Ma Ingalls washed on Monday. She ironed on Tuesday. And mended on Wednesday. Because of one of the most beautiful inventions of all time, the washing machine (thank you, Lord Jesus!), we don’t need to spend three days doing this – we can compress all these activities into one day.
I’ve tried all sorts of different ways to stay on top of the laundry around this joint – I’m sure you have too. Laundry seems to sneak up from behind us and pounce when we’re not looking. In our FREE Laundry Guide we give you three different options for staying on top of your laundry, along with some nifty tips.
What I have found that works best for our family of 6 is to have one major day that I spend on laundry.
Notice that word “major” up there? Let me explain.
One by One
There is no way that doing laundry all in one day is feasible for us – four children (and a messy mommy) make a lot of laundry! It would be difficult for me to get it all done in one day. And I’ll be honest…
piles of laundry STRESS ME OUT. I do not like seeing pictures of people online showing their Mountain O’Laundry. It makes me break out in hives and I feel like I might hyperventilate. Sad…but true.
Because I don’t want laundry to pile up that way, I do at least one load of laundry EVERY DAY. I start one right before I go to bed, so in the morning it is either ready to go into the dryer or out on the clothesline.
In the book Large Family Logistics, their rule is 4 by 4: 4 loads of laundry done by 4pm. They have eight children, so they are working with a bit more laundry. So, my rule is 1 by 1.
Wash on Monday
So, what am I washing on Monday? My usual load (which is sometimes 2 because of cloth diapers and/or weekend clothing pile up). I’m also adding:
- towels
- bed sheets
- other blankets/quilts, coverings that need washing
- Rugs (if needed)
- Curtains (if needed)
- anything aside from the ordinary load of clothing
What else on Monday?
While washing laundry that day, I’m also working on other things. Sewing on buttons is not my favorite task, but sometimes it has to be done.
Mend on Monday if you can. Or if you can’t…spend Monday finding someone to mend for you. Ha!
Also, ironing on Monday. Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?! I know some of you are thinking “Girl, this ain’t the stone age. Haven’t you heard of Downy Wrinkle Release?“
I have to iron dress clothes for Barry each week because he works a white-collar job. Also, I iron things that might be weird – like collars on kids’ shirts. Keep in mind ironing for the next Sunday and hanging said outfits in the closet. A nicely ironed dress for church makes everyone there think you got it going on. Ha ha!
Is there an outfit in your closet you never wear because it needs ironing? Iron it on Monday. The end.
Prepping for the rest of the week
On Laundry Day I also prep our clothes for the rest of the week. I take a look at the calendar and plan accordingly. Then, I choose our clothes and hang them in the closet, in order by day. In the mornings, it’s easy to grab and get ready instead of standing there pondering what to wear.
I also do a version of this method using File Crates for the kids. They can’t come to me and say, “Moooooooom, what do I wear today?!” They know.
If you’d like to see our File Crate Dressing System, check it out HERE.
And that’s what laundry day looks like around here – how you could modify this to suit your needs?
Other posts in this series:
- Clean on Tuesday
- Bake on Wednesday
- Town on Thursday
- Office Day on Friday
- Get Ahead on Saturday
- Chores to do Daily
- Chore FAQ
- What Would Ma Ingalls Do?
- Embracing Your Inner June Clever
- Each Day Has Its Own Proper Chores (chart included)
I tried to open the laundry guide but it won’t open. Help!
If’s a PDF, so you might have something blocked on your device. Try a different web browser. If that doesn’t work, email me and I’ll see if I can get it working. 🙂 stacy AT humoroushomemaking DOT com
Hi Stacy – I love to hang things on the line – but really don’t like the “crispy” feeling it gives the items. Any suggestions?
Sure! I have this issue with cloth diapers. After they are all the way dry, I throw them in the dryer for like 5 minutes with a couple dryer balls and it makes them nice and soft. 🙂
I’ll try that – thanks, Stacy!!!
I think I kind of do this unintentionally. Thanks for the push to make it more intentional. Don’t judge me…but my hubby does his own ironing most of the time. He also cooks. I love that man! 🙂
No judging here! 🙂
I LOVE YOUR BLOG, COLUMN, WHATEVER YOU CALL IT! THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SHARE!!!
You can call it whatever you want. Ha ha !:-) Thank you!
Thanks, Stacy 🙂 I’d love to know how you store the clothes that aren’t in crates or hung in closets for each day? Also, when you are selecting clothes for the week – do you get them from laundry you have just washed or put it all away somewhere and then select from there? Do winter clothes fit well in the crates? Too many questions ? Thanks again – Lisa
After clothes are washed and dried, they are immediately put in the closet or in drawers. Annie does her own, but I do everyone else’s currently. I hang clothes in my closets so that the cleanest things are put to the left and the unworn things are on the right. That gives me a good clothing rotation and I can see which things I’m continually skipping over – usually an indicator that I can donate those.
