Laundry Secrets!

I was just recently talking with one of my friends about my son recently graduating from high school and him starting college in the fall. She said jokingly, “Well, now you don’t have to do as much laundry anymore when he goes off to college!” I instantly made a slight quizzical look on my face because I have not “done” his laundry for years!

I told her that in my house I have a rule that once you are about 14 have to do your own laundry. She thought this was crazy like a fox. She has one teenager and one preteen already.

I gave her the valid reasons why:

1. Teenagers need to learn to be responsible and self-reliant, and you don’t get that way if mama does EVERYTHING for you.

2. Saves me time.
3. Saves me the fights when THEY don’t have anything clean to wear.
4. Save me money too, because they tend to wash everything they need in one big load!

We did have to make amendments to the rule, adding no washing of clothes after 8 pm (because my son would wait until Sunday night to wash.) The late night clunking of the dryer makes it hard to sleep.  And he needs to learn to loose the last minute habit too.

I have told you before how I save time by only washing by room and now you know that I also don’t wash any teenager’s clothes either! So why does it feel like I still have a ton of laundry? Lol

I also don’t check pockets unless you are my four year old; he has not gotten that rule down yet. It took his Dad about three times to learn the lesson of cleaning out his pants to avoid the soggy wallet syndrome too. My oldest son learned that an iPod will not survive the regular cold wash cycle in my washing machine either.

It works though, these rules. I save time with them, and then I save some green by using my homemade laundry soap recipe.

These are just my rules I have figured out over the years that make my life easier. What are some of the ways you make laundry easier at your house?