On days that Graham has school, all of a sudden I am the parent of two children instead of three. At least for the six hours that school is in session.
Emily is still at the age where she naps for two to three hours in the afternoon (Hallelujah!). While she is napping, Nathan will often watch TV play games on the computer, colour, or play with Play-Doh.
(This is the 30 Tiny Moments photo.)
Honey (He Who Is The King Of Clean Floors) is a hater not a fan of the Play-Doh. Especially the billion dried bits that litter his immaculate floors.
While Nathan is playing independently I will blog get some (paying) work done or immerse myself in domestic bliss.
I took the above photo of Nathan while I was in the midst of laundry. With our household of five we do at least one load of laundry a day, if not two loads. On a good day (Where “good” includes towels and sheets)? Three loads.
As I was snapping shots of my middle child I was inspired to share my mad laundry skillz with you guys. My technique will shave minutes off of your day and days off of your life. These skills are so amazing that one of my friends (who irons her kids’ clothes) watched in wide-eyed horror amazement while watching me sort laundry one day.
The whole washing/drying part is actually pretty simple. Fire the clothes into the washer. Try not to add bleach instead of detergent, and try to keep the bright reds out of the white loads. Simple, right? Unless you are my husband. He should stick to floors.
Shoot the load into the dryer along with a sheet of Bounce (Or two! For towels and sheets. Because they smell so. much. better!). Wait for the dreaded delightful buzzer signaling the end of the cycle. Haul basket of laundry up the stairs.
Seeing as Honey vacuums the floor at least once a day, the floor is a safe place to sort the laundry. Especially if you steer clear of the Play-Doh circle of doom.
I sort the clothes by each family member. Towels get a pile all to themselves.
I fold the towels, like a good homemaker. Plus, if I cram them into the linen closet without folding then I end up having the tar scared out of me every time I open the closet door. I do not fold our clothes, as I will just be going upstairs the next day shortly and hanging our clothes in the closet. Why fold them, only to hang them shortly thereafter? This makes no sense to me.
I load the laundry in the order that I will put it away.
See the difference between the unsorted laundry photo and this one? I am a genius.
I shove the kids’ clothes into their dressers. Why fold? They will only be wrinkled and dirty within the hour of being worn. I hang clothes belonging to Honey and I as we only take two hours or so to look like a frumpy mess after getting dressed.
Maybe next week I will tell you how I save time when it comes to cleaning the bathrooms. Or maybe not. I want you to still like me. And maybe come over sometime.
Homemaker Of The Year over here.
*waves*
(Feel free to share your shortcuts. Every second counts, folks. Or just tell me what a horrible Mother I am. It would not be the first time.)
Your husband cleans the floors? YOU ARE SO LUCKY.
slynnro’s last blog post..Scenes From a Marriage, Again.
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Ha. Im just hoping to have a dryer soon. We have been hanging our clothes on a drying rack for over a year after deciding to go dryerl-ess for a while.
No tips from here. We ARE the house with the paint and play dough sharing table time with the dinner dishes. I love it though.
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I want someone to vacuum my floors at least once a day!
My husband discourages me from doing laundry. I think that it has something to do with 4 of his favorite sweaters fitting our 8 year old (Or something.)
Loralee’s last blog post..Sideblog: There’s a hole in my Flickr, dear Liza, dear Liza*?
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You’ve got a pretty good system there. I do it in a very similar way except I hardly ever use the dryer. Uses too much electricity and nothing beats air- and sun-dried clothing. But I have a separate pile of sorted (and folded … sorry, I do fold) laundry for each person and then I put it back in the basket in ORDER for putting away.
Oh, and I NEVER iron.
Hannah’s last blog post..Quirky kids
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I hang it to dry in the summer, but not in the winter. BELOW ZERO is not for me
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i’m good at the doing laundry but horrible at the putting it away. maybe i need to employ your method…
sizzle’s last blog post..Tourniquet
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All I could focus on was that Emily naps for TWO TO THREE HOURS IN THE AFTERNOON. Do you use voodoo? Witchcraft? WHAT IS YOUR SECRET???
metalia’s last blog post..The Real Reasons I Love Football
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Drugs. Lots of drugs.
I kid!
Maybe.
Ha! She`s a thumb-sucker. And the best sleeper EVER. Unless she`s teething. Like last night.
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Laundry is so blah. I confess that I roll my clothing, so it fits into the drawers, and so that I can just whip them into a suitcase with very little preparation. I also keep a hanging toiletries thingie loaded and ready to travel.
My favourite thing is the 10 second tidy. Spray the bathroom mirror with water and vinegar and wipe it down with the hand towel that is headed for the hamper. Nobody licks mirrors, do they? And I wipe the sink and toilet with baby wipes because I have allergies.
I do this when I am in the bathroom for other purposes.
witchypoo’s last blog post..Tickle Me Tuesday
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I hate putting laundry away. Piles are my unwanted friends.
