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How to Work Through a Laundry Pileup
Laundry pileups happen to the best of us, especially if you’ve got kids who seem to go through clothes like they’re going out of fashion. Maybe there’s been an illness in the family, or life caught up for a minute and suddenly you’re surrounded by dirty washing.
Here are a few tips, some from modern life and some a little more old fashioned, to get through that laundry pile.
Create a Game Plan
You’d be surprised at how much washing you can get done in a day if you’re organised enough. Whether you’re trying to get through everything at once, or just knock the pile down so you can breathe a bit easier, it’s a good idea to plan your day.
Start early. You’re bound to washing and drying cycles, which means that the earlier you start, the earlier you can get going.
It’s also good to organise your washing before you start. If you have an easy wash to go on first, like towels and bedding, get that going before everything else. This will give you some time to sort it all out.
Sorting Your Laundry
Sort whites and darks. Yes, it might not be as necessary as it once was, but it’s still a good idea if you want to keep your colours fresh and bright.
You can also sort the laundry in different ways. If everyone has a laundry basket, you can wash clothes according to the owner, making it much easier to sort them after they’ve been washed and dried. Or you might prefer to wash T-shirts together.
Pre-Wash Prep
Check pockets for cash, tissues, keys, and whatever else might have been left in there.
You should also look for serious stains. These might not come out in the wash, so see what needs pretreating and a little extra help. It might be an idea to wash badly stained clothes together.
Bicarb can do a surprisingly good job for stains on white clothes, and it’s worth soaking stubborn stains in advance.
Always check the labels to make sure clothes can be washed in the machine safely.
Get Help
As you can probably tell, this is a lot of work for one person to tackle. If possible, rope a child or spouse in to help with some of the tasks and free you up for something else. Sorting clothes is a good option because it’s relatively simple for even a child to manage.
Drying and Sorting
Finally, you need to dry your clothes. This can often be the bottleneck.
A tumble dryer can be a great help, because it cuts drying time down and you can dry more clothing inside on wet days.
A washing line outside is ideal for drying on sunny, dry days, but it still takes a while unless it’s a great day for it.
You can find other drying options here. This way, you can dry more clothes at a time. Once they’re dry, sort them according to owner and purpose.
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