Housekeeping Laundry Procedures

Organize the Laundry Room

• Before you can commit to taking control of the laundry, make sure your laundry room is equipped to streamline the task. Experts at Good Housekeeping say, "Every laundry room benefits from a specific area for folding laundry." This includes a designated space to hang shirts straight from the dryer to minimize ironing.

  If your space is simply too small to accommodate a miniature laundry facility, consider investing in several folding laundry baskets. Tuck the baskets behind the clothes hamper and use one to follow a load from washer to dryer to dresser. Transport items to be ironed to the ironing station as soon as they come out of the dryer. This prevents stubborn wrinkles from setting in as the laundry cools inside an idle dryer.

Sheets and Towels

• Tackle the bathroom towels and floor mats on the same day that you change the bed sheets. These large, bulky items can clog up busy hampers and damp towels can get moldy if they sit in the hamper for too long. Instead, choose one day to wash these items simultaneously. Rather than getting fresh sheets and towels from the linen closet, wait until these items cycle through the dryer and replace them on the beds and in the bathrooms immediately. This can save time because you eliminate folding and putting them away.

  It may take 2 or 3 loads to tackle this laundry day for larger families. If these not-so-gently-used items seem a little dingy, Reader's Digest suggests adding ½ cup of baking soda to the laundry detergent for extra cleaning power.

Commit to a Schedule

• Commit to a regular schedule and be mindful to complete an entire load in one day. Clean laundry can quickly smell sour if it sits in the washing machine for a day, so it's important to turn the load over as soon as possible.

  Aim for a load a day and no one will be looking for items they put in the wash three seasons ago. Have a load of laundry ready to go first thing in the morning and start it before you pour a cup of coffee or empty the dishwasher. By the time you're out of the shower, the load is ready to flip over; you can pull out the ironing items sooner than you get the kids off to school or leave for work.

  Save your load of whites for days that are less busy. Sorting and folding socks can be time consuming, so make sure your schedule can accommodate the task. Remember to reserve one day a week to devote to ironing and hang those items up immediately. Otherwise, you may wind up repeating the task.

Get the Family Involved

• Let's face it. You're not the only one wearing this laundry, but it sure can seem like you're the only one washing, drying, folding and putting it all away. Getting the whole family involved in the laundry routine can help kids learn responsibility, foster teamwork skills and get the job done faster.

  Make sure the designated task is age appropriate. For example, a 2-year-old can likely find all the socks in a load or can help you pour detergent in the machine, but older kids can handle more difficult tasks. You can teach your 4-year-old to fold his own shirts and 6-year-olds can retrieve their laundry from the laundry room and put it away.