6.30.2008

Wanted: Your Expertise

We are out of the house all day today and I can't get myself together to finish one of my more interesting (?) posts, so I thought I'd throw this one out here, since it's looming large on my calendar. I'd love it if you could help a girl out!

I'm teaching a "Laundry 101" class for Relief Society (our church's women's organization) next week and I need some good material! I'm mostly focusing on stain removal (I've done a lot of it at my house, as you can imagine), but I want to expand the topic to include some of the following:

whiter whites
preventing fading
sorting simplified
keeping dirty laundry from piling up
keeping clean laundry from piling up
storage (folding, hanging, etc.) for the best wear of clothing
systems for hand-me-downs
ironing made easy
getting kids to help out in the laundry department
preventing the single sock syndrome

I would love to hear anything that you do in your home that makes your laundry-doing better. Feel free to leave it in a comment or give me a link to a post if you have already posted or decide to post now about this.

Oh, and just out of curiosity: Do you do laundry on a certain day of the week, or almost every day as it is needed? Does that work for you? Why?

And is anyone interested in the "talking points" or links for the information I teach at the class? If so, I'll post it when I'm all through...

Thanks, everyone! Happy Monday.

11 comments:

Real said...

I do laundry here and there as I have time. If I waited for one day of the week to do it all, I would be completely overwhelmed.

The only thing laundry-related that I do that works is this. I bought an 8 drawer storage container at Costco. I labeled each drawer with a child's name on it and I keep it in the laundry room. As laundry comes out of the dryer, I just stick the socks in the right drawer. I don't worry about matching or getting them to the kids' rooms. I just leave them in the drawer and when anyone wants socks, they come there to get it. It makes sorting easy and if you do get one lost sock, you'll know exactly where the other one is when you find it.

Anonymous said...

The way I can keep on top of the laundry is that I wash and dry throughout the day or week. Mostly drying outside or hanging shirts on hangers. When I have a pile of clean luandry, I put on my favorite show or movie and fold it all on my bed. Helps me stay motivated.

S said...

I call Cheryl! She washes, folds, removes stains, hangs clothes up, mends, etc:)

S said...

I think I will go call her RIGHT now!

S said...

In one day I wash the clothes, fold, put away, change the sheets, do the dishes, sweep the floors, mop the floors,clean the bathroom and in six months I have to do it all AGAIN.

S said...

Ps I hear Dawn in St. Louis does a fab job too!

3 for school said...

Quixtar/Amway has a great "white socks" recipe that does a great job on whites without any accompanying skin rashes.

As for single socks: I have a pile of socks in my armoire where I toss socks without mates. They eventually turn up, and I sort those when the kids start running low on socks.

My other trick for singles is to buy the same kind of socks all the time. That way, when one gets a hole I only toss one sock, not the pair. Since they all match (white), it's no big deal.

To conserve water and minimize cold water clothes being washed in hot water, I do all the laundry rather than have the kids do their own.

Gabriela said...

It really helps me to put a load of clothes in the washer the night before, then when I get up, I just press a button and it's started-I don't know why, but it really helps me mentally.

I used to do twice a week, but now I do 1 or 2 loads a day and I think I like that better-if I miss one day now it's not a big deal, if I missed a day before kids were naked.

Please share your stain removal hints! :) (P.S. I'd take some stain sticks with you!!! And laundry detergent in your shipment if you've got the space, it won't be the same!)

Unknown said...

May be late for this, but I do laundry a couple times a week. I try to just do back to back loads on a day when I'm going to be home all day.

I hang up clothes that need to be hung right away (or drape them on my footboard), and dump the rest on my bed. When I have collected 2 or 3 loads, I fold them while watching TV in my room.

the lizness said...

When my big basket is full, I do laundry. In between, I do the baby's laundry if his bag is full.

A simple and cheap trick for funky towels is to add a good size shake of the baking soda box to the laundry. also, vinegar in the downy ball instead of fabric softener does wonders along with the baking soda.

NOBODY said...

oh my gosh, S is hilarious.

And totally unfair that she has Cheryl at her beck and call.

This was fun to read, different ideas. I've tried it all and the laundry KEEPS COMING BACK. So I guess I'd have to say, nothing works for me.