Tumble Dry Low

Laundry didn't bother me so much when I was single, but now that I have a husband and child it's a different story. I used to wait and only do laundry once a week or (gasp) every other week. I would wait until a had a full load of each category-whites, colors, delicates, towels, darks, etc. I dreaded when laundry day arrived because it would take ALL day! This picture epitomizes the feeling-buried in laundry. Notice the hand reaching for freedom-too funny (or is it too real to be fuuny?).

This summer I had an epiphany after spending time with my MIL. I realized that I don't have to be so uptight about washing clothes. I can just have a delicates and towels load, and then wash everything else together on cold! I also don't have to have a full load since I have a front loading washer. What a relief! Now only I do a few loads once or twice a week and it hardly takes any time. It is so much better taking it a little bit at a time instead of letting it get to the point that every basket I have is overflowing with dirty clothes and I spend my entire Saturday washing, ironing, folding, and putting away clothes.

I do have one other new trick that has saved time and effort. Instead of unloading the clean clothes into a basket to sit and wrinkle, I now take the clothes out the dryer and immediately fold/hang them and put them away-which only takes about 20 minutes. This way I don't feel surrounded by piles of laundry and it significantly cuts down on ironing. To tell the truth I have always done minimal ironing, but J likes this method much more! Another way to "lighten the load " of ironing (are you groaning at that pun) is to use fabric softener. J actually taught me that one. This is more like what my laundry room looks like now. Definitely not as stylish, but it is clean, organized, and free of piles of clothes! Happy washing and share any tricks of the trade you might have!

Pictures courtesy of Flickr