Like many families, our laundry pile seems to be a never-ending job. I try to wash one or two loads daily in order to keep on top of things. However I don’t always achieve that goal and often fall behind. In efforts to relieve myself of all the laundry duties, I have begun to enlist my children in helping with this process. (I know probably something I should have done a long time ago.) Laundry is just one of many basic skills I have neglected to teach them. Jaden, my homeschooler, has picked up on the task nicely and now helps out with collecting and sorting the clothes. The other two children are older but at school the majority of the day and missed out on the daily training. Well it is time for everyone to learn how to wash the clothes!
So I designed a clear set of instructions for the laundry room. I implemented this three basket laundry cart for sorting the clothes. Since I generally sort using four piles, I also added a hamper that we no longer use. This gives us four piles: whites, light colors, dark colors and towels. I used 3 x 5 recipe cards and wrote clear instructions on what is consider a white, light color, ect. On the cards, I also listed details on what temperature, pre-treaters and soaps to use and them some “what ifs” and how to handle a stain or particularly smelly batch of clothes. Any dryer times and temperatures were not an issue here since we rarely use the dryer. However I would suggest a dryer family to also list dryer information. Shrinkage is a major factor and something to avoid if at all possible.
Next I added a card to the washing machine for “specials”. Any clothes that need special attention should be placed directly on the machine. This ensures stains and spills won’t get missed. These clothes can be pre-treated as necessary and hopeful avoid permanent damage. Sport uniforms, leotard, and swimming suits should also be placed here for immediate washing. Then they won’t be lost in the dirty laundry when it’s time for practice or game time!
I also made notes on the washing machine panel with a washable kids maker indicating the general wash cycle, water level and temperature. As you can see, my biggest concern was the knob not being turned in the appropriate direction. Enlisting the kids to help certainly won’t be profitable if the knob ended up broken!
I gave them all a brief tour discussing the laundry and should the lists of general instructions. After a few basic questions, they all felt like this was a system that could work. With the 3 x 5 cards as a reference, anyone here should be able to handle the laundry duties therefore keep us all clean and neat!
