I think one of the biggest challenges of having a large family is keeping up with the laundry. A family the size of ours can create what I lovingly call Mt. Washmore in just a couple of days. I know there are several thoughts on how to deal with this. I particularly love the Duggar's laundry set up of having a room, close to where the laundry is washed, set aside as a family closet where all the clothing is kept, but that is completely out of the question for our family. So I'm going to share with you what has worked for me for years.
I know lots of families who have their older children start washing their own clothing as soon as they are old enough to learn how. I understand the idea of that, but that has never felt right to me. It is just one more way of isolating and separating family members. I fully agree that's it's important to teach each child HOW to wash laundry, but I have always just had them help with the family's laundry. I believe that that teaches them to serve the whole family's interests, not just their own.
In the summer I have them help more frequently than I do during the school year when their schedules are so crammed with studying and extra-curricular stuff. But I've noticed that as they get older they will often go and throw a load in the washer that has something in it that they need, usually a sports uniform, but they have learned that they need to throw in enough other clothing to make a full load. So they serve their own needs and those of the other members of the family at the same time.
It's a win-win in my book.
Our system starts with separating the clothing as it is brought to the laundry room. I have 4 spaces, (wish I had room for 5) for the loads. We have a white/underwear/socks, darks/levi's, brights/colors, towels/bedding. I wish I had a 5th space for cold water wash items. We have lots of sports uniforms, workout wear and other items with spandex that need to be washed in cold water. They usually end up on the floor.
These are my new toys. I got them last year with our tax refund. They have simplified my life so much by cutting in half the amount of loads I wash and time I spend doing laundry. LOVE them. I keep the baskets on the floor below them to put in wet loads waiting to dry and to catch the stuff coming out of the dryer. My goal is to never have any clean laundry sitting in baskets or on furniture so my laundry rarely leaves this room unless it's folded and on it's way to someone's room. I fold it as it comes out of the dryer and put it in piles (by child) on the counter top that is on the wall opposite the washer/dryer.
(See photo at right.)
It's at this point that I do require the kids to pitch in and move their own piles to their rooms. Ideally, they are supposed to check laundry every day and take care of it. The reality is that the piles often sit for days on the counter, but at least it's clean and folded. I have to get on them to put them away about once a week.
One thing that I implemented when we moved to this house that has really helped is putting all the socks and underwear in bins in the laundry room. (The above picture shows the girls' bins. The clothing you see was folded at one time!)I don't have to sort it and try to figure out whose is whose. They just grab what they need when they need it. I used to have bins for the big boys socks/underwear also, but since I only have one teenaged boy at home now, I know it's all his stuff so it just gets put in his clothing pile.
I still put all the little boys' stuff in a basket and I haul it upstairs for them. The 6 and 3 year old help me unload the basket into their drawers.
One of the most helpful tips was given to me by my mother years ago when I only had 3 kids. I was getting overwhelmed by trying to do all my laundry in a day and having it DONE. She told me to just wash 2 loads a day and be DONE. Laundry is never done, is it? Over the years, as our family has grown I have had to shift that to 3 loads a day, sometimes 4, but I have that feeling of being done at that point and don't worry about what's left in the hampers. Since getting the larger machines I usually can do 2 loads and wash the same amount as the previous 3-4 loads. Getting some laundry going is one of the first things I do every day except Sunday. It's just become such a habit, I really don't think about it anymore. I am usually done with my two loads by noon.
Anyhoo, that's my laundry system. It works wonderfully for our family and you will never see piles of clean laundry lying on the couches in the living room cause it just never leaves the laundry room unless it's folded and ready to put away.
What works for you?
