Make A Weekly Schedule for Your Household's Laundry

Photo © Istockphoto.com/gregdh

When you make a weekly schedule for your laundry you are doing one of the most effective things to conquer your piles of laundry once and for all.

That gets the laundry not only done, but done on a consistent basis which suits the needs of your family and lifestyle.

The frequency with which your household needs to do laundry is dependent on several factors, including your family's size, the age of your children, and what activities your family members engage in, such as sports or other potentially dirty pursuits.

Do You Hate Doing Laundry? Consider A Weekly Laundry Schedule

Have you ever said, "I hate doing laundry!"?

One probable reason for loathing laundry is that if you don't have a schedule for it, it seems to never end, or sometimes never to get started.

Do You Already Have A Laundry Schedule?

Share your laundry schedule with us here.

You can also see examples of other readers' laundry schedules here.

When you make a weekly schedule for your laundry you can break the task into smaller parts, and check it off your list.

Psychologically, it is great to be able to say, "I am done with this for the day." It makes the task less unpleasant to know there is an ending.

Another great benefit that occurs when you make a weekly schedule for the laundry is that everything gets cleaned, and not on a crisis basis.

There is no big calamity when you realize that your child's picture day is tomorrow, or that guests are coming and will need fresh linens and towels, or your child spills the milk.

Towels and dishrags, clothes and bed linens have all been washed at their appointed time, and are ready for use.

If there are only one or two of you in the home you may be able to do all your laundry in one day -- laundry day.

Laundry day needs to occur in even the smallest household on at least a weekly basis, so you don't run out of clean clothes, and so those clothes, towels and linens that have gotten dirty don't sit too long and get sour and permanently stained.

If you can get all your laundry done in one day a week your weekly schedule is quite simple - choose a day after work or on a weekend to do 1-2 loads of washing for the week.

You still must follow all the steps of how to do laundry, from beginning to end, including putting away the clean clothes.

If you have kids, or a larger household, it is even more important to make a weekly schedule for your laundry, because laundry day is everyday.

There is really no laundry alternative, except to buy new clothes for everyone all the time, and that, of course, isn't practical.

Personally, I found that when I had one child I could squeak by doing laundry on an ad hoc basis.

We sometimes ran out of clean clothes, or things got ruined because they sat too long with a stain on them, but we muddled through.

Once I had two children, I noticed I really needed to make a weekly schedule for the laundry or the piles of laundry just multiplied, like dust bunnies.

Now that I have three children, a weekly schedule is the only way my household can survive.

When my family gets off our laundry schedule, because of sickness, holiday or other emergency we all notice, but we have a reserve of clean clothes, bedding, and towels that we can use during these times that gives us a cushion before we need to get back on the schedule.

When you make a weekly schedule for your laundry, make sure you take into consideration the following things:

Size of your family
The number of loads of each type you need to do weekly
The types of material that need to be washed, such as towels, blankets, sheets, dish rags, and clothes
Your typical weekly schedule, such as when you (or another responsible adult or child) will be home to work on the laundry
Any special clothing needs that occur routinely, such as sports uniforms or uniforms for work, that must be used on certain days
The amount of accidents, such as bedwetting or spills on clothes that typically occur in a week which necessitate unscheduled laundry
Whether laundry is done for each person separately, or everyone's laundry is put together

Everyone's household is different, so there is no perfect laundry schedule that would fit every family's needs.

Just as an example, however, I will share my family's weekly laundry schedule below.

You should know that because of the age of my children I do all of the laundry myself currently, using their help for folding and putting away.

Therefore, I do everyone's washing together instead of each person's individually.

In addition, I work full-time outside the home, and I could not get all the washing done on the weekend, even if I wanted to.

I have to do laundry every night to keep up.

Monday - clothing, typically darks
Tuesday - delicates and other items that need to be washed separately
Wednesday - clothing, typically pinks, reds and purples (I have two girls)
Thursday - towels and dishrags/bibs, in separate loads
Friday - clothing, typically whites that can be bleached
Saturday - blankets and bedding (generally 2-3 loads)
Sunday - dress pants and button down shirts

In addition, I generally do 3-4 extra loads a week of emergency washing, such as soiled clothes from a leaky diaper that need to be washed separately, a load of dishrags from cleaning up a big spill, or stuffed animals that have gotten into some type of disaster, for example.

