Laundry Sorting Spoonsavers

After the surveys one of the chief complaints mentioned was how much of a struggle it is to gather and sort the dirty laundry from all over the house, especially if there were other members in the household who refuse to put their laundry in the designated area.

Hopefully these ideas can help you resolve those issues.

Have a designated laundry container in each room.

It is so much easier to grab one container than to hunt through the room for dirty laundry.

At our house we keep one in the master bedroom and in the laundry room/hallway itself.

I tried to keep one in each of the bathrooms so they could toss their clothes in when they showered but it always turned into a catastrophe with wet rags, nasty towels and more on the floor than in the hamper.

Break the mold and use a lightweight basket instead of regular laundry hamper.

If you like things to be “pretty” there are plenty of options available from collapsible net hampers (seen below) to pretty lightweight baskets (plastic or weave).

I have found that carrying these to the laundry room each day (before they are heavy) and sorting them into the laundry is so much easier on my hands and back than the “traditional” clothes hamper.

Don’t have a lot of cash? Repurpose an box and cover it with material OR check your local rummage sales and thrift shops. They often have fun, cool shaped baskets for less than $1.00

Keep and use a labeled sorting system.

This has been a God send in our new house. The laundry room is located just outside the girls bedroom and family bathroom so we keep the LABELED laundry sorter there.

Do they get it perfectly right every time? Honestly? No.

Does it save me a ton of time and energy having the majority of items presorted? Absolutely!

It is so much easier to put the clothes in the proper container the first time around than it is to try and sort them later.

What do I mean by labeled?

If your kids are small you can add colored squares or pictures. If your kids are older like mine you can you the method I use below. By the age of 5 most children can differentiate which color goes in which basket, saving you a ton of time and energy sorting.

If having your family sort their own laundry is not an option due to learning, health or vision issues then keep a designated basket for them to put their dirty items into each day then sort it yourself as you empty it out.

Sort the “catch-all” baskets regularly.

As I said I keep a “basket” in our room (far end of the house) and one in the basement.

These are emptied almost daily into the sorter system we use.

Why daily? Because I can tell at a glance what load(s) needs to be washed immediately and what loads can wait.

Don’t have a basket or lightweight box to use?

Use a grabber like the one below to help pick up the clothing OR use my cheat and add a box, extra blanket, etc.. to the bottom of the hamper to elevate the clothes to an easier to reach level.

On really bad days I have my husband grab the load I want to wash and place it on top the dryer for me to check for stains before washing.

I hope you find these tips helpful and can use them to increase your productivity and decrease your daily stress and pain.

For more great laundry tips click here.

How do you deal with sorting laundry?

Do you have any shortcuts to share?

We would love to hear from you.

BONUS TIP:

Kids and housemates who won’t put their laundry into the hamper, won’t check their pockets or turn items right side out?

Try what I did.

One of my children in particular has extreme difficulty following the household guidelines especially when it comes to laundry. The same child wants certain clothes at certain times. After I stopped washing his laundry that wasn’t inside the hamper, turned right side out and he didn’t have any of his favorite clean pants for several days. I will only wash laundry when I have a full load. He began to make certain his clothes were properly dealt with. Is it perfect yet? No. Is it better? Yes. I still often need to remind him but he only gets one reminding and then it’s “Oh, well. I will wash it next time.”

Most kids and adults will learn after you stick to your guns a few times. For many of us who have taken care of others our entire lives, this is hard. Please look at it this way…you are teaching them the importance of picking up after themselves as well as laundry skills for later. In addition, it you are reading this blog you most likely have a chronic ailment and need to focus the strength you have on other things; not chasing laundry and straightening it out. Your time and strength is more important than ever, make sure you are using it wisely. 🙂

Be sure to find other great laundry tips in our Tools 4 Taking Life Back & Household Adaptation series.

Plus more on our Pinterest Board found here.

Tags: Laundry Ideas, Laundry shortcuts, Laundry Sorting, Laundry sorting shortcuts, Laundry spoonsavers, Sorting laundry

Household Adaptations and Ideas | TinaMiller | March 16, 2015 10:53 pm