Laundry. It’s a dirty word around here (pun intended). When we had just one child, laundry was still relatively easy. Even with working full-time. I would do a load here and there during the week and catch up on the weekends. But then the twins showed up. And all hell broke loose. So I had to consciously plan out a laundry schedule for a family of 5 that was simple and efficient.
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Why Do I Have a Laundry Schedule for a Family of 5?
After the twins came along, the amount of laundry didn’t seem to double. It was more like quadruple. It didn’t help that they were born in November so they were clothed in layers upon layers to protect from the New England winter.
Laundry baskets in everyone’s bedroom were constantly overloaded. Some days I was so overwhelmed I didn’t know where to start, so I just didn’t. I’d wait for the weekends when my husband was home to watch the girls so I could tackle the piles laundry. And then the weekend still wasn’t enough time to do it all….
And not only was there an overwhelming amount of laundry, I’d forget the last time I had done the towels and sheets. In my house, I’m the one who changes the sheets and removes the bath towels from the hooks in the bathroom. And I would scratch my head wondering – when was the last time I had washed them?
In general, I usually wash towels once a week. And I’m pretty sure before this new schedule that sometimes the same towels would get washed twice in one week. Or wouldn’t wash them for 2 weeks. And I should wash the sheets once a week, sometimes once every other week. But I swear before I figured out my laundry schedule, the sheets would sometimes get done once a month. That disgusts me to every think about….
I needed a plan. A simple and easy-to-follow laundry routine for a family of 5 that I want to share with you. This schedule keeps laundry organized and efficient for my family. You need to figure out what works for you – like Lisa and her family’s laundry routine.
My Laundry Schedule for a Family of 5
This plan won’t work for everyone. The frequency of when you need to do laundry is dependent on several things, including family size, ages of family members, and lifestyle ( i.e. adults work at jobs that dirty their clothes, or family members engage in dirty activities like sports or gardening).
Who Does the Laundry?
Right now, I’m the only one who does laundry. My kids are ages 6 and 2 years old. They are not old enough to do their own laundry. But one day, they will be older….. and sometimes I do dream of that day.
But until that day I’m in charge of the laundry for this family of 5 together. There are a few blog posts out there about laundry schedules where each day is dedicated to each family member. I think that’s a great idea. When my children are older and doing their own laundry, I will seriously consider implementing.
When Do I Do Laundry?
My rule is to wash and dry at least one load a day (sometimes I admit I need to do two…). Except Sunday, which is a day of rest.
I have a simple and easy-to-remember system that tells me which load I’m supposed to tackle on a particular day. How do I do it? Simple. I’ve assigned the load name to match the assigned day. For example, Mixed Monday, Towel Tuesday, Whites Wednesday, etc…. I explain more below.
This laundry schedule is especially helpful to ensure I’m washing towels and sheets at the correct time intervals (not washing them too soon, and not waiting too long) .
For you literary types, this is a “laundry alliteration”. I’m not a literary type so it took me a long time on Google to find the word “alliteration”).
Mixed Monday
I kick off Monday with clothes, usually a mixture of dark and medium colors. I set aside any whites, lights, and towels back and place back in the laundry baskets.
Towel Tuesday
I collect all the bath towels (bath, hand, face) throughout the house, whether from the bedroom laundry baskets and hanging up in the bathrooms. Usually this is just one load, but can be two. If I sense that I don’t have a lot owhites coming for tomorrow, I’ll remove the lighter color towels and save those for Wednesday.
Whites Wednesday
We don’t have a lot of true whites – true whites are just my husband’s T-shirts. So White Wednesday is a combination of whites, light and pastel color clothes, leftover light towels from tuesday, and dish towels (which are mainly white).
Throw-in Thursday
Since I haven’t done any medium colors and darks since Monday, I usually have a full load waiting for me by Thursday.
Fill-in Friday
This is my day I set aside to tackle extra laundry of special project.
For example, some weeks my husband is out of the office and works at his company’s production plant, which generates more laundry.
Or I work on a special project – delicates, winter coats, hats, bedspreads, blankets, dirty sneakers, bed mattress pads, tablecloths, my children’s stuffed animals, the dog bed, or with spring cleaning coming up, curtains.
I usually have something to wash, but in the event I don’t, sometimes I get a head start on Sheet Saturday.
Sheet Saturday
Time to strip the sheets off the beds and wash. This is actually 2 loads considering all the beds we have. I might do a load today and a load on Sunday, or push both through on Saturday.
Day of Rest Sunday
I try to take Sundays off. A day of rest – for both me, and the washer and dryer. They deserve it. They have worked hard all week and logged numerous hours without any complaint (wish I could say the same for me J). But I do use this day for wiggle room and throw in a load if there has been extra laundry, or I want to get a jump on the week.
