THE Laundry Schedule

I have lots to catch you up on...but for now we need to get down to business...the business of tackling laundry! THE Laundry Schedule has saved us - I implemented it in May 2013 because I HAD to get organized in the business of running my life before it ran me into the ground. So, I did a little research, talked to my mom who has had experience in this area, and came up with this...A laundry schedule that would keep us on track even when we were super busy - and save us time- after all, I am the Chief Organizing Officer of the Dozier household...here's how it works -

1. Each person in our family has an assigned laundry day Monday through Friday - some share a laundry day because I despise doing laundry on the weekends, and as you know we have more than 5 now! I would much rather spend the time with my family on weekends than folding laundry. Even I have a laundry day, and my husband has his assigned laundry day. And this schedule is printed out, laminated, and hanging above our washing machine - makes it so much easier to remember when we can see it. And I have assigned symbols to each family member to make labeling a few other things around the house quick and easy. My family has LOVED this - in the beginning it was talked about at breakfast, lunch, and dinner - "Whose laundry day is it today? Whose day is tomorrow, and the next day" - they had a lot of enthusiasm for the process, which really tickled us - who knew a laundry schedule could be so popular! Our family is goofy like that though!

2. At the beginning of each day before we head out to school or work, we each are responsible for getting our own laundry basket (that is labeled with our name on it) to the laundry room (our laundry includes our own towels, sheets, and a week worth of clothes) - our 5 year old and 3 year olds are expected to do this - and don't get paid for it with their weekly commissions:-). Sometimes they help load it, but it always helps if we get the load going first thing in the morning before we leave the house for school or work. Then, when I get back to the house from our school route or errands, I can throw it in the dryer. I do not sort between darks and lights - this adds another load and more sorting, and I honestly haven't had any bleeding issues between darks and lights - so we roll with it all together for one person. That's the key - ONE PERSON's laundry at a time.

3. Homemade Laundry detergent - cutting down on costs and trying to stick to a budget will steer you in this direction - plus it makes a whole heap of detergent that will probably last us 6 months, and is gentle on our skin. You can google for a recipe - I grabbed mine from www.moneysavingmom.com. All of the ingredients are right next to each other on the shelf at Wal-mart, and it only took about 30 minutes to make. I printed a label from one of my templates in My Digital Studio by Stampin'Up!, and used a giant pretzel container we had finished up from Sam's Club. I use 1 tbsp per load and it works great!

4. Off to the dryer when I get a chance - kids help if they are home to stuff it in and love to put in a dryer sheet - not sure why but that is a highlight for them - and pushing the button to turn it on. My thought is - the more I involve them in the process - the more invested they are in their CLEAN laundry - and we are developing a routine that will go with them as they grow up.

5. When it is dry, they help me pull it out - then I fold it. Yes, this is reserved JUST FOR ME :-), not because I love it, but if you have ever let your children help fold, you know that you end up doing it in the end anyway. Sometimes I let them help, but I expect that I will probably have to re-do what ever they fold.

6. Still in the same day - we take it to their rooms - before they go to bed, they are expected to put their laundry in their baskets, drawers, hang it up, etc. This process is sometimes painful, but I look at it as training them, and remind myself to stay patient. And over the past few months, they have actually gotten much better with it.  The best part though, when they put everything away, we are D-O-N-E with laundry!

So...take aways from this -
No sorting makes laundry go much faster - I will say it again - No sorting makes laundry go much faster - this was a time KILLER for me before May, now I don't have to look at the tag to tell who is wearing it by size - I automatically know because of the day - especially important if you have the same sex children close in age like I do. I don't make a trip to every child's room either to put away their three pieces that were washed - its all in the basket.

No laundry on the weekends - GLORY GLORY!!

Kids help with the process where and how it is age appropriate - start training them NOW!

My laundry room is one of the cleanest rooms in the house - which is awesome because we walk through it to get to the garage, so I don't have to cringe when I am leaving or coming home and am greeted by 2 weeks worth, or 7 people worth of laundry that equals a LOAD bigger than Mount Mitchell.

We are all happier because we can expect to have clean laundry EVERY week. No kidding, before we weren't really sure when we would get it done. My husband always has a pair of clean socks to put on before work, my daughter gets to wear her favorite shirt EVERY week, I always have at least one pair of clean shorts or pants to wear, and we have a fresh new towel and sheets every week.

Give it a try for a month, and see if you can tell the difference. Give yourself a chance to get organized and you won't regret it - one load at a time!