Ep 24 - Conquering Your Laundry

This week we’re talking all things laundry - including the BIGGEST cog in the laundry system that I see all.the.time - and what to do about it… the answer is easier than you think! But I promise - it WORKS.

You can listen right here, on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or you can read the transcription below. Enjoy!

Hello, friend - welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited you're here today! I am talking about conquering your laundry. This might not be thought of as an emotional topic offhand, but let me tell you it is because this comes up all the time when I'm working with clients and students, and it can fall under an emotional issue because it's really hard to realize sometimes where your cog in the system is.

I'm gonna run through it all, I'm going to run through the thing that I see the most often that can help you get to where you want to go. But before I really dive into this, I want to let you know that I have recently contributed to an article on porch.com called Mastering the Art of Laundry: How to Sort Wash and Organize Your Clothes for Optimal Care.

This is a roundup post with a ton of advice from a bunch of different organizers, people who are really good and work in like the cleaning space, etc. A bunch of different people have contributed to this, and there's just a rundown of so many tips from storage and organization hacks that you can do, creating better laundry routines, the biggest mistake and a chaotic laundry routine. All these different things. And in the article, I talk about keeping a clutter-free laundry room - I've got five different tips in this roundup as well - It's a big article. There's just a ton of tips in here, and so wanted to make sure that you check that out if this is something that is on your to-do list of things to get organized in your life. We will link that in the show notes and it will also be on the blog. And if you have any questions about that, feel free to let me know.

So the biggest issue that I see all the time with folks is that they are trying to conquer something that I have heard dubbed (and I think this is so, so accurate) Laundry Mountain, and that is when you just cannot seem to keep up with the amount of laundry being created in your household.

Now, if what I'm describing is something that you can't relate to… honestly, this blog post might not be for you. But for a lot of people, this is a big issue for them, and it becomes emotional because it can be very draining, very stressful, and it can be hard to imagine staying on top of it.

So what I want to suggest is really reexamining not only how you do your laundry and your laundry routine, which can be important, but usually it's not as simple as: “you should do a small load every day” - which works for some people and not other people. Or “you should do all of it on one day a week”, which also works for some people and not all people.

Or “you should do one laundry day every two weeks” - which also works for some people, not all people. That said, if I'm talking to someone and they just are really having an ongoing issue with not being able to fully complete their laundry, and it's this never ending vicious cycle, I would say that 95% of the time the issue is not how often you're doing the laundry.

Sometimes folding can be a hard part, but usually it can be traced back to this question: If everything was clean, would you be able to put it away? I would say 95% of the an time, the answer is no. It's an overstuffed closet. It's overstuffed drawers. It's just really not having the storage space to put everything away if everything is clean, which means by necessity you basically have to live out of your hampers.

If everything was clean, would you be able to put it away? I would say 95% of the an time, the answer is no.

What I found is the hampers… those are generally the clean clothes that people are using the most. The space where you have clothes that you might not use, want, need, love, or can be generally reexamined, are gonna be in the closets, they're gonna be in the drawers because you never even are able to get to those spaces. Now, a lot of times it's really hard to find the bandwidth to go through those spaces, and that's really a time management issue. Not even a time management issue, but like a setting aside the time issue because we're all, there's a lot going on in all of our lives.

I'm not gonna sit here and say that it's the easiest thing in the world to carve out time to go through all your clothing. But if you have a laundry mountain situation, it's gonna be something that you'll really need to make the time for, so we can fix the cog in the system and get these trains running on time.

So what we'll need to do is reduce the amount of things until you've reduced to the point where everything can be put away when it's cleaned. Then we can go through, get the laundry done, get it folded, and put it away. But you first need to be able to put it away. That's gonna be the most important thing.

So then we, then it really becomes an issue of, okay, how do I put things away? And later on this year, I am planning an episode... nothing settled yet, so I really shouldn't say too much, but I'm aiming to be talking with a pal of mine who I have talked about decluttering your closet extensively together. And so my goal is to have them on so we can really go through this more in depth. So I'm not gonna dig into that so much, but I will say that on top of decluttering, if you are really limited in space, seasonal switches can definitely help.

For kiddos, it's also often a matter of: have we outgrown the size of clothes, but it's just been really hard to find the time to switch that over? That's really, really common as well. A kiddo hack that I love is to have a two bins in the closet. You know, maybe like up on a shelf. Doesn't need to be lower, doesn't need to be at hand, but two bins going in the closet at any one time.

One is for clothes that are too big that maybe you've gotten the next size up, they're gonna be ready to go. You're gonna want 'em loaded in the chamber, ready to go, but you don't need them in the rotation yet. That's one bin. The second bin is a donation bin. Helpful if you can see through it, so that even if it's a wicker or a plastic wicker or something where there's some holes in it. It doesn't have to be completely see through if that's not your jam, that's fine, but if you can see into it a little bit it's helpful because then you can see when it's getting full and you can say to yourself: “okay, that's enough - time to make a little donation run”.

The hack is that as you are helping your kiddos get ready for the day in the morning or at night, that’s when you're going to realize that piece of clothing is now too small. We're not putting it back in the drawer, we're putting it in the donation bin, so all that’s left is getting it out the door.

We're taking that first step! If you're doing that on an ongoing basis, you're gonna be spending less time for “future you” going through tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of clothes at one time.

I will say I spend a fair amount of time with parents going through kiddo clothes, just letting go of sizes that are too small because it's hard to find time for. So this is why this hack is so important because you can make a ten second decision in the moment that adds up to you saving yourself a couple hours of time in the future. So that's the hack - well worth it.