One of the Biggest Pros of This Schedule?
The folding. I hate folding. And honestly, I’m not very good at it. But I’ve spaced the laundry in a way to tolerate the folding effort. The largest folding effort is on Monday and Thursday. That is usually when I have the majority of the twins’ clothes, and our underwear and socks.
Monday is when I usually have the most energy, so I don’t mind the folding. And then I have a few days until Thursday when I have another load of several small pieces. My easiest folding days on Thursday with towels, and sheets on Saturday. I admit that most times, I just put the same towels back on the hooks in the bathroom, and the same sheets back on the bed. And Wednesdays are a medium folding day effort depending on what articles I’m washing.
As an aside, looking for better and easier ways to fold laundry? Clean My Space has several YouTube videos on how to fold different types of laundry. Check out these videos. The one below is specific to T-shirts, dress shirts, hoodies, and towels.
This might be my next challenge to tackle – how to fold neater (and maybe faster ?)
How to Implement Laundry Schedule
We have laundry hampers in each bedroom. Since all of the bedrooms are upstairs, all of the laundry hampers were upstairs. And our washer and dryer are in the basement. Hmmm…
To move laundry around the house, I don’t move the laundry hampers. Instead I have my trusty green plastic laundry basket that I keep in the upstairs hallway. This basket (it was actually my husband’s before we got married) is what I collect clothes in, take down into the basement, and bring back upstairs filled with clean and folded clothes.
I have to mention that this set-up of all the hampers being upstairs was not overly convenient when the twins were little. We spend the majority of time in our living room and family room on the first floor. So when they had an accident, or spit-up, I wasn’t about to take their soiled clothes from the first floor up to a laundry basket on the second floor to only turn around and take it all the way down to the basement to wash and dry.
My mother-in-law solved the problem and bought me an attractive not-so-laundry-looking basket a deep brown color on the first floor near the entranceway. The dark brown is subtle and matches well with our leather couch and wood coffee table, so it blends nicely.
She bought the hamper from Amazon. I can’t locate the exact hamper, but these two from LaMont Home appear to be close. One is a traditional size, while the other is a longer bench style hamper.
I take the green laundry basket down to basement, wash and dry, fold, and bring back upstairs. One upstairs, I place everyone’s clean and folded clothes in their rooms.
While I put everyone’s laundry in their room, I only put away my own laundry and the 2-year old twins. For my husband, I place on his bureau for him to put away. And as of last week, I now place my 7-year old daughter’s clothes on her bed and she puts her clothes away. In another year or two, I plan to teach her to fold her own laundry.
Best Time of Day to Do Laundry
Right off the bat, I will say that I’m so blessed to currently be home with my children full-time. I stepped back from Corporate America in September 2018 to stay at home until the twins are a bit older. Having three little girls (ages 6, and 2-year old twins) and both my husband and I working full-time just got to be too much to handle.
I’m most motivated in the morning. So if I don’t get a load in the wash in the morning, chances are I won’t accomplish any laundry that day. And that’s not a good plan….
Also, I hate, hate, hate wet laundry sitting in the washer, so if I put a load in the during the morning, I’m motivated to ensure it gets into the dryer that same day.
My usual laundry routine:
- Morning: So in the morning while my girls are sitting down for breakfast I fill up the green hallway laundry basket from the bedroom laundry hampers, take down to the basement and start the washer. I already have laundry going by 8am.
- Mid-morning: Around 11:30 when we are back home from errands, or a morning activity for the twins, I switch the load to the dryer.
- Early Afternoon: By the time the twins and I have had lunch and the twins are down for nap, the load is dry and ready to be folded. Sometimes I’ll fold the clean laundry in front of the television, watching HGTV or DIY Network (my current favorite shows are Restored and Home Town). I place the green laundry basket with folded and clean laundry at the bottom of the stairs so that when the girls wake up from their afternoon nap, I don’t forget to take it upstairs with me.
- Later Afternoon: When I hear the twin waking up, I’ll head upstairs with green laundry basket in hand. Usually I can then unload the basket as the girls get up and mull around the second floor before going downstairs for their afternoon snack.
When I worked full-time, I did a modified version of this schedule. I would start the night before by loading up the green laundry basket. The next morning I would throw a load in when I first got up, and transfer it to the dryer right before I left for work. Then at night, after dinner, I’d fold in front of the televisions and take the clothes up with me when putting the girls to bed. As they were winding down, I’d unload and put away clothes.
That’s it! The trick of matching the name of the load to the day to the week helped me stay organized and motivated. Hopefully you will find this schedule, or part of this system, helpful in taming your piles of laundry.
Once you have the laundry in order, don’t forget to declutter and organize your closets. Learn how I tamed my tiny linen closet!
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