laundry

I think I'd be mortified to look back through this blog and see how many entries I wrote about laundry. It's something that everyone does, and I don't know why it's one of the hardest housekeeping tasks I perform!

I've started having the boys fold and put away their own laundry. They had been putting away their clothes for at least a year, but in the last couple months I've had them fold as well. You'd think I was asking them to fold EVERYONE'S laundry (like I have done for years . . . .) I am holding firm on this one, however, and will continue to wash and dry their clothes, but I'm not folding or putting them away.

Today I cleaned the washing machine. For something that is supposed to clean clothes, it's amazing how much gunk ends up in the fabric softener cup and around the edges. I clean it at least once a month, and I'm so glad I do as I caught sight of someone's recently who I don't think has ever cleaned it and it looked disgusting. (how about that for a run-on, ungrammatical sentence?)

I wrote out the laundry schedule yesterday. I've had a few over the years, and with L's appearance it's time for a new one.

• Monday - adult whites & socks/unmentionables
• Tuesday - boys clothes (usually 2 loads)
• Wednesday - L's clothes (usually 1 load)
• Thursday - adult darks (usually 2 loads, sometimes 3. I wash shirts separate from pants.)
• Friday - towels (we go through a ridiculous amount of towels, but hopefully with the pool closed we'll do better. I'm seriously considering emptying the linen closet and donating about 1/2 the towels just to cut down on the amount of dirty towels that are possible.)
• Saturday - sheets (everyone's, which means at least 2 loads. More when I'm also washing blankets, which I do at least once a month.)

When it's laid out like that, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. I know it works better when I get the loads started in the morning and have them completed (meaning put away!) by lunch, so that's what I'm trying to do. We're on track so far this week, which feels good.

I have said since L's birth that when I can get back on track with laundry I'd put her into cloth diapers. I know that's a place where I can save some money (granted, it's probably about $10/week, but every little bit helps.) I already have the diapers, only need a couple covers, and we're ready to go. The thought of the laundry, however, has kept me from it. It would mean about 3 extra loads a week.