I love putting it into the washer. Out of my hair for at least 40 minutes.
little miss mel’s last blog post..introducing our family’s claim to fame
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I’m very jealous of a floor-cleaning spouse! And I keep thinking I would like to hang clothes outside to dry, but it gets so windy here and the wind kicks up so much dust, I am afraid that my clothes would just need to be washed again if I hung them outside.
As soon as I find that trophy for ‘Homemaker of the Year’, I’ll send it along your way!
Jill – GlossyVeneer’s last blog post..Simple Questions
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One time (when I was still a teenager), my dad accidentally ironed my jeans for me. I thought it was the most ridiculous thing ever (in a nice way, of course!). Who irons anything other than hair???
Also…I’m STILL at the age where I like to have 2 or 3 hour naps in the afternoon. I just don’t always get to sleep at night, afterwards.
Nathan’s very engrossed by that Play-Do! What a cutie!
Meg’s last blog post..SP-That’s short for Sammypants, y’all
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Amen! My system is very much like that. I shove into drawers, but do fold neatly for hanging rob’s uniforms for work, and never iron. One exception, Rob does the washing and drying, which is easy, I do the sorting and putting away…but am slow on the putting away. When the clothes are sorted and in the basket it’s just so much more accessable.
Heidi’s last blog post..Snow Day
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A load of laundry a day?!? Gracious me, I’m never having children.
Just kidding.
Maybe.
I do fold things that will be stored that way (t-shirts, sweats, jammies, etc.) but not things that will be hung. I pull them straight out of the dryer and spread them out on my bed to try and keep them from getting wrinkled, then I leave them there for a few days while I work up the energy, and then I finally hang them. (I’m a single person sleeping in a full-size bed, so I only ever use half of the bed space…making the other half perfect for clean clothes!) I actually like to do laundry, but I hate sorting and hanging clean clothes with a passion. =)
ashpags’s last blog post..Happy Mardi Gras!
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Hehehehe … I like your way! It looks like a lot more fun!
Mrs. Wilson’s last blog post..Dabbling in a New World
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the crockpot.
dinner is so much easier to think about at 930 or 10 in the morning.
today? the white trash-erole. rice, soup, chicken. set. done.
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I’m bad…Instead of ironing I put things back in the dryer for a few minutes!!!
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I hear ya!! James keeps the floors clean and laundry done when he is home too. It REALLY sucks when he is away, and I gotta do it. Ususally the kids end up with baskets of clean clothes (not always folded) back in their rooms. LOL!!!
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And the ONLY time you will catch me with an iron is if it is my uniform. LOL!!!
Mel’s last blog post..Forgot
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Have you ever tried Downy Wrinkle Releaser? Oh my, the product is a miracle. I will never iron again (oh wait, I never did since hubby does it). Still, for those things that I do not rescue quick enough from the drier and have the nerve to wrinkle, it is amazing! My grandmother is a wrinkle freak and recommended it to me, so I knew it had to be really good.
TheAngelForever’s last blog post..An Election of Many Firsts
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Right now, we’re a family of three, so I can do about three loads on a weekend and that’s it (I have a super capacity washer & dryer, that helps too).
Then, I taught my ten year old to fold. I wash & dry, she folds and places into piles on the couch, and it is everyone’s job to put their own laundry away!! (I know that that wouldn’t work with kids the ages yours are, but in a few years….. )
I think the rugrat was about five when she started finding the “sock friends” for me, putting her own things away, and folding the towels, then we moved upwards from there.
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I don’t know what happens to my kid’s clothes after I wash/dry them. I throw them all onto the couch and tell him to handle it. Considering what his room looks like when I dare to peek in the door, I don’t want to know. (He’s 10 but he’s been putting up his own laundry for four years now).
It’s also his job to sort all his dirty clothes and put them in a laundry bag when I’m ready to trek to the laundry room or they don’t get washed. That little job just started recently when I got tired to asking “Did you get all your dirty clothes out of your room?” and “Don’t you own more than one pair of jeans? Underwear? Socks?”
My clothes? I hang the work clothes but tshirts/sweatshirts & workout pants get tossed into plastic bins on the floor of my closet.
Indygirl’s last blog post..Home sweet home
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I’m dying over here! Thats a genius idea…why fold? I hate folding clothes and they generally get worn out of the basket now anyways, might as well put them in the drawer like that!
I’m curious about your bathroom tips
Lisa’s last blog post..Being a mom.
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I never iron. Even if I did iron, by the time I got to work I’d be all wrinkly anyway. Can’t be arsed. I don’t even own an ironing board and the only reason I’ve got an iron is because it came with the boy when he moved in.
Right now we’ve got two mountains of laundry in our bedroom – one dirty and one clean. You have to smell the pile to see which one you want to get clothes from. I’m not proud.
Hills’s last blog post..Ice Ice Baby
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im pretty good about doing the laundry and even folding it all, and sorting it into piles on the couch, then i seperate them into baskets where they sit for days! I HATE putting clothes away! LOAAATHE it. wish i had some shortcuts, but i dont, im OCD when it comes to a clean house.. but um tell your hubby to feel free to come and clean my floors, really!
