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My love of laundry is totally my grandmother’s fault. I mean who loves laundry, right? Well, I’m Josephine’s grand daughter, so therefore, I do.
My childhood is steeped in rich memories of standing on my tip-toes handing clothes pins to my grandma, snuggling Florida sunshine-dried sheets and towels, and clinging to every fascinating tidbit and tip she shared with me each day.
Let me tell you, that lady is one smart cookie who has plenty of wisdom to spare. All of her little lessons have gone a long way towards enriching my life and laundry time!
Tip #1: Once upon a time, clothing was only washed when it was dirty. Jeans, in particular, can stand be worn more than once. Unless you are mucking about in the pig pen, air that denim out and slip into the comfort another day (or two) before tossing it in the wash.
Tip #2: Sock monsters are real. No matter what crazy-cool method you come up with, one will inevitably disappear into the great dryer abyss. Mourn it for a moment, then move on. If you get in the habit of purchasing all the same socks, eventually, another will disappear and things will even out again.
Tip #3: Less is more when it comes to detergent. Really. Seriously. You do not need to fill the detergent cup until liquid mutinies.
One way to easily contain your over-enthusiastic pour is to simply toss a Tide Pods or Gain Flings capsule into the wash. Presto-magico! The perfect portion of detergent is delivered… along with some bonuses, too. Tide Pods contain detergent, stain remover and a brightener. Gain Flings are full of detergent, an Oxi Boost, and Febreeze freshener.
Tide Pods and Gain Flings are available at Target (be sure to take advantage of the money-saving offer at the top of this post!)
Tip #4: Ditch the laundry basket, towels make excellent laundry bags. Simply spread out a dirty full-size bath towel or beach towel, put all your dirty clothes in the center and wrap the towel around it. You can tote the towel the to laundry room and toss the whole she-bang into the wash machine.
Once the items are washed, use the clean towel to transport the clothes outside to hang (or place into the dryer,) then use the towel again to transport the clothes to your preferred folding/hanging/ironing spot.
This is also how I learned to transport wet clothing and towels after a day at the beach with my grandmother. Tide Pods would have come in super handy to transport the clothes straight to the shared laundry room, too! Lugging around a bottle of detergent isn’t practical, but carrying a small capsule is super convenient. This is a tip I hope to share with my grandmother and her friends when I see them next!
Tip #5: Don’t super-size your laundry, your machine can only stuff in so much. Get to know your machine and its capacity. The art of laundry zen is dependent upon keeping balance in the machine so that all of your clothing is tended to properly.
Tip #6: You can help save the planet one laundry load at a time. Long before energy conservation was in the forefront, my grandma knew how to wash a budget-friendly and earth-friendly load of clothing by using cold water for 90-plus percent of her wash loads and using sunlight and air to dry the laundry on a clothing line.
If you have ever wrapped yourself in a fresh-laundered and air-dried blanket, you totally understand… the little bit of muscle-power this chore takes is worth every last scent!
Tip #7: Treat stains like you would any other unwanted pest, eliminate on sight.
When it is not possible to treat immediately, or you suspect you have secret agent stains hiding out in your clothing pile, use a pre-treatment and a detergent with stain removing power, like Proctor and Gamble Tide Pods or Gain Flings. The beauty of those two products is you don’t have to remember to add any additives to help get the tough hidden stains out.
Tip #8: Natural fibers rule the laundry kingdom. Materials like cotton and linen can take a beating and triumph over the toughest laundering you can throw at them. It amazes me that my mother still has bed sheets my grandmother passed downed to her when I was a child. Cotton truly is king!
Do you still use laundry tips and techniques from your first laundry days? Share your grandmother’s (or moms, aunts, etc.) or your own wisdom with us. I’d love to hear it!
Those are good tips. While I still see laundry as more of a necessary evil, those tide pods have made my life easier. 🙂
these are some great tips! I have loved Tide for years it is a great product.
Great tips! I need to share these with my teenage daughter. She will be going away to college this year and doing her own laundry for the first time. I would add one more tip…teach your kids early how to do laundry. I’m afraid I’m so much of a control freak that I have always preferred to do laundry myself. Now, my teenagers are clueless about doing laundry. Ooops!
