I don't know about you but laundry is just a pain in my rear! It collects way too quickly. It overflows the laundry basket no matter how large the basket. It ends up everywhere else besides IN the laundry basket.
Socks in the living room...
Shirts hanging over a dining room chair...
Clothes hanging over the banister...
Shoes on the staircase...
Clothes on dressers...
On the floor...ugh! (Don't judge, I know some of you completely understand. LOL!)
There's always one color that collects the most in our home and that's the darks. All of those jeans and workout clothes. Sheesh! It's a heavy 2-3 loads each week.
Then, the piles of clean clothes never get put away completely. There's always a clean pile in the bedroom to put away and a pile in the laundry room to put away. Oh, and don't forget the clean clothes in the dryer.
I've tried for years to figure out a way to handle laundry that works best for me. I have a semi-working system now but I just added one new tool that has actually helped me be more organized in this area. You may already have this tool laying around and if you don't, it will only cost you $.59 for one plus shipping (as needed but I'd rather not get it shipped). You may have something similar that will work too.
But first, let me explain the frustrations of my current system.
I'm not quite sure how I feel about my current laundry sorter but I've had it practically forever. It's the Whitmor 4-Section Laundry Sorter and I use one section for darks, one for whites, one for reds, and one for towels. It's on wheels so you can wheel it to your laundry room but I'm sorry, I have stairs and who has their laundry basket easily accessible to wheel around freely like the hills are alive with the sound of music?! Not me. Mine fits snug, way in the back of my closet. That thing ain't going anywhere! It's especially not traveling down any stairs.
So instead, I'd grab one bag of laundry, take it to the laundry room and dump the laundry into the wash. The problem was that the metal handles slid out of their holders and got in the way, and if you put the bag on the ground with laundry in it, it wouldn't stay upright, because the bags are tall and narrow. It ALWAYS fell over! Then, I'd leave the bag on the dryer and forget to take it back to its home on the laundry sorter in my closet. Why? Who knows! 'Cause I wanted to catch the last minute of that show or catch what they were selling on QVC. It's not convenient to put folded laundry in so getting all the laundry back up the stairs was a hassle. And a pile of dirty clothes would begin building up on the floor in the closet because...you guessed it...the bag(s) was still in the laundry room!!! Imagine what happens when you leave three bags in the laundry room.
Well, I've discovered a tool that helps me move laundry from the laundry basket to the laundry room and clean clothes back to the bedroom. And I'm actually sticking to the system fairly well and keeping laundry much more organized. I hope this simple tool helps you!
It's the Ikea Frakta Shopping Bag! The bag is massive and has a huge rectangle bottom. If you have one then you are in luck!
I keep the bag near my laundry basket. When I'm ready to wash a load, I empty one of my laundry bags (or even 2) into the Ikea bag. I take it downstairs, empty the bag into the washer. If I need to sit the laundry on the ground or on top of the washer or dryer, it actually sits there and doesn't move! It's a Christmas miracle!
I fold the bag up and lay it on top of the dryer when laundry is washing or drying. Then, when the clothes are dry, I fold them and place them in the Ikea bag. If I have a couple loads going then I keep the folded laundry in the bag on top of the dryer until the next load is ready to fold. I take the clothes upstairs to be put away and the Ikea bag goes back near the laundry basket. There are two handles. You can throw the bag on your shoulder or grip the handles close to the bag opening.
It's a simple but beautiful thing!
I'd love to hear your laundry organization ideas!
No comments:
Post a Comment