The very first great idea on here is to keep linens organized into neat stacks. Let me tell you, if I leave any laundry out in the open in my "laundry room" for more than a day or two it gets dirty again. With all the dust from my furnace (and I just had it cleaned, thank you), there is a constant layer of dust over everything down there. Plus, why are we organizing linens in our laundry room. Even in my tiny house, I have a linen closet. Second idea on there wasn't bad. In fact, if I had any room at all, I'd totally do this. Instead of a cutesy little towel bar mounted under a shelf though, my husband rocks and fashioned a huge bar that is attached to open wall studs. It's not pretty , but it works just as well. Next is adjustable shelving for a laundry wall that can be used for just about anything. Sure, let me just take out my furnace, I don't really need that anyway. And then I can store the surfboard, I mean ironing board, right next to it for easy access. Yeah, I'll get right on that. Next on the list is a stain chart. Not a bad idea. However, it's recommended to laminate it. How many of you out there who are not teachers just have access to a laminator? That's what I thought. How about this. Save a stain chart to Pinterest and then check it out. May be a tad more work since it's not right in front of you, but with smart phones, ipads, kindles, laptops, the chart if mobile if saved on the internet. Here's one I really love next, perfect towel folding using a cutting board. Now, if you have time to use a cutting board to fold your towels, you have too much time on your hands or you're just anal retentive. The tight space laundry ideas and adjustable laundry closet are cute, but again, if your laundry room is in your cramped basement in a closet with a furnace and water heater, these ideas just aren't practical. The last idea is one that I just laugh at. Bags. Use bags to carry your laundry instead of baskets. Do you know how many bags I have in my house? Too many to count. I have a bag for this, a bag for that, a bag for another thing. Are they easier to carry, definitely. If I had to go to a laundromat, I'd like this idea. For walking clothes up and down stairs, give me a laundry basket. My kids can help put laundry away out of a laundry basket. My kids can not help out of a bag. When they reach into a bag, they unfold my folded stuff. That then makes twice the work for me, and I definitely don't have time to do twice the work.
So, since obviously every single other ideas out there is for people with real laundry rooms, I'm going to give everyone some ideas for people without real laundry rooms, because you know what? I'm super efficient with laundry (when Husband brings up the clean, folded laundry baskets). Tip #1, Shout Color Catchers. I'm not talking the ones with OxyBoost, those are a waste of money. Just the regular old Color Catchers. Seems like a weird first tip, right? Nope. These things are magic. Really. I say that because my first real tip is to keep kid laundry together to make getting it put back away after washing easier. Each child has a hamper. I do a load of Monster clothes. I do a load of Sunshine clothes. All their clothes get washed on the same cycle, in the same temperature, hence the Color Catchers. When the clothes come out of the dryer, I toss them in a laundry basket. No sorting. All of them go in the same person's room. I really can't tell you how much time this saves. I used to sort it all and do everyone's laundry together, but the sorting and putting away took three times as long. To go along with this tip, do kids clothes when the hamper gets full. When the hamper is full, you have a large load. If the hamper gets too full, then you have to divide the clothes up, which makes more work for you.
Tip #4 follows right on the heels of stain fighting. Stain spray stuff. Honestly, I don't think it truly matters what kind you use. Everyone has a favorite. I LOVE Dreft spray, but it' the most expensive, too. Whatever stain stick/spray you like, keep it close to where you're actually taking your clothes off. I have a spray in the bathroom cupboard as well as in the "laundry room". This way,you don't have to take the article of clothing that you want to treat into the laundry room, just spray it, rub it and toss it in the hamper. All those sprays say to let the stuff sit on there anyway, so letting it sit in the hamper with all the other dirty clothes works just as well as letting it sit in your laundry room.
Tip #5: Color Catcher /fabric softener sheet bag. What? Yes, a bag. Instead of throwing all those sheets out, keep them in a little bag, or, better yet, use immediately (which I never do but should) to clean your lint trap. By using the sheet, you can get more of the lint off than by just using your hand. And that takes us right into tip #6. No matter how small your area is, keep a trash can right next to your dryer. That way, the lint from the trap goes right into the trash and not all over the place while you are carrying it to the trash can.
And finally, my last tip. Tip #7: No matter what kind of laundry area you have, keep it clutter free. The less you have in your laundry area, the easier laundry is. There are times I get lazy and throw Husband's work pants on top of the dryer. Or there are times I leave laundry baskets full of clean clothes to be folded next to the dryer. This just makes more work for yourself and makes laundry take longer. Now, since my laundry room is in my basement, I don't have the problem of having it in my "mud room" (ha! My whole house is my mud room!) and tossing stuff on top of the washer and dryer when I come in. The more cluttered your laundry area is, the more likely you are to procrastinate getting the laundry done. Keep your area tidy. Laundry rooms are for laundry, not random paperwork.