No matter your age, laundry is a chore. Your dirty laundry baskets can quickly pile up with clothes—especially if you have small children or teenagers who just won’t put in the effort. It takes time and effort out of your schedule, and even more so if you have to travel to the laundromat and wait out the cycles. 

Many families turn to residential laundry services to take this load off their shoulders, but you can speed up your laundry by structuring it with the “sort as you go” routine.

Separate your laundry as you use them

This doesn’t mean splitting your laundry into whites and colors on laundry day. Rather, treat laundry as an on-going chore. It’s not as exhausting as it sounds. After you change clothes, simply put each clothing item into its appropriate laundry pile. If necessary, turn the clothing inside out.  

You might have multiple dirty laundry baskets (whites, delicates, regular wash, etc.) with one for each of your most frequently used washing cycles. When each basket is full, take it to the laundry room. You’ll use the same washing and drying cycle for the load, and it’ll be an especially quick process if the appropriate clothes are already inside out for quick washing and folding.

Size down your baskets as necessary

Some baskets will fill quicker than others. If you don’t have enough clothes to fill a basket without running out of things to wear, you can estimate an appropriate level before a laundry load. For tiny delicate items, like underwear, you could use a small mesh basket instead of a larger one. This way you save space. 

For those bulky items that require dry cleaning services, set them aside on hangers until you have enough items for a laundry pickup. Laundry services can care for any sized load, even the small ones of a few shirts and pants. If you’d rather send a larger load, you can combine your dry clean load with your delicates. Both piles will get their proper treatment.

Get your family to do the same

Laundry is a hassle when it’s done all in one day. Breaking it down into a daily routine of sorting makes it easier to tackle and less noticeable as a chore. Have your kids toss their dirty clothes into labeled piles. They might not turn the clothes inside out, but at least they’ve done part of the work.

If your schedule is still too tight, Laundry Care Express offers laundry and dry cleaning pick up and delivery services to residents in the Santa Cruz and San Jose areas. Schedule a laundry pick up today for your next laundry load.