Where the Laundry Begins

CLOTHES AND CLOSETS

The piles of laundry all start when you take of your dirty clothes.

What do you do with them when you take them off? Do you toss them on the floor beside the bed and let them pile up? Do you toss them in a laundry basket in the corner? Do they get thrown over a chair until you get back to dealing with them? Do they end up in a laundry hamper? Are they strewn wherever they landed, when your children put on their pyjamas? Are they under their beds? Lying on the bottom of their closets? Are the towels dropped on the floor in the bathroom following a shower or bath, and left for mom to pick-up?

Corralling the items to be laundered can be a tough task for some, especially if they have very busy households and everyone is on the run!

One simple method is to place a laundry basket in each room for their dirty clothes. Whoever is doing the load can collect the appropriate colour category for the next load from each room into another single basket, then taking them to the laundry room to be dealt with.

If items are not in the hamper or basket, they don’t get washed. This can encourage people to get the habit of making sure their stuff is in the basket! Especially, if they want to wear those favourite jeans to the mall!

If you choose to leave a basket or hamper in each room that moves to the laundry room on laundry day, no clean clothes should ever be placed in them except to transport them directly back to their final destinations. They must be directly emptied out into the closet or drawers and the basket returned to its’ proper place as soon as they enter the bedroom!

A laundry basket or hamper in a central area, or in the bathroom can also be of some help. I like the idea of keeping a smaller plastic laundry basket in the bottom of the tub. Towels can be placed directly into it when you are finished your bath, but only if you do the towels daily, otherwise they need to dry first. (Tip: Keep in mind, wet or damp items will mold, and will be need to be dealt with quickly!) When the last one is done bathing, they can quick dry the tub and toss the rag into the basket as well. Returning the basket to the tub, it is tidy with no towels lying around or hanging sloppily over the rods or knobs, or shower bars! You can just grab it and toss in the load on the way to the kitchen as part of your morning routine!

Our home is small and has only one bathroom. Since space is limited, I have two of those canvas laundry hampers with the wooden folding frames. I place whites and coloured items in one, and darks in the other. They get moved to the hall when someone is using the tub, and are replaced immediately when they are done. It actually looks neat while it is being used, but when company comes, they can be taken to the laundry room and the dirty items added to the washer for a load. The frames are folded and placed in an upstairs hall closet until the morning!

BEDTIME ROUTINES & CHILDREN’S DIRTY LAUNDRY

Nothing ventured... nothing gained. So, make putting the dirty laundry in the hampers or baskets a part of your daily routine.

Is something still clean enough to be re-worn again this week? Make sure there is no sign of deodorant or body odours - if you don’t wear it for a bit, it may ruin your clothing! Double check and make sure there are no small stains or marks that should be looked after right away, or they may not come out later!

If it is clean and wearable, fold or hang it up! Don’t leave these items lying around to make new mountains of clean stuff!

Teach your children to put their dirty items into a basket or hamper when they take them off. If they are young, make a game out of it! Be creative. Reward stickers may work for some, and chores may be the route for others. Dollar-store basket ball hoops over a hamper can spur young “wanna-be all-stars” into dunking a few socks through the hole!

As you take off your clothing, putting things in the basket to launder, try to also develop the habit of watching for things that need mending or are missing buttons. Note the children’s pyjamas, undies, and socks with holes in them, or elastic that no longer works. Toss those old stained t-shirts, yellowed and stretched bras, panty hose and knee hi’s with runs, and jeans that have long since outlived their usage!

Make yourself a note to add a replacement to your shopping list if required. Don’t shop just for the sake of shopping, buy it only if you NEED it! Shopping in season will also be a consideration, and those end-of-season sales are can create good savings for those basic items!

"For everything there is a season,a time for every activity under heaven."
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (New Living Translation)

SEASONAL CHALLENGE

You should have gathered up all the mountains of laundry and have a new semblance of order in the laundry room zone. Now, would be a great time to start working your way through the clothing inventory of everyone in your household!

If you cannot do this in a small designated chunk of time, do it in small steps.

Clean and purge a place for putting things in a back neat and orderly way in each room, but don’t bite off more than you can chew! Do what is manageable for you! Do one person’s items a week... do a drawer or closet a day.... do the winter items... do the summer items... do the baby items... whatever... but do what you can personally handle!

Seasonally, do a check of each person’s wardrobe needs and current items. If they have outgrown things since last year, it is time to pass them on, or get rid of them. Don’t take up valuable time, space, and energy on things that no longer matter to you! If they are not in decent shape, toss them out, don’t waste valuable time with local charities by having them go through things that are not usable to anyone else, either!

Are last winter’s outer garments worn out? Are the mitts passed the point of no return? Are those toques all stretched out and covered in pills? Are your swim trunks and summer ensembles for spring travelling still wearable, or are they faded from the sun? Do you need to make sure you keep a pair of sandals or sneakers for the beach, or do those leaky winter boots need replacing?

Begin a list and be continually watching for what you need on your shopping expeditions! You may even find some off-season deals in a second-hand place when you are out and about! If you have a little notebook in your purse with sizes and items needed, you will be able to see if it is a worthwhile investment!

Bare in mind that the winter clothing is often in the stores as early as July in some places, in order to get a jump on the consumers. It is hard to think about snow when you are still trying to find a pair of swim trunks that got cleared out during an end-of-season sale last week, isn’t it?

Many parents are now complaining they can’t buy winter boots in November because the stores are sold out, and the sandals are arriving for the snowbirds! With young children with fast-growing feet, how do you buy now, knowing they won’t fit in three months?

THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE

Go through each closet and each drawer, if possible, noting what is needed, what it is in excess, and what they will wear or not wear. Note the colours they prefer or won’t be seen in. (Many an item has been left in the drawers until it was long outgrown, because my son loathed the colour of the t-shirt or the style of dress-shirt, that someone gave him as a gift! They almost always ended up going off to charity with tags still on them!)

Do you have old maternity clothes that have long outlived their usefulness? There are all sorts of charities who can make great use of them!

Wedding dresses can also be donated to many valuable organizations, are well appreciated! Check out your local neighbourhoods to assist in your local community, or find some sources online. (Tip: If you are sentimental, make sure you store your wedding dress properly. Again, you can find out more about storage methods online or at your nearby bridal store. Be careful with dry cleaning it for long term storage. Some gowns have yellowed or disintegrated with improper cleaning and storage.)

Next week, we will look at sample basic wardrobe needs, and what is known as a “capsule wardrobe” - a simplified method for making many ensembles from a few basic pieces. It is often preferred by those who require a more fine-tuned or travel-worthy approach to a dressier church or career wardrobe, and helps with the “art of keeping it all together”!