This might sound crazy… but sort your wash by room not color

by sue on June 10, 2011

in Parenting

I have to admit, that I used to watch John & Kate plus 8 and for many reasons… I do not watch the show anymore, nor have I since I’ve had the triplets. However I do remember a few things that Kate mentioned being helpful with multiples, and this one I’ve just started doing, and think I love it.

I sort my clothes by room, not color!

It’s taken me a couple years to try it, but I recently said ‘what-the heck’ and broke down and put all the clothes in piles by the room they would be put away in. YES, I wash white clothes with black clothes and bright clothes with jeans. They all get dumped into the washing machine, I add Charlie’s Soap, and put the setting to COLD.

The clothes are just as clean as they were when they were washed with like colors, and I’ve been using cold water for a few years,  because as you may or may not know, cold water is better at getting out stains, requires less energy, which cut back on your bills.

So why now, you ask! Well I hate putting clothes away. I’ve always hated it. I have no problem folding, but after that, I stack them all in the laundry basket, and there they sit. And then I stack more and more clothes on-top, because I run out of baskets. Of course I could buy more laundry baskets, but I think 4 is plenty, and running out of laundry baskets is the only motivation I have to put the clothes away.

So why do I think I love sorting by room? Well now I can take the basket into one room, and empty it in that one room. No more walking from room to room, or searching at the bottom of multiple baskets for that needed shirt, or pair of underwear, I know that everything in that basket belongs in that room, and it really has saved me time. And another big help to this process is that GramaBee doesn’t need to wonder who’s clothes are who’s. Even if she wanted to help put them away, she would only need to go into one room and search through draws to see where to put everything! It really makes things simple.

Now, I know that I said that I ‘think’ I love it and that is because I’ve only been sorting this way for a couple weeks, and I realize that there is a chance that I think it’s so great because it’s a change, and not because it actually saves me time, but it sure has been nice to enter a room with a full laundry basket and leave that same room with an empty one. Now my baskets can be found stacked together in front of the dryer!

Maybe I’m crazy, but if you’re like me and think putting clothes away is one of the worst chores, try sorting by room. It’s a minor change and one that can easily be changed back if it’s not for you.

NOTE: I have not, and will not, attempt to wash any brand new clothes this way for fear that they will get ruined or ruin other clothes by leaking dyes all over. This is only for the clothes that have been washed many times :) .

~Sue

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