(Note that when I say ‘laundry basket’ I am referring to the basket I tote clean laundry around in. I’m not referring to a laundry sorter or any other basket I put dirty clothes in. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.)

I’ve owned many laundry baskets in my life.  Some baskets were lovely and girly and some were more functional.

My personal preference?

I choose the functional laundry basket every time.

I’ve learned that in this case, functional is better and makes my Laundry Life easier.  If a super cute, practical laundry basket was on the market, I’d be first in line.  Until then, I’ll stick with my plain old drab ones that get the job done.

Mama has several criteria when purchasing a laundry basket. Here they are in no particular order:

Buy a Basket with Sturdy Handles

A laundry basket with sturdy handles is an absolute must.  I detest a basket that has handles that bend when I pick it up.  You know with 6 people living in my house that our laundry baskets are piled high and that makes them heavy.  I need a basket where the handles stay put and can bear the weight of our laundry.

Make Sure it has a Rectangular Shape

I owned a round laundry basket when I lived alone and it was fine for just one person’s laundry.  It was always a pet peeve of mine that I couldn’t stack folded clothes in it, though.  Since the basket was round, it could only hold one stack of folded towels or one stack of shirts.

It is rare that I stack a load of folded clothes in a laundry basket, but in the event that I do, I want it to be a rectangle.  A round basket is completely impractical, in my opinion.

Only Buy a Laundry Basket with a Smooth Finish

Have you ever had a basket (think wicker) that snagged your laundry?  I despise that.  There’s nothing worse than having a nice knit shirt that has been picked because it got caught on the edge of my laundry basket

I completely avoid the whole issue and buy only laundry baskets that have a smooth finish.  I’ve only found plastic ones that are smooth, so plastic it is.

Steer Clear of the ‘Hip’ Laundry Baskets

You’ve seen those laundry baskets that are curved to fit around your hip, right?  They seem like they would be a good idea.  However, if you routinely stack folded clothes in your basket, they aren’t ideal.  As with the round baskets, they just don’t stack clothes well.

Make Sure Your Basket is Vented

All laundry baskets need to have vents, even if you only transport clean laundry in them like I do.  Vents are just the little holes that are all throughout the sides of the basket, allowing the laundry inside to breathe.  Laundry baskets that do not have vents tend to harbor more static electricity. If you do use your basket for dirty laundry, it must be vented so your laundry doesn’t mildew.  Mold and mildew are hard to remove from clothing, so avoid the problem all together and just go vented.

Do you have a laundry basket that you can’t live without?  Tell me all about it. I’m always looking for things that would make my Laundry Life more simple.

That can be a lot of work for some families.  It’s very worth it in the end, but I don’t want to sugar coat the fact that it can be hard to figure out the whole laundry routine concept.

I always find it refreshingly helpful to read how other people do things.  I love to see how other people store their favorite recipes or keep their floors clean or how they incorporate young children into their cleaning routines.

So I’ve been a busy bee creating a list of Laundry Routines for you to peruse.  I’ve given each of them a little description so you can easily see right off the bat if it will work for your family. There is no need for you to read a laundry routine about a mom of 6 if you and your husband or wife are empty-nesters.

Read through the routines and see if there are some you think would work for your family.  Then get you a routine in place, work it for awhile, and come back and tell me all about it!

Examples of Laundry Routines from Real Families

Welcome to Langan Land – This mom of 5 shares her best laundry secrets including not folding laundry and doing a load (or two) every day.

Malisa Price – Malisa shows a detailed look at the laundry routine of just two people.

Pretty Organized Palace – This mom of 6 shares tips on how she doesn’t sort clothes and how to kick anyone over the age of 10 out of her laundry regimen.  It’s a beautiful system she’s got here.

Mother of Fashion – This mom has good tips like washing each room’s clothes on a specific day of the week and throwing away matchless socks.  Yes, throwing away.  It’s drastic, but I’m sure it works.

Gospel Homemaking – Diligently washing 1-2 loads of laundry per day

Household Management 101 – Taylor describes her simple laundry routine and has a whole round-up of reader-submitted laundry routines.

4 Kids or More – This blog’s name obviously implies it is geared towards larger families.  Scroll through the comments for brilliant laundry routine ideas.  Some are really well-thought out.