These extra loads, before I had a weekly schedule, would have thrown a wrench in the whole system (or lack thereof). Now, since I plan for these things to the extent possible, none of the laundry gets too backed up.

Want To See More Examples?

Click here to see other visitor's laundry schedules.

You can also share your laundry schedule with us here!

Are you ready to make a weekly schedule for your laundry?

Once you do, you will find, as I have, that it really makes a positive difference in the running of your household.

Tell us how you make a weekly schedule for your family's laundry

Every family is different, but we can all learn from each other's examples. Share your weekly laundry schedule, and why it works for you and your family.

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Read How Others Make A Weekly Schedule for Their Family's Laundry

Click on the links below to see some great weekly laundry schedules from other families. They were written by other visitors to this page.

Two Loads a Day Without Using A Dryer
Taylor says:
Have to do lots of laundry, but don't want to use a dryer? Christy shares how she does two loads of laundry a day and saves electricity ...

Laundry Schedule (And Organization) For Mom Of 6
Every household manager needs to figure out a laundry schedule that works for their family.

I found this family's laundry schedule recently on ...

I Hate Laundry So I Have A Marathon Laundry Day Weekly
Taylor says:
While I myself advocate a weekly schedule for your laundry, that does not suit every household manager's likes and dislikes. The point ...

Homeschool Mom's Weekly Laundering Schedule
Your weekly laundering schedule needs to fit your family's schedule and lifestyle. Lynette gives an example of what works for her family, which includes ...

Bimonthly Laundry Schedule For Laundromat
What do you do when you need to use the laundromat for your household's laundry, and cannot do your laundry a little everyday like some other people's ...

Melissa's Weekly Laundry Schedule Not rated yet
Taylor says: Melissa has shared her family's weekly laundry schedule with us, and also why this schedule works for her.

Melissa says: Monday-Whites ...

Susan's Weekly Laundry Schedule Not rated yet
Taylor here:
Susan has graciously shared her weekly laundry schedule below, in response to my request to share your family's laundry schedule .

Susan'...

Diana's Weekly Laundry Schedule (Mom of 4) Not rated yet
I have 2 boys (7 & 5) and 2 girls (2 & 11 Months), and because we have a girls room and boys room I have found it easier to split laundry by Boys & Girls....

20 Loads Of Laundry A Week For Mom of 4 Not rated yet
Taylor says:
~LL~ has shared her laundry schedule, which includes over 20 loads a week!!! I guess that's not surprising with 4 boys. Here is how she ...

Allison's Weekly Laundry Schedule (Mom of 4) Not rated yet
Taylor says:
Allison shares her laundry schedule for her family below. I have to say, this seems a lot like mine, because our circumstances are similar ...

How A Mom of Five Gets The Laundry Done Not rated yet
Taylor says:
Sheree had become overwhelmed with laundry, which is easy to happen in a family with 1-2 children, but when you have five kids even more ...

Weekly Laundry Schedule For Mom Of Five Not rated yet
I do three loads a day minimum, one of clothes, one of towels, one of bedding.

I will also do more as needed.

It works for me because if I don'...

Laundry Schedule For Mum of Twins With One in Cloth Nappies Not rated yet
Taylor here:
One things for certain -- if you cloth diaper you most definitely have to keep up with your laundry.

See Katy's laundry schedule for ...

Dawn's Weekly Laundry Schedule Not rated yet
Taylor says:
Dawn has figured out a laundry schedule that works for her and her family. It involves using color coded laundry baskets to sort the ...

Tashia's Weekly Laundry Schedule - Work At Home Mom Not rated yet
Taylor says:
Tashia has found a laundry schedule that works for her and her family. I am so excited for her that she has found a way to make something ...

Days Of The Week Laundry Schedule For Mom Of 6 Not rated yet
Taylor says:
Gloria doesn't wash all her kids clothes, but only some of them.

I have suggested that where you keep your laundry baskets in your ...

Daily Laundry For Mom of 4 Not rated yet
Taylor says
Robin, as a mother of four, faced a challenge: how to gather up all her kids clothes to wash when she does all the laundry herself?

She ...