Laundry Tips For Large Families
6 Time-Saving Laundry Hacks to Survive Life With Kids
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Laundry can feel like an overwhelming chore for any household with kids — especially if you don't have a system in place. The more people and dirty clothes, the harder it can be to stay on top of the literal laundry list. And while most of us have fantasized about having a beautiful sprawling space dedicated to this exact task, the reality is that even tiny laundry rooms with equally tight budgets can be shockingly efficient. If you're looking for products and tips to make laundry time for your large family less of a time suck, we're here to help! Take a peek at our favorite must-have products and tips for working smarter, not harder.
1 Save Space With Stackable Machines
Front-loading washers and dryers can save a ton of precious floor space, an especially important asset for large families that need every inch of their laundry rooms utilized. Use the available square footage to set up organizational systems instead. You'll be surprised how much time being organized will save you.
2 Have Kids Sort Their Own Laundry
Instead of wasting time digging through the laundry baskets in your home, make each child responsible for emptying their own dirty-clothes hamper into a laundry sorter cart you keep in the laundry room. This Simple Houseware Heavy-Duty 3-Bag Laundry Sorter Cart ($37) is an Amazon favorite.
3 Install a Clothing Rail to Cut Down on Folding Time
4 Use Pull-Out Baskets to Organize Folded Laundry
For anything that needs to be folded, consider installing pull-out baskets — like this Komplement Mesh Basket With Pull-Out Rail ($20) — and assign a basket to each person in the house. Have everyone be responsible for putting away their own folded laundry.
To make things even simpler, set up baskets that can pull out completely and be carried to bedrooms, like this DIY laundry basket dresser. When all of the folded laundry is put away, these pull-out baskets can slide right back in place so they're ready for the next load.
5 Embrace Wall-Mounted Ironing Boards
There's nothing more irritating than having to step around a large ironing board that's hogging valuable laundry room space while trying not to knock it over. This Wall-Mounted Ironing Board ($174) swivels and can lock into any position, making it easier to navigate while in use and to put away when you're done.
6 Use Mesh Laundry Bags For Socks
Save time chasing down socks by washing them together in a mesh laundry bag like this OPSP Wash Bag ($6). Give kids their own laundry bags to corral dirty socks; wash them in their bags, throw the bags in the dryer, and see how much easier it is to match clean pairs.