Black Flip Flops – Now this is so smart.  This mama completely changes the way she thinks of laundry and uses it as a timer.

Homeschool Classroom – An example of a simple laundry routine where she eliminates unmatched socks.  (I see a theme here with the refusal to manage the mate-less socks!)

If you’re on Pinterest, I created a Laundry Routines board that I’ll update frequently.  If you need a Pinterest invitation, let me know and I’ll send you one!

So do you have a tried-and-true laundry routine that works for your family?  Tell us all about it and why it works.  If you’ve blogged about it, feel free to leave the permalink to your Laundry Routine Post.

Pin It

I’m over at In a Nutshell today, writing about a few of my top favorite laundry items.

Apparently I have many favorite laundry items, as I’ve written a couple of these types of posts.  And each one contains different things.  Well, except for Oxi-Clean.  Y’all know how much I love it.

With all of these favorite laundry things, you’d think I’d have a larger laundry room!  Oh but in my next house, I will!!

Here are my other favorites if you care to take a peek:

Mama’s Top 3 Essential Laundry Items

Mama’s Laundry Room Must-Haves

Do you have a favorite laundry item?  Do tell.

If you have any experience ironing dress shirts at all, you know that it can be a little time consuming.  Dress shirts are not the easiest of garments to iron, so you want your shirts to look as nice on the hanger as they do fresh off of the ironing board.

If you want your dress shirts to stay nice and wrinkle-free in the closet, follow these simple steps.

Hang Up the Shirt Immediately After Ironing

While hanging up the shirt directly after ironing may seem obvious, it is not to some.  Trust me. I can’t tell you the people I know that iron a shirt and then lay it across the bed or hang it on a doorknob.

If you do that, you’re just asking for it to get knocked off of the doorknob.  You’re begging the dog to pull it from the bed to the floor.

Save yourself the heartache and hang the shirt immediately.  It’s difficult enough just to iron it once.  Don’t make yourself actually iron the same shirt twice.

Fasten every other button when hanging dress shirts

Hang your Dress Shirt on Any Coat Hanger that is Not Wire

The next step is to put your freshly ironed dress shirt on the hanger.  Use any hanger you like: wooden or heavy plastic.

Do not, however, use a wire hanger.  I realize that every dry cleaners in the country uses wire hangers, but they cause their own set of troubles.  It’s nice that wire hangers are so thin, since that causes them to take up less room in the closet.  But it’s this same thinness that makes points at the shoulders and causes the shirt to pucker.  If your dress shirt has any weight to it at all, a wire hanger will cause it to pucker around the yoke and shoulder in time.

Adjust the Yoke and Button the Collar

It’s best to hang your shirt while the hanger is actually hanging on the rod.  Don’t attempt to hang your shirt with the coat hanger in your mouth or tucked under your chin.  That method hurts your teeth and it’s hard to get the shirt on there correctly.

With the coat hanger hanging on the rod, drape your dress shirt across the hanger.  Adjust the yoke of the shirt (the back part through the shoulders) to make sure it is aligned correctly.  You don’t want one shoulder way in the front and one way in the back.  The shirt will wrinkle if you do this.

After the yoke is situated correctly, adjust the collar. Turn the collar down as it should be and make sure the collar buttons are fastened.

Now fasten the top collar button.  You’ll probably have to re-adjust the yoke again to make sure it hangs correctly.

Button Every Other Button

Now here is one of the most important steps if you don’t want your shirt to wrinkle in the closet: button every other button down the length of the shirt.

If you fasten just the top collar button, the shirt will not fall off of the hanger which is typically the goal.  However, if you want a wrinkle-free shirt (which should be your goal), you need to button every other button.  It keeps the shirt from shifting in the closet when you slide the hanger around on the rod.  Nobody likes a shifty shirt, so make sure you fasten every other one.

Place Coat Hangers 1-2 Inches Apart in Your Closet

The ideal spacing between coat hangers is 1-2 inches.  I know that this is not feasible for most of us.  While those huge walk-in closets with foot upon foot of hanging space is dreamy, that’s not what most of us have in our homes.

Most people tend to cram as many hangers in the closet as possible.  While this is efficient in keeping your clothes off of the floor, it tends to cause items to wrinkle.  They get pushed against one another, causing creases to form.  Not fun if you’ve just spent the past hour ironing your clothes for the week.

