How to do laundry more efficiently

It would be startling to find out how many hours we spend doing laundry in a lifetime wouldn’t it? So, to minimise the time and effort spent on doing the laundry for the family, MOLLY MAID, the professional domestic cleaners, has some useful tips to help you be more time efficient with your laundry, so you can enjoy more time doing the things you’d rather be doing!

The most crucial point with any change that will affect the entire family, is to ensure that every member agrees to ‘new’ laundry rules. Your system can only work if you have everyone’s buy-in.

Most new systems, require some initial set-up and rules. In order for this new system to work efficiently, MOLLY MAID suggest that you put the following in place before even starting to tackle the washing pile:

• 3/4 Laundry baskets – 1 for ‘whites’; 1 for ‘dark’ and 1 for ‘coloured’. You may consider having a 4^th basket or a hanging bag for clothes that need to be taken to the dry cleaners. This can be very time efficient in the long run.
• Dedicated drying area – It is useful to have a dedicated area in your home where you can dry your clothes even if you do have a drying machine or if you like to hang your clothes outside on the washing line. After all, there is nothing more unsightly than seeing everyone’s underwear or sports gear hanging from radiators.
• Drying rack – If space is limited, or if you have a large family and you wish your drying to be less unsightly, why not consider installing a drying rack from the ceiling? For a more upcycled and rustic look, paint a small ladder and hang from the ceiling to act as a drying rack.
• Hangers – It’s vital to have a good supply of hangers to hand as hanging clothes, such as T-shirt and shirts, as they come out of the washing machine, can prevent them from being badly creased therefore saving you some time spent on the ironing.
• Clean washing cupboard – Upcycle an old cupboard (not tall) and invest in some runners to hang plastic laundry baskets from – one labelled for each member of the family. Even better, if it has a flat top on which to do your folding and then pop it in the basket, for each member of the family to take to their rooms and tidy away.
• From dryer to fold – If you use a drying machine, don’t waste the fact that when clothes have finished their cycle, they are in a fit state to be folded and fold particularly well whilst still warm. Give them a good straight brush down with your hand and fold. This will save you plenty of time you would otherwise have spent ironing.
• Do it regularly – The most efficient way of doing laundry, unless you wish to dedicate a whole day to it once a week, is to keep on top of it. Why not create a rota of what day the whites/ darks/ colours will be washed? This way your family can at least try to plan when they need their sports kit turned around by for example. Hopefully, this will reduce the last minute washing requests! Then, pop the wash on before you leave in the morning and by the time you return, it won’t take you 5 mins to hang up once you know how and where you will dry the clothes. The clothes should be dry overnight for anyone needing them the next day.

Good luck with being more efficient with your time!

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