Taming the Laundry Monster, Part I

There are several aspects to taming the laundry monster and it seems like more households do have a laundry monster than don't.  Piles, or baskets and hampers if you're lucky, sit waiting, sometimes for days, for you to get to them, while other items hang in your closet rarely touched, getting in the way.  Whether you are one person or a family of 6, laundry is probably an issue.  Most people have way more clothing than they actually need and it's typically not organized very well, especially in states that have what I call bi-polar seasons, meaning the weather can't make up its mind which season it actually is.  I have a four part solution for you.

The first part is the hardest: get rid of some of your clothes.  It's not easy.  My general rule is (with very few exceptions, pregnancy being one of them) if you haven't worn something in the past year, you don't need it.  Another good rule is, if it doesn't fit, you don't need it.  Dress the skin you're in and make it look fabulous!  It's also good to make sure you have a good basic wardrobe that you can mix and match and accessorize to make different outfits from the same pieces.  You won't need as many items crowding your drawers and closet this way.  You can update your look each season by picking up a few items, but if you have the basics you shouldn't need much.  What your basic wardrobe needs are will also vary depending on what you do for a living and for fun.  This is a good checklist for women and this is a good one for men, especially if you're in a professional job.  I'd even suggest owning a good chunk of it if you're not.  You never know when you're going to have to dress up and look professional.  You also never know who you're going to meet, so looking your best whenever you leave the house is strongly advised.  That said, if you are a homebody and you work from home, less of that is required.  I'm not saying you have to go out and buy a new wardrobe, just pare down what you have and try to keep the stuff on the list.  (However, if you do want to get some of these things, one way to save money is to find good clothes at thrift stores-just be picky about quality-and get them tailored, which you can actually afford at thrift store prices.)  So what do you do with what you're keeping?


Now that everything you own fits and is appropriate for your current lifestyle, the second part is to categorize what you have.  Separate your clothes by season, then by type (i.e. formal, casual, workout, date-wear), and finally by where they're stored when they're in season.  You will use the categories when you are putting your clothes in your drawers and closet.  It's also handy to use these categories when you're storing out of season clothes, so you can find things more easily.  There are certain ways to store clothes that will help them last longer, like sweaters do better on shelves or in drawers because hangers stretch them out.  Here's a good guide to where and how to keep your clothes.  This is another guide covering seasonal storage and other clothing care tips.  Knowing the information in these guides will help you with the next step.  You can even take the categorizing a step further and separate the lighter and heavier weight clothes for each season, to aid in the transition from one season to another.  Now, grab the clothes for the current season and we can move on to the next step.


The third part is to optimize your closet, drawer and storage space.  I know it seems obvious, but make sure you're putting the items you use the most in the easiest places to reach and the stuff you wear once or twice a season in the harder places to get.  So if you live a mostly casual lifestyle, your dress clothes should be harder to reach in the closet, while your casual clothes are right up front.  When it comes to storing out of season clothes, especially if you live in a bi-polar weather state, make sure you store the mid-weight clothes in the easiest to access locations, so when it's a little chilly or a little warm you can easily get to the appropriate clothes.  If you wanted to go really OCD with it, you could get four storage bins in dark blue, light blue, pink, and red to indicate which temperature the clothing is intended for, but it's not necessary.  I would recommend using colors to signify differences, so you know what you're looking at at first glance.  Also, when changing seasons, transition the clothes gradually.  Pull out the mid-weight items first, then swap the more extreme temperature items once the temperature has changed more drastically.  So after all your hard work things should look pretty snazzy and organized.  The struggle now is to keep it that way.


The last part takes the most work and dedication and truly requires a blog post of its own.  This is where you figure out a laundry routine that allows you to keep up with everything.  It will have to be individualized around your typical day/week and flexible enough to withstand the occasional upheaval in your life.  The good news is, in most cases, you can do laundry while you do other things.  It's all about figuring out where to fit the different steps in or what you can fit in between the different steps, depending on how you look at it.  There's more good news!  Once you complete the first three steps you'll have way less clothing to keep track of and clean.  So I'll let you handle the first three steps and we'll get to the next part later.  Good luck!