True Confessions: I Have A Laundry System
Mrs. G's mother (as mothers are wont to do) was giving her a bit of a hard time during a recent visit. Apparently, one of Mrs. G's shortcomings is the lack of a laundry system. Now those of us that know and love Mrs. G are convinced she doesn't have any shortcomings, but Mrs. G's mom is not convinced.
Back to the laundry system. In reading the comments, along with the widespread support of Mrs. G and the outrage of daughters everywhere at the judgementalism of mothers everywhere, there was mockery of those who have a laundry system.
At the risk of exposing myself to ridicule in the bloggerhood, I'm going to admit to having a laundry system, share it, and give my rationale.
First, the system. I don't have a laundry room--I have a washer and dryer in the garage with some shelves above them. I also have a couple of rods for hanging clothes (one for air drying, one for clean clothes). I also have a couple of hampers and a laundry basket.
Each morning I grab the clothes from the hampers in each of the four bedrooms on my way out to the garage to feed the dogs. It's just a minute to sort them into their appropriate hampers since I do it every day. If I have a full load, I start one. I usually do 2 to 3 loads every other day; I'm done with laundry by 8:30 a.m. on weekdays.
I never put anything in the dryer unless I'm going to be able to deal with folding it as soon as it's done. Closet space is not an issue in my house, so I hang up all t-shirts and all pants (except for jeans). The clean shirts hang above the washer/dryer and the air dry and need-to-be-ironed clothes hang on a separate rod. Shorts, underwear, socks, p.j.'s, etc. get folded and put into a laundry basket. Towels and that sort of thing get put away immediately most of the time.
I leave all the clothes in the garage during the week and once a week I put everything in piles on the pool table (although a dining room table would work as well). Each family member knows that putting their things away once I sort it is a priority. If they don't put it away in a timely manner, my head explodes (a la katydidnot).
Why do I have a system? Because I'm basically lazy. A system allows me to complete work with a minimum of time and effort expended. Everyone always has clean clothes and it just doesn't seem like that much work. I never (unless I go out of town) have to face Mt. Laundry. Doing laundry efficiently and quickly allows me to spend time on things I'd rather be doing--like blogging about my laundry system!