So do you have trouble with hanging your dress shirts?  Not enough closet space?  Too many clothes?  What’s your biggest dilemma with hanging shirts?

I’m pleased to have Danielle from Laundry Care guest post at Mama’s today.  She’s an experienced laundress and I couldn’t agree more with her assessment of white vinegar.

I’m often asked by friends and family what my favorite laundry product is. With the endless choices available I can see why people want guidance on the best products to use.

Take a stroll down the cleaning aisle of your local general store and you’ll encounter everything from detergent to stain treatment, from softeners to brighteners. To make things even more complicated, the expanding varieties of different fabrics, both natural and synthetic, used in clothing has made the quest for the one perfect product combination seem futile.

Before you throw your hands in the air and grab whatever’s on sale, there is one product I stand by that isn’t even in the laundry aisle. It’s commonly found with the salad dressings and it’s a very reasonable $3 to $6 per gallon.

The product I’m referring to is white vinegar.

The list of benefits that white vinegar provides to your clothing exceeds that of any commercial cleaner out there. Combine this with the fact that it’s nontoxic and green and you’ve got the perfect laundry product.

Convincing Reasons to use White Vinegar in the Wash

1.) It brightens. If you’re looking for a gentler alternative to color-safe bleach, white vinegar is your answer. It helps keep your colors bright without the risk of lifting dye.

2.) It whitens. The acidic properties of white vinegar help restore dingy whites to their original bright state. All you need to do is fill a bucket with hot water, add 2 cups of white vinegar and let dingy clothes soak overnight. By morning, your old clothes will be noticeably whiter. As an added bonus, this same property also kills bacteria that can sometimes be found on clothes.

3.) It deodorizes. Clothes can be a magnet for smells in the environment. Smoke, pet odor and overall funkiness can be easily removed by adding a ½ cup in the rinse cycle.

4.) It softens. The advantage white vinegar has over commercial softeners is that it softens and fluffs without leaving a residue build-up on your clothes. Commercial softeners used repeatedly in the wash can form a waxy build-up that breaks down the fabric’s integrity over time.

5.) It removes stains. Mix a solution of equal parts white vinegar and warm water to remove moderately saturated stains or apply a paste of baking soda and white vinegar to muscle out stubborn stains. The mildness of the vinegar means there’s no risk of destroying the fabric or dye unlike other stain treatment products.

In addition to the reasons listed above it cleans your washer, helps remove pet hair from clothes, reduces static, and removes that mildew smell you get when clothes have been mistakenly left in a washer. What other product can do all this at such a low cost?

There are a lot of great options when it comes to laundry but if you want something that is both versatile and is multi-purpose, my recommendation is to add ½ cup of white vinegar to each load.

Pin It

Danielle Douglas has 15 years of experience in cleaning clothes.  She is the owner of Laundry Care, a premier wash and fold service provider.

Were you inspired by all of the bathroom talk this week?  Did you make some changes in your own bathroom?

If you’ve written a blog post about a great technique you use to keep your bathroom clean and organized, we’d love for you to link up your post!  Share your best way to keep towels off of the floor or how speed clean your bathroom in 2 minutes a day.  We’d love for you to share any and all bathroom tricks you have up your sleeve.

Remember that if you link up on one of our blogs, your link will show up on all of them! Also, please remember to link back to one of the host blogs.

Here is a list of the bathroom posts we shared on Tuesday:

Jami from An Oregon Cottage shared her decorating expertise with a creative yet simple DIY project. She made a new shower curtain by stenciling on drop cloth!

Christine from I Dream of Clean revealed her method for speed cleaning a bathroom.

Nony from A Slob Comes Clean gave the details of how she organized her bathroom cabinets according to how her family really lives!  

{Make sure you scroll to the bottom for the Big Bathroom Link-up!}

How often should you wash your bathroom towels?  And what about the bathroom rug?  Should you wash it every week?  Every couple of weeks?

In my experience, people tend to fall into two categories in the Bathroom Towel & Rug Department.  With towels, people either use one every day/every other day or they only switch once every couple of weeks.  In washing bathroom rugs, people seem to wash regularly once a week or they rarely wash it at all (if ever).

