April 13, 2022

How to Automate Your Laundry Routine

Is it possible to automate your laundry routine? I think so! Let’s see if a little automation would help you.  Let me preface this by saying I am not a laundry perfectionist, I am far from it, but these “automations” have helped me immensely through the years and I know that they can help you too.

If you can say yes to two or more of the following statements, I can assure you that a little automation will be helpful in staying on top of the laundry.

  • You have never reached laundry zero (nothing to wash).
  • You search through the dirty clothes to find something ’not too bad’.
  • You wash everyone’s clothes in the house without help.
  • You search through baskets and piles for clean clothes.
  • Hanging up and folding clothes takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r.
  • Laundry is overwhelming and you’ll do just about anything to avoid it.

My favorite laundry tip of all time? DO A LOAD A DAY! 
One load a day from start to finish is all it takes to simplify the laundry. I know that this sounds like a lot or like it’s going to be a time suck. In reality, a load or two of laundry a day takes minutes compared to how long it takes when you let it pile up and do it all at once. Doubtful?  Time it the next time and see how long it takes.

HOW TO MAKE THIS WORK FOR YOU:
If you’re skeptical or not sure where to start, here are a couple ideas to make this work for your home. Just choose one thing and try it and tweak it for you.

  • Collect all the laundry in the house at the end of the day or just have one hamper in the laundry room and wash what’s in that daily. With three kids we easily have a load of laundry every day, some days there are multiple loads. (This is not the method I use, I prefer the below method, but a lot of people use this method!)
  • Don’t separate the kids’ clothes into whites and darks, just toss it all in on cold. I’ve never had any issues with color transfer with this method. The two big kids fold their own clothes and put them away – this is extremely helpful! Use the summer to teach your kids how to do their own laundry.
  • For my husband and myself I do separate clothes (whites, darks, workout wear) and we each have our own hamper so our clothes are washed separately. We both work out quite a bit so I usually have a load of workout clothes for each of us weekly too.
  • If you work outside of the home, set your washer to start an hour or so before you get up in the morning. Once you get up, toss it in the dryer and fold before leaving or when you get home.
  • Don’t have enough laundry for a load a day? Try doing a load every other day or every third day.

A couple more Laundry Tips:

  • Plan out your laundry – put it on a schedule and do your best to keep up with it. Just putting it on a schedule is automation! Our Laundry Schedule – followed loosely but it’s helpful, we have five in our family so everyone gets a ‘laundry day’, starting with my husband on Monday, myself on Tuesday, our oldest on Wednesday, our middle child on Thursday, our youngest child on Friday, and sheets and towels on Saturday. This gives us a framework and a goal for what to wash and when to wash it. Go here for a free Laundry Schedule printable. 

  • Use simple and safe laundry products – I love using laundry products that really work and simplify the laundry process. If you’re looking for an easier, better way to do laundry, you need to try my Laundry Detergent Spray. Pair it with Oxygen Whitener for the cleanest laundry ever!  Go here to see all of the laundry products in the shop!

  • Automate your laundry products and set up a subscription – as far as home care goes, nothing is much worse than running out of your favorite detergent when you need to do laundry. I offer subscriptions for all of the consumable goods in my shop. Subscribe and save 15% on every order AND get discounted shipping too! You can get orders monthly, every 6 weeks and quarterly.

  • Hang shirts using the fold-over method – start with a stack of clean shirts and use this method. This is the only way I hang up shirts – the kids do this too, it works and it streamlines hanging up shirts.

  1. Grab your hangers – have them all facing the same way (it’s easier to quickly hang the clothes this way).
  2. Put a hanger on the first item on top of the stack.
  3. Fold the hanger over so it’s still on the stack but not hung up.
  4. Keep going until everything in the stack is on a hanger.
  5. Hang up the stack.

  • Use 1/4 cup white vinegar in lieu of fabric softener and wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets. This is an awesome and economical swap for safe and natural laundry. I also add a couple drops to wool dryer balls (they’ll be back next month!) to make the laundry smell delightful. Find my essential oil blends here in the shop.
  • Fold your towels the same way. Choose one way to fold them and stick with it.This keeps it consistent and takes out any guesswork. Here’s my method:
    1. Lay flat and smooth out towel.
    2. Fold in thirds lengthwise.
    3. I fold bath towels in thirds again.
    4. Hand towels and wash cloths get folded in half to fit in our cupboards – you might want to fold in thirds, depending on your space.
    5. Stack on shelves for easy access.

Your turn – how do you automate laundry?

Posted Under:

Laundry