lot of dried up paint in there! I used Chemico (NZ version of Gumption) with a cloth (also scrubbing brush/toothbrush) and A LOT of elbow grease! Love my shiny sink!! I sort my washing into 3-4 piles (Lights, Darks, Towels (bedding every 2nd week))
I usually do ALL my washing on Sundays (mad I know) I am going to trial doing washing on Mondays & Thursdays! Putting a load of washing on the night before…ready to hang in the morning before school drop off. Day 3- TICK
PS: Photo is on FB page 🙂
Love the enthusiasm Charlene to even move out the washing machine, great work. Yes spilt the washing up, your Sunday’s will thank you for it!!
I love the basket system for sorting laundry pictured here. Any chance of finding out what it is and where you got it from ? Thanks 🙂
Jenny, yes this one is from Howards Storage World, you can also get similar systems from Big W and Ikea.
I tried the 4 basket system from the last challenge and struggled, so I now have a washing basket in my tiny bathroom and one in the laundry. When the one in the bathroom is full my eldest swaps them over and I do the washing. It works really well….but now to get and keep on top of the folding the dry clothes
Fantastic Emily! Whatever works best for you.:)
Hi Kat, loving the challenge!
So far I have managed day 1 only – but feeling great. Love having a clean & de-cluttered kitchen.
Hubby loves it too….he’s been pestering me about it for a while now!
I won’t be able to complete the tasks in the scheduled time frame due to work commitments & kids activities.
Can you please let me know how long will we be able to access the 20 day challenge?
(Sorry if this question has been asked before but I couldn’t see it anywhere.)
Thanks, Kim
Fantastic Kim! You are now a lifetime member so you can access the Challenge at any time.:)
That’s great. Thanks Kate
Ok, I am now deciding that the laundry is officially the most DISGUSTING area of the house. Yuck and double yuck (and I thought bathrooms were pretty bad!). On the complete upside, I now have a sparkling laundry area and I am loath to do any laundry for fear of messing it up. Ha ha!
Awesome Job Felicity!.:)
Are there any tips for cleaning a front loader washing machine? I have washed mine at 95 degrees with some vinegar to rinse, but still not sure this will be enough. How often does everyone wash their machine and how do they do it?
Felicity i have attached a link for you on how to clean a front loader machine: http://theorganisedhousewife.com.au/?s=washing+machine
🙂 when our twins arrived, with a little boy to care for as well and zero sleep plus a tiny bathroom and outdoor laundry, decided to grab a white laundry hamper and a dark blue one. They sit outside the bathroom door, and as clothes are stripped off for bath time, the kids have learnt to sort very early on by colours. Has made it so much easier to see when I have a full load to wash, as all our clothes are in one place.
Sorting: a friend told me to buy a $3 Ikea laundry hamper for each ‘bedroom’. These are for clean laundry only. When I bring in the laundry we have a race to see who can fill their hamper with their clothes the fastest. Plenty of giggles, clothes sorted and hampers to rooms where they can easily be put away. The hampers fold flat and can slide under beds/ behind bookcases so much better than washing baskets!
Great tips, thank you for sharing.:)
I’ve swapped Day 3 and Day 2 this week, just getting started on the Laundry this evening. Have the day off tomorrow to tackle the bedroom, which is in a terrible state.
Awesome! Nice work Jemma.:)
Hi Kat
I have looked ahead to print out & get organised and notice spelling mistake in Laundry clean list (Clean Lanudry sink). Can you fix as it will annoy me if I print as is. Thanks.
Oops sorry for the mistake, will get onto it.
Robyn have just updated the printable for you, thank you for the pick up.
I already have a washing schedule and it really helps me to stay in top of our washing!
Love it, takes the thinking out of washing!