Why You Should Wash Bathroom Towels Frequently

It would seem that one wouldn’t need to change bathroom towels too often.  I mean, you are drying off a clean body with a dry towel, right?

Well, that seems logical, but here’s the real deal:  every time you use your towel to dry off, you’re scraping off dead skin cells.  And those dead skin cells collect in the fibers of your towel.  So if you use your towel for 10 straight days, you have 10 days’ worth of exfoliated cells on that towel.  Lovely thought, huh?

Also, your towel got wet when it dried off your body.  Any time the fibers of something get wet, the opportunity to harbor bacteria and other germs is greatly heightened.

Wash Bathroom Towels Every 3-5 Uses

It is best to wash bathroom towels every 3-5 times they are used.  Notice that I did not write every 3-5 days.

That really is the maximum times a towel needs to be dampened (from drying you off), allowed to dry, and then be used again.

And keep in mind, this rule of thumb only applies if you hang up your towel after every single use.  It needs time to dry between uses so yucky things don’t breed and cause mold and mildew.  Besides the fact that mold and mildew are hard to remove from towels, the thoughts of mildew being on a towel I am using makes me cringe.

How Often to Wash Bathroom Rugs

How often you should wash your bathroom rug greatly depends on several factors:

• If the rug has a non-skid rubber backing
• If your bathroom is used frequently
• If a lot of water is routinely splashed on the floor

If your rug has a non-skid rubber backing, it can’t tolerate being washed frequently.  It is best to wash a bathroom rug on warm/hot, and the rubber backing will deteriorate quickly if it is washed on hot too many times.  Rubber and hot water and not a good mix in terms of durability.  To maintain a bathroom rug that has a rubber backing, only wash it once ever 3-4 weeks.

If a bathroom is used frequently, rugs need to be washed weekly.  If several showers are taken in the same bathroom on a daily basis, the rug gets wet/damp multiple times.  Since the rug is against a floor that doesn’t breathe well (if at all), it takes a long time to dry.  Because of this poor drying between uses, mold and mildew grow easily.  It really is the perfect condition for gross things to multiply quickly.

In a bathroom where water is routinely splashed on the floor, the rug needs to be washed weekly as well. {Think Kids Bathroom}  Again, the rug doesn’t have time to dry out well between uses and harbors all kinds of fungi and mold.  Add in a damp, warm bathroom and that mold is just waiting to multiply.

Guide to Washing Bathroom Rugs

All bathroom rugs should be washed on at least a warm water setting.  I honestly prefer washing rugs on hot, as hot water routinely gets items cleaner.  And I want the item I’m stepping my freshly washed feet on to be clean.

If your rug has a non-skid rubber backing, it is best to let it hang dry.  Hang it over the shower rod or use your portable clothesline or a real clothesline if you have one.  The rubber backing will stay intact so much longer if you don’t mix it with dryer heat.

If the rug does not have a rubber backing, feel free to put it in the dryer.  It will take a long time to dry, since it is so thick.

More Tips on Caring for Bathroom Towels

I’ve written many posts on caring for Towels.  If you need towel help, here’s where to look:

• Preventing Smelly Towels – How to prevent smelly towels once and for all
• Does My Washer Make My Towels Smell Soured? – A reader questions if it is her washing machine causing her towels to smell like mildew
• How to Revive Smelly Towels – Have towels that smell horrible, even when clean?  Here’s how to fix them.
• Should You Wash Clothes with Towels & Sheets? – 3 reasons why you should not wash your clothes with towels & sheets
• How to Fold Bath Towels
• How to Fold Towels in French-Fold Style

All About the Bathroom

And in case you’re thinking about making some changes in your own bathroom this year, I’ve got lots of inspiration for you! I’ve teamed up with three other bloggers today, and we’re all talking about bathrooms! Go check them out for some great ideas!
Christine from I Dream of Clean is revealing her method for speed cleaning a bathroom.

Andrea from Simple Organized Living is giving instructions on how to clean your shower (and keep it clean) in only 10 minutes a month!

Jami from An Oregon Cottage is sharing her lovely decorating expertise with an ultra-cool project. She’s making a new shower curtain by stenciling on drop cloth!

Nony from A Slob Comes Clean is organizing her bathroom cabinets according to how her family really lives!

