Laundry can often feel like an endless task, especially in a busy household. While there are common mistakes many make during laundry, there’s a simple and cost-effective solution you can implement today to enhance organization on wash day — investing in multiple laundry baskets. Having several baskets helps prevent dirty clothes from accumulating in areas like bathrooms and bedrooms. Color-coding these baskets can be a fun way to engage kids with this task. On laundry day, each family member can have their own color-coded basket, allowing them to sort their own laundry and eliminating the need to separate a large pile of clothes.
Additionally, using multiple baskets aids in sorting specialized laundry. You can designate a hamper for “special care” items like lingerie and delicate fabrics, or a separate basket for heavily soiled work clothes. This approach allows you to clean these items more efficiently while keeping similar items together, away from other clothing. No one wants to find a greasy shirt mixed with a delicate silk blouse. Moreover, the extra baskets encourage you to follow crucial steps before starting a load, like sorting by color and fabric type. Having two or three baskets around your home can significantly reduce the tedium of laundry tasks.
Take a load off of your laundry routine
Beyond using multiple hampers to organize your family’s laundry by person or fabric type, this strategy can also help you distinguish between dirty and clean laundry. This is particularly useful if your schedule is hectic and clean laundry often remains in baskets before being put away. We’ve all experienced a moment when clean laundry is fresh out of the dryer but there’s no time to store it. So, where should dirty clothes go when clean laundry occupies the basket? Understanding the consequences of storing dirty laundry in the washing machine may deter you from using it as a storage spot. Having separate baskets for “clean laundry” and “dirty laundry” can help alleviate this storage dilemma. This organization tip also prevents you from accidentally re-washing clean clothes, saving water and detergent.
Moreover, dedicating baskets for “clean” and “dirty” laundry ensures your freshly washed clothes remain clean. Depending on your lifestyle, dirt, germs, blood, or grease from clothes could transfer onto the basket, leaving residue. Now imagine placing your clean, fluffy towels or your child’s pajamas in that contaminated basket — the grime transfer can be quite unpleasant. A separate basket can make your laundry routine more hygienic overall.
