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Lazy Laundry

October 3rd, 2010 at 04:15 pm

I recently declared myself to be a "Cut a Lot of Corners" mom. I kind of realized that a most of the moms I know seem to really struggle with priorities.

On the flip side, I know that I often give off the impressions of some sort of perfectionism. Which is laughable since I don't do half the things most my mom friends do. Rolleyes I suppose it's funny that I just kind of am putting two and two together. I decided to add a category in my blog called "Cutting Corners."

Anyway, I just read this post from small notebook (which got me thinking about all this initially when she started blogging about her own shortcuts):

Text is http://smallnotebook.org/2010/09/21/the-guide-to-imperfect-but-clean-laundry/ and Link is
http://smallnotebook.org/2010/09/21/the-guide-to-imperfect-b...

A great post!

Laundry is one of those things I don't really *get.* While everyone else is griping about how it is the worse chore ever, all I can think is that it is the EASIEST chore ever. The machine does all the work - doesn't it? Throw it in? Take it out? What else is there to do?

Aw, this post reminded me. Sorting, folding, ironing. Yeah, I don't do any of that!!

First off - our number one rule is no dry cleaning. Not only is it expensive, but dh is allergic to the chemicals. Thus, we have a good excuse to never waste our money on dry cleaning. We just shop accordingly.

My main rule is no ironing. I will iron something on occasion, but again, I refuse to buy anything that needs constant ironing. I would just go insane. I HATE ironing. I am sure this surprised dh when we first married. His mom delighted in ironing all his clothes (probably sheets and towels, too). & though I don't mind most household chores, the first thing I told him was, "I don't iron." I don't think he believed me at first, but it's just one of the few things I have completely refused to do.

WE generally put the kids' laundry away, but instead of folding it neatly, we just kind of lay everything flat in the drawers (huge time saver). Dh and I tend to leave our laundry in laundry baskets. He does most the laundry, though I certainly don't mind doing it - and do it often. We don't sort anything but the obvious reds and tie dye stuff we don't want to bleed. New clothes I always wash with my dark work clothes first in case they bleed. This always works.

My work clothes are another story. Most of them need to be washed in cold water, delicately, and hang dried. I have a drying rack in my closet and so wash those once a week and hang them on the rack. (I don't let dh touch these - and he is currently banned from my swimsuits after ruining one in the dryer). It's generally quicker/easier than folding or hanging. I tend to leave most my clothes there (on the rack) as I wear them over and over.

Bed sheets - we are the same way - tend to just wash them and put them back on the bed. So not a lot of folding. The towels tend to stay in the laundry basket until someone folds them and puts them away. I think we probably fold them more than not, but the thing is we don't do it all at once - they may sit a few days before we put them away.

Thus, we always have plenty of clean laundry. This is not a chore we ever get behind on (probably a must since we tend to have pretty small wardrobes). But we don't spend time making it more complicated than it has to be.

I LOVED doing laundry in our condo. The laundry room was right outside our unit. Back then we would save up laundry for a while and then do 4 loads at once. Clearly we didn't fold it all and hang it all up immediately. I always thought having a communal laundry room was a plus, myself. Big Grin

----------------------------------------------------

It was a funny exercise having MIL stay at our house all week with the kids. The exact same concept. She just made everything so much more complicated than it had to be.

It was funny because she was total Martha Stewart - of course everything was immaculate when we came home. But she was too tired to heat up our frozen meals every night (more like, too tired to clean up after) so it sounds like they ate fast food every night. I just thought it was kind of funny. When she was younger she truly did it all. Out of practice and aging, she tired out by dinner. But she decided running around and making the house immaculate every second was more important than eating well. Poor kids! I can only imagine all the fumes of constant house cleaning that they had to endure. Nothing they usually experience. Wink

Since she did 10 times the work we would ever do (& there are TWO of us!), it was funny how she would go on and on how we do SO MUCH. Dh and I just kind of roll our eyes. Not really?

5 Responses to “Lazy Laundry”

  1. Ima saver Says:
    1286119600

    I have never ironed in my life. We never buy anything that needs ironing! I tend to leave things in the basket for a long time too. I pull out a towel, when I need a towel, etc.

  2. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1286119896

    I'm with you!

  3. Ann Says:
    1286154824

    Ironing?? puhleeese....if something needs ironing I just spray it with the greatest invention..Downy Wrinkle Release :-) A bottle lasts me forever, since like you, I try to buy clothes that don't need ironing in the first place. I had an aunt who ironed EVERYTHING - even underwear.

  4. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1286155760

    I don't mind ironing, but rarely do it. Laundry is a pretty easy chore. But I hang most of my clothes straight out of the wash.

  5. baselle Says:
    1286419754

    I hate to admit it, but I just wear it wrinkled. I find that its a rare wrinkle that lasts in the 45 min bus ride to work, and if there is ... I can always blame the crowded bus.

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