Doing laundry isn’t the problem. It’s folding it and putting it away.
I wish little elves would pop up out of nowhere and take the laundry out of the dryer right after the cycle is over (not a day later when a 10 minute fluff is in order), start folding and distributing the clothing, towels and bedding to their proper place. If anyone is thinking of starting a business, let me tell you – this is it! Elves aren’t a requirement.
Since that little fantasy isn’t happening anytime soon, it’s time to take the bull by the horns and figure out a way.
We don’t have time to sit around and fold. It needs to be quick and it needs to be simple. Oh, and it also has to look good.
Is that too much to ask?
Nope!
FOLDING SHIRTS
Click out the image tutorial (below) or watch the video. I guarantee your mind will be BLOWN! Mine was.
Source: Mr Porter
Click for tutorial
Or…if you want to go with more of a traditional fold like the department stores and such, check this out:
Source: Starfold
Click for PDF instructions
Starfold (website that above tutorial is from) has a free downloadable PDF that outlines how to fold everything from shirts to pants to sheets. Click the image to be led to their website.
You can also stick around to see what else we have to share.
FOLDING COATS
You can hang them in a closet year-round, you can pack them in a space bag and suck all the air out of them or you can fold your coats and hoodies during the off-season. Also use this tip when packing for a trip.
Source: Cat Morley
Click for more tutorials
FOLDING PANTS
When I was 16, I worked at JC Penney and I was taught the “Levi fold”. Working in the Young Mens department and folding eleventy billion jeans, I mastered the fold. I’ve never forgotten it and I still fold all my pants that way. Quick instructions:
- Fold your jeans in half the long way with the back pockets facing out (in school, we called it the “hotdog length”)
- Flip the legs of your pants up to where the bottom of your jean leg just touches the middle of your back pocket emblem
- Your jeans will be folded almost in half (in school, we called it the “hamburger length”)
- Flip the remainder of your jeans up toward the waistband.
- Your jeans will be folded in half and looking dang fine.
A more visual way to do it is below.
Source: Cat Morley
Click for even more instructinos
FOLDING SHEETS
There’s a little magic involved in folding sheets. I’m not talking about flat sheets. That’s easy peasy. Just fold in half, in half and then in thirds.
Fitted sheets, however, requires patience and even, sometimes, a lot of wine. My mom can fold a fitted sheet like nobody’s business. Sober. She’s magic. While this isn’t mom, I’ve found another fitted sheet magician.
Source: Aulit Fine Linens
Click for tutorial and video
FOLDING TOWELS
In order to make your linen closet look great and stay organized, folding towels the “correct” way is essential. Don’t just throw them in there. They should look like a flat cinnamon roll and be all cozy and ready to use when you need them.
Source: Jen from the Block
Click for full tutorial
These tips will never replace that fantasy of someone else doing the laundry but it will definitely save a ton of time and make your closets look good in the process.
Whether you’re organized or not, you can certainly fake it ’til you make it.
I’ve got so many little things around my house that drive me crazy. The kind of things that you forget about until you walk in the room or open the closet and then its like “I have GOT to get this done” kind of things. You have those, right? I hate clutter and love things tidy – but not like insanely tidy, just organized enough to make sense to me and let me feel efficient.
Today I solved two of those problem areas that were making me nuts. We have a small laundry room with limited floor space, so I keep my hangers in a basket on top of my dryer. The cabinets above the dryer are stuffed full of things I frequently need access to. Whenever I needed to get in the cabinets, I had to shove the laundry basket full of hangers out of the way. And when I did laundry, each time I needed to grab a hanger, out came 40 others that had attached themselves to it.
I had explained to my hubby what I had in mind to resolve this little problem. He brought out his tape measurer and yammered on about having to cut wood pieces and mount something somewhere, yada yada. Waaay too much effort as far as I was concerned. So while he was at work, here’s how I fixed my hanger mess in under 10 minutes:
I dug around his shelves in the garage and found these…
Then I pulled out the big guns and fired up his cordless drill with a screw bit (you could just use a screwdriver, but I was feeling kinda ballsy). I attached a bracket to the underside of the cabinet, like this…
Then I found a spring-loaded curtain rod collecting dust downstairs and shoved one side against the wall, and the other against the flat side of the corner brace…
And bing, bang, bong. Done. Hangers handy, baskets gone, and complete access to my overhead cabinets. I have to admit, I did a little chest puff when I was done. Something that has been bugging me for like, oh I don’t know…TWO FRICKIN’ YEARS, was fixed.
Now I’ve mentioned my ADD before, so as is typical in my world, I had stopped smack-dab in the middle of doing laundry to install my rod. Once it was up, I finished pulling the clothes out of the dryer (and hanging them on my easily accessible hangers). When I finished folding the socks and undies, I screeched into the bedroom and pulled open the dresser drawers to put them away and, ugh, was reminded of another one of my unorganized messes.
Bras & Panties drawer (sorry about being so graphic with the undies)
The sock drawer from HELL
Awhile ago I had picked up some drawer dividers at the Dollar Store, but practicing my procrastination, I just shoved the packages in the drawers along with all my mismatched socks. Good grief. Had I known it would only take me a hot second to perform this miracle, I would have done it months ago. Drawer organizers are my new favorite things. They come in small, medium and large. The medium size worked perfectly for me. I bought eight of them. They’re flexible and have quick insert and lock tabs at each end, like boxes that you put together.
This was the best $8 I’ve spent in a long time. Look how organized my drawers are now!
Check it out – I even have room for more!
Ta-da!
Putting laundry away just became so much easier now that I’ve created some order. I’ve checked two problem areas off my PITA (Pains In The Ass) list. My next organizing project will be how in the HOLY HELL to organize all my purses and oversized bags. I’m thinking on it. I also need to go through my clothes and get rid of all the stuff I don’t wear anymore or have outgrown. It’s time for me to accept that I probably won’t be a size 8 in the near future. But if I should somehow find myself in need of a size 8 anything, I’ll be taking this skinny little ass shopping for some brand new celebratory clothes!
Until next time…
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