So, laundry used to be my nemesis. I think I felt “on top of it” until I hit two kids. No kidding. And if things weren’t put away and folded or hung, I never felt complete. Then entered that second child and laundry was stressing.me.out. Something had to give. If this describes you to a T, then perhaps our current simple laundry routine may be of help to you too. Today on the blog, I’m going through our full laundry routine from start to finish.

Where the dirty laundry lies

Let’s start at the dirty laundry. Dirty clothes goes into one laundry basket in our linen closet. Everyone’s clothes. Together. I do not sort anything aside from keeping the cloth diapers separate. This is what works for us. And simplifies things for us too. Our baby girl’s cloth diapers are in a bin with a pail liner in our master bathroom as her crib is in our room. The only thing that drives me bonkers is when they leave their random clothes they throw off like socks all over the place throughout the day. Working on that. ha!

What we do every morning

Because there are six of us, we usually can do daily laundry every morning, even if it’s a small load. The kids will take down that laundry basket in the mornings and we’ll throw on a load around breakfast time. Around lunch time, I’ll hang to dry or throw in the dryer.

Dealing with that dry laundry

After supper, when we do our quick main floor tidy up routine, I also tackle any dry laundry. I sort it, place it where it needs to go and move on with the tidy. Basically, I do a bit of laundry a few times a day to make it doable.

How we sort the laundry

So, all that laundry is ready to be put away. How do we sort it from here? We have different zones that are sorted into either a laundry basket or bag. What it looks like right now:

  • Theo (9) has his own laundry basket.
  • Felix (6) has his own laundry basket too. He also puts away all socks and undies, and face cloths that belong in the kids’ bathroom. He puts his clothes on a shelf in the bathroom closet shelf.
  • Arthur (4) and Josie (1) share a laundry basket too. I fold and put away in their bathroom closet shelf. Bedsheets for the kids’ rooms also goes in this basket.
  • My husband Zach and I have a shared laundry bag.
  • We have a laundry bag for cloth diapers, master bath towels and face cloths.
  • We have a laundry bag for master bedroom bedsheets.
  • Our household laundry like cleaning rags just goes away right away as the laundry room is near the kitchen.

Our putting away laundry routine

Our routine for putting away laundry has two parts. One for the bare minimum, one for when we have extra time or extra motivation. We like to keep it doable, low stress, and flexible because we have a busy family.

Bare minimum putting away laundry routine? Is just keeping the laundry IN the laundry room, but sorted in baskets and bags. The baskets stack, which is nice too.

If we have that extra time? Once the laundry bags or baskets are close to full, they usually make their way upstairs. That’s our rule of thumb. Keep the bags, baskets in the laundry room until they are full and then transfer upstairs.

Now, if the laundry makes its way fully upstairs, Arthur, Josie, Felix’s baskets go in the kids’ bathroom and I’ll put away Arthur and Josie’s, Felix puts away his. Theo puts away his laundry in his room. A top drawer for pants and a closet for shirts. I usually put away mine and my husband’s clothes and our bedsheets stays in a laundry bag until they are needed again. I put away the kids’ bedsheets in our linen closet.

Why do we use this above laundry routine? Because it gives us OPTIONS. We can go all in and make sure things are put away completely periodically, but we also have a laundry routine in place for when we need extra grace, space, time for ourselves. Which, frankly. Is often! And that’s ok too. Whose expectations are we trying to meet anyway, right? You have to do what works for us (and for yourself)!

Creating simple routines that are doable and sustainable is so key.

Laundry is something that is a part of most of our lives, so creating simple routines that are doable and sustainable is so key if you’re looking to keep your laundry routine simple for your busy family. And! Make sure to listen to me chatting about keeping laundry simple for busy families in detail over at Minimalist Moms Podcast as well, which you can find here “Simplify Your Laundry Routine”.

Create Your Simple Laundry Routine Freebie

Also catch the freebie: Create Your Simple Laundry Routine (ten questions to ask yourself to help you design yours). You can snag that HERE.

Links to other blogs of mine you may like on keeping laundry routines simple for busy families:

Hi, I’m Kelly! I’m a mother of four children - three boys, one toddler girl - and our family lives on the beautiful east coast of Canada. I’m a past elementary teacher, turned stay at home, work at home mom eight years ago after I had my second child. I’ve found that the busier I’ve become and as my children age, that it’s become even more important to figure out what is most important to me and us as a family. Living a simpler lifestyle has helped us in so many ways in our home life - from better routines to faster tidying up times. It has been through my children that I have been inspired to learn how to effectively manage my time and to simplify in all areas of my home and life. I enjoy helping busy moms simplify home life by teaching flexible planning methods and skills. Enjoyed this blog and think it would be helpful to others? I'd love if you shared it. Thank you!