I hate doing laundry. Maybe it’s because my laundry room is in the basement and it’s a pain to lug laundry up two flights of stairs. Or maybe it’s because it’s just so dang time-consuming. Either way, I’m always looking for laundry hacks to simplify the process. Perhaps you are, too. If so, check out these laundry tips, and please add your favorite at the bottom in the comment section.

Oh, and you don’t have to be a busy mom to want to make laundry easier. I just find that moms hate it a little bit more because there’s more laundry to do. 🙂 And don’t forget to check out my 5 Ways to use Laundry Mesh Bags to simplify your life!

10 Laundry Hacks for Busy Moms

1. Create a Laundry Schedule.

Clean Mama suggests you do a load of laundry every single day, especially if you have a family of four or more. I tend to agree.

For a long time, I followed this rule and it really cut down on my laundry stress. One medium-sized load seemed much better than trying to get everything done on the weekend.

But with my husband currently working from home in the basement, it’s a little trickier to follow right now. Once things return to normal I will resume my once-daily schedule but for now, I’m doing larger loads during the weekend. I do all clothes on Friday, sheets on Saturday, and towels on Sunday.

The point here is to create a schedule, any schedule. Once your mind knows that this day is for sheets, and that day is for clothes, it really cuts down on the mental exhaustion.

Also, here are my favorite cleaning tips with vinegar – many of which can be used for laundry!

2. Finish a load of laundry on the day you start it.

What I mean is, if you start a load of clothes in the morning, make sure they are washed, dried, folded, and put away by the end of the day. While it seems a lot easier to throw a load of clean laundry in the guest bed to fold tomorrow, it actually creates more stress knowing it is just sitting there.

And sometimes (often?) we forget about the laundry and have to wash it AGAIN because it now smells like mildew. I know you understand. The more we can build it into our routine the less likely we will forget it and double our work.

3. Get the kids to help.

If your little ones are old enough, turn folding laundry into a game. Mary Poppins would be proud. Dump the laundry either in their room or the living room and even put a show on. Fold it together and put it away together.

Even if it seems to take longer at first (because kids…) we can teach our children the importance of responsibility and doing something fo themselves or others. As soon as my toddler understands this concept I am putting her to work! 😉

Eventually, they get the hang of it and many hands can make the work lighter.

4. Organize the process.

They are probably countless ways to organize and simplify the laundry process.

You could place bins for certain colors in the laundry room and everyone is in charge of throwing theirs in them.

You could hand a rack in your laundry room to make air-drying easier than trying to find a clean spot on the back of a dining room chair to lay them flat.

You could create a bin or bucket for all the solo socks (seriously, where do they go?) and once a month try to match them up!

My husband suggested that if we ever get to build our own house he would back up everyone’s closets to the laundry room and build connecting “closets” so one could take the laundry out of the dryer, fold it, and immediately put it away in each closet! I think it’s brilliant but not sure I’ll ever get to see his genius plan come to fruition.

5. Lastly, make your laundry room pretty.

Create a place that you don’t hate walking into as much.

If you need some jaw-dropping inspiration just check out Pinterest. Or don’t, if it makes you feel worse about your dark and dingy laundry room. As I mentioned, mine is in the basement and is more of a laundry closet than a room. And it is far from pretty.

However, my husband is currently rebuilding the doors on it so they both swing open, instead of slide, making it at least more functional for me.

When that’s finished I intend to put up some shelves and maybe hang a pretty picture or two on the wall so it cheers me up when I have to look at those two appliances for the fifth time this week.

If you have more flexibility, check out the beautiful peel and stick wallpaper at Walmart that cost way less than the real stuff and is much easier to apply. This pretty floral print would be lovely in your laundry room.

Also, this isn’t pretty but don’t forget to clean your washer periodically to keep it nice and fresh. Just add a cup of white vinegar and run a regular load on hot.

BONUS: More Laundry Hacks & Stain Busters!

I asked my Facebook community for their best laundry hacks and here were some of my favorite ones.

1.) Use the sun as a natural bleacher.

This one is actually from my mom. She still hangs everything white on her laundry line to bleach it out. Seriously, it works like magic!

2.) Add salt to a load of laundry to keep colors from fading or running. Genius.

3.) Use chalk to take out grease stains. Just rub it in, let it sit, and wash as normal.

4.) Remove ink stain with hair spray. Leave on for 10 minutes and wash. I can’t wait to try this one!

5.) If your towels are starting to feel a little stiff and dingy, pour 1/2 cup of vinegar in with them to soften them up. Also, check out more of my favorite cleaning tips with vinegar!

6.) Boost the power of your detergent with baking soda. Add 1/2 cup to your load to get your clothes extra clean and fresh.

RELATED: 5 Ways to Reduce Toy Clutter!

What are your favorite laundry hacks for busy moms (or anyone)? Share below!

((PSST!) Do you want to love your home again? Are you ready for a reset? Do you want to walk through the door and see a place of safety, calm, refuge, and good memories?

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