Laundry is a pretty standard part of housekeeping. Pick up the dirty clothes, sort them by colors, toss them in the washing machine, shove them in the dryer, fold them and put them away. Super exciting, right? Well, laundry doesn't have to be boring.
With a few tricks and DIY projects, you can spice up your laundry life. Check out this list and get ready to make laundry the best part of your chore schedule.
1. TV tray ironing board You shouldn't have to miss an exciting episode of your favorite show just because you have a pile of ironing to do. And who wants to drag the ironing board out to the living room? (And who still has an ironing board?) Instead of relying on a bulky ironing board that's a pain to move, make a small board out of a TV tray. It's easy to move and looks nice enough to leave sitting out between uses. Get the full tutorial
here.
2. Reusable dryer sheetsAlthough generic-brand dryer sheets aren't terribly expensive, buying them all the time will start to add up. Plus, just think of how many of those little sheets you throw away all the time. If you want to save your wallet (and the planet, of course), make your own dryer sheets. Just put a bunch of sponges in a plastic container (one with a lid) and pour in a mixture of 2 cups of water and 1 cup of your preferred fabric softener. When you dry your clothes, squeeze the excess liquid out of a sponge and toss it in the dryer. After the cycle runs, put the sponge back in the container until you need it again.
3. Lingerie bags for socks If you're tired of always sorting socks after you've finished a load of laundry, try this hack. Have each member of your family put socks into his or her own personal lingerie bags. When you're ready to do laundry, just zip the bags closed and toss them in. The socks will get washed and you won't have to figure out which pair belongs to which person when you're done. (This should also cut down on the number of socks that get lost in the wash.)
4. DIY drying rack (h/t Centsational Style)Those of you with carpentry skills and some extra time on your hands can make a drying rack. This will save you from having to hang delicate items on a line in your backyard and when you're finished drying your clothes, you can just fold the rack back up against the wall.
5. Rolling hampers Do you ever get tired of going from room to room, collecting clothes from everyone's hamper and throwing them all into one laundry basket? Think how heavy that basket is by the time you've reached the laundry room. Instead of lugging that thing all over the house, put wheels on the hampers. You can now fill them as full as necessary without worrying about injuring yourself trying to carry them. You can use normal wheels or attach toy cars to the bottoms for a more fun idea.
6. Quick-drying trick If you need to dry a small load of laundry in a short amount of time, throw in a dry towel. The towel will help pull moisture out of the clothes faster. Don't try this trick for more than 20 minutes as the towel will stop absorbing moisture and start releasing it back out at that point.
7. Pre-treating station Some clothes are actually too dirty to just toss in the washing machine right away. If you have some items that are extremely stained, you might need to do a little scrubbing before you put them in the machine. This is where a pre-treating station comes in handy. If you have extra space in your laundry room, install a sink and faucet to pre-treat clothing with the worst stains.
8. Laundry schedule If you're constantly overwhelmed by the giant piles of never-ending laundry in your house, then it's time to make yourself a schedule. Instead of creating a calender that reminds you to do laundry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, make one that follows a wear-and-wash schedule. You don't actually have to wash every single article of clothing every single time you wear it.
9. Dryer hacksFiguring out the best ways to dry clothes can be complicated. How do you keep them from getting wrinkled? Is there a way to keep towels soft and fluffy? Why are clothes always so clingy? Fortunately, there's a simple hack to solve each of these problems.
10. Change collector Let's face it, y'all. Laundry is never really going to be fun. But there is one sure-fire way to make it slightly more enjoyable. Hang up a change collector on the wall near the washing machine. Every time you find loose change in the pockets of someone's dirty clothes, drop it in the basket. Before you know it, you'll have enough change to buy at least a candy bar!
With these tips, laundry will no longer be just another dull chore. Decide which ones work best for you and get started on your next load of laundry. But first, don't forget to share this list with your friends on Facebook so they can make their laundry lives better as well.