Excellent tip to add Kari! I certainly thank my grandmother and my mom for the skills I learned early on. Have tried to get my boys involved more, but need to make a point to ensure they can be self-sufficient when the time comes.
I’m so glad to know i”m not the only one that doesn’t wash clothes after one wearing! If it doesn’t look or smell dirty it can be worn multiple times. Totally saves my sanity.
I need to remember that clothes don’t need to be washed every time we wear them. We go through a lot of laundry!
I love that you shared a bit of your Grandmother with us in these wonderful tips. I miss my Grandma dearly and thank her for my love of cooking and laundry that smells good. She used to make her own scented water to spritz on her dresses when she ironed them. I smile at the fond memory and now I try to replicate it when I iron, but it’s just not the same. I’m passing on the laundry bug to my girls who actually pretreat their own stains and ask if they can help do other’s stains too. Now folding is another matter!
🙂 Have to agree, the whole putting the laundry away part I always find challenging lol
These are great tips. I have found we need LOTS less detergent than what is recommended on the bottle.
Can you come share the whole “you can wear something more than once” tip with my family? They just don’t listen to me 😉
I feel your pain! I constantly have to remind my sons. Maybe we can post the article on the fridge? 😉
I can’t wait to try these. And those are really great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing all of your tips! I close those laundry pods; they make it ser for the kiddos to help with laundryn
Looks like I can’t type today! That was supposed to say it makes it easier for the kiddos to help with laundry!
I follow a few of these. I still wonder where, oh where can my lost socks be. I have a brown paper bag full of lonely socks. Denim, well. I wear my jeans for a few days before washing. My husband, on the other hand will use them once and toss them in the laundry. Boys.
I love Tide Pods and thanks for the great tips!
The jean tip is great. My kids have been known to wear the same pair of jeans all week, but I don’t let mine go that long without a wash.
Love your laundry tips.. I’m a BIG laundry fan.. no idea why, but that’s my favorite thing..love the smell and all.. I recently saw the pods and wondered how they work.. thanks for sharing, sooo gonna give them a try soon
I have both of those detergents right now and they’re doing a beautiful job on my clothes. They also work on stains like you said, even old ones!
I love your tips. I use the towel as a basket often. Especially for carrying towels downstairs to our washer room. I love Tide and have used the pods. They are great!
Ha… never thought of towels as baskets… though I need the baskets to keep the dirty clothes off the floor… ha… We love Tide Pods; they are so simple to use and do a great job
My brother exclusively uses these pods, but I haven’t tried them myself. I’d love to give them a try, especially since you bring up the issue of over-pouring. I definitely over-pour and this may be better for me.
Great tips! I definitely wear jeans more than once. I use the towel basket, too. My grama used to iron rags, so she was a bit too fussy with laundry!!
Wow! My gran was a bit more laid back, but she did iron and starch all of my grandpa’s shirts… so glad I ignored that habit and went for wrinkle free lol
I love your point about how grandma knew to do eco friendly things even before it was the thing to do. I wish I had a clothes line in the summer.
I use a towel to tote around my towels but never considered using towels for anything else. As for jeans, I’ve heard they should only be washed every so often. Wear them until they are truly dirty!
We use these for our kids because they are easier than measuring.
We definitely live by the “if it’s not dirty, don’t wash it” rule! denim especially can be worn more than once! Saves on water too!
Great tips! I really need to try these packs. They are so much easier to use then powder or liquid!
I love this no measuring just toss it in, my kind of product!
I’m going to show my husband this post! He teases me all the time because I wear my jeans 2 or 3 times before I wash them. They wear out really fast if you wash them constantly. Now I have proof that I’m not that weird! lol
Ooh, great tips! I definitely wear jeans multiple times before washing them.
I use these and love these! SO EASY!!!!
I always wear my pants a couple times between washes! Shirts, they only get one wear. My kids dirty faces seem to always end up on my shirts! 😉
Awww, well that’s totally a great reason to wash them often 🙂