by Melissa Ringstaff, Director
Do you ever look at the pile of laundry and wish you could just throw it out and start over again? Do you frantically search for socks in the morning, or for clean towels at bathtime?
You may need to re-evaluate your dirty laundry ways. To get caught up, set aside a morning or afternoon and devote it solely to your laundry.
Sort your clothes into various pile according to color: darks, whites, brights. And according to type: towels, delicates, blankets, etc.
Begin by turning on the washer and adding the soap as it fills up.
Examine each article of clothing and apply stain remover on every spot. Stack clothes after examining them to allow them to set while you finish. Once you have examined each garment, add them carefully and evenly around the washer.
Option #1 - As soon as the washer has completed its cycle, remove the clothes, one by one and place into dryer. Shake the garment to remove excess wrinkles. Set your dryer to the appropriate setting according to the type of articles in the dryer.
Option #2 - Place wet garments into your favorite pretty basket and carry outside to hang on the line. An apron with a large pocket works well for this task. Fill the pockets up with sturdy clothes pegs. Firmly snap each article to remove excess wrinkles and carefully hang items on line. Remember that items will have a crease if you bend the garment over the line and place the peg over it. Hand shirts upside down.
As soon as your load of wash is dry, remove from dryer or from clothes line and immediately fold or hang. Put clothing in its proper place as soon as it is folded and you will have the job done quickly and with much less effort that if you allow the clothes to sit and wrinkle and pile up.
Once your laundry pile is down to one load, you can either finish the wash, or save it for the following day which will begin your new routine.
Each morning, as soon as possible, place a load of wash into the washer. Follow immediately with your drying rountine and fold and put away without haste.
As soon as you have removed the first load from the wash, place a second load in and repeat the routine if needed.
Most families, including my large family (five children at home) should be able to have all their washing done this way and never have it pile up. I need to wash a maximum of two loads 6 days a week in order to keep on top of it.
Creating a laundry routine for your family will create peace in your own mind and a happy family as they no longer need to dig through piles of clothes to find the needed garment.
If your socks are mismatched and out of control, ask family members to fold their socks together when they take them off - before placing in the clothes hamper. Or, supply them with clothes pins to pin the dirty socks together. Then, when you go to wash socks, you know two went in and two should come out.
Have a happy laundry day!
Melissa Ringstaff is the Director of A Virtuous Woman, a non-profit ministry for women based on the Scriptures of Proverbs 31. She lives with her husband and five children in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky
