Laundry Hacks for Busy Moms
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Laundry is the chore that never ever ends and easily piles up once your family starts to grow. Sometimes I feel like our laundry hampers are bottomless pits. Am I right mamas?! Luckily I have been collecting hacks that make doing the laundry a little bit easier. I don’t have any magical tips that make the laundry just go away or fold itself (though wouldn’t that be nice?). But, I do have some tried and true, practical advice on how to get your laundry done and do it well… or as good as you can do it at whatever stage of motherhood you’re currently in.
Dish Detergent for Grease Stains
I learned this hack from an old co-worker years ago. Dish detergent works almost like magic with small food stains. Whenever I spill food on my shirt when I’m eating or cooking, I immediately go to the sink, dab it with dish soap, rinse the best I can and the food stain almost always comes off when it is treated immediately. Yes, I am aware that this means there is going to be a random wet spot on my shirt for a little while, but honestly, it doesn’t bother me at home and it dries fairly fast. However, if that bothers you, you can always change your shirt prior to treating the stain. I’ve also tried dabbing and rubbing out old grease stains with dish soap as a prewash and it works great with set in grease stains. If I still notice a stubborn grease stain on clothing that has already been through the dryer, I just keep pretreating it with a dab of dish soap and usually after a few cycles of washing and drying, the grease stain eventually disappears. It’s amazing!
De-Wrinkle with an Ice Cube
I saw this hack online and I thought, let’s give it a go! Because when you have little kids, who has time to iron? Honestly, since having small children, I have not been as prompt about folding our clothes right when the dryer is done, though I am aware that doing so will decrease wrinkles. On most days, our clothes are a bit wrinkled, but the kids don’t mind and I don’t either. However, there are days when I need to leave the house and it would be nice to wear a top that is not quite as wrinkled. I tried throwing an ice cube in the dryer with a very wrinkled cotton shirt for about 15 minutes. And to my surprise, it worked… eventually. I was bummed to see that my shirt still looked wrinkled once I took it out of the dryer, but I still laid it flat on my bed while I finished getting myself ready. Once I was done with my makeup, I was shocked to see that my shirt looked decently free of wrinkles right where I left it. My verdict is that this hack works, but you should lay your clothes flat for a few minutes to let the wrinkles relax afterwards.
Maintain Your Machines
Like any of your big appliances, taking good care of your equipment will help to maximize their lifespans and ensure that they work properly and safely. To tell you the truth, I had no clue how to take care of my washer and dryer when we first moved into our home years ago. It’s no wonder that our first washer and dryer started breaking down fairly early. You can review your user manual to find out if your specific washing machine has a lint filter that needs to be cleaned regularly. Now, I clean our washing machine, as well as its lint filter, on a monthly basis. I also clean our dryer lint trap after every load of dry laundry and try to pay special attention to when our dryer vent needs to be cleaned professionally. If you are looking for a good washing machine cleaner for monthly maintenance, I’ve used both Tide and Oxyclean and I’ve been satisfied with both results.
Set a Timer
I hate letting wet clothes sit in your washer because they start to smell. And, if they sit there long enough, you have to run the washer again to get the clean laundry scent back. Unfortunately, it happens to the best of us, especially when as a mom you are busy doing a million other things around the house. To prevent yourself from leaving your wet clothes in there too long after the wash cycle completes, you can set a timer to check on your washer and throw the clothes in the dryer. Or, this gets even easier if you have a newer Wi-Fi connected washer and dryer because in most cases, you will get a notification on your phone when the cycle is complete!
Make a Routine (1 load a day or weekly laundry day?)
I found that laundry doesn’t pile up and become too overwhelming if I create a routine to get it done. The first thing you’ll need to do is find out if you are a 1 load a day person or a once a week laundry day kind of person. I personally adapted to a one load a day routine. Though I totally understand there are cons to daily laundry loads, it just personally makes me feel less overwhelmed because the laundry is never piled high if I chip away at it everyday. Everyone is different, so find out which routine works best for you and your family!
Don’t Fold Clothes to be Hung
I’m sure a lot of people already do this, but while I’m folding clothes, I lay all the clothes that need to be hung in a flat, straightened pile before taking the pile to the closet to be hung. It just helps the clothes relax their wrinkles a bit and it’s so quick to just pile up the clothes rather than fold them.
Fix Pilling
Are fuzzballs getting you down? Unfortunately, pilling happens all the time from wearing and washing your clothes. I’ve come to the conclusion that pilling is just the natural wear and tear and some fabrics are just more prone to it than others. Instead of feeling like it’s time to get rid of your favorite sweaters, try cutting off those pesky lint balls with this electric lint remover from Amazon. No one will ever notice they were even there!
Put Away Folded Clothes Immediately
Even though I am not always prompt about folding our clothes right away when the dryer is finished, I am prompt as far as putting the clothes away once they are folded. Putting the clothes back in their drawers and respective spots immediately just helps to clear the clutter from my sight and decrease overwhelm.
Get Slime Off Clothes
As much as I love how messy sensory play keeps my kids busy for a long time, it also might be the death of me! I’m kidding and obviously over exaggerating, but slime and putty getting on my kids’ clothes is no fun to deal with. If you throw it in the washer, sometimes you risk spreading the slime to other clothing, which is also bad news. What I’ve found is that the easiest way for me to remove the slime or putty is by dabbing some rubbing alcohol on the affected area and scraping it clean (the best that I can) with a butter knife. Before going in with too much rubbing alcohol, I do suggest spot testing a tiny part of the clothing to see how it reacts with the alcohol before going too crazy with it. Now, after removing the slime, sometimes I do see leftover grease marks, which I treat with my hack #1… dish washing soap! This is a tough mess to clean, and I am not promising anything. But, I do hope that it helps get the stain out!
Unless you are able to outsource this chore, laundry is not going anywhere. Because of the nature of how dirty clothes can pile up as your family grows, it‘s easy for anyone to feel overwhelmed and feel like they just can’t get on top of it. Just know that as long as you keep chipping away at it, you are doing your best. And, hopefully these laundry hacks make this chore a little easier!
