Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/P&G. All thoughts are 100% my own.
I think there are many parents that can empathize when I say that our laundry never seems to be done! Every time I think we get ahead, I turn around to what looks like a big clothing monster vomited all over the house! It was time for a change.
Your mission:
Creating a Laundry Routine.
Should you accept:
Your laundry monster will not take over your home!
Creating a Laundry Routine
Laundry baskets.
Start with the basics.
We had a variety of the small rectangle ones, tall round ones, and Rubbermaid tubs; all acting like laundry baskets. They were every where and no where all at the same time. (Seriously, how does that happen!?)
Off to the store we went and got all matching laundry baskets. Enough for every ‘laundry pile’ we thought we would need.
Labels.
With all these baskets, they needed designated locations (or people which kind of equals a destination, right?)
Basket #1 went to K for K’s room.
Basket #2 went to Blake for his room.
Basket #3 went to Addy for… well, our room because that’s where she lives.
Basket #4 came to me for my clothes.
Basket #5 became… well, the whites basket because hubby thinks the corner of the bedroom is his laundry pile.
Basket #6 went to the kids’ bathroom for them to place their dirty clothes before a shower because carrying said dirty clothes from the bathroom to their bedroom basket was too much work.
With the kids have their own labeled basket and the whites basket being labeled; we all knew who and what.
(PS: They don’t need to be actual peel and stick labels. I used a good old permanent marker and wrote straight on the basket.)
Get the kids involved.
If your child is old enough to strip off their clothing multiple times a day, put them in their dirty basket, and then have a complete temper tantrum for a new outfit; they are old enough to get involved in laundry duty. (Yes, I am speaking of my 3 year old!)
On their assigned days, the kids are to bring their dirty baskets into the laundry room where daddy then washes them. (Yes, daddy does laundry in our house. Although K is now 10 so she is being taught how to do her own.)
Once they are washed, the kids then put their own clothes in the dryer and when they are done drying, they remove their clean clothes and take them to their room.
Somewhere, somehow, my children seem to have forgotten the concept of folding so that usually becomes a team job, but hey – it’s a good time to trap your child and ask them how their day was!
Schedule.
Creating a laundry schedule means that everyone’s laundry gets done and there is no forgetting or fighting over who’s clothes are getting washed.
Hubby works (for the moment) Thursday through Mondays so he typically does whites and his laundry on Wednesdays. My clothes are typically done on Tuesday; K on Monday; Blake on Friday; Addy on Saturday; towels and bedding on Sunday (unless of course there is an accident or otherwise needed urgency to wash something.)
With older kids, a schedule also helps keep them on track with a routine that helps with their chore chart.
Add Downy Fabric Conditioner.
I don’t know about your childhood, but I know that my childhood routine called for Downy Fabric Softener. I remember being really young and having to wait until you hear the water rushing in for the rinse cycle and you had to race to the laundry room to add the fabric softener to the washer.
Now I don’t have to race – I make the kids do it! (Insert evil laugh!)
We continue to use Downy in our home and to keep the softness, but also protect our clothing, we now use
.
Like fabric softener, Downy Fabric Conditioner still makes our clothes soft (and smell good!) but it also helps prevent stretching, fading, and pilling of your clothes; making them last longer! (As a parent, we all know kids need their clothes to last longer!!)
Next time you’re at
, pick up some Downy Fabric Conditioner for your laundry routine. Write the routine out and make sure everyone is on the same page.
I don’t know about you, but it’s summer time and I don’t intend on staying indoors to feed the laundry monster. (I’ll be indoors and out of the 120 degree heat, but not for laundry!)
Be sure to join our conversation over on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me how many loads of laundry your family does!