My 3 best tips for putting away laundry in a timely fashion
(with ADHD, or really for anyone who dreads putting clean clothes away!)
Now is the perfect moment to tell you about my favorite new, fragrance-free laundry detergent concentrate.
Fresh Laundry Concentrate is a powerful two-for-one laundry detergent and spot remover. A novel idea, right? Pre-spot-treat your laundry with the same thing you use to wash it. This two-for-one concentrate not only outperforms leading detergents but also out-removes big-name spot removers. And it does it in both high efficiency and standard washers while protecting natural resources.
This detergent gets our clothes super clean and removes stains - all without fragrance. Clothes come out of the dryer simply smelling fresh, and of nothing - just the way we like them!
(Note, you will want the 1/4 ounce pump with it! It’s sold separately so you can keep reusing it vs always get a new one. I use 6-8 pumps per load, 1.5-2oz of concentrate.)
Let's talk laundry.
I know it's not the most exciting of topics, but I'm guessing there are a few (maybe more than a few?!) of you who struggle with this the same way I do.
You know the story - you've done your load of laundry, everything's dry and ready for you and then...
🦗 🦗 🦗
(Those are crickets, for those curious.)
Here's what I've found is most helpful for me - and I say that while I do still have a load of laundry ready to be put away, but, in my defense, these tips truly only work for me when I'm "ready" to be doing and putting away laundry!
With our puppy being new-to-us, things were really hectic around the house, and her reactivity to the washer and dryer were so stressful. But, we’ve discovered that she’s loving and thriving in doggie daycare one day per week, so my laundry day has become Wednesday now, the day she’s gone at daycare!
My 3 tips for getting laundry put away in a timely fashion…
1. MAKE SPACE
If possible, as soon as you start a new load of washing (or before!), do a brief audit on what's in your closet or dresser(s) to make sure there's plenty of space for everything that you're about to clean to go back to where it belongs.
I've realized that one of the biggest barriers for me putting away clean clothes is the lack of ease with which they'd fit back into place.
I have a bad habit of either hanging onto things for too long that I don't truly wear, or not rotating out seasonal/items that don't fit well at the moment.
The clothing-location-limbo-time of “doing laundry” is a perfect moment to review what didn't make it into the wash, and decide whether it deserves a place in your wardrobe at all!
I find that items that don’t make it into my regular rotation of a few loads that I do on a weekly basis really need to be audited. Of course, this is something to manage seasonally, but if I’m constantly leaving behind one or two pairs of leggings in my workout clothes drawer, they may not be pairs I really care to keep around - or at least not taking up the most valuable real estate in my closet.
2. THE STRATEGY OF PAIRING
(Hat-tip to Gretchen Rubin on this one and her book, “Better than Before.”)
This is a hands-down absolute must-do for me: I either listen to a podcast or fun music while I am folding clothes to be put away.
I absolutely and under no circumstances can bear the cruel boredom of this task without paired audio entertainment or education. (Or body-doubling by calling a friend to yap.)
This task delivers no dopamine for me without something to listen to!
Even the satisfaction of it being done isn't enough - I think because it's a never-ending/recurring task, perhaps?
Finishing other tasks is fun and satisfying, but laundry doesn't quite deliver on that hit for me! I think it’s the never-ending-ness of it all.
Sigh.
3. DO NOT PUT CLEAN CLOTHES IN A BASKET OR BIN
This one sounds tricky, and may be so if you live in a large home or your laundry is quite far from where you'll put it away, but hear me out...
Now that our home is a single story and laundry is just a few steps down the hall from my closet, I am finding that if I fold clothes on top of the dryer and carry piles of items to be placed into my dresser as I'm finished, the entire thing goes more smoothly.
So, if I never put the clean clothes into a basket, they never get a chance to sit in that basket for an undetermined amount of time. Yes, I make a few trips, but the dang task gets done!
The “no basket of clean clothes” strategy cuts down on the risk of:
A) never putting the clothes away and simply living from the basket, and
B) co-mingling clean and dirty clothes before you get a chance to wear all of the clean ones again.
Listen, I realize that as a middle-aged woman who owns and operates multiple businesses this list of "how to put laundry away" may come off as trite, inconsequential, or even a bit... dare I say... juvenile?
But, here's the thing I've learned: having ADHD means that developing hacks for my behavior is one of the only ways I can navigate the exceedingly mundane, desperately boring, and unendingly tedious tasks of daily and weekly life.
When you have ADHD, what drives you to complete a task are: urgency, interest, challenge, rewards, novelty, play, and competition.
Finding ways to make the task of doing laundry (mostly putting it away!) meet any of those criteria is wherein lies the challenge!
These things have helped me over the past year, and, if they may help you, well, I'm glad to share them!
(Note, you will want the 1/4 ounce pump with it! It’s sold separately so you can keep reusing it vs always get a new one. I use 6-8 pumps per load, 1.5-2oz of concentrate.)