How to Keep Up With Laundry (A Simple Method)

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How to keep up with laundry has been one of my most challenging endeavors being a single mom with two little ones!

There are days when it seems like there is no end in sight! I’ve wasted so much time on busy mornings looking for that lost sock or matching shorts. I researched different laundry methods and found this simple tip that has made my life much easier!

What is the simple tip on how to keep up with laundry? Wash, dry, fold and put away a load every single day. Your washing machine does most of the work, so all you need to do is gather your laundry, load it, fold it, and put it away. I can do this in no more than 15 minutes a day.

There are so many benefits to doing laundry this way! Learn more to see if you think this approach can work for your family!

Benefits of Using This Method

Stains won’t have a chance to set. It’s always best to treat stains when they are fresh. This has been a game-changer for me.
Stress from having piles of clothes everywhere will disappear. Above all, this has brought great peace to our home!
Frees up so much time looking for clean underwear, shirts, socks, etc. As a result of doing this, it has made a massive difference in our mornings!
So easy to incorporate in just 15-20 minutes a day! We spend a few minutes a day making our bed, washing the dishes, and sweeping the floor. Adding another small block of time for laundry is a piece of cake!
Prevents mold and mildew from building up on towels and clothing. This was a big one for me. As a result, I very seldom have to treat clothes for this.
Easy to find time for loads like sheets and blankets. Before I discovered this method, sheets and blankets were always on the back burner to the more essential loads. Now I find it very easy to ensure those loads are done weekly.
Your washer won’t need to be cleaned as often since clothes aren’t left in there to make it smell.
Your weekends will be freed up from mountains of laundry. Can I get an amen??

When Is the Best Time to Do Your Load?

Determining the best time for your load of laundry would depend on the stage of life you are in. Are you in a single-person household? Then you would likely do better with a load day once or twice a week.

I am a working, single mom of 2 young girls, so it works best for me to wash my clothes in the morning.

If you are a stay-at-home mom, you must decide when it best fits into your day. You could throw a load in before breakfast, then finish up afterward!

If you have a more prominent family, get everything done.

Pros and Cons of Doing Your Laundry Every Day

Let’s look at the pros and cons of this method.

Pros of Daily Laundry

Maintaining your laundry daily is better than catching up. Doing a load daily takes such little time and gives me great peace of mind and satisfaction. Not to mention that I don’t miss the mountains of dirty clothes!

My weekends are free from having to do piles of laundry! It’s the best feeling in the world to not worry about massive amounts of dirty clothes, towels, and sheets waiting for me. I’ll have a load or two at the most on Saturday, and I take Sundays entirely off!

I don’t have to waste time searching for socks, shirts, or underwear. Getting the girls ready for school in the morning is much less stressful. It’s so lovely to have their clothes cleaned and put away regularly.

Building a laundry routine into your daily schedule only takes a few minutes a day. I toss a load in the washer in the morning. When the girls and I get home at night, I dry, fold, and put the items away. It only takes 15-20 minutes of actual work.

Question asking How often should I do laundry? picture of washing machine and laundry basket

Cons of Daily Laundry

Doing your laundry daily may not be as energy-efficient. You can offset that by being sure to adjust the level of water to match the load size. Smaller loads won’t take as long to dry as well.

You may feel like you’re always doing laundry. We make our beds and wash our dishes every day! Adding a few minutes daily to maintain it is a small fraction of your day. But some may prefer to do all their laundry in one day.

Being disciplined to fold and put away each load you do daily. If you aren’t able to manage this, it may not be your method. If you’re intrigued, give it a good try for a while to develop the habits in your daily lifestyle.

You may not have enough laundry to justify washing it each day. This may be true if you are a one or 2-person household. Most families would generate enough to make this method work.

chart about the Pros and Cons Of Doing Daily Laundry

Motivation to Keep Up With Your Laundry Routine

Do you want to try this and see how it works for you? Here are some tips and ideas to make this a daily habit.

In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear introduces the concept of the two-minute rule. This rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes.” Gathering your daily load and starting the load should take under two minutes. You are showing up.

Think of why you want to do this and work backward. As you see your progress daily, it will be encouraging to keep going.

When you do a load of laundry daily, you don’t have to worry when you have to change your routine. For example, you or your children may get sick; you may have to work overtime or have to travel out of town.
Having your laundry caught up will be one less thing to worry about!

Building Habits and Getting Your Kids Involved

Child putting laundry in hamper in laundry room

Another good tip from the book Atomic Habits is to begin habit stacking. If you do your load in the morning, attach that to a habit you are already doing. For example, after pouring your coffee, gather your laundry and put it in the washer.
If you do your laundry after you get home from work, attach your habit of changing out of your work clothes to starting your load. I do this to build many of my habits into my daily routine.

If you have children, get them involved! One load a day is much easier for them to help with than a stressful day full of loads of laundry.
I love the idea of having my children do their laundry as they get older. We are not at that stage of life yet! But having them help with the laundry is an excellent chore for them and a way to work together as a family.

Centralize your dirty laundry into one place. If you have room in your laundry area, invest in a sturdy 3 section laundry sorter like this one. These are worth their weight in gold. Kids can learn to sort their clothes into color-coded categories.
Everyone can develop the habit of putting their dirty clothes into the bins daily. If you don’t have room in your laundry area, store it in the bedroom and eliminate all the other laundry hampers.

Develop a Laundry Schedule

Put a loose schedule of what you’ll be washing on which days. This is what we do in our home:

Mondays: Dark clothes
Tuesdays: Colored clothes
Wednesdays: White and light-colored clothes
Thursdays: Towels
Fridays: Another load of dark or colored clothes
Saturdays: Bedding and sheets and any other miscellaneous load
Sundays: None! Happy dance!

This can be flexible as you see different loads building up. Most weeks, this is the schedule I follow, and it works well.

Make sure to sort the laundry as you go. This will help to keep your laundry method as streamlined as possible.

Here’s another article that I found helpful in staying on top of my laundry.

See What Works For You and Your Family

There are many ways to get laundry done! We all are so very different, aren’t we? Other size families and different personalities prefer different methods.

I hope you were able to glean a few ideas to try with your family. I would LOVE to hear how you and your family manage your laundry! Please check out more about me and come back to visit from time to time!