Ep 106: “Help! My House is a Wreck!” (Establishing Laundry and Cleaning Routines)

We are in a mini series about organization. So far we’ve talked about organizing our time, decluttering our unwanted items, and organizing our things in a way that makes sense to us and is also easy to maintain. Today, we are zeroing in on creating simple and sustainable systems to keep our homes running smoothly. Think laundry and housekeeping.

Treat your work at home with the same diligence, respect, and structure as you do your work outside the home.

Laundry

Laundry Day: Do all your laundry in one day–washed, dried, and put away. The keys to success:

Choose a day you are home all day, listen for the timer so you keep things moving along, buy enough socks and underwear to last a whole week.

Laundry Days: Wash and dry on one day. Fold and put away on the next day. Divorce yourself from laundry for the rest of the week.

Laundry Life: Do a little laundry every day.

Teach kids to help.

Take dress clothes to the cleaners.

House Cleaning

There is NO SHAME in hiring someone to help you clean!

A clean house is NOT A SIGN OF A WASTED LIFE!

1. Touch every room for 10 minutes a day.

2. Clean by category.

3. Have one cleaning day.

4. Create a chart/spreadsheet for a cleaning schedule.

Tips:

Decide upfront what areas you will focus on and what areas you can let go of.

Decide how clean you need your house to be and what makes sense based on your time and the ages and number of kids.

Make your job as pleasant as possible by getting cleaning products that smell good and cleaning equipment that works well.

Make your job as effortless as possible by stocking every bathroom with cleaning supplies.

Take advantage of bathtime and the fact that you are already on your knees and do a quick nightly wipe down of the kids’ bathroom.

Do a nightly tidying up session with your kids.

Pair your cleaning time with something else you really enjoy and/or find valuable, like music, podcasts, or prayer.

LINKS

(Some of these are affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

Divided Laundry Hamper

Single Laundry Hamper

Mrs. Meyers Cleaning Products

Method Cleaning Products

The rest of these I mention in other episodes in this series:

Colorful Storage Bins for Kids’ Rooms

Storage Bins for Kids’ Paper and Projects

Underbed Storage

3-Hole Punch

I love these paper trays!

Deco Brothers 3-Tier Expandable Cabinet Shelves

These Chalkboard Sticker Labels are so cute!