Why I Never Fold Laundry

I have talked about this in another post YEARS ago, and several of my friends have told me that this little tip kinda changed their life. So when a tip does something like THAT, I think it warrants its own post, am I right? Plus, it was a post from 2012 (say what?!) so a lot of you probably never even saw it. (You can click here for the original post called Chaotic House Management).

So here goes…you ready?

I don’t fold laundry.

Yes, I’m married with three kids. Yes, I do laundry every. day. of. my. life. But I never fold. Here’s why.

I just don’t find it necessary.

Here’s what I do:

When the dryer’s done, I carry the basket upstairs to our bedroom. I throw everything in piles – one for each kid, and stuff for my husband and myself either goes on the bed or I put it away as I go, since I’m in our room anyway and only a few feet from the closet and dressers.

Then I either call for the kids to come grab their pile, or if I’m feeling nice I throw it on the entry of their bedrooms;) That way they have to literally step on it or over it to get in their rooms. Which means they cannot ignore it. Which, funnily enough, they often do, and then I add onto it the next day…and they next day…and then Mommy has a Simple Spell. But that’s for another post…

ANYwho.

😉

My kids are now 8, 9, and 10, so they put away their own clothes. They hang shirts and dresses, etc., and everything else can pretty much just be placed in their drawers. And as long as they don’t ball it up before they put it away, everything stays in good shape.

And as for my husband’s and my stuff, same deal. We hang a lot of it, so why fold it first? That’s just an unnecessary step. Pajamas, underwear – those things can just be laid in your drawers, right from the clean laundry basket. Yes, I guess technically I do fold pants once – in half – as I’m laying them in the drawers. But that’s the extent.

Also, going back to the ages of my kids – they can now help make the piles which is even better. But if you have younger kids, I bet they can get in on the action too – they’d probably love it. Feeling like a grown-up and all. As long as they know whose clothes belong to who (whom? Good thing I wasn’t an elementary school teacher or anything…<face palm>), they can make a Mommy Pile, a Daddy Pile, a Sister Pile, etc. My kids like to turn it into a game – race against the clock, or my son will pretend he’s shooting a basketball into a pile instead of clothes. Whatever floats their boat and gets them involved in chores, is a win for all!

I really do believe the key to laundry is not just not folding it, but staying on top of it – if you do this method as soon as the load comes out of the dryer, you’re never faced with one of those monstrous 10 load pile ups to put away, you know? I mean, those are NOT fun.

I hope this helps shave some time off your already busy crazy lives so you can spend less time on laundry! Are you an anti-folder too? Or got any other fun tricks up your sleeve for us? Feel free to share in the comments below, I’d love to hear them!