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Counsel me on Laundry
Yeah, I know it's kind of a weird post. 
) DH and I have always just done our own laundry because we each have a hamper and it's just easier that way (although let's be honest, I don't reeaaaaaally trust him not to ruin my clothes). However, now that we're getting things done in the basement, we're finally working toward using our clothes chute (when we bought the house, there was a wall underneath it in the basement.....we have since taken that wall down). Using the chute means combining laundry for the first time.
I'm trying to figure out the best way to organize the laundry room. I figured perhaps one large bin underneath the chute, and then a few smaller bins to sort loads? How many different load options do you separate? Do you sort by wash temperature (hot vs. cold water clothes) or by color? Or both? I need to know how many sorting bins to get, and I feel like it could get out of control.....whites (hot), dark colors (cold), warm wash, light colors (cold), towels, sheets, delicates, etc. I don't want 8 bins though, that seems excessive. But is 3 or 4 too few?
How do you organize yours?
Re: Counsel me on Laundry
I'll be honest. I wash everything in cold, regardless of what the tag says. I've found it to be a safer option so none of my clothes shrink unexpectedly. Actually, that's a lie. I wash DH's whites in warm, and sometimes the towels... but not any of mine or Emma's clothes.
I sort into the following categories:
DH's whites
DH's clothes
Towels/sheets/blankets
Mine and Emma's clothes
So a total of four baskets works for us. When it comes to light and darks, I usually just sort those the day of and go from there. I tend to do laundry all on one day so I flip my baskets around and just sort the colors out more specifically at that point.
I couldn't really tell you the reason why I wash Emma's clothes and my clothes together, and then DH's separately, other than most of the clothes Emma and I have are lighter and DH's are usually darker.
I wash everything in cold water except sometimes I'll wash my towels in warm but I'm so used to keeping the washer on cold I usually forget to change it.
I separate my loads like this (I wash mine and DH's clothes together):
Towels
Sheets/blankets
Darks
Whites/lights (other than socks we don't have a lot of all white clothes)
Colors (Reds, pinks, orange, colors like that all get washed together)
I am not very good at sorting. I tried multiple baskets in our closet (colors, whites, towels, and dry cleaning), but that system worked with DH for about a day.
Now, everything goes into one basket, and I grab and do colors, whites, both DH's and mine, and I wash sheets separately as needed.
My system is not the best; i am curious as to how others manage!
I pretty much do the exact same thing. Everything is washed in cold water regardless of what the tag says because I hate when things shrink. I also wash DH's clothes seperately, because he likes to leave chapstick in his pockets and I dont want my clothes getting ruined. He also works on cars all day, so his clothes are covered in grease so I dont want to risk the grease somehow spreading to my clothes.
I do all our whites together, DH's clothes, my clothes (not going to lie I dont seperate darks and lights, my clothes all tend to be the same colors, blues, purples, and blacks), towels/sheets, and delicates.
I wash everything on cold as well. I also starting using vinegar instead of dryer sheets. Vinegar has disinfecting properties, so I feel good about that, and it helps break down the soap so it doesn't stay in your clothes. I haven't missed the dry sheets at all. Plus, I heard once that dryer sheets are bad for your dryer?
I sort our clothes into:
I usually end up combining the whites and lights into one load. I wait until the last possible second to do laundry, so I usually have enough for that many categories. Ryan will do his own laundry if he runs out before I do. I think the last time I did laundry was like a month ago. I have a problem with buying clothes and underwear. LOL
. brookie's cookies & more . miss wayne county . pinterest .
I have no system what so ever!
We have a laundry chute as well and hopefully yours is better then ours but our clothes get stuck in there all the time, mostly H's because he just seems to jam things down there and I have to take a golf club(because that's what's closest) and try and unjam it!
Normally when I go down to do laundry I just quickly sort things into piles. I do lights/whites, darks, and towels. Everything goes on cold expect the towels I wash those on hot.
I have 3 laundry baskets in my laundry room but I never use them, I am the type of person that if I don't bring the laundry up by hand, it will sit in the basket forever!
This is interesting to me. I have also heard that dryer sheets are bad -- I think they have a waxy substance in them that clogs the filters and air doesn't circulate as well (which can cause a variety of problems, including flammability). Do you put the vinegar on the clothes once they're in the dryer? Or in with the wash?
Oh, and don't feel bad....I have absolutely bought underwear before only because it was that or do laundry, haha!
I usually separate out all of my clothes, but only right before I do the laundry. We don't have a laundry room, just a closet with the washer and dryer in it.
My loads are usually as follows:
Whites/Lights (white, light pink, light gray etc)
Brights (reds, pinks, blues, greens)
Darks (mostly jeans, work pants, some towels if I'm not doing another load)
Towels and Sheets (I probably shouldn't wash these together, because of the differences in the weights of them, but we never have enough of each for a load on it's own. Sometimes towels get mixed into the clothes loads, depending on the colors)
If I do a load of just whites, I'll throw in some bleach with it, but that's pretty uncommon...
I don't know if I'm doing my laundry correctly, but it works for us and I've not ruined too many things yet
Serendipity3, South Beach, Miami, FL 2012
I put it in the wash where you would put fabric softener. I don't measure, just put in a little for small loads and fill it up for big loads.
Actually, I don't remember the last time I bought underwear. My mom and I get those Victoria's Secret free underwear coupons. She doesn't use hers, so I usually get two free pairs each time. It's pretty sweet.
. brookie's cookies & more . miss wayne county . pinterest .
I do exactly this too... I have a huge stash of underwear, and it was mostly free stuff from VS!
Serendipity3, South Beach, Miami, FL 2012
We have this in our laundry room: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=12019831
minus the bronze part. We've had it 6 yrs, since our wedding.
I do the kids laundry seperate & in cold. My clothes are done in cold. DH usually does his own when he's home on the weekend, & he has specific settings for his clothes. I've never combined our clothes. We do towels/bedding & his underwear in hot.
As for dryer sheets, i cut mine in half, makes them last longer (saw/read it somewhere).
Glad I'm not the only one! I could seriously proabably go a couple months without having to wash any underwear. I have two drawers full. It might be time to purge some...
. brookie's cookies & more . miss wayne county . pinterest .
I'm jealous! How do you get on the list for those coupons? When I lived in Kzoo my sister and I used to get them, but since I moved I haven't gotten them in years. I've even ordered stuff from their catalog since then.
I always assumed it was because I have their credit card. Do you have one?
. brookie's cookies & more . miss wayne county . pinterest .
I think you have to have their credit card Mara. In addition, I think you actually have to use it. lol. I used to get coupons for free stuff (including on my birthday) all the time a few years ago when I was using the card more. I haven't used it in a while though and haven't gotten any free stuff since about that time.
Nope, I don't have the CC....but I've never had one, and neither has my sister. I wonder why we used to get the coupons? Oh well. No more free underwear, I guess.
)
I do:
Whites
Lights (if this have already been based a couple times and I don't have to bleach anything I sometimes combine this with whites to make for a full load)
Darks
Work-out clothes (because lets face it they have a perma smell and I don't want them mixing with my everyday clothes)
Jeans
Towels
I get them and I don't have a credit card. I want to say I was just at the store and one of the girls asked if I wanted to be put on the mailing list for coupons and I said yes and here we are.