In the drawer, clean things go in the back and unworn items are in the front. It rotates things – hey, I used to work at a grocery story, so it’s in my blood. Ha!
We store seasonal clothing in tubs in our attic so the only thing out is the current season. It saves a lot of closet space.
I’m a one load a day girl too, but this is a great idea for the extra stuff! (I sort of do the rest randomly now, which means I’m not always great at keeping linens as clean as they should be – ha!)
Yes! When I get away from this schedule, I run into the same problem.
I am loving this series! We are pretty much kindred spirits when it comes to homemaking:). I always wash on Monday’s, but I also always hang it out, so it depends on the weather, and in the winter wash day spills into 2 days, because I bring in the clothes and put them on a rack to finish drying. By the time its dry, folded, and put away, its time to wash again. But laundry really is one of my favorite chores. I’m reading large family logistics for probably the 3rd time!
It’s seriously the best book on home management ever! Isn’t it? 🙂 On wash day, I don’t line dry anything except one load. All my others are in the dryer. However, during my weekly “one load per day,” those go on the line. There is something SO satisfying about hanging laundry out to dry.
I used to hang my laundry. I miss it. This house just doesn’t have an area for it. But those were the days!
There are only two of us–finally, thank God, so we can manage all in one day except for towels, which get washed twice a week. I have come to actually enjoy ironing–believe it or not–primarily because it’s one of the rare times I can catch a TV show!
It is a soothing task – kinda like hanging out laundry. I hope everyone reading this can know that laundry is a task that CAN be enjoyed! Thank you, modern convenience! 🙂
Yep sheets, bathroom & kitchen linen are all done on a Monday and a load each night to be hung out in the morning.
A tip I have is keep a recycled coffee jar of buttons and a spool of neutral (grey) thread with needle in your laundry cupboard/on shelf so if you see something missing a button (usually school skirts/trousers or work pants), just quickly sew one back on…. I’m lucky that the kids are at a private school – compulsory formal uniform and hubby & eldest son wear the same brand of work wear – all navy blue with navy blue buttons – too easy (not great planning just great coincidence). As the work wear becomes un-wearable I take off the buttons to put in the jar and zips to go into my sewing stash, then I cut up the material for use as oil rags in the workshop.
Thanks for all your tips Stacey.
Like the idea of putting all the clothes in order for the week.
I’m glad! I hope you’re able to use the ideas you find and tweak them to make them fit your life! 🙂
I have been trying to adopt this system for a while but I always seem to get distracted and forget my loads in the wash. Then Monday laundry bleeds over into Tuesday, oops! I’m working on it though ?
Becky, have you considered setting a timer so that you remember to go check? That might help – once you get into a groove, you won’t even need the time any more! 🙂
For the past 30+ years I have done laundry five days a week, but I only do 2 loads a day. It is faster for me to do the loads, dry, iron (if necessary), and put away the same day. But I do laundry according to the rooms I am cleaning. If there isn’t a full load of laundry (Guest Bath/Den day) I will wash clothing. This means that the monthly wash gets done in a timely fashion, as well as the seasonal wash (curtains, furniture covers). The reason I started doing it this way was because I had a full-time job and I wanted my weekends free to enjoy my family.
Nola, your system sounds like it’s working great for you! 🙂 I’m so glad!
I try to do Mondays as Bedding and Bathroom laundry day. I usually, like today, have a load of kitchen laundry ready too. today is the first Monday of the month so I wash the pillows as well.
Well, I knew I forgot something today. Pillows. Oh well. They’ll wait til next week! 🙂
I have adopted this style too. I think cuz I change the sheets on Monday so …hey…keep it going with towels etc. I try and iron as I go and sometimes…if I get really industriaous I iron damp clothes from the washer…oh the thrill! If you ever read my book Stacy, you’ll see my laundry day was even mentioned in Tim’s eulogy. As I felt I could have a nervous breakdown after laundry was done the following Monday of the funeral. (Yes..I am pragmatic). Well…gotta go…I have clothes calling from the dryer. They don’t call me the Laundry Queen for nothing. (I once was dethroned when I put a gold shirt in a white load. My bras looked like the negative of a fried egg….meaning the cup was white but everything else was gold?. But they soon put me back on when they realized they didn’t want to do it). My daughter now takes her laundry in. I think I spoiled her on this one.
You iron?! I always love to meet a fellow kindred ironing spirit! Solidarity!
Yes! I love to iron. And I do it like you…in advance. It does not go in the closet unless it’s pressed. It could be an A blood type thing, we tend to like perfection…☺️
And I always knew I liked you!
People who don’t iron really don’t know what they are missing. Ha ha! 🙂