10 Laundry Hacks You Really Need to be Using

10 Genius Laundry Hacks

Laundry is probably the worst thing that ever happened in life. Why has no one taken the time to invent disposable clothing yet? I mean, seriously; it’s like we have no choice but to wear clothes, wash clothes, dry clothes, fold clothes, hang up clothes and then we start the entire thankless process all over again and make ourselves completely miserable. It’s not even remotely fun and we hate just about every second of it. I’m not kidding; I hate laundry. Of course, I have a family of six. Between myself and my husband, most of our stuff heads straight to the dry cleaner, but we have four kids. Two of those kids are 1-year-old twins who can’t go five minutes without ruining an outfit. One is 6 and she changes like a diva 76 times a day and then throws all her laundry in the hamper instead of putting it away when she discards it in favor of something else, and our 4-year-old can’t breathe without being covered in filthy dirt – I mean, we don’t even know how this is possible but she’s such a mess she can make it happen even in our spotless home. Laundry, friends, is a total waste of our lives. It’s the worst thing that ever happened in the history of time, and nothing short of making someone else do it is ever going to help.

With that said, we have no actual laundry solution for you other than to get a maid or a specified laundry chief. But we do have some seriously awesome laundry hacks that everyone should be using to make life just a little easier and a lot less stressful. You’re welcome.

Get Multiple Hampers

Do you know how much easier it is to do laundry when everything has its own hamper? Take it from me – I used to do a million loads a day until we bought our new house. We have a laundry room the size of a really nice bedroom, and we have a place for multiple hampers (and the washer, dryer, sink, a beer-fridge, the twins’ jumperoos, exersaucers, car seats, coolers and everything else we’ve ever wanted to keep somewhere). Now I have a basket for towels, for whites, for work clothes, for kids’ clothes, for twins’ clothes, and for bedding. It’s so much easier to wash what needs washing than everything else at the same time.

Make People do Their Own Laundry

One way to eliminate laundry at home is to make your older kids do their own. It’s not something we can do in our house yet since our kids are small. But believe me when they are older they are doing it themselves and I’m not going to apologize for it.

Do Laundry the Right Way the First Time

If you wash your clothes on the right setting, the right water temperature and the right size, you’re going to get them clean right the first time and eliminate additional washing needs. Believe me, it’s a lesson I learned the very hard way.

Use Clean Tennis Balls When Drying Blankets

It’s so much of a pain to get duvets and other blankets clean when you are washing them since you have to dry them and keep them fluffed. Three clean tennis balls in the dryer will fluff the duvets and blankets as you go and make it more possible for you to get them the way you want them without additional effort on your part.

Wash the Washing Machine

You should, once a every 6 months or so, wash your washing machine. Do this by adding a cup of white vinegar and laundry detergent to an empty machine and running it as if you were doing a regular load of laundry. It makes the machine more efficient and more up-to-date.

Make Whites Whiter with Aspirin

Did you know that you can break up four aspirin in a bowl and soak your white clothes in there for about a half hour before it’s time to wash them and it will help them become even whiter? This is such a great plan that I can’t believe more of us were not aware that it was even possible for so long.

Keep Black Clothes Black with Coffee

Add two cups of black coffee to a load of laundry that’s all black and you will keep that stuff as dark as possible. This is a great laundry hack since so many of us end up with black items that fade and become dull with each wash.

Stop Washing Laundry After Every Wear

Believe it or not, you don’t have to wash everything every single time you wear it. You can wear that robe for a few days. You can wear your jeans a few times. You can even wear sweaters and shirts more than once if you wear them with an under shirt. Just don’t try to wear those underpants more than once.

Do a Load of Laundry Every Day

If you do a load of laundry every single day, it prevents your laundry from piling up and looking chaotic. Sometimes this is all you need to keep your laundry to a minimum. After all, it’s far more enjoyable to fold a load of towels one day, a load of kids’ clothes the next day and yours the day after than it is to spend the entire day in the laundry room doing it all at one time since you got lazy throughout the rest of the week.

Put Socks in a Lingerie Bag

Socks go missing and it can be more than a little annoying. Put your socks in a lingerie bag and you will notice that they do not go missing and you will not be hunting for them all over the house. A lingerie bag keeps them together and allows you to keep your laundry in a place that you will be able to find it without much effort. It’s a nice way to keep things as they are.

Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images

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