Creating a Laundry Schedule That Works

If laundry feels like an overwhelming, never-ending task, then you might benefit from a laundry schedule. With that said, no laundry schedule is one-size-fits-all. I want to show you how to make a customized laundry schedule that works perfectly for your family. Below, I’m walking through the questions you need to ask yourself in order to create a laundry schedule that works well for you and your household. 

How to Create a Laundry Schedule

What Requires Washing in Your Home?

In order to create a successful laundry schedule, you need a good understanding of the items in your home that need to be washed regularly. Create an exhaustive list of all of the items that require regular laundering. In my family, this list looks like:

Clothes: (6 loads)

• Mine and my husband’s
  • Darks
  • Whites
  • Delicates
  • Heavy fabrics (denim and outerwear)
• My toddler’s
  • Darks
  • Whites

Linens:  (4 loads)

• Bed linens
  • Mine and my husband’s
  • My toddler’s
• Bath towels, hand towels, and washcloths
  • Mine and my husbands
  • My toddler’s

Misc. Kitchen: (3 loads)

• Cotton cleaning cloths and dish towels
• Reusable shopping kit
• Microfiber cloths

That adds up to 13 loads. But not all of those listed need to be washed every single week. Many of the items on that list are washed every other week. This is what brings us to the next question.

How Many Loads Per Week?

Evaluate which items on your previous list require weekly washes vs biweekly washes and how many loads that equates to per week.

Here’s what this looks like in my family:

Clothes: (6 loads) *Every Other Week

• Mine and my husband’s
  • Darks
  • Whites
  • Delicates
  • Heavy fabrics (denim and outerwear)
• My toddler’s
  • Darks
  • Whites

Linens:  (4 loads) *Every Other Week

• Bed linens
  • Mine and my husband’s
  • My toddler’s
• Bath towels, hand towels, and washcloths
  • Mine and my husbands
  • My toddler’s

Misc. Kitchen: (3 loads) *Every Week

• Cotton cleaning cloths and dish towels
• Reusable shopping kit
• Microfiber cloths (*sometimes every other)

So out of 13 total types of laundry loads, only 3 require weekly laundering. That leaves 10 that can be washed every other week. 

After doing some basic math, that means my family averages a total of 8 weekly loads of laundry.

Knowing that total/average weekly number is extremely helpful when creating a laundry schedule. Now I can take that number and work backwards to make sure I make room in my week for all of the necessary washing.

How Often are You Willing to Wash Laundry?

Are you the type of person who likes to break up a big chore into smaller, daily tasks? Or would you rather just dedicate one or two days a week to power through it?

Do you have to work at an office full time? Or do you get to work from home one day a week? Do you stay home all week long?

I like to dedicate 2-3 days per week to laundry. I have some time saving and scheduling hacks that I’ll share below that make this easier for me. Ultimately, I try my best not to save laundry for weekends if I can avoid it!

Your scheduling preferences might look different than mine and that’s perfectly fine! What’s important is knowing yourself so you can realistically block time in your weekly schedule to get it all done.

My Laundry Schedule

Because a lot of my laundry is done every other week, I have a two week laundry schedule.

Week 1:

• Monday: Mine and my husband’s darks and whites
• Tuesday: Mine and my husband’s delicates and heavy fabrics
• Wednesday: My son’s darks and whites
• Thursday: Cotton cleaning towels and reusable shopping kit bags

Week 2:

• Monday: Mine and my husband’s bed linens and towels
• Tuesday: My son’s bed linens and towels
• Wednesday: Microfiber cleaning cloths
• Thursday: Cotton cleaning towels and reusable shopping kit bags

There is of course some flexibility here, but it’s helpful to have it all written out and accounted for. Doing so also helps me unlock some of my time saving tactics that I explain below!

Laundry Time Saving Tips and Best Practices

Presort Your Laundry

In my opinion, this is the BIGGEST laundry time saver of all. If you have space in your home, it is absolutely worth investing in laundry baskets that help you sort laundry items by color and weight.

This system is most valuable when it comes to clothes. I like having 4 compartments to throw mine and my husband’s clothes into:

• Lights
• Darks
• Heavier fabrics (denim and outerwear)
• Delicates

Pre-sorting our clothes in this way makes it really easy for either one of us to grab a full compartment and toss the entire thing into the wash. Depending on the fabric, we know what type of wash to run. 

PRE-SORTING CLOTHES BINS:

I also presort laundry in my kitchen. Because we are a paper towel-free household, we quickly go through cotton cleaning cloths. Also, we like to shop the bulk food section of our grocery store with reusable bags. These need to be washed after each shop so they also go into a kitchen laundry bin. We have three bins in our kitchen:

• Reusable shopping bags and bulk bin bags (check out our reusable shopping kit)
• Cotton cleaning cloths and dish towels (details in this post)
• Microfiber cloths (we wash these separately – here’s why)

In my opinion, there is absolutely no need to waste time sorting laundry when it can be done at the time that you toss something dirty into a bin.

KITCHEN LAUNDRY BIN IDEAS:

Delay Start Timer

Here is one of my favorite time saving laundry hacks: your delay start timer.

Many modern washing machines offer this feature (check your manufacturer!). Here’s how I use mine:

At the end of a long day, the very last thing I want to do is laundry. All I really have energy for is grabbing one of my presorted bins and tossing it into the washer. Once I load the washer with the dirty laundry, I’ll add the detergent to the detergent compartment and then set the timer for the load to start an hour before I wake up.

If timed correctly, the load will wash the dirty laundry while I’m sleeping and finish just in time for me to wake up and walk downstairs to transfer the load to the dryer. 

Because I have presorted delicates and special fabrics, I’ll be able to toss the entire washed load into the dryer, or bring it over to our drying rack to air dry. 

The laundry dries while I do a workout in our living room. My husband sets our coffee machine to brew automatically in the morning, so when I finish my workout I can pour a cup of coffee and fold a little laundry in front of the TV until my toddler wakes up. 

Sometimes I don’t get the time to fold in the morning. Instead, I’ll transfer the basket(s) of clean laundry to our living room so it’s ready for me to fold after dinner when we’re doing family TV time.

This system enables me to complete a load or two of laundry every day when I have the most energy (usually before 7am).

Delegation

If you have other members of your family or household who are capable of helping… let them. Even small children can participate in some of the laundry tasks. Maybe assign different family members to specific days on your schedule. Have little ones help load, empty, and match socks for folding. 

Once every household member has a clear understanding of their role and how to do it successfully, then you can let that part of your weekly laundry chores go!