Recently, a sweet reader emailed me about a dilemma she had: TOO MUCH LAUNDRY! She wanted to know how to tackle the piles of laundry she had accumulated.
It happens. Life gets busy.
And you may be wondering the same thing.
So today, I’m going to give you the step by step process you are overwhelmed by laundry. By the end of this post you’ll stop feeling overwhelmed and have a plan to deal with the piles of laundry.
Here’s the question I was asked,
“Hey Emily, what should I do if I cannot physically get all of my laundry done? Not in a day, or a week, probably not even a month of vigorous laundry-doing would complete the many piles I have accumulated.”
Read my detailed laundry process for more tips!
Too Much Laundry
Decide that washing your piles of laundry is a top priority.
This is a mental shift that you must make. Laundry is no longer negotiable.
It MUST get done.
Think about what will motivate you.
I can’t remember where I heard this, but here’s an idea!
Get yourself a 100 dollar bill and decide that you will get the laundry done by a certain amount of time or you have to rip the 100 dollar bill in half.
I don’t know about you, but I would make it a priority to get that laundry done!
Schedule a day, two days, or an entire weekend where all you do is laundry.
Write it in the calendar as if it is work and you cannot not miss it. Remember if you do, you have to rip that 100 dollar bill in half!
If you have children, find a sitter. That way you can focus entirely on the laundry.
As you sort through the clothes, don’t wash anything that you know you won’t wear again.
There are probably clothes in your piles of laundry that your kids have outgrown or you don’t really like wearing.
Don’t waste your time washing them!
Create a separate pile for these clothes. Once you are all caught up with the rest of the laundry, you may decide to wash these clothes and sell or donate them.
But you may just decide to donate them. Personally, I wash anything that I buy second hand anyway, and I think most people do.
If at all possible, go to the laundromat.
If you have so much laundry that it seems you don’t even have enough time in the day to finish, you need to be doing multiple loads at once.
Get to the laundromat as early as possible. I’m talking, bright and early in the morning, you are there.
That way you have access to the washers before the crowd gets there. Here are 10 helpful tips for washing clothes at the laundromat.
Now, you may not be able to physically carry all of your dirty clothes in your vehicle at once, but bring as much as you can.
Get it done. Take it home, and load your vehicle with more dirty clothes until it is all done.
Make doing the laundry enjoyable.
You could binge a Netfilx series or rent some movies to watch while you fold clothes.
On your way to the laundromat, stop by your favorite coffee joint and get a drink.
Read those books you have been wanting to read but never have the time. Just do something enjoyable while you tackle those piles of laundry!
As you are doing this, remember your end goal: To be rid of the piles!
Keep that in mind when you are ready to quit.
When it is completed, celebrate and determine that you won’t let it happen again. You’ll want to come up with some sort of system. I prefer doing one load of laundry a day.
Laundry is one of the four tasks that I do each day to keep my home tidy.
Before you go, be sure to get the Balanced Mom Checklist if you are an overwhelmed mom.
