I haven’t done a WFMW post in a LONG time. I’ve been meaning to do this one for several months. Actually, it could be years by now. I have to tell you about the best thing I ever did for my laundry. It’s not a new concept and we’re not breaking any ground here but I finally got SIX different bins to put mine and Scott’s clothes in (grammar geeks, how do I say that? me and Scott’s? Scott and my?).
Before, we had one hamper with all our clothes and once a week, or whenver we ran out of white clothes (the fastest growing) I would have to sort all the clothes and since they were all out, I’d wash all of them. Sometimes the poor red/pink/purple pile would be pitiful but I was unwilling to put anything back in the hamper.
Scott, my very organized better half, finally went out and bought six of these skinny bins. We sort as we go. We have jeans, whites, blacks, mixed, reds and even one for towels. When one gets full, I wash that and don’t have to wash the rest. As we speak, the blacks are in the washing machine and the rest are waiting for their turn in the closet. The other great thing is it’s so easy to carry them with handles on each side. When it’s time for the clean clothes to go back, I put all the small things inside the bins and then lay pants and shirts over the top but am still able to use the handles to carry it all.
I LOVE them and they were well worth the investment. I figure I’m saving time sorting and washing extranneous loads and money on water and energy. That certainly works for me!
We use these same bins to sort our laundry! Love them…
It would be “Scott’s and my clothes.” Take away either person and say “Scott’s clothes” or “my clothes” and there you have it. Scott’s and my clothes. There’s your grammar lesson for the day. Ha!
Where did you get the bins? I love this concept. And do you put them in your laundry room or closet? I have a very small laundry room so I have dirty clothes baskets all over the house. It’s not really working all that well for us so I’m trying to figure out a better solution.
They are from WalMart. I have them linked in the first paragraph. They are in my closet so when we get undressed, we can immediately put in the right bin.
Thanks for the grammar lesson, love learning!
Oh, I didn’t catch the link! I’m brain-dead, sorry. Thanks!
No problem, it wasn’t very clear 🙂
What a fantastic idea! I spend a LOT of time in my laundry room between Raouf’s work uniforms and the kids’ school uniforms, I am constantly washing or ironing someone’s clothes. We need something like this because with a teenager and pre-teen in the house, I’m tired of finding piles of clothes on bedroom floors because they were too tired (read: lazy) to walk them to the basket in the hallway.
This would definitely work for me! Thank you for the suggestion.
I’m so thankful I don’t have to wash Scott’s uniforms…dry cleaning! Hope this helps with your laundry and maybe the kids can find you watching more FNL 🙂
I can’t tell you how much sleep I have lost watching it over the past couple of weeks but it has been worth it. I had to turn it off after the funeral episode last night because I was a mess. The scene with the Funeral Director talking about caskets and escorts to the cemetery reminded me exactly of our family’s experience planning my Dad’s funeral. Zach Gilford was amazing (of course, he’s my favourite so I may be a wee bit biased) and Coach walking Matt home with his arm around Matt’s shoulder makes me cry just thinking of it. It was such a tender moment and made me love both characters even more. I’m planning on losing some more sleep tonight. 🙂
I use separate bins for sorting too, but I love the size & shape of the ones you’re using. That looks like a great space-saver! Thanks for sharing where you got those. I’m headed to Wal-Mart’s site now to grab a few!
Yay! I hope they have them, Walmart.com said my store was out!
This is why I love blogs. Something so simple and yet I would NOT have thought of it if you hadn’t posted it. Going to buy those bins ASAP. Thanks!
Don’t worry, Mr. OCD Scott is the genius that thought of it, I wouldn’t have either!
This works for me, too! It was my brother’s idea when he was 7 and took over the family laundry for the summer–he set up 3 baskets and ordered us all to pre-sort! I have done it ever since. My only problem is that the bins are in my closet, and now that I have a child, I don’t want him to have to come into my room every time he puts something in the laundry, so he has a basket in his room and I have to sort it into my bins every few days…but I need to check over his laundry anyway to unroll socks so they get clean, etc. I wish we had space for family laundry bins in the hallway between bedrooms like in my childhood home.
What a smart 7 year old!
I’ve wanted to implement something like this for ages. Thanks for reminding me. 🙂