Laundry- So many ways?

Laundry is the nemesis of so many mothers {fathers and children, too! they just don’t know it} everywhere. Not having clean clothes is sure to put a damper on plans real quick. Yep, you can nod your head to that one.

Exhibit at Jay Em, Wyoming

My kids have been doing laundry since they were about 10 and 7 {or so}. At first it was just a load here and there of their own clothes. As the years went on, however, they started to be given more responsibility to watch more loads and …dun dun dun…other people’s clothes.

Now they are almost 16 and almost 13- they know how to wash clothes! Or do they?

Just like every new skill that is learned, it is necessary to check up on the results at times and to give constructive criticism about how they are doing. Naturally. It’s part of teaching our kids how to be self-sufficient for when they are on their own.

The reason I’ve titled my post “So many ways?” is because my kids –having been taught one way to do laundry –never seem to do it just that way. Here’s how I have taught them to do laundry.

1. Sort the clothes into whites, lights {or ‘medium’}, darks. If an article of clothing has both dark and light, then it is light {my thinking is that if it is created with many colors, they won’t run off on each other, it’s safe to be with other lights but if washed with darks, the darks of other clothes could run off on the lights}.
2. Check pockets. Every pocket. Twice for boys and men. Yes, twice.
3. Measure soap according to size of load and put in washer. When we use store bought detergent it’s fairly easy to know that it’s going to take a capful. Nevermind that it says a medium size load only takes 1/4-1/2 cap. {Maybe we are just really dirty people - it always takes more.} When using my homemade soap, 1 full scoop is good for a large load. Usually our loads are large.
4. Set dials –to correct load size –generally between medium to oversize;  water temperature to cold {very rarely do we use warm or hot –for rags, hand towels, towels and undies we do use hot}.
5. Turn washer on. I have them turn the water on before putting in the clothes to lessen the chance of spots on the clothes from the detergent. Not that I’ve ever had that happen, actually.
6. Load clothes.

And that’s how laundry is washed. The drying is easy. Put it in dryer, set dry to to just above “Less dry”, right below “More dry”, and press start.

Six years or so of the same instructions but sometimes I find that the washer is set to warm water, mini load –for a large load of darks. Hmmm. Or the three color sorting system morphs into one color somehow. Fortunately our clothes have never been speckled {well, there was that one time…} or our whites turned pink.

Either way, I’m fairly confident that my kids can wash clothes. Now, folding them, hanging them up and/or ironing…that’s a different story for a different time.

Here’s a how-to for washing clothes from wikiHow. It is a wee bit more involved than my steps (check the fabric type, don’t wash towels and sheets together, etc). Or here’s a youtube video for how to wash clothes, without a washer {that’s how I did it when I first taught myself –but I used the tub}.

I’m linking this post up with Making a Home at Linda’s Lunacy, where we can share posts about homemaking ideas, recipes, crafts, decorating, cleaning tips, basically anything that has to do with caring for a home and family.