Solving the mystery and taking the pain out of laundry...

There it is...like the creature from the black, or in this case, green lagoon.  It's the overflowing laundry hamper.

This will hopefully take some of the pain out of doing laundry.  Something you should know is that I am not naturally OCD.  However, my husband has a pretty modest case of it.  Therefore, I suffer from "if you can't beat them, join them."  What I have found is that sometimes the OCD actually makes life a little easier.

1.  Sort the laundry.  In my house, we sort by color.  That's right, we sort by color. The only exception to that is towels.  Do not sort your towels in with your clothing.  The towel will beat up your clothing in the washer and dryer and shorten the life of your clothing.  If you are single, this may not work for you unless you only do laundry once a month.  Anyway, there are 3 of us here, so it works.

This is the hard part.  Now is when you will empty pockets, turn all clothing right side out, make sure sleeves are unrolled, etc.  Take the time to do it now and the rest of your process will be much easier.  Make sure you are checking the labels on the clothing for special washing instructions.  My husband, bless his heart, tried to help me with laundry one day.  He didn't realize my new wool sweater was not to go in the wash.  Well, needless to say, my new wool sweater was given to my 4-year-old granddaughter.

2.  Gather your supplies:  After you have your laundry sorted, gather the things you will need to do the laundry.  From left to right below:  Stain fighter, laundry detergent, fabric softener, dryer sheets, color catcher (useful if you have to blend colors) and clothes hangers.  Be careful when stain fighting.  The stain fighter will bleach the dark clothes if left on too long.  

3.  Load the washer:  Put the clothing in the washer tub.  I am fortunate enough to have a high efficiency front load washer.  Follow the manufacturer's instructions for adding detergent, etc for your machine.  My machine has bins to put in the detergent, fabric softener, pretreater, etc.  When you are adding the detergent, use the minimum amount advised by the bottle.  More detergent does not make cleaner clothing.  

  From there, select your wash cycle.  Most washers have a regular cycle and/or a permanent press cycle.  These are basically the only 2 cycles you really need.  You may also need the gentle cycle for your delicates.  

This is my washer button panel.  It's pretty scary the first time you look at it.  Let's take one row of buttons at a time.  Starting at the left with the big button...This is my cycle select.  This is where I select "normal" or "permanent press."  Permanent press is for your nicer clothing.  The basket agitates and spins more gently and will preserve your clothing more than the normal cycle.  The next row over is the display screen and the start button.  The next row is the temperature selection row.  Basic formula to remember, the darker the color, the colder the water.  I wash whites in hot water, lights in warm and darks in cold water. For towels and sheets, you want to wash in the hottest, heavy dutiest cycle you have.  You must kill the dust mites and icky stuff these things accumulate.  I rinse in cold water no matter what the wash temperature.  I have never found a reason to rinse in warm or hot water.  The next row of buttons is for spin speed.  Not all machines have this.  The next row is to select the level of dirt on your clothing.  Now you are ready to start the washer.

4.  Transfer clothing to dryer:  Once the wash cycle has completed, you will transfer the clothing to the dryer.  Pay special attention to clothing that can be machine washed but should be laid flat to dry (from the clothing label).  Separate these clothes now.  When that is finished, add a dryer sheet and then select your dryer settings. 

The dryer button panel has the same basic concept.  At the left, the big button sets your cycle.  I use primarily normal and casual for my every day laundry.  I very rarely use the timed dry.  In the middle is the display screen and the on/off button.  The next row sets the temperature of the air drying your clothes.  If you have more delicate items in the dryer, you might want to lower the heat.  The next row is for the wetness of your clothing.  If your spin cycle practically spins all the water out of your clothing, you can lower the dryness level.  The row on the right is for special functions on my machine.  I can add steam for those times when I fall asleep in the chair and forget about the laundry until the next day.  I run a quick cycle and add steam to the clothing to get out the wrinkles. Something important to note here is to set the bell or alarm on the dryer...especially if you have permanent press clothing.  This will allow you to take the clothing out of the dryer prior to it getting wrinkles.  Empty the lint basket after every load.  Once a month, clean the lint basket so water flows easily through the screen.  This will keep your dryer running at its most efficient level, and possibly prevent a fire.

5.  Hang the dress shirts, etc.:  I have found (through my husband's request) that buttoning the second button down from the top makes men's dress shirts hang better.  This is pure preference, but shirts need to be hung immediately after the cycle ends to avoid wrinkles.  This will save you from ironing everything.

6.  Fold the clothing:  It is no longer OK to just ball up your clothing and stick it in a drawer.  Here are very simple, step-by-step instructions to folding a T-shirt and a pair of pants.   Lay the shirt flat, front side down.  Flatten out any wrinkles.   Fold over lengthwise, matching side seams.  Fold Tshirt sleeves back in on the shirt.

   Fold top over bottom.

Put the pants front side down.

Fold in half lengthwise.  Pull the crotch out so pants lay flat.  Make sure legs have no wrinkles.

   Fold bottom of legs up about 1/3 of the way.
   Fold the waistband over the legs.


Whew...that seems like a lot of work.  It is the first few times.  However, after you do it a few times and get your own system, it will become much easier.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.  I hope you find this helpful.  Let me a comment to know how I'm doing!