Let’s get this straight, nobody loves doing laundry. If you are a working mommy, it must be the most painful thing you have to keep doing. Coming back from your office, tired as hell, and the first glance at the laundry basket would make your blood boil.
I get ya!
Managing time can, at times, turn into a dreadful task for busy working moms. You would fret over the thought of that laundry basket going one level up speedily. To relieve yourself of this anxiety, here is what you can do.
11 Laundry Tips and Hacks for Busy Moms
One load a day keeps the stress away:
Yes, you read that right. If you have kids, it would be a great idea to do at least one load each day. The pile of your laundry that keeps mounting magically will finally get some pause.
Obviously, if you have a baby in the house, you would change his clothes quite often. Tossing the dirty clothes in the washing machine as soon as you change them would be an excellent idea to reduce your load.
So, what are you waiting for? Fling one load in the machine and reduce your burden NOW.
Acquire a big machine for your support:
You would agree with the fact that electronic machines HAVE made your life easier. A washing machine makes cleaning all the dirty clothes extremely stress-free.
To cash on this experience, spend some extra money and get your hands on a bigger machine. It would make it possible for you to wash all your family’s clothes in a single go.
Get Mesh Bags, your new best friend:
Tracing back the lost socks is such a nuisance. This turns into a real headache when you have three to four kids. Gathering all the socks together and matching them takes a lot of time.
The best way out is thus to put them in a mesh bag and wash them off. It will keep them protected throughout the washing process.
Schedule the laundry routine:
So you may not have thought about it yet, but being a working mom, YOU NEED TO SCHEDULE THE LAUNDRY ROUTINE.
You can no longer trust your instinct of washing your clothes only when you get time.
For working mommies, it is necessary to schedule the whole day, to avoid last-minute panic attacks. You may give more importance to other tasks, but the moment your kid needs a clean pair of jeans to wear, you will curse yourself.
To avoid such a situation, prefer choosing one day when you will do all the laundry. If you have a lot of people at home, a pile a day will serve the purpose.
If you tend to forget things, mark the day of laundry in your calendar for the constant reminder.
Be wise while using clothes:
If your kids tend to change into three to four sets of clothes a day, your laundry pile is bound to mount. Be a bit strategic here. When they are out to play, make them wear a set of clothes that you have allocated for the playtime ONLY.
This will lead to fewer clothes getting dirty, leading to a smaller pile of to-wash clothes.
The one pile that you DEFINITELY need to wash every day is the school uniform. Apart from that, going strategically will surely reduce the burden on you.
Set your machine’s timer:
Now your brilliance is in utilizing your electronic devices to their optimal potential. Machines that come with a timer can aid a working mom by going off right at the time when she needs to wash the clothes. This timer will remind you to put a pile of clothes in the machine and wash the first batch.
An even better idea will be to heave a pile in the machine at night and take it out in the morning. While you are asleep, the machine will clean the clothes thoroughly.
Train your kids to help you:
As your kids grow, it will get increasingly onerous for you to do everything by yourself. For a working mom, becoming a super-woman is not easy, neither should you try to do so.
Instead, train your kids into helping you out. Teach them to do their tasks themselves, and it will keep them active and you, stress-free.
If your kid can pile his own clothes, dash it in the machine and wash it himself, there is nothing better than that. Let him fold the clothes himself once they are clean.
With time, they will learn how to do that themselves, without you instructing them at every point.
Declutter the clothes in your home:
I know the urge of buying more and more clothes for my kids and trust me, this is not a good thing. More clothes in the home mean more piles of laundry.
Why buy 10 pajama sets for your kids when you just need 5 of them? You have to get rid of excess clothes that nobody wears anymore. Make a separate bag every 6 months and get rid of clothes that are not needed. You can donate these clothes too. Throw away the socks if they are torn.
Efficiently fold the clothes daily:
This is something that you may consider irrelevant, but it will play a significant role in making your life easier.
Even if your machine is efficient enough to wash your clothes on time, folding it may appear to be a hassle for you. If it stays crinkled for a long time, the mount will keep increasing.
Make it a point to defeat procrastination for some time, and fold the laundry as soon as it comes out clean from the machine.
Try this routine, and I promise it will give you a great sense of achievement.
It’s okay not to be a perfectionist:
Ironing all the clothes of your kids and folding them would be such a hassle. This would especially be a source of great annoyance when you have three or four kids in the house.
What you need to realize is that you do not have to turn into a perfectionist. Your kids will not even notice if their clothes are perfectly pressed and well folded.
Hang the clothes if you have enough space in the closet. If not that, you can roll them together and place them in the wardrobe. Leaving them un-ironed would surely not make a huge difference in your kids’ lives, so why make your life difficult?
Don’t go on an Ironing-spree:
If you are a perfectionist mom, you would want to iron every piece of clothing that comes out of the washing machine.
But, is that even necessary?
Ironing just the most essential clothing items would be the right thing to do. Overburdening yourself by ironing everything from the onesies to the vests won’t aid much to ease your overworked self.
Busy Working Moms need some respite. Not ironing the shorts and bed sheets painstakingly will give moms much-needed relief.
Editor’s note: Better yet, own clothes that don’t require ironing and are easy to take care of for your working mom wardrobe!
Final words:
So these were the super amazing laundry hacks for working moms. Trust me, I have been a working mom and I have literally spent years drowning in laundry. These tips saved my life, my sanity, and my happiness. Don’t let laundry get in your way ever again.
Author Bio
Saima is a mom of two cute boys. She blogs full time at A Supertired Mom and shares relatable experiences, tips, parenting hacks, joys and challenges of pregnancy, motherhood and raising kids. When not writing, she is eating pizza and sipping strong tea. She loves glitters and celebrations and beaches.
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