Works-for-me Wednesday: My Beloved Laundry Schedule

For years it had been taking over. For far too long, it was an ever-visible reminder of a never-ending chore. For much of my life as a wife and mother, it taunted me: the laundry.

I read enough blogs and have been around the WFMW block enough to know that chore and laundry schedules are nothing new and have been shared repeatedly. But, this is Works for Me Wednesday... and I haven't shared mine yet! Besides, I was thinking just yesterday how this really. works. for. me.

Scheduling my laundry has become a sanity saver for me, ranking right up there with planning meals. It has freed my mind (and my hands which used to fold laundry at all types of odd times, or dig through mounds of clean clothes trying to find something someone needed). I decided a couple of years ago to do laundry according to people, not loads. The following schedule is currently posted in our laundry room:

I have found it best to do laundry, for the most part, according to the owner (each member of the family), rather than category (combining everyone's lights, darks, etc.) With the exception of cleaning rags, which I do on Mondays because of weekend cleaning, car washing, home projects etc. And towels and bed linens which I do on Fridays, each person gets a day. When Minte came home, I put him on Kyle's day, since their dirty clothes live in the same hamper.

I love how there is a sense of completion each day. Yesterday, all of mine and my husband's clothes were done. Today is my daughter's day. Tomorrow will be the boys. Each day, ALL of someone's clothes are completely washed, folded and put away. It is so much more manageable for me. I have found it's easier to sort socks, since it's just one or two people's. (I can handle a small basket of one or two people's clean underwear to fold, but not a couch full of everyones!) I can more easily keep track of uniforms, too (which still go in their designated spot). I like to hang some things to dry, which takes up a lot of room if it's everyone's, but much less space if it's just one person. I found that when I was doing lights one day, darks another, etc. parts or pieces of outfits a particular person needed were always missing or at some other stage of the laundry continuum... but now, everything that person wears is clean at one time.

I love this schedule because I don't do any laundry or folding on the weekend, when we're either really busy or need the clothes. My kids are old enough to fold their own clothes now, so the chore schedule on their particular laundry day is lighter to afford them more time to fold and put theirs away. On their laundry day they only have one other chore in addition to taking care of their laundry, so that's been a big help. By scheduling it this way, there's a light at the end of the laundry tunnel each day. And I need that!

Laundry is never ending. By God's grace, we are an active family generating lots of dirty clothes. This is a huge blessing! Lots of laundry indicates an adequate amount of clothes. Having plenty of clothing is truly a gift. Managing our laundry this way has helped me to see it more as the blessing it is, than the burden it used to feel like . Works for me!

For more WFMW ideas, or to share your own tip, visit We Are That Family. Have a wonderful Wednesday!