With most people following a busy schedule nowadays, laundry day could be a dreaded time. If your household is one with several members who change clothes often, the person in charge of the laundry would certainly find it a daunting task. Follow these tips and make your laundry day easy.

• Follow a fixed schedule.

Random washing at any given time is a waste of energy, time, electricity, water and laundry detergent. Follow a fixed laundry schedule instead and notice a reduction in your laundry expenses.

• Involve other family members.

Who said that bonding moments is only dinner or TV time? Get the kids who are old enough involved in the task. Not only will you be able to spend quality time doing the laundry, it is also good training for the children. The hubby might enjoy learning a thing or two too about doing the laundry and appreciate the wife’s efforts more.

• Organize your laundry area.

A disorganized laundry area could be a source of added irritation on top of doing the laundry itself. Make sure you have a well-organized laundry area to help you do the task more efficiently. Imagine if hangers, pins and other wash day paraphernalia are here, there and everywhere – a total disarray. Would you feel like washing clothes?

• Assign laundry baskets according to colors or fabrics.

Doing this will save you a lot of time sorting and instead, start with doing the main task at hand right away. Use the same baskets to sort items as they come out of the dryer, each basket assigned to family member who will be responsible in folding and placing their own stuff inside drawers and closets.

Now while into the main task of washing clothes, you can still  make it easier by observing the following tips.

• Temp it right –items that easily shrink, light fabrics and those with dark but weak colors should be washed cold. Synthetic fabrics and slightly soiled items should go to warm setting and hot would be good for whites, colorfast and heavily soiled clothes.
  

• The right suds – there is a good reason why low-suds formula detergents were made because too much of it tends to trap dirt and be re-deposited in cloth fibers. Choose one that is suited for washer use. Additionally, powdered detergents may work well for general washing but try using liquid detergent to pre-treat stubborn stains.

• Fade-not, shrink-not – for clothes that tend to fade or shrink, avoid the problems by turning dark items inside out prior to washing and prevent shrinkage by washing in cold setting then dry in lowest setting or simply hang-dry the items.

• Prevent bleeds – test the inside seams or corners with little water to check for bleeds so that you don’t mix them with other items and ruin them. As a rule of thumb, separate whites and light-colored items from dark items.

• Protect delicate fabrics – delicate cycle for delicate fabrics is a no-brainer but protect the items further by placing them in a lingerie bag. Better still if you can wash them separately in the sink instead.

Follow these tips and enjoy your next laundry day. Happy washing!