The never ending laundry pile can be so overwhelming…and monotonous.
Even though you can finish your piles of laundry in a day, the job is never really completed since your family constantly dirties clothes.
If your laundry piles are consuming your thoughts (and all of your time), here are 3 fairly painless ways to reduce the amount of clothing that you wash on a weekly basis.
Wear pajamas more than one night.
Personally, I am not a big fan of this one for myself. I really like to wear clean pajamas each night, and preferably wear them on nice, clean sheets. So I only wear them two nights at a maximum.
I mainly abide by this idea for my children. If they’ve put clean pajamas on after a bath and they put on their clothes as soon as they get up, then I have them wear their pajamas two nights in a row.
If for some reason they didn’t have baths or if they ate breakfast in their pajamas (which almost always equals stains) then they only wear them once.
With three (and now four!) children in pajamas each night, the amount of laundry that produces really adds up. Wearing pajamas more than once reduces almost a whole load of laundry for me each week.
Read more about Children’s Pajamas:
→ How to Fold Children’s Footed Pajamas
→ How to Fold Children’s Two-Piece Pajamas
→ How to Store Children’s Pajamas
Hang towels up after bathing and use them again.
I am amazed at how often people only use a towel one time, as towels can be used 2-4 times before laundering.
However, I must add that you have to hang them up between uses.
If you don’t hang them between uses, they become mildew-y and just gross in general. And no one wants to use that kind of towel on a clean body.
You’ll be surprised at the towels you don’t wash each week if every member in your family will re-use them at least one time.
Establish a laundry routine.
I have proven to myself over and over that a good laundry routine is essential for a ton of reasons. One of those main reasons is that a routine greatly reduces the amount of laundry I wash.
By having dirty clothes where they should be (in the hampers), they are washed in a timely manner.
By having clean clothes put away each evening, we know what clothes are available to wear.
By having an ironing schedule, I also know what is available.
If I implement my laundry routine as I should, I practically guarantee that my family will have clean clothes. Since our clothes are clean most of the time, it prevents me from having to purchase multiples of items (think 24 pairs of underwear).
And when I don’t have to purchase multiples, I don’t have to wash multiples.
While these steps seem obvious and simple, they can make a huge difference in the amount of laundry you wash each week. Try this for a couple of weeks – or even one week! – and let me know your results!
How do you consistently reduce your laundry pile?
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Love your blog. Laundry has always been my downfall. I am working on it though. I will be doing some studying on your blog. 🙂
Julie – Thank you for the kind words! Let me know if you have laundry questions. I’m a dork and love them 😉
Thanks for stopping by!
-Lauren
My husband is a stickler on everyone using their towels more than once… I just can not do it! We agree to disagree.
Great list!
I don’t mind DOING laundry. It’s the putting it away that always bring me down.
I AGREE THAT TOWELS SHOULD BE USED MORE THEN ONCE. IF YOUR DRYING A CLEAN BODY WHY NOT HANG THE TOWEL AND REUSE IT AGAIN. I HAVE FOUR PEOPLE IN THE HOUSE….IMAGINE THEM USING A TOWEL ONCE…WHEN IT CAME TO LAUNDRY TIME AT THE END OF THE WEEK I WOULD HAVE A TOTAL OF 28 TOWELS JUST IN SEVEN DAYS. A TOTAL OF 112 TOWELS IN A MONTH. THAT’S JUST TOO MUCH. SOME HOTELS ARE CHANGING HOW THEY GIVE YOU TOWELS….IT’S EVERY TWO DAYS AND TOWELS BY REQUEST. IT SAVES TIME AND MONEY….
Since my husband has an office job he takes off his dockers and button down off right when he gets home I can refresh (love this setting it has been a life changer) them in the dryer and get another wear out of them. I also wear an apron most of the day keeping my jeans clean and wear them twice. We also change our sheets every week but only do the comforters every other week. Pajamas are worn twice as are towels. Pretty much everything in our house we stop and think to ourselves is this actually dirty before putting it in the laundry. With 3 little ones we have gone from doing 16 loads a week down to 10. I also cut back and the amount of time time spent ironing by only buying my husband wrinkle resistant work clothes.
A big fat ‘yes’ to the apron and refresh setting on the dryer!!
2 of my favorite things also!
-Lauren
What about wearing some of your daytime clothing more than once? Little kids do usually get some food and/or dirt on almost every garment by the end of the day, but older people don’t. I typically wear each sweater, jeans, and skirt 2 or 3 times before washing. Of course it would look funny to wear the same clothes days in a row, so after checking for stains I put them away and wear something different next day.
In the winter, instead of pajamas I wear my inner layer of clothes (knit top, leggings, and footie socks) to bed. That not only reduces laundry but also saves time getting dressed and gives me half as many cold-clothes-against-skin experiences!
We reduce laundering of bedding by rotating layers of blankets.
Your tip about towels is excellent. It seems like towels are the second-hardest thing for washing machines to handle (after blankets), so washing them less often reduces wear and tear on your agitator.
Love your blog. Laundry has always been my downfall. I am working on it though. I will be doing some studying on your blog. 🙂
Unfortunately I have to wash my towels every day because I have eczema & I could reinfect myself. My daughter also has it so I wash hers every day too but hubby reuses his. Another thing is that I try to air clothes that aren’t dirty but aren’t clean – they get hung up on some hooks in the room & then I move them onto the line outside for a blast of sunshine that will disinfect them. I don’t like the idea of hanging them in the closet as I sometimes miss stains which could cause bugs. So my aim is to not put them into the closet until aired & keep them out of the laundry hamper. I tend to this with pants, skirts but not usually tops as I think they get sweaty & need a wash.
Yes, air-drying is great for a lot of reasons – saves time, money, and effort! 🙂