Laundry Systems - Part 1
Lately, I've been reflecting on a theme I've observed among my clients: many are feeling overwhelmed by their laundry duties, leading to feelings of guilt and frustration.
It’s important to remember that laundry is not just a simple chore. It’s a multifaceted task with multiple steps, from sorting and washing to folding and organizing, that comes into contact with many different systems in our lives.
Some people feel a great deal of shame and a sense of failure or inadequacy around laundry struggles. If you feel this way, you aren’t alone. We see this a lot.
Whether or not laundry comes easily for you is not indicative of your character. Laundry is extremely complex, and a small problem in the system can easily lead to chaos.
Here are 3 tips I share most often with my clients. I hope they help you get a better grasp on your laundry system.
Delegate Delegate Delegate
Ask yourself, “Should I be doing laundry at all?” For some people, it simply does not make sense to spend multiple hours every week caring for your family’s clothing. I see many extremely busy executives with families who have house cleaners, nannies, au pairs, gardeners, and even personal chefs, but still try to do their own laundry.
Laundry services offer pickup and drop-off, many house cleaners will do laundry for you, and there are professionals on TaskRabbit who offer laundry service on demand. If you can afford to, delegate your laundry.
Right-Size Your Storage
Clothing storage systems, like closets, dressers, and shelves, must be sized appropriately or else they will fail.
Dresser drawers that are 75% full, are full. Anything over 75% starts to create a barrier to the drawer’s function.
The same goes for hanging bars. If too many clothes are crammed onto a bar, it’s too difficult to move the hangers back and forth, and too difficult to add or remove items.
This makes putting laundry away so difficult, you might choose to leave it on the floor/chair/bed.
You may need a larger dresser, a new closet system, or a good seasonal declutter to make sure your system adequately supports the amount of clothing you own.
Get the Right Hangers
The wrong hangers can seriously disrupt your laundry cycle.
Look for space saving hangers in both plastic and velvet. Plastic is great for cotton because it’s easy to slip items on and off, while velvet hangers are great for silk, strappy garments, or anything that tends to slip off the hanger.
Can I “Afford” This?
Ask yourself this every time you make a clothing purchase, because being able to “afford” a garment isn’t just about the money you pay for it. It’s about the time and effort you spend caring for it.
Here are some questions to consider:
Do I have time to separate whites and colors?
Do I have time to run a delicate cycle?
Do I have time to deal with dry cleaning?
Do I have time to fold my underwear and socks?
Do I have time/space for a drying rack?
As you can see, there is so much that goes into our clothing, and we haven’t even scratched the surface! There are so many intersecting parts of a laundry system that my number one piece of advice is to simplify whenever possible.
I look forward to adding to this series in the future! I wish you all the best luck with your laundry!
