Laundry Tips for Large Families

Chaos may reign supreme when five, six, seven, or more people are living under one roof, but there is definitely one thing you can count on, and that’s laundry—lots and lots of laundry. If you are suffering with a bottomless pile of dirty clothes and can’t ever seem to catch up, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed.

If this sounds like you, follow the four simple laundry tips below for a more efficient laundry system that will pair perfectly with your Maytag washer. These tips are certain to give you some of your sanity back.

Wash by Person

Most people sort their clothes according to color. While this is technically the correct way to wash laundry, it is not the most efficient. Instead of wasting time sorting laundry by color and then resorting at the end based on who owns what, separate your loads by room. This removes two steps and makes the whole process go much more smoothly.

Now, because washing red shirts with white shorts is never a great idea, people using this system should make a point of buying only bright, bold, or dark colors for their family and skipping the whites entirely.

Keep Stain Remover Nearby

By placing bottles of stain remover around the house and keeping a small squirt bottle of the stuff in your purse or diaper bag, you can treat stains on the spot without making an unnecessary trip to the laundry room. When you have small children and messes are a regular part of your day-to-day life, this can be an enormous time saver.

Simplify Your Sock System

Socks are some of the most bothersome articles of clothing we own. In order to reduce the amount of time spent folding socks with their mates, purchase all new socks for every member of your family. Choose one style, brand, and color of sock for each family member and only purchase that particular type of sock for that family member from then on.

By using this tip in addition to the “washing by person” tip mentioned above, you remove the sock-matching step of doing laundry, because all of the socks already match!

If you are looking to remove even more of the sock-washing frustrations from your life, give each member of the family a small mesh bag to put next to their hamper and collect dirty socks in. When it comes time to wash clothes, simply zip the bag closed and place the entire thing in the washer and dryer. This virtually removes the possibility of socks being lost in the wash.

Have the Kids Chip In

Even a four-year-old can help with the laundry. By putting each child in charge of a certain aspect of the household laundry duties, you can cut back on the amount of work you have to do and teach your children responsibility, all in one fell swoop.

While very young children may only be able to help with putting in laundry soap, starting the washer, and folding small items, children ages 6 or 7 and older can be taught to run loads all on their own and eventually be put in charge of all of their own laundry.

Of course, the key to staying on top of the laundry is a well-running washer and dryer. Running load after load of laundry can be quite taxing on your laundry machines, and it is important that you take great care of them in order to keep up your family’s laundry routine.

If you notice your laundry machines are acting strangely or making strange noises, it is important to have those things checked out as soon as possible. In this case, Fred’s Appliance is here to help and will be at your home as quickly as possible. If your machines skip the “acting funny” step and you find yourself in need of washer or dryer repair right away, we can help with that too.

No matter what your washer and dryer needs are, Fred’s Appliance is always happy to help you find the best solution possible. Please contact us today for more information.