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Laundry stinks. Sometimes literally. I’m not kidding, laundry is my least favorite chore. I don’t mind washing so much, but the remembering to move clothes from the washer to the dryer, the act of folding and sorting and turning everything right-side out drives me bonkers. And don’t even get me started on putting it away– I’d live out of a laundry basket if I could! But the laundry pile? It has to go, and with a little help from your kids, it won’t even take that long! Who says mom should have to do all of the laundry? It’s time to tackle the laundry pile, and get your kids involved in lightening the load, so you can all have a great break afterwards.

Raise your hand if laundry has ever gotten the best of you. Yup, that’s what I thought– almost all of us have ended up with a laundry pile that seemed insurmountable. How did we even get all of these clothes? Why do I still have a million shirts to wear but I’m totally out of underwear? Do I really have to do laundry? And how many of us have done load after load for our kids?

Well, guess what. That can end today. Whether you have a three year old or a thirty year old in your household, you can get help with the laundry pile, and conquer it for good.

First, designate a laundry day. Have a large family? Designate a day for each member of the family! We pretty much know around here that my brother will always wash his clothes on a certain day of the week (after soccer practice is done for the week, but before a game), I will always take another day for my clothes, and linens? They all get washed on the same day, too, regardless of room. When there’s a schedule, there’s no more fight over laundry time, and when there’s a schedule, it means you can’t get behind on laundry– you’ll never go more than a week without taking care of it!

Every person needs a hamper or basket to use. You’ll eliminate the laundry pile when you give every person a place to put their clothing when it’s dirty. Make space, and keep it convenient. Maybe it’s most convenient for you to keep this in the laundry room, or maybe you prefer everyone to have space in their own bedroom or bathroom, but every room needs a hamper for their clothing– a bonus of everyone having their own? No more sorting what clothes go in what room– they’re pre-sorted by person/room!

When it comes to getting help, you’ll want to be sure your littlest helpers have a way to reach the washer, and have an older helper/supervisor with them. For three year olds, age appropriate tasks include helping to put laundry into the washing machine, helping to move laundry from the washer to the dryer, and helping to clean the lint filter.

Kids can start sorting clothes by lights, darks, and denims when they get a little bit older– around four or five years old. Having children sort the laundry is educational, and also helps the task get done. Some children this age are also ready to start helping with spraying stains and measuring detergent, but you’ll want to definitely be sure they have someone to watch and help– you don’t want any incidents of stray spray going in the eye or mouth!

As children near the six and seven year old mark, they can also be very helpful at folding more complicated laundry. While a younger child could pretty easily fold a washcloth or hand towel, a child at this age can help put hangers on shirts and pants, and help to fold larger towels and pajamas. Children this age are also very capable of putting away their own clothes in the proper drawer (though, they may need to be reminded a time or two!)

When children reach the pre-teen years, they can start doing their own laundry– sometimes it helps to keep a reminder note of which settings to use, and have a chart on hand for what the symbols on clothing mean. It’s common at this age to want to cut corners, and that can result in some pink “whites” or some shrunken tees, so always make sure you’re on hand to provide helpful tips at this age.

Once kids reach the teen years, you can unleash them on laundry themselves, start-to-finish. Encourage older teens to help younger kids learn age appropriate laundry skills, and you’ll be even better off!

While I highly doubt mom will ever be completely out of the laundry room, it does help to involve your kids in the process– after all, these are the same kids who will someday be doing laundry in college or on their own, and the earlier you start, the better it will go. I firmly remember going into the laundry room my sophomore year in college, and seeing a girl sitting on the floor crying because she had no idea how to wash her favorite shirt… she’d never done laundry before. After a few tries, she got the hang of it, but don’t let your kid be that kid– teach them the skill before they need to know it, so they have plenty of time to practice.

The thing is, laundry doesn’t have to stink. It doesn’t have to be the worst chore in a mother’s day. Kids really can get on board with helping with chores like laundry, and it can make life a lot easier for everyone involved. When you divide and conquer, no one feels as overwhelmed.

One part of the process that my entire family bonds over is picking the scent for our clothes. I swear every time we go to Walmart, we labor over which one smells the best (and Zach takes extra time, being three, to smell every. single. bottle). It’s one more way to get everyone involved in the laundry process by helping to pick how they want clothes to smell (and with a stinky teen, some scent boosters are essential).

That’s where  Suavitel® Fragrance Pearls™ come in. They’re an in-wash scent booster that you add to your washing machine just before you put the clothes in, and it makes them smell fresh for 5x longer than they would with just fabric conditioner and detergent. When you have a teen, you make scent come to life any way you can (and by scent, I mean the two great scents Suavitel® Fragrance Pearls™ come in– lavender and field flowers– not the scent the 14 year old brings off of the soccer field). 

Moms, laundry doesn’t have to be pushed to the end of your chore list. Get the whole family smelling, get them involved, and your life will be far easier in the end– teaching life skills is part of our job as a parent. Kids need to know how to do laundry. Whether you have your 3 year old adding the clothes to the machine or your teen flying solo on laundry duty, every load they help with lightens your load just a little bit, which means before you know it, laundry is done, and you’re able to sit back and smell the field flowers.

If you do want your laundry to smell fresh, you’ll definitely want to look for Suavitel® liquid fabric conditioner in the fabric softener section of your local Walmart store, because select bottles will have samples of Suavitel® Fragrance Pearls™ (you can also find Suavitel® Fragrance Pearls™ in the fabric softener section!) You can find out more about Suavitel® Fragrance Pearls™ by visiting the website. 

 

Okay, moms, spill it– what’s your best tip for getting through laundry faster? How old are your kids and how do they pitch in to lighten the load and make doing laundry stink a little less? Let me know in the comments below!