We took a little trip last week to Florida and while I was doing the laundry and playing catch up this weekend I asked Instagram (follow me here) if they’d like to see how I quickly catch up on laundry after vacation.  The majority – 91% of the followers said YES – so here’s a little post on how I do a quick laundry catch up.

As someone that is easily overwhelmed with laundry piles, coming home and doing loads and loads of laundry after vacation is not what I want to do BUT putting it off will only make me more overwhelmed.  So….I have a little system to get it started and then everything washed, folded and put away so I can get on with my cleaning routine as soon as possible.

How to Quickly Catch Up On Laundry After Vacation

  1. First things first, empty those suitcases and duffel bags. Take everything out, wipe the exterior of the suitcase if necessary, and put the suitcases and duffel bags away.
  2. I always start with washing the swimsuits because most of the time they are coming home slightly damp because we are usually head to the pool or beach for one last dip before jumping in the car or on a plane. I put the swimsuits in the washing machine on gentle and line dry – check your swimsuit for care instructions – you can also sink wash and roll up in clean bath towel to remove excess water.
  3. As the swimsuits are washing I’ll have the kids gather up their dirty clothes from the trip and add it to any dirty clothes in their hampers and drag the hampers to the laundry room. My husband and I will do the same and we’ll have a train of baskets ready for the washing machine.
  4. Once the swimsuits are out of the washing machine and hung up, I’ll start in on my husband and my clothes. Wash on warm or cold (depending on if the load is colors or whites) with a scoop of oxygen whitener and laundry powder (watch for Clean Mama Home Laundry Powder in the next few weeks!). I don’t always use the quick wash cycle on the washing machine, but this is the time to use it!
  5. Once the first load is moved from the washer to the dryer, I start up another load of laundry and transfer the wet clothes to the dryer.
  6. Once the dryer is done, I put that load of clothes on our bed and start folding and putting the clothes away.
  7. Wash – dry – fold – put away — REPEAT until completed. Everyone pitches in and helps to fold and put away their own laundry.

Coming up with a system for this process has been so helpful for that painful re-entry from vacation.  Have any tips to share?  I’d love to hear them in the comments!  Look for another post in the next week on what I do BEFORE we leave to make vacations even more enjoyable!

Quick Tip: Bring a laundry bag along in your suitcase and put your dirty laundry directly in that as you vacation.

You can see my favorite laundry products in Clean Mama Home and on my cleaning favs page – happy laundry!

Here’s a post on how to quickly catch up on laundry anytime.

Curious on how I teach my kids to do laundry? Check out this post.