A Laundry Routine That Works For You | Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

The laundry routine was simple when I was a child.

All mums everywhere did all the washing on a Monday. Or so it seemed.

This routine only bothered us children when it was raining so hard, we really couldn't play out.

And then all mums everywhere seemed to be grumpy, as they tried to get all the washing done in a day with a hoard of children under their feet.

Times have changed - most of us now juggle the laundry around work of some kind and children no longer disappear out of the door to play every dry morning only to reappear at meal times.

But the weekly challenge of keeping the family in clean clothes and the house stocked with fresh towels and sheets is still there - it's hard to get away with less than 5 loads a week.

Laundry Routines

A regular laundry routine really is the only way not to drown in a mountain of dirty washing. If you adopt and stick to a routine, the laundry will end up taking less time, you'll spend less time worrying about it and the rest of the family will actually be able to help.

All the laundry routines in the world basically boil down to these four ...

Wash everything in one day
Wash whatever in laundry basket every day
Wash one type of laundry every day
Wash one person's clothes daily

None of these routines are fundamentally better than the others.

The trick is to work out which one best fits your lifestyle, laundry & climate! To help you find the laundry routine that will best work for YOU, I've outlined the pros and cons of each below.

1. Wash Everything in One Day

Great if you've got a big drier & have a day at home on your own

Pros	Cons
Only have to think about it once a week	Must have a tumble drier or dry climate
Don't have washing hanging around all week	Need a whole day with nothing else to do
Easy to sort by temperature / fabric needs	Need a whole day in the house
	Ideally need a child free house
	Back breaking
	Can be mind numbingly boring

2. Wash Whatever in Laundry Basket Every Day

An easy routine if you're working & don't have delicates or mixed light & dark clothes

Pros	Cons
Very simple to load up	Risks colour run in mixed colours
Easy to do a load before or after work	Risks shrinkage of delicates & woolens
Nothing stays in the basket getting icky	Doesn't get towels & sheets really clean
Good if have soiled baby stuff daily	Uses same detergent for different fabrics
Good when potty training	Hard to get whites really white

3. Wash One Type of Laundry Every Day

Best if you've got mix of darks & lights plus delicates & woolens

Pros	Cons
Prevents colour runs between dark & lights	Hard to get family to sort by washing label
Prevents shrinkage of delicates & woolens	Can result in non-full & extra loads
Gets things that need a hot wash really clean	Easy to miss something
Gets whites really white
Can use specialist detergent on each wash

4. Wash One Person's Clothes Daily

Great if you've got a large family where the biggest challenge is post wash sorting

Pros	Cons
Reduces post wash sorting for a big family	Risks colour run in mixed clothes
Easy for family to load up on "their" day	Risks shrinkage of delicates & woolens
Easy for family to put away on "their" day	Uses same detergent for different fabrics
	Hard to get whites really white