I have had many readers ask me about how I manage laundry in our household with three little ones running around. I must say that it has taken me several years to learn from trial and error how to get on top of my laundry. I have been working at making laundry a simple event that is organized and efficient. On any given day our family goes through, 5 shirts, 5 pairs of pants, 10 socks, 4 pair of underwear, and 6 cloth diapers, not to mention any accidents that require extra shirts, underwear socks or sweaters. So here is how I do laundry, hopefully this may help some of you:)

Note: laundry in our household fluctuates depending on the season, winter seems to be less and fall, spring and summer there tends to be more and how many chidlren are in cloth diapers at the same time.

1. Have Laundry Days. I do my laundry twice a week, Monday mornings and Friday mornings. I have found that doing it more often is too much and I can’t do it any less, this is the minimum amount of time that I could get away with. I really did not like when I tried to do laundry depending on how many clothes were in the basket but it seemed as though I was doing a load every day or every other day. Having the two set days has helped to keep it at bay. We cloth diaper as well so I do a SMALL load of cloth diapers on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I always hang the cloth diapers on the drying rack so we save on the drying.

2. Start First thing in the morning. The sooner you can get done the better. Some people like to make it a family event or involve their children and I believe that I will one days involve my kids but because they are so young right now it is much easier for me to do it on my own. Next year in homeschool I am going to teach Judah how to do laundry but for now its mommas job and I want to be fast and efficient so that I can spend more time with my babes! I try to start my first load at 7am and when I do this I can usually be done by noon and fold it all from 1:00-1:20pm during nap/quiet time.

3. I do 3 loads on Mondays, 1 dark, 1 light, 1 cloth diapers. I do 4 loads on Fridays 1 dark, 1 light, 1 towels, 1 cloth diapers.

4. Once a month I wash all the bedding (sheets, pillow cases, duvet covers) on Monday mornings, (unless someone wets the bed which usually happens at least once a month:)

5. When springtime comes I hang out my laundry and it saves us “loads” 🙂 on the hydro bills. However, if it is raining on a day when I would hang out the clothes I still do them but use the dryer that day. Otherwise it throws my entire schedule off.

6. There are NO laundry baskets in any of the kids rooms. All the laundry goes directly into the laundry room. (this may not be feesable for everyone, our laundry room is on the same floor as the bedrooms) I find when there are many baskets it makes for more laundry and my kids throw things that are not dirty in them. I also like having all the laundry in one room because I do not have to go collecting it the morning of, nor do I find any surprises in the baskets:) I also know how much laundry needs to be done because I can see how full the basket is getting. Jim and I also have a basket in our room but that is all. Less is more when it comes to baskets!

Enjoying laundry and serving my family in this arena is something that I have grown in. I used to whin and complain about it all the time but now I laugh and enjoy this time. God has given me peace and joy when it comes to laundry. I love to serve the Lord and in this season of my life I am going to be faithful with the laundry piles that build up in my home. I am thankful that we have clothing, that I have little ones who are growing and I get to continually wash their little socks and t-shirts as I watch them grow before my eyes, I love that we have amazingly efficient laundry machines and I don’t have to do it by hand, there are SO many things to be thankful for in laundry.

At this point I find it more frustrating to try to involve my kids in the process. It become tedious and I am easily irritated and they get bored and restless, so I have decided that I work more efficiently if I do the laundry alone. However, I am also looking forward to the day when I will teach my little ones how to do their own laundry and who knows maybe one day one of them will do the laundry for me:)

May you be blessed as  you serve your husband and children by cleaning their clothes. May the Lord wash you with His word today. Bless you!