Solving a Reader’s Laundry Mess!

UPDATE: Anne has completed this challenge! Go here to see her after photos and to read about her success story!

My next Get Organized question is from Anne:

“What are your suggestions for dealing with laundry? It’s all over the laundry room floor, some in the hamper in our room, some in our daughter’s hamper in her room. Some in baskets throughout the house. Some baskets are clean, some dirty. Wet dish towels and washcloths are hanging over the washing machine, in sinks, on counters to dry. It drives me nuts but I don’t know where or how to start organizing it all.” – Anne

Solving the Laundry Mess

Anne, laundry is a very common messy situation! Three chapters in my new book address the laundry situation.

I also have a few articles on my blog about laundry that you may find helpful:

• Solving a reader’s real-life laundry mess:
• How to tame your laundry monster:
• How to organize your kids’ clothes:

In addition to the helpful tips and suggestions mentioned in the articles listed above, here are a few basic tips about how to gain control of your own laundry situation:

1) Get rid of some clothes.

I know that when you’re really behind on laundry, it can seem scary to get rid of stuff! I used to feel the same way. But, I recognized that a lot of things such as ill-fitting sweaters, old t-shirts, and holey towels were only worn or used after our favorite items were dirty.

Getting rid of the clothes we didn’t really like forces me to do laundry more often – and when I get to the laundry room, it’s no longer an overwhelming mess because we simply can’t go any more than one week inbetween loads or we start running out of clean shirts.

2) Make sure that everything fits in a designated place.

“I know this may seem like common sense to many of you, but for years I struggled with clothes overflowing all over the place. I finally realized that part of the reason I was always behind on laundry was because when I was caught up, there simply wasn’t enough space for all of the clothes. Now every single item of laundry in our home has a designated place.” Davonne Parks, Chaos to Clutter-Free

3) Keep in mind that there’s never too much – or too little – laundry to wash a load.

I used to get overwhelmed when I had a lot of laundry, so I’d put it off. That doesn’t help the situation! I’ve found that doing a load or two even if I can’t wash everything is still very helpful.

On the flip-side, when there isn’t very much dirty laundry, I tend to think that I don’t need to wash anything – this simply isn’t true! I can run one load and be done with it. There’s no need to let things pile up until I feel overwhelmed!

4) Make a commitment to catch up as you consider the heart issues.

Laundry isn’t fun, especially after a long day. But, which are you going to feel better about after-the-fact: spending 30 minutes working on laundry, or spending that same 30 minutes watching TV or browsing the Internet?

“When there are mountains of laundry all over the place, am I thankful that my family is blessed with plenty of to wear, or am I annoyed about the laundry work? I can choose thankfulness.” – Davonne Parks, Chaos to Clutter-Free

I hope this helps you, Anne! Make sure to read the articles I linked to above for more practical application tips!

PS Readers, don’t forget that if you submit your own mess, you’ll receive a free copy of Chaos to Clutter-Free, plus you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card! Details and submission information are here.