Sherry is doing her laundry like this:
“First load will be kids’ clothes - darks
Second load will be kids’ clothes - lights
Third load will be dh’s clothes - darks
Fourth load will be assorted clothes - brights”
Rachel is processing hers like this:
“I have a basket of clean clothes that need to be sorted and hung on hangers and I have clothes hanging in the laundry waiting to get put away in the wardrobes. Then there is another load of washing currently in the machine waiting to go in the dryer.”
Cara has piles:
“…..of ironing to do today. I want to do all the washing, all the drying and all the ironing and then not to have to do any more for at least a week!”
It’s a mundane task that has no end (unless you and your family join a nudist colony 
). I’m always looking for a better, easier way to process my laundry. One of the things that made my laundry life MUCH easier was this:
We keep one like this (click on image) in our master bedroom closet and a smaller version in the boys’ bedroom closet. In the girls’ room, we have one like this because of space limitations. We sort the clothes into whites, darks, and colors and take an individual bag to the laundry room when it’s full.
The boys know how to sort their laundry (although, we occasionally have some stray that ends up in the wrong compartment). The girls are still learning, so I help the 3-year-old practice sorting from their single hamper into the triple hamper in the master bedroom closet.
When the boys’ hamper is full, I have the almost-5-year-old empty each compartment from their triple hamper into the appropriate bag in the master bedroom closet (sometimes, I have to make sure the ones in the master bedroom closet aren’t already full or I end up with a big mess!).
Having the sorting already done is like skipping a big step (and the messiest step, in my opinion). Having it already sorted also makes it easer to assign a particular load to my 7-year-old. He’s already responsible for the dark load! Of course, the folding is a different story . . .
This sounds very confusing - do you need a chart? If so, leave me a comment! Well, leave me a comment anyway - I’d love to hear your laundry tips!
Since there are so many out there doing laundry, you’re bound to find more tips over at Shannon’s place, host of Works for Me Wednesday.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I like this! We do laundry every Friday.. it is cleaning day here and the only day I clean the house *gasp*. We tidy up all week.. but one big cleaning day. This would certainly cut down on my sorting. Thanks for the tip!
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:07 am
I have something similar, but I have 6 compartments and actually made signs for the wall so that hubby and boy can sort their dirty clothes and make momma happy.
Great tip. I was hoping you had a tip that would eliminate laundry. Guess that was wishful thinking…
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:57 am
Great tip! What is the difference between colors and darks? I tend to only sort lights and darks. More than that and I just get overwhelmed.
My WFMW post was on laundry as well. Definitely something we all deal with in this fallen world. ha!
August 22nd, 2007 at 2:45 am
I eventually finished the laundry in the one day, but now a mountain of ironing is staring at me!
(The nudist colony idea…mmmmm!)
August 22nd, 2007 at 3:20 am
This is a great idea! I wonder if you can get these in the U.K anywhere?
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:33 am
We have the same kind of system. We have a 3 compartment hamper in the master bathroom and a single one in the main bathroom, which gets emptied into the master one. When one compartment is full it’s time to do a load.
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I have considered this before…do you find that it makes a full load? The seperate compartments have always looked small to me. (I hate the load not being full…for now…seems wasteful) BUT, I love the idea of this thing!
Mary
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:41 pm
This is a great idea!
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Mary, the bags we have are MORE than a load. Now, we do mash them down some to make room. Sometimes you can fit everything in to make a full load; other times it’s too much to fit in (mashed too much, perhaps :). We have the PVC like the one pictured from Amazon. It’s held up amazingly well for over 5 years now (I’ve only done some minor sewing on one of the bags, but I think you can also order replacement bags). Hope that helps!
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Great idea.
We don’t have room in the sleepingrooms, so I get all the laundry in the bathroom.
I try to tell the children what to wear in case I expect a “colour” doesn’t make a full machine.
August 22nd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
I love the laundry sorter system. I put one in our laundry room about a year ago and it has been so much easier. Before, I’d just wait until I had a HUGE pile, then sort it, then prioritize (which was the biggest pile) the washing. Now that the girls are older, they do their own laundry which is SO nice!!
August 22nd, 2007 at 4:49 pm
I do this, too — it works so well!
September 4th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
[...] many not remember my recent laundry post where I told you about my really neat hampers. Truth is, no matter what your laundry system [...]