Weekly laundry schedule for family laundry

Who’s always there for you? Laundry’s always there for you! My weekly laundry schedule for family laundry is here to make it bearable.

To me, and literally every other mum I know, laundry is the bane of our existence. Somehow, this never ending cycle piles up way faster than we can fold it. It’s a constant uphill battle that only gets worse as your family expands. In the baby stages you expect to have more to wash due to spills and leaking nappies. But what isn’t shared in parenting classes is that that’s only the beginning. School uniforms, sports jerseys, dress up costumes and the worst – children’s suddenly found independence that comes with three casual outfit changes a day – fill the family laundry basket in absolutely no time. And just as you think you’ve got the hang of it, Instagram tells you to change your sheets weekly and you’ve been doing it all wrong.

I remember having seven baskets going at one point. We’re a family of four. That’s insane! Trying to fit this tedious task between work, kids and numerous activities and commitments that all call for different outfits can truly feel like the chore it is. Suddenly, you have these nostalgic memories of simpler times, where you only had to only look after yourself and the few pieces you wore that week.

The struggle is real

After struggling with mountains of washing for years, I eventually came up with a weekly laundry schedule for family laundry that works for me. But before we get there, let me share with you what I struggled with and why I did what I did.

It’s Sunday morning, we’re rushing to get out of the house to head to yet another kid’s birthday party. Everyone’s running around, there’s toothpaste everywhere and the dog has taken this opportunity to raid the picnic basket. I’m rushing out of the shower and grab for the towel – only to find the hook empty. Crap. In a burst of energy, I put the wet towels in the wash last night. Dripping wet, I open the linen cabinet where our towels are stored. Of course, the shelf is empty. Where are all our towels? Just as I’m wrecking my brain for an answer, my little one shouts “Muuuuuuum, I don’t have any clean undies”. This is great. The wheels come off, my roasted carrots started to burn and let’s just say we were late to the party.

Something needed to change. After this super busy day, I came back to assess the contents of my many laundry baskets at their fullest. I saw bulky items like sheets and towels and extra blankets all covering whatever clothes hid beneath. A common family problem as far as I’m aware. Things need to move quick in our house, and if you get a spare moment to change sheets, it’s all the beds or none.

As I sat there pondering my life choices and options, I noticed a few common themes:

Sheets

Sheets are huge. They require time for changing, but also need a big space to be hung. We have three beds and each has three or more pieces of bedding. There’s a lot of washing right there. Besides that, they’re pretty quick to sort, fold and put away though. Now, when do I have the most time to change sheets? Probably Saturday afternoon or Sunday. If I wash and hang them on Sunday, they’ll be dry and ready to fold on Monday, which is only a 5 minute job. Sounds like a good start.

Towels

Towels are also quite big and in a household of four, there are quite a few in use at any given point in time. But, they’re my favourite item to wash because: they’re quick to change, hang and put away. A clean, fluffy pile of towels also makes me feel super accomplished. Perfect to make you feel good on those busier days where nothing major gets done.

School uniforms

In Australia, kids wear school uniforms. There are “normal uniforms”, but also sports uniforms, which are worn on dedicated days. Each set of uniforms comes with a number of different pieces. While fairly light in summer, winters come with layers and overall thicker materials, so more laundry requirements. School uniforms are obviously worn Monday to Friday, so these will need to be put in the wash at some time on the weekend. The catch is that there’s not much room for them to dry and be ready for the week ahead, so best to look at a Friday evening wash.

Sports jerseys and weekly activity outfits

The last major thing for us are sports jerseys and other items needed for weekly activities. Our kids’ activities are Monday, Thursday and Saturday, which is a bit of an inconvenient mix. Saying this, Thursday is only needed after school, so if I put everything in the wash on Monday night, we should be good to go.

Putting the plan into action

So there I was, Friday school uniforms, Saturday sheets, Monday kids jerseys. Those are my set days. The rest – towels, darks, whites and colours – could be slotted into the other days as needed. A great starting point.

As I started to apply these routines and stick to my set days, another few things became apparent:

Colours – are ready to be washed after the weekend. I mentioned my kids’ newly found independence earlier, and with all this time and no uniform requirements on weekends, we usually face a lot of outfit changes. After a week full of corporate requirements, it’s also time for my husband and me to be a bit more colourful and bright.

Darks – are mostly worn during the week for work. Thankfully we don’t have any dry cleaning needs these days, so whatever accumulates is mostly cotton. Perfect to combine in one or two loads of dark washing.

Whites and delicates – are avoided in our house wherever possible. As there are only a few items, they can be washed when there’s really nothing else going on. This house can absolute survive without them for a while.

Coming up with this routine and a few dedicated days for each set of laundry, I started to feel more confident about myself again. Over time, this weekly laundry schedule for family laundry started to work incredibly well for our family. Now, some of you might of course have much larger families. I would still assess your week by needs and patterns like I have outlined above. You might need to have two days to wash sports jerseys, but maybe you don’t have school uniforms. Maybe your jerseys can go in with the colours. Maybe your family only wears cream colours. Whatever the pattern is, try and identify it and map out what is needed when. Then eliminate the days you absolutely won’t be able to wash on.

Have you tried my weekly laundry schedule for family laundry? What has worked for your family? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!