This is probably not a hack but more of a little tip to keep those laundry piles from getting out of control or to help get them back under control if they get a little crazy. I’ve seen some crazy laundry piles and they weren’t pretty. Thankfully we haven’t had those and if we have it’s been so long that I can’t remember.

The easiest way to tackle a mountain of dirty clothes is to just get them washed! Don’t worry about sorting or any of that nonsense… just fill the washer, add some soap, and wash. Granted there may be some items that don’t come out looking as good as they should but drastic circumstances call for drastic measures sometimes.

We don’t have a lot of ‘special care’ items and if we do then they are kept separate from our normal wash. Most of the clothes that we choose to keep around are the kind that can withstand anything… and if they do get messed up the kids can just use them as play clothes or we can use ours for days when we have some messy projects to tackle.

We use this method of washing clothes when we’ve been out of town or when we have unexpected emergencies or the washer breaks down and we just need to wash all the clothes up in a timely fashion. If we waited for everyone’s assigned laundry day then the clothes would be a stinky mess. Plus our laundry area isn’t that big so we can’t have it getting clogged up. This is also a good method to use if you decide to use a more minimalist approach to clothing.

Defeating the Dirty Laundry Monster

You can also do a variation by keeping a hamper for the whites or towels that you want to wash with hot water. When the hamper is full then you can do that load… that may mean that you have two loads in a day but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. When I’ve used this method in the past I also kept a couple of baskets to sort laundry into and the kids would take the baskets back to their rooms to put away clothes and then bring them back to the laundry room.

I try not to keep a bunch of laundry baskets around the house as they seem to keep clothes hostage and won’t allow them to be put away… does this happen at your house? Now we have two laundry baskets and it works out great as long as they are emptied and put back where they belong. When we need a laundry basket we just have to remind the person(s) to get their clothes put away so we can use the basket. This has helped to keep the clothes put away and has prevented lost items on many occasions. It is also helping to instill some good habits in the kids and makes them responsible for their belongings.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this little blurb about laundry… hoping this can help someone along the way.

God Bless!