Four Tips for Dealing with Laundry Over the Holidays

However you celebrate the holidays, December through January can be overwhelming for many American households. Throughout the season, certain chores fall to the wayside, including doing laundry. This can make the holidays more stressful for many reasons, besides forcing you to play catch up for the first couple of weeks in the new year.

With these four tips for handling laundry over the holidays, you’ll have more time to spend with your family while still enjoying freshly laundered clothing.

1. Perform a Laundry Room Inventory

 

Go through your laundry room and make sure you have everything you need to stay stocked throughout the season. Check your inventory and stock up on anything you’re running low on. Your laundry room should have the following items:

• Detergent
• Fabric softener
• Dryer sheets
• Stain remover

If you want to make sure you’re truly prepared for anything, add the following items to your list:

• Baking soda
• White vinegar
• Sanitizing detergent

2. Stay Organized 

Having one laundry basket may work throughout the year, but if you need an extra boost to help you keep up with increased loads due to visiting family members, consider purchasing baskets for guests to use. You can also label baskets so your clothes stay separated, helping you quickly toss a load in between holiday activities.

3. Stay On Schedule 

It’s too easy to tell yourself you’ll do it tomorrow, so create a schedule and stick to it. Wash colored clothing on Mondays and Tuesdays, whites on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and towels on Fridays. Leave miscellaneous items until the weekend so you can make sure you leave time to wash clothing items like blankets or pillowcases.

4. Get Everyone On Board 

 

Doing laundry by yourself, especially if you have a large family, can quickly become overwhelming during the holidays. Instead, assign family members to particular jobs in the laundry room. Consider delegating the following responsibilities:

• Sorting clothes in proper piles
• Moving clothes from the washer to the dryer
• Taking clean clothes to another room to fold

This is also a great opportunity to teach children about how to care for their clothes. The more you teach now, the better prepared they’ll be when they have to handle their own laundry.