If you’re motivated to declutter, clean or decorate your own bathroom this week, be sure to come back Friday and join in our group linky! If you have a blog, you can share your bathroom project and your link will show up on all of these blogs!

 {Make sure you scroll to the bottom for info about the Laundry Room Makeover Pinterest Board.}

Are you looking to remodel your laundry room? When we tackle a remodeling project at our house, I always need a few ideas for inspiration. I found 9 laundry room makeovers that range from simple to complex. Take a peek for some inspiration on your next laundry room overhaul.

Simple Laundry Room Remodel – Between 3 Sisters
This is a great example of what stripping old wallpaper and updating with a little paint can bring a laundry room. Beth even shows how she’s organized the inside of her cabinets to be more efficient. To me, this is a real laundry room remodel – not one of those I-can-only-dream projects.

Dog Hide-Away in the Laundry Room – Kathy’s Remodeling Blog
Unfortunately, we are not inside-dog people here in the Hill House. My floors stay dirty enough as it is with 6 people living here. I can’t imagine adding an inside dog to the mix.

However if I did, this is the set-up we would have. This might be the most adorable dog idea I’ve seen lately: a little doggie apartment in the laundry room. Oh it’s super cute.

Turn a Closet into a Laundry Room – Fine Home Building
I often see laundry room makeovers that are beautiful and pleasing to the eye, but not very functional. While lovely little mason jars of various colored powders are pretty, they are totally not useful. (Or maybe it’s just that way at our house?).

This remodel is a great example of how to utilize the small space of a laundry closet. Form the sturdy doors to the custom-built washer and dryer pedestals, this is just dreamy.

DIY Laundry Room Makeover – The Happy Housewife
Angie shares her simple DIY Laundry Room overhaul, which includes paint, new flooring and new shelving.  She transformed an ordinary laundry room into a bright and cheerful spot to fold laundry.

$100 Laundry Room Makeover – Remodel-aholic
By putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls and cabinets, this remodel-er freshened up the look of a dark laundry room. All for under $100! Can’t beat that.

Make sure you scroll down to look at her homemade ironing board hanger. Love that idea!

Fresh and New Laundry Room Makeover – Blessed Little Nest
Don’t just look at the beautiful transformation pictures in this post, but make sure you actually read it as well. Heather honestly explains how her makeover budget was needed to buy new walls (they are a little important, after all) and she had very little money left to work with.

I adore her finished product – simple, cheery and frugal. She made do with what she had and just did a lovely job.

Shabby Chic Laundry Room Makeover – Love of Family & Home
While the décor in this laundry room makeover is super cute and creative, it is the design of the room I wanted to highlight.

I’m assuming this is a long room and the blogger created a closet at one end. She hung a curtain rod and created an enclosed space to hang clothes just-out-of-the-dryer with some seasonal storage as well.

Laundry Room Make Over with a Great Twist on Lighting – A Delightful Design
Did this laundry room really need a make over? It looked so good to start with! I should be so lucky!

I love what Abby did with the lighting in this room. What an interesting {and fabulous} choice. It pays to think outside of the creative box a little.

Making the Most of Storage Space – Kevin & Amanda
Kevin and Amanda obviously have a smaller laundry room, but they’ve done an excellent job in maximizing their space. By adding new, pre-made cabinets, storage boxes on top of those and a pull-out organizer beside the machine, they have a spot for everything.

 Laundry Room Makeover Board

Are you a fan of Pinterest?  I’ve set up a Laundry Room Makeover Board if you need some more inspiration!
Pin It

Dear Laundry Friends,

I’m working on a project and need your help.

Have you written about your laundry routine on your blog?  Do you have a post dedicated to how you (or your spouse or your kiddos) get the laundry washed and put away in your own home?

If you wouldn’t mind my featuring it, please send me the link in an email.

Thanks bunches.

Love,
Mama Laundry  xoxo

There is a lot of laundry routine talk here at Mama’s this week.  I’ve had a huge surge in Google traffic over the past few days, as people are searching for ways to help get their Laundry Lives out of chaos mode.

If you need help with those initial baby steps of starting a laundry routine, head over to In a Nutshell.  Today I wrote on how to get rolling with those First Steps in Starting a Laundry Routine.

Have questions about how to get started with a laundry routine?  Or how to maintain one?  Ask away.