Here’s What to Do When You Don’t Have Time to Fold a Load of Clothes

As a mom of 5 children, I often don’t have time to fold a load of clothes.  In fact, this is more often the case than not!

One thing I hate, however, is folding a basket of wrinkly laundry.

See if you can relate to this laundry scenario:

You have 4+ loads of clothes that must be washed today.  You have a 5 minute break in your schedule, so now is the perfect time to roll the laundry.

You take the clothes from the dryer and leave them in a laundry basket.  You’ve got time to put the wet clothes in the dryer and start a fresh load in the washer.

But what about the clean clothes you put in the basket?

You don’t possibly have time to fold them right now.

You can certainly choose not to fold them right now, but that’s going to create one cold, wrinkly pile of clothes you’ll have to deal with later.

So just deal with them now.  Here is a quick way when you don’t have much time.

Side note: What does it mean to “roll the laundry?” 

→ Take the clean, dry load out of the dryer

→ Put the wet clothes on to tumble

→ Put a new, dirty load in the washer

 

Pull out Underwear and Socks

Put all of the underwear in a pile and all of the socks into a separate pile.

These two items don’t need to be folded immediately, as they can be wrinkly and it really won’t matter.

Lay Out Shirts and T-shirts

Hold each t-shirt by the shoulder seams and give it a good flap to get out the initial wrinkles.  Then lay it flat on the bed.

Repeat this same process with every t-shirt in the basket, simply laying them on top of one another.

They’ll appear slightly wrinkled but they’ll be fine once you fold them.

If it’s a shirt that needs to be hung on a hanger, lay them flat on your folding surface or bed in a single layer only.  Don’t put another shirt on top of it.

Loads of Jeans and Pants

If your load consists of only jeans, take one pair out at the time.

Hold it by the waistband and give it a good, hard flap.  Then lay it out flat on your folding surface.

You can lay several pairs on top of one another without causing them to become wrinkly.

Follow the same method for most any pair of long pants or shorts.

Sheets and Towels

I personally cannot stand to fold wrinkly sheets, so I pull them out quickly and just lay them flat across the bed.

Interestingly enough, I can deal pretty easily with wrinkly towels, so I just leave them until I can work them in later in the day or evening.

Now that my children are older, I often assign someone to be on towel duty each day.

If you could care less about wrinkly towels or sheets, simply leave them until later.

 

Now What?

So you now have these piles of clothes lying all over your folding surface or bed.  So now what?

Well, you’ll have to fold them.

Laying them out this way only buys you time if you have to get the next load of laundry going.

Unfortunately, it does not save you the trouble of folding them or the even more dreaded task of getting them put away.

I’m sorry.  I know that the folding and putting away is usually the worst part.

Update: Click over and read How to Get your Laundry Put Away. I still use this method 9+ years after first writing this post!

 

How Often Should You Use This Method?

Choice #1:
Sparingly.

I do this maybe once or twice a week, at the most.  I don’t want to get in the habit of doing clothes with this method because it’s one of the few habits I have going for me these days!

When I do use this method, I have all of them waiting for me when I come upstairs for the evening and then I have to spend the time folding them and putting them away because they are on my bed.

And that makes me want to cry, because my bed is just calling for me to come get in it.

So I try really hard to get them all folded and put away prior to 4pm every day.

 

Choice #2:
Weekly.

Maybe you are a wash-once-a-week type of laundress.

If that’s the case, you may choose to save all of the folding until all of the loads are completed.  Stream your favorite show and fold away!

 

So what do you do when you have to roll the laundry along but don’t have time to fold?