New Laundry System

My mom taught me how to do laundry. She always told me to sort my clothes into different piles (lights, darks, and brights - this system changed when I didn't really have enough bright colored clothes to warrant an entire load of laundry), wash them with the appropriate amount of detergent, and fold them right when they came out of the dryer. I don't think that last part really stuck, though, since I still leave clean laundry in the dryer until the next wet load needs it.

That system works fine. I can do all of our laundry in half a day, including the sheets and the towels, partly thanks to a miracle dryer that can dry clothes in about half an hour (unless I'm drying jeans - those things take forever!).

I do try to be frugal in all aspects of our life, and so I thought how I could apply principles of frugality to my laundry without having to wash it by hand or dry it on racks indoors (been there, done that, not going back). My husband, Justin, and I both have an enormous amount of clothing, particularly Justin, so I realized that I really didn't need to do laundry every week. In fact, I could probably be a better steward of our money if I didn't do that since the sorted piles were negligible in size, especially during the summer when we wear fewer layers.

So I decided to sort our laundry differently. I have one basket for socks, underwear, and PJs. I keep tabs on the underwear supply so we don't run out, and I end up washing this load about once every week and a half. I also have one basket (okay, two, but one's just a back-up!) for everything else. I don't sort the lights from the darks. All of our clothes are so old that it was really an unnecessary step. Whenever the clothes basket gets full, I try to put it in the washer before bed so I can switch it to the dryer in the morning. Pain free laundry!

I also wash the clothes on delicate because it takes less time and less energy, so how can I lose? Justin and I never really get enough dirt on our clothes that the delicate cycle doesn't do the job. Of course, this will probably change once we have some messy kid laundry to do. I do still wash towels and sheets on the regular cycle (and twice a week), though, because those get a little more ick built up throughout the week.