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Our washing machines are in the garage, which requires going outside and down a set of concrete steps. There’s a light censor that never seems to trip until after I’VE tripped. Down at least three of the stairs.
Moose’s last blog post..Emotions (and Capitalization) Run Amok
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That sounds simliar to my routine
Though sometims… the laundry will sit in the hamper for a few days before I get to it… then there are, like, five loads to do – ugh!
Elizabeth’s last blog post..More winter fun
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jeeze, laundry piles up around here…and then i have to spend the whole day doing laundry…poopy! yes, i do agree though, why fold the kids clothes? hmm..i might have to try that!
Chelsey’s last blog post..why dads are the best
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I am pretty anal when it comes to laundry (folding, hanging, etc.) but… I do clean the shower and bathtub WHILE I am having a shower… and if that gives you too much of a visual… too bad.
reddirtroad’s last blog post..Nervousness
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My shortcut for laundry is my husband.
I absolutely hate laundry and he, surprisingly, loves it! So, he does the laundry and I do most everything else. However, my children have chores- so that helps!
Mom Next Door’s last blog post..because i can
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I know this must sound ridiculous but it never occured to me to not fold laundry I’m going to hang up. I bet it saves a lot of time.
Kristie’s last blog post..SERIOUSLY, what IS it with people?
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GORGEOUS floors by the way… *drools on nasty apartment carpeted floors* i can’t wait to have a house with wood floors… and that is so awesome that your husband cleans the floors! my husband is a fix-it guy and he fixed our vaccum yesterday… so i suppose that counts for something.
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I don’t pair socks. I just throw ‘em loose into the drawers. When someone wants to put socks on, they have to find some that match, or almost match. I also don’t fold laundry I am going to hang up, but I do try and do it as soon as it’s done in the dryer to avoid wrinkling.
Danica Grunert’s last blog post..They Say We Look Alike
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We do laundry once a MONTH. My best strategy is to separate everything into color loads (reds, greens/blues, blacks, browns/oranges/yellows) so I make sure pairs of socks get washed and dried at the same time, since it often takes me a couple of days to get through everything.
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We have a utensil “pit” (a big-ish rubbermaid container) so when sorting the dishes (yes we sort them)after meals we put all the utensils in the “pit” that contains soapy water, so they are rinsed as these sit. It saves time, for us.
I think you should do a household time saver series, that would be cool!
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i.love.laundry.
is that strange? i love the smells, the sounds . . . and the accomplished feeling when everything is washed and put away.
and i am ooooh so particular about how it is done. and i MUST do it myself, no one can touch it because they always do it wrong. haha.
and folding . . . it is an art really. i learned to fold with boards (hello retail work) but now i can fold very quickly and neatly without. and i loooove to sort.
anyone want to hire me ?
Lori’s last blog post..wet and soggy
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We all have our own laundry baskets, and usually the laundry will make it into the baskets pretty quickly, but then it sits there for a while.
I confess, though, that I do fold, and even iron sometimes… the bummer part of having a teacher husband. But? I actually don’t mind ironing so much, it’s just that it’s sooooo far at the bottom of my list.
And, we have a basket for socks that I’ll leave for a while, and sort them while watching tv every once in a while.
Sure do wish there really was a magic laundry fairy though….
Karen’s last blog post..so much for that?
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My friends laugh at my laundry techniques. I like to hang our clothes on the line in person order, so as I get them out of the washer i order them in the basket ready for hanging. Coco, Phoebe then me, so that when I take them off they are still in order and ready to throw in the cupboards. I have to fold them as i get them off the line, with a little flick, who needs an iron.
Melanie’s last blog post..Made With Love- Ball for Baby Otis
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You COULD hang your clothes out in the winter…
only when you put them on again they would thaw and still be wet. Nope, it seems you got a good system going. I should stop folding too.
christy’s last blog post..Warm Summer Evening
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Anything I can hang up goes onto a hanger and then on the line. We have a hills hoist and I peg out the “foldables”. I allocate the girls a quarter each, Paul and I share a quarter and the linen cupboard gets a quarter of its own. Then when I bring it in I fold as I take things off, in the order that they get put away so its just a matter of going to each room and unloading the basket. The stuff on hangers goes straight into the cupboards and I’m done! I do iron pretty much everything though – how can you possibly get away without ironing??!! I guess we wear a lot of cotton though and the clothes just don’t sit right if you don’t iron them, different climate
– but I only iron what we’re going to wear the next day. I used to have an ironing basket but it was too depressing so now everything just gets put away and ironed on an as-needed basis. I think that’s probably information overload, huh?? 
Robyn’s last blog post..Its all very quiet
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People actually iron clothes? For their KIDS?
No, you’re kidding right?
I don’t even iron my own clothes. That’s what the dryer is for. Take it out white hot and you’re good to go.
Kami’s last blog post..Don’t hate me!
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