Ask:
I have clothes everywhere...but they are seperated into whites/lights, towels, and darks. The top of my dryer is knee deep in socks that don't have matches quite yet, things that haven't been put away yet, junk that no one knows where to put away, so that is where they put it, etc. It is always the last place to clean on my list...so I am wondering what you all do to stay organized in there?
Answer:
I have one of those white plastic shelving things. And six baskets , each basket is labeld(sp), one for whites, one for darkes, and so on. I sort things by the baskets and they go on the shelving. I also have a color coded basket for each person and as i wash I put their things in their basket and when its full i put it all alway. I know it sounds like a lot of baskets but before the system it was always all over teh place and I would have to step over it just to get to the washer.
Answer:
Since my "laundry room" is in our shed I keep things organized by haveing baskets in each bedroom, washing 1 or 2 bedrooms per day, and towels and sheets on Monday and Tuesdays. I just make sure that when I take a load out, it gets folded and put away that day. I just wash all clothes on cold and towels and sheets get hot, if the bedrooms has enought to make whites and darks, I'll separate them, but have been know to wash it all together.
Answer:
I don't!!!! right now nothing in our basement is organized!!! We are still trying to get the 2 main floors unpacked first. Then it will be along time, I think before it is organized down there since dh is going to finish the other 2 rooms in the basement and install heat (we don't have any in our basement right now!). But before we moved, I had a shelf above my washer and dryer for holding misc cleaning supplies and tubs stacked on the opposite wall, but there was always piles of laundry sorted on the laundry room floor. That is just the way it is for me. And since your family is about as big as mine, I assume you are always in the process of doing laundry too!
Answer:
I have a shelf above washer/dryer that I put my laundry detergent/fabric softener on. I have about a dozen hangers hanging from the wire shelf to hang things as they come out of the washer/dryer. On top of my dryer is a small cardboard box with dryer sheets, color catcher sheets, etc. Sure it has a little bit of junk inside of it (pens, hair ties, etc) but it's at least confined. Once a week or so I clean it out and then let it go the rest of the time. I have to pick my battles right now and that's not something major enough to freak over. As for the loose socks, I've started turning the socks together before I toss them in the dirty laundry pile so that when I load the washer, I pull them apart and know that there is a match in there. I have had almost NO unmatched socks since I've started doing this. The random straggler gets clothespinned up on my wire shelf while it waits for its' match. You could keep a small bin or box (like shoebox size or smaller) in your laundry area to put all socks in, then match them once a day or every couple days. Try not to let them build up or you'll just have a huge mass that you don't want to deal with. Plus half the unmatches probably are because when someone's flipping through the sock bin, they knock a few socks behind the dryer, etc.. at least that's how it was back home when I was growing up. Try to just match them as they come out of the dryer - it'll be easier.
To keep the dirty laundry pile small or nonexistent, I wash laundry everyday and usually do a load overnight using all the leftover clothing from the day, etc, and throwing a color catchers sheet (or 1/2 of one) in with it..