Laundry hacks. Who cares? ME. We’re relatively traditional when it comes to the division of our household chores. I handle most of the chores and tasks inside the house, while Jeff handles most of the chores and tasks outside of the house. Which means, I have laundry duty. Well, most of laundry duty. I don’t do Jeff’s laundry. I only do my laundry and the girls’ laundry. I told Jeff that if he wanted me to do his laundry I would have to know what was dirty without asking (aka, he would have to use a laundry basket for dirty clothes and put clean clothes away), but that hasn’t happened yet…
Yes, that’s our bathroom. And p.s. I got Jeff’s approval to throw him under the bus on this one. He wanted me to add that there are dirty, as well as, gently-used-but-can-wear-again clothes in here.
Anyways, I do our laundry. And laundry is not my favorite thing to do. I enjoy that I can watch a show or listen to a book while folding laundry, but I do not enjoy laundry. So I’m always looking for ways to make the process go faster. Here are a few of my go-to time saving laundry hacks.
Laundry hacks and tips
Consider these your life hacks for washing clothes. Well, some for washing, some for drying. And then some for before that and some for after that.
Separate whites, darks, and colors NEVER
I KNOW. Judge if you want, but I made a decision long ago that I wouldn’t worry about separating lights, darks, and colors. I don’t find any joy or benefit from partaking in the time-consuming task so it’s out. It’s not for everyone everyone, you do you.
My favorite of the washing machine hacks – quick cycle
I am not ashamed to say that I use the quick cycle when I do laundry. Don’t worry I add an extra rinse — I’m not an animal! Instead of washing a load of laundry in 55 minutes, I wash a load of laundry in 22 minutes. Letssss goooo!
…sad story, something is currently wrong with our quick cycle on our washer, it’s totally throwing me off.
Forget laundry baskets or at least reduce the number of them.
I haven’t gone full in on this one, but my coworker recently told me that she has taught all four of her children to put their clothes directly into the washing machine and she runs a load of laundry each night.
My mind was blown.
Now, their washing machine is right by their bedrooms, whereas our washer is on the other side of the house and I know many people have their washer in the basement, so it might not be as realistic. But there are certainly ways to be inspired by this — I am playing around with a shared laundry basket for the girls that I keep in their bathroom and we also skip a basket for all towels in the kitchen, they just go straight to the washer.
Clothes dryer hacks – clean dry towel, always
If you don’t do this already, let’s get it started. So easy!! All you need to do is keep a clean, dry towel in your laundry room and pop it in whenever you are starting to dry a load. It makes the cleans dry even faster and cuts down on wait time!
Zipper mesh bags might be your new favorite laundry hack
I am tall and most of my height comes from my torso so it’s a sad sad day when a top shrinks and suddenly it’s a unintentional crop top. To avoid this sadness, I have recently started to use a zipper bag for things that shouldn’t be dried that way I don’t have to dig threw the laundry when transferring it to the dryer. It’s kind of like a do not dry alert.
Also, I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve heard the zipper bag is also great for kids socks. Yeah, the ones that always go missing in the washing machine. Probably worth a try!
Here’s a link to the zipper bag on Amazon in case you want to give it a try, under $10.
Use the spigot!
Whether you buy a big jug from the store of make your own detergent, can we all agree that cup is not necessary? Maybe this is laundry 101, but I have to assume since the cup still comes with my laundry detergent that people still want the cup. I am a firm believer in using the spigot instead of messing with twisting any cap or measuring something out. I push a button and I know what the right amount looks like in my washing machine detergent loader.
Create a laundry system
How many times have you forgotten that you have a load of laundry in the washer only to find it two days later and have to wash it again? A laundry system save you from that (most of the time, hehe). When you know exactly when you are doing laundry, you can stop thinking about it and just do it. Pick one day a week for laundry or do small loads throughout the week. The key here is that it saves time to create a system and skip the guessing.
Right now, I usually do two loads of laundry every Wednesday night. And based on our volume of laundry, that totally works for us. I have a friend with four young kids that does one load of laundry everyday. I have another friend with older kids that does laundry one day a week for herself and her husband, then on the other days of the week her teenage kids are each assigned a day to do their laundry.
Laundry tricks and laundry hacks will save you time
And aren’t we all about saving time? I certainly am when it comes to the necessity parts of my life. This laundry hacks might only save me an hour a week, but YOU GUYS. An hour a week is 52 hours a year. That’s days. DAYS. of time saved. Totally worth it.