by Elizabeth Wordsmith

Created on: February 19, 2010   Last Updated: February 21, 2010

Doing laundry for a large family is a never ending project.  One rarely sees an empty laundry hamper.  When you do get to the end of the last load, it can almost feel like winning a marathon.  Unfortunately, victory is fleeting, and soon the pile will start to grow again.  It can almost make you a little paranoid and suspicious of laundry conspiring against you and competing with other tasks to dominate your time.

What is the answer?  Divide and conquer.  As soon as children can put away their own toys, they can learn to put away their own laundry and help fold towels and sheets.  Older children can be taught how to sort and start a load of laundry.   By the time kids are in middle school, they should also know how to iron at least some simple articles of clothing.

Evenings after dinner is the best time to do laundry.  Everyone is at home.  You have ample time to wash something if it is desperately needed the next day.  It's a job that can be done while you or anyone else is catching up on phone calls, watching TV, or just chatting and talking about the day's events.  Rather that seeing it as a dreaded task, make it a pleasant family project.

Often it's not the washing and drying part of this task that is so aggravating.  The worst part is trying to find a place to put it away.  Most of us deal with crammed closets and drawers so full we have to forcefully shut them.  Take some time and weed out clothing that isn't being worn, is damaged, or is out of season.  Otherwise laundry tends to pile up on the dining room table or become an unsightly mess in some other area of the house.

In a big family, it is also helpful if everyone has his or her own laundry basket.  Also give each person a lingerie bag in which to put socks and other small articles of clothing that are such an aggravation to sort.  Another solution is to purchase different styles of socks for each person to make the sorting process easier and less time consuming.

Designate certain days of the week for doing sheets and towels.  Each person should have his or her own towels and sheets, enough to last until mid-week or the next week.  Also, make sure people hang towels to dry before putting them in the dirty clothes hamper.

In a large family, you can always count on there being a laundry emergency almost every day.  Someone will desperately need to wear something that needs to be washed alone or at the last minute.  Try to avoid these problems by helping children lay out their clothes for the next day before they go to bed. 

If push comes to shove, you can always take a load or two to the laundromat.  But people in your family need to know what it costs.  It can be very expensive.  When trying to learn new habits, you may need to give rewards.  Whatever money you have saved by not using the laundromat services you could spend on a pizza night or something fun.  You can't do this indefinitely, but it may be helpful until everyone sees the wisdom of working together and how nice it is to be so organized.

Don't forget to praise everyone for their cooperation and help.  Praise goes a long way in making children and spouses eager to help out.  Just remember that they may not fold things as perfectly as you do.  That's okay.  Avoid the impulse to refold or redo jobs they have done.  Eventually everyone will become masters at this task and you'll wonder why you ever thought it was such a hassle.

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