Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Getting Organized: Laundry Bins

This idea is also my Mom's! She did this for us when we were growing up - we each had our our own bin that my Mom would put our clean clothes in and then it was our responsibility to put those clothes away.

We have been doing this for a few weeks now and it works great! I labeled the drawers with laminated pictures (found online) and posted them so they would each know where to put their clothes. Rachel puts her own away and Emily does her own plus Samuel's. We do this about twice a week and it is working great!

These bins were just a few dollars each at Target and they have been so worth it in organizing our laundry and having the littles help me in putting it away!

How do you handle laundry for your children?

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

We do something similar. After I fold the laundry, I put it in piles on their floor in front of their dressers and they are responsible for putting it in the dressers themselves sometime that day before bedtime. We do 2x/week as well, my laundry days are almost always Monday and Thursday.

Mom said...

Dear Monica, you've sure been giving me a lot of credit! :) I'm happy that you are able to use some of my ideas and make them your own by adapting them in ways that work for you! :) Love you, Mom

Wendi said...

I hang clothes up right out of the dryer and then clothes to be folded are put in the laundry basket. I usually fold clothes while sitting on the living room floor. Megan likes to "help" fold and as we go I will hand her a stack of pj's, socks etc and ask her to go put them in her drawer. As she gets a little older I love the idea of her own laundry bin.

Cheryl said...

Monica, this is a fabulous idea you have. Your girls will be in the routine of putting their clothes away before they become teens. Wish I did this when my kids were little.
By the time my kids were ten I taught them how to use the waher/dryer and how to sort the laundry. It's nice to have that extra little help, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

A great idea!! Love the pics on the drawers to help the littles know just where to put their things!! Good job:-)!!!tammyp

Ana Degenaar said...

Monica, what a beautiful blog you have, all the pictures brought memories of my "homey"-home that I miss so much. That idea for organizing is really good!

By the way, we have a new section over at Everyday M.moms, calledMissionary Moms' Nests! Come Join it!

barbara said...

Our method is also similar, although we don't have a set laundry day - just a load here and there when I can fit it in. I fold and sort their (2 - 8 year olds) clothes and put them on the stair steps. They are responsible for checking the steps each morning and putting away their clean clothing. We've been doing this for about 3 years and it works great for us! Recently, they've started helping with sorting and folding. They are also responsible for putting their dirty clothes in the proper baskets and they help load and unload the machines.

GammySel said...

Monica
My children are much older- but they each have their own wash day. Example- Alex is responsible for washing his things on Monday- and anything else that is in the laundry room, and he must dry and fold, and put it all away.
This works great for mom because I not left with everything- or bins to fold.
Angie

Debra said...

Great idea. I must try it as now I put it all away. I only have the one daughter but it would be great for her to do it. Thanks.

wyndesnow said...

Our plan is similar. Somehow our names all correlate to a day of the week, ex. Wendy - Wednesday. So each person has a laundry basket and their clothes get washed on their "day". And then we put them away. I'm still working on getting the boys to put their own clothes away and stop digging in their dresser drawers. I do have to do laundry every day, but I only have to fold one person's laundry each day, instead of sorting to wash and then sorting to put away. It works for us.

Stephanie said...

I have to do at least one to two loads of laundry a day. I try to get it done during the day so I can sort and put each childs clothes on their beds. They have to fold and put away before they go to bed... at least this is our goal. :)

I have really enjoyed this weeks posts on organization. Thanks for sharing your/your mom's good ideas with us.

Mrs. K said...

We do something similar as well. My three boys each have their own clothes basket. All their dirty clothes go in their basket. Now don't hate me but we don't sort their clothes at all. So my first load is all of Son A's clothes, etc. We haven't mastered the art of putting the clothes away very well. They will put them away but they make a mess of it. Since the three boys share a room and two of them share a dresser we hang up as much as we can. Only socks, underwear, jammies and jeans get folded. We also color coordinate everything, including hangers. So all of Son A's clothes go on blue hangers, Son D on red, etc. Since my husband has been off work for a year and taken over laundry duties he came up with this system because he could never figure out whose clothes were whose. I say if it works for him and saves me from doing the laundry, go for it :o)

Jessica said...

I really like the idea of putting pictures on their dresser drawers. Great idea! My 3-year-old will really enjoy that.

Elise said...

That's a good idea. I am teaching my children to fold their own and help with the towels, also, then they take the clothes and put them away. Sometimes I just do it...depends on my mood. I do have to go thru their drawers now, because they cannot properly put their clothes away since there are too small clothes, etc. that are taking up valuable space.
Elise

Jenn said...

LOVE this, Monica! Better to get them in the habit while they are still so young. You are doing yourself a great favor, unlike myself. I too have printed pics and taped them to the boys dressers. I like you lamination though, mine are getting ruined already. I think I will laminate the next time, too.

Molly said...

I love the picture idea! Thanks for sharing. I think I'll have to try that for our 5 year old.

Kathy said...

Great ideas!!

I had pictures on my boys' dresser when they were young. I did have to go in every so often and bring order back to their drawers, but I ahd to go through outgrown clothes anyway.