Laundry Organization

So I love to organize..yes I am weird.  I get great satisfaction from getting my house in smooth running order, so that it practically takes care of itself...well, not really, but MUCH more manageable.  Well, I take for granted that I either know how to do it or implement other ideas well to work for me...there are others, like one of my dearest friends, who I wont mention (but you know who you are), just lack the skill to organize.  I thought I would share today what has done wonders for me in the laundry room.

First, just in case you haven't noticed...I have three girls.  Rewind back to March of 2011, and my husband was returning home from deployment and the two older girls are now only separated by one size.  Sorting their socks and underwear had become quite the challenge these days, but I had gotten used to it.  I knew which color belonged to which girl (most of the time).  With my husband returning and getting my helper back (I have been blessed with the most helpful husband...when he's home.  He will even tell you that he tries to be SUPER helpful when he's home, because he is away so much...I got a good one!) and one thing he does help with is wash and fold the laundry (putting it away is not his thing..so I'll take what I can get and really the girls can do it themselves).
So one day as I am sorting socks and the girls underwear, and getting ready for the upcoming reunion I stare at the socks thinking...this is going to be tough for him.  I am having a hard time how is he going to fare?
So he comes home...

and I actually have a minute to look through one of my Better Homes and Gardens magazines that I had piled up over those months, in hopes that I would get to look through them.  So I grabbed the latest issue and there it was.  The answer to my problem in the March 2011 issue of BHG.

I couldn't wait to get on this project! (now it has almost been a year of using this method and I have to say it has been great).  It consists of mesh bags to collect socks and underwear and a sort station (not that it's a new concept but the bin was the correct size and multi purpose for those like me who move a lot..things have to do double duty depending on space available).
 So I went to Target and picked up a couple of packages of lingerie bags for the laundry.  And deemed a colored ribbon for each girl and got to sewing.

First you have to determine how long you want your bag to hold from you hook.  I ended up attaching the hooks the door of the laundry room because I didn't want my kids reaching for them over the laundry bin and pulling or yanking on them.  So I got my 3M detachable hooks (from a move ago) and first eyeballed how they would look with two over each other.  Once I determined the placement of the hooks (cant be too high or too low) I figured out how long the ribbon should be.

One thing to note is that I needed to have 3 sets of bags on the door so I staggered them.  I put two sets at the same levels on the outside edge of the door and then the middle set up higher (and the oldest child would use this).

I cut my ribbon and slid it through the zipper and pinned so you could see where I was planning my stitch.  My ribbon didn't have sides, but if yours does put right sides together.

You don't need to use the machine but I had it out so I used it.  So I did just a plain simple straight stitch trying to secure the ends with a back stitch (it is not easy for me to use the machine on such a small piece of material).

Once I had finished and turned the ribbon inside out so that the right side of the ribbon is facing out (if you have a right side). Then straight stitch 1/4 inch to secure it again.  This doesn't have to be pretty it just needs to hold.

 Then I ordered the Canvas mega sorter from Land of Nod.  At the time the blue one was out of stock, so I had to wait.  It was so worth it.  I made some quick labels (seeing that only one kid was reading at that time) but trained the girls to put their clothes into each bin.  Whites, colors and darks.

They were to hang their socks in one bag and their underwear in the other.  I am having to change that since some of their underwear is colored and some isn't (same with the socks).  So I am making a colored one and a white one.  You just do what works for you.
This works so well for me because my laundry is on the same level as the bedrooms.  So my kids just get undressed on their way to the shower they sort their own laundry (even Juliet is starting to do it..she's two).  They used to have bins in their room but I would get so overwhelmed with the laundry because all of a sudden I had 5 loads to do.  I got turned on to flylady.net during deployment because I was struggling keeping my house clean and one of her tips is "a load a day keeps the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) away".  Boy, with three girls and a husband who's shirt and pants make one load, this was life saving advice.  Now with the laundry sorter, I walk by and can see one of the bins getting full and just throw it in.  If you go back to the first picture of the clothes sorter you will see that my darks are going to need to be done soon and that the whites were just recently done.
With the bags, if it is a white day, I just find the bag that has whites in it, close it and throw it in with the wash.  When I am done I can either be nice and fold it all for them, OR have them do it.  I just hand them the bag.
This last step has saved me so much time.  I would dread doing the socks..I swear it would just be a pile of all these mismatched socks staring at me.  Now I just open a bag and there are only a few pairs to match up instead of a dozen.

I also put a bin in the laundry room for missing socks.  If I don't have it's mate I just throw it in the bin.  The other day I cleaned out Juliet's drawer and found TONS of the other pairs.  So now my sock bin is at it's lowest level but I am sure (with the way my kids leave their socks all over the house..my next obstacle) it will fill up again soon.
You too can be the master of your laundry..happy washing.