Laundry Zone

August is a good month to tackle the laundry area. Children are going back to school and team practices are picking up. Student’s clothes are being evaluated for the coming school year- still use, toss, keep for others in family, pass on to others. Laundry may be backed up from vacation. Piles of clothes are probably higher than usual. The dirty and clean clothes may have even migrated from the laundry area into other rooms. Doing the laundry becomes less of a chore with a well-designed space. Keep stain removers, sponges, scrubbing brushes on a shelf or cabinet near your washing machine. If you buy your detergents in large containers, transfer some into smaller containers that are easier to handle and less likely to cause spills. Post a stain-removal chart on the wall or inside a cabinet. Counter-space can be very helpful for laying out items to treat or a place to fold clean clothes. If you don’t have any counter space, consider buying a small table for the area. A drying rack hung on the wall is handy for drying items you don’t want to toss in the dryer. If you don’t have a sink, keep a large bowl nearby for soaking items. Have a basket or bowl for tossing in the items found in pockets, the dryer, or loose buttons. Have designated labeled baskets for dark, light, and dry-cleaning items. If possible, keep your ironing board, iron, and spray bottles in this location. A stack of colored laundry baskets can also be handy. Designate a color for each person in the family. When laundry is taken out of the dryer and folded, immediately put it in the correct basket. Each family member can pick up their baskets, put their clothes away, and return the basket. It helps to have designated times for laundry chores instead of waiting until an item is needed.

I would love to have you share some of your laundry time saving tips as well.

Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer

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