How to End Laundry Chaos

(from www.mercola.com)

Laundry can be one of the most stubborn forms of clutter. But there are ways to keep your laundry chaos to a minimum:

•First and foremost, establish a laundry routine. You can’t let laundry pile up or it instantly becomes chaotic.
•Exclusively use small, sturdy laundry baskets (20 gal. or smaller). Keep one in the bathroom, one in the bedroom(s), and one in the laundry room.
•Have fewer clothes. The fewer clothes you have, the fewer clothes you have to wash.
•Don’t have more clothes than you can store properly in your dresser drawers and closet. If you can’t put all of your clothes away, you’ll always have a reason to have dirty clothes.
•Only buy non-iron clothes to keep clean shirts from stacking up in a “needs ironing” pile.
•When moving, look for a place that has a laundry room on the same floor as your closet. If you’re a DIY person, consider building a closet with the washer and dryer right inside of it.
•Have a designated dry cleaner bag next to your hamper. If you keep it in your car, clothes that need to go to the dry cleaner will certainly pile up on the floor and cause clutter.
•Keep a stack of delicate bags next to your hamper. When you take off delicates, you can put them straight into a delicates bag and then just throw them into the hamper.
•Change into pajamas at least an hour before bedtime so that you have enough energy to do more than throw your dirty clothes on the floor.
•Before buying anything in a color that bleeds (like red), ask yourself if you will want to take the time to sort it out every time you launder it.
•Think about wearing only neutral colors so that you never have to sort your laundry into lights and darks.
•Get a job in an office that allows casual dress so that you stop wearing two sets of clothes on most days.
•Only have two sets of bed sheets -- one on your bed and one waiting on deck.
•By the age of 12 your children should have their own laundry routines.
•Clean out pockets when taking off clothing to avoid having to do it during sorting.
•If something is permanently stained or riddled with holes, get rid of it.
•Keep hangers in your laundry room so that you can immediately hang up the clothes that you don’t fold.
•Replace your washer and dryer with large capacity units so that you can do two to three traditional loads at a time.
•Have a table in your laundry room so that you can have a space to immediately fold clothes as they come out of the dryer. Do NOT allow it to become a clutter table -- keep it clean and only use it for folding.
•Have a designated bag or box in your laundry room to put clothes in that you want to donate to charity. When they come out of the dryer, fold them, and stick them into the bag.