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
Our laundry is not big but has been so full. It is the worst room in our house – my husband and I always complain about it. Since we had to clean it, even though you told us to stick to the tasks, we took everything out and assessed what we had in there. We’ve got rid of so much stuff that we weren’t using but was stuffed in there. I wish I had taken before and after shots. It’s amazing now. We’re so happy with it. I can’t wait for my two year old to see it in the morning – he’ll love it too as he tries to get some things out of there like his little play golf sticks (all safe of course) but he could never find his things.
We’re loving this challenge Kat. I don’t know how people are getting through it but it’s taking us about 1.5-2 hours to do it together each night. It’s been time better spent organising versus watching TV.
Laundry done!! I think I figured out why my machine was leaving lint on clothes!! soooooooo much up under the rim! I also had an idea, with the laundry routine list, print onto magnetic paper and whack it on the side of your machine!! PRESTO!
Magnetic Paper, is that a thing????? Love the idea of it, where do you buy it from?
It’s Magnetic photo paper! and usable in all inkjets 🙂 Great for nice photographic fridge magnets! I just went to print out your laundry schedule and saw it sitting there, wham! Instant dryer magnet!! You can get it at newsagents or office places, I bought mine online as it was cheaper 🙂
love it!!
Laundry finished. Really happy with the end result. Very determined to get rid of my thin verticals in the near future though!.
They capture so much dust, what will you put there in replace of them?
Hi Kat, thinking larger white plantation shutters. We have them in other rooms of the house. Not quite as painstaking to clean. Will still have to keep on top of the dust but am extra inspired to now.
We have plantations in our new house too, I find them easier to keep clean than the wooden blinds, the dust doesn’t appear to stick to them, I find a sock on my hand the easiest to get the job done quickly 🙂
Having been hit with nasty illness at day two of my declutter and clean, one that is still taking it’s toll I am now feeling better and can’t wait to get stuck back into my declutter and clean.
Doing the oven today! Kat will I still have access to this part of the website after the 20 days are up?
ooh no Allison, that sounds like it hit you really bad, what did you have? yes you can access the full website now always, you have lifetime access to the whole site so you can print and visit any page whenever you need.
Another room done! I don’t think I need to worry about gym lol – I’m knackered 🙂
Your laundry is the same layout as mine!!! Right down to the door lol… where you have placed your baskets is where I store my vacuum cleaner and steam mop. Where do you store yours as I would love to have more storage. Thanks 🙂
LOL, it’s a great workout! I have a little closet specifically for the vacuum and ironing board.
Kat can I ask where you got your wire basket rack from?
Hi Blaire, yes I got it from Howards Storage World, but Ikea, Big W, Bunnings, kMart all have similar items.
Done a good portion of the laundry apart from cleaning the top of the cupboard and floors. I like your laundry drawers idea!
they really help Anita, and take the thinking out of laundry 🙂
I can’t access laundry clean check list. Has anyone else had this issue. I also couldn’t open or download some of the pre challenge files. Thanks
Hi Angela, I have just emailed it to you 🙂
I also couldn’t access the laundry list. Mentioning something about invalid pdf format?
just emailed it to you Chantelle 🙂
I had to skip a day due to an unexpected vet visit yesterday and an aching back but I have just finished Day 3 and OMG! The laundry looks amazing! I actually have a bench again so was able to soak my two small piles of whites! That’s an achievement in itself!! Thank you Kat 🙂
Ooh no, if your pet OK Kody? Yay, so happy to hear that you are loving your laundry!!
Wow I had NO idea how dirty the laundry walls were…especially up high but they look awesome and the whole laundry smells fresher! I’ve left the laundry shelves for hubby to do as that has been a project he has been eagerly wanting to do for a while but otherwise I have completed Day 3 (albeit one day behind) 🙂
great work Rebecca, yes the walls can get really grubby especially when you use the dryer, dust and dirt tend to stick to the wall.