Mom and daughter sorting laundry together

A couple of things to think about as you're clearing out your closet as well that can help you - I like to call these the Numbers Rule and the Space Rule. And just as a little plug, if you like what I have to say about these rules (and I'm using the term “rule” very loosely), but if you are the type of person who likes a bunch of organization and decluttering hacks and you have not taken my free class yet, I want to make sure to let you know about that as a resource to you as well. It's about 45 minutes of your time where I'm just giving you a ton, a ton of ton of tips. It's called How to Create a Clutter-Free Home WITHOUT Giving up All Your Free Time. Check out the details here!

Two of the biggest rules that I use in so many different spaces, the numbers rule and the space rule. These are tips that can help you figure out what the right number of something is for you. Not the right number for me, because it's not my job to say “you should have six shirts and you should have two pairs of pants!”

That's not it. Even though I do love minimalism, and even though it has changed my life, the right number for me might not be the right number for you. So this isn't about me converting you to minimalism, and it's not about me telling you how you have to get rid of everything. This is about me helping you figure out how much is right for you so that you can fit your damn clothes into your closet and you're having less stress in the morning.

I will say, I know I talk about this constantly, and I don't use this term lightly, but this has a profound impact in my life - having a seasonal wardrobe switch. I have a little capsule wardrobe of things that I can pull from every season. I actually do this four times a year and I have for years, like I wanna say, oh gosh, at least seven years I've been doing this and it's been the easiest thing for me to keep up with because it's made my life so much easier and I end up saving so much time. But the seasonal switch helps me have a selection of clothing that's limited for every season, but I've already gone through it. I know I use it. I love it. I want it. I feel confident in it. I know it fits me. It's appropriate for the season, so I don't have to think in the morning. I can just say top / bottom, top / bottom, GO. Top / bottom, GO. Versus spending 45 minutes trying on outfits being like, “well, this isn't, it's not really that, right? I don't, I don't know. Do I love it? Do I hate it?”

That's what I used to do every day morning, and it was exhausting, and it was frustrating. And sometimes I wanted to cry. Sometimes I did cry, and I have not cried getting ready for the day in so long, so long, even when I have to do speaking (recently) out in the world, I had to wear regular pants and everything - it wasn't on the internet - I thought to myself, I think it was that morning or as I was going to sleep, I was like, “oh my gosh, I didn't even think about an outfit”. And then the next thought was, “okay, I needed to go from a client session to the speaking engagement, so I needed to be able to wear something where maybe I’m doing a few switches but not have it be too intense”, because it was a quick turnaround, changing my shirt in a Starbucks bathroom and changed my shoes in the parking lot. I ended up deciding what to wear in less than two minutes in my head. And that wouldn't have happened 10 years ago. It would've been me going shopping late at night, the night before, crying in a dressing room. And that is based on a true story. So, seasonal switches - they help!

Let’s dive into the Numbers Rule and the Space Rule. The Numbers Rule is figuring out the right number of items that is the right number for you of any given thing to help you make decisions on whittling things down. So that could be as simple as you saying to yourself, how many pairs of underwear is the right number for me? Depending on how often you do laundry, that could vary person to person. Everybody's number could be a little bit different.

Mine is probably around 17-20. That's probably gonna be a magic number for me. Yours could be much more, and that's fine. Again, it's not about me telling you. It's about you figuring out what's right for you. I generally go up to 14 days without doing laundry, so that's 14 days plus a little bit of wiggle room, right?

But even if I'm going traveling for for two weeks, honestly, the longer the trip, the less I'm packing. So if I'm traveling, I have a trip coming up that's about two weeks long, and I know that I'll probably be doing laundry once and it'll be in the middle. So that's how much underwear I need.

Right. So those are the things I'm thinking about, about the Numbers Rule. Closely related is the Space Rule: how much space are you willing to dedicate to whatever that type of thing is. That could be you having a section of your closet that's for your jeans and maybe that section of your closet holds eight pairs of jeans. So you know that if you have more than eight pairs of jeans, it's spilling out and it is stressing you out. So maybe eight is the right number for you and then you can do a one in, one out situation to maintain it, plus some seasonal rotation switches.

It could be you saying you have this section of drawer for your swimsuits, and if you're spilling out of that, then it's stressing you out and you need to whittle down your collection until it fits in that space. So - using the space to figure out how much is right for you. But I always say that at the end of the day, you could use all of the organizational hacks in the world and you will run out of space at some point, which is why the seasonal switches are so good for so many people because you can be a little bit more creative with your space, or you could create a limited selection so that your brain doesn't have to think as much about the clothes that you're not even going to wear.

For example: I have a couple of occasion dresses hanging in my closet, but they're not in the selection of things that I look at every single day. They're around the corner behind my door. That's where my husband's suits are as well, and where I usually have a lot of my work clothes and some of my sweatshirts.

The things that are in front of my face are the things that I wear out when I don't want to rock the sweatpants I wear around the house. That’s the section I'm choosing from: top / bottom - GO! That can be really, really helpful.

The key to laundry (and I know it's sometimes hard to imagine) is cleaning out your closet. It really is. And if you want more tips than that, again, that Porch article I mentioned above is there for you with a bunch of my tips, and other people's great tips as well. If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to connect with me.

We would love to make sure that your questions are answered for a question of the week or a future episode. So we love to hear from you. DM (on Instagram) or you can always email me, carly@tidyrevival.com. We love hearing from you. We love hearing your thoughts about the pod, and thank you so much for hanging out.

If you wanna learn more about how I can help you, feel free to head over to tidyrevival.com to learn how I work with people one-on-one or in the Clutter-Free Home Process private community. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe so you'll always have access to the latest episode.

We would also love to hear your takeaways. Feel free to tag us on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. The Tidy Revival podcast is written and hosted by me, Carly Adams, and edited by Brittany McLean. Title Song Maverick is by Dresden The Flamingo, and until next time, remember that…