Tuesday, April 17, 2012

~Scrub-a-dub-dub...Laundry tips!~

~Several years ago a friend of mine mentioned something that she does.  She said, "I try to do a load of laundry every day."   Since that day...that has become one of my habits as well.
~Of course, having a family of 7...most days I do more than one load of laundry.  If I can, I try to do at least one dark and one light load on normal days.
~However...if I have TONS of other things to do that day, am having company over, etc. I still try to run up the 36 stairs to my washer and throw in a small load, or one of those articles of clothing that has to be washed by itself.  At least I know that I have accomplished something in my laundry room that day.
~Sometimes I like to let things soak all night in the washer, so that the next morning I can just turn on the washer...and I have a "head start" with laundry that day.
~In Argentina I had to do a lot of washing of our clothes by hand, for I had neither washer nor dryer.  During those months...I learned that a laundry brush and a good bar of stain-removing soap were my "Best Laundry Friends!" =)~
 ~Here in Colombia we don't have a dryer, so we hang all of our clothes on a line to dry.  When a lady just has a small load fresh out of the dryer to fold, it goes pretty fast.  But, here in Colombia it takes our clothes a day or two (esp. in rainy season) to dry...so that there is a BUNCH of clothes ready to fold at one time.  That can be very overwhelming to one person.  So, the kids and I gather in our room and have a "clothes folding party" while listening to an exciting story...it makes the job go faster and is more fun. =)
~Each child then puts away their own clothes, and sometimes they help put away the younger kid's clothes.
~The tip from my friend (mentioned above) has been invaluable... I rarely ever have that "THERE'S DIRTY LAUNDRY FACING ME EVERYWHERE"...feeling! =)
Do you have a laundry tip that works great for you?
(We are praying for IHC which is starting today, and plan to listen to/watch as many services as we can. =)

9 comments:

lila said...

Sounds like you have it all under control!! I use to do 2 or 3 loads a day when all the kids were home. Now I only have 2 or 3 loads a wk. :) I use to have to hang things out to dry in Az. for sometime, but you know how fast things dry there. We are not going to IHC again this yr. We would only be able to go for 1 service with the way Jim works, so we will catch what we can from home. love you tons

RicKaren said...

Great laundry tips! We do laundry twice weekly (about 4 loads each time)and it's works out great for us. I recently made my own laundry soap, which really isn't a big savings $ wise at all, but we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the scent of it! Also, for stains....I have found that the old-fashioned bar laundry soap fels naftha works better than all the new fangled spendy stuff out there. Laundry is one of the things I don't mind doing....I try to remind myself to pray for the person who's clothes I'm folding as I do it--sort of multi-tasking. =)

The Dickinsons said...

Thank you, Karen, for your laundry tips. When I read yours it reminded me of a tip I had intended to include, but in the rush getting ready to watch my beloved IHC I forgot. =) (I just went back to my blog and included this tip.)
I had to hand wash LOTS of our clothes while we lived in Argentina, for I had neither washer nor dryer there. During those months I learned that a good laundry brush and a good bar of stain-removing soap were my "Best Laundry Friends!" =)
My sister makes her own laundry detergent and likes it too. I would like to try to make it sometime when I'm in the USA and can find all the stuff it calls for. I think Laura's laundry soap calls for that "fels naftha" bar that you mentioned.
That's a great idea about praying for the person whose clothes you are folding! =)
Blessings,
~Heather~

Katrina said...

We have clothes folding parties too! :)

Brittany said...

Hi Heather! I've enjoyed "playing catch up" with you =) Seems like I've not had much time for blogging lately... Loved all your pics , and posts - especially loved the pic of your little guy cutting lettuce with his saw, so cute!
I've tried to do at least one load of laundry each day, too - it helps keep it from piling up and becoming too overwhelming! I like your tip to listen to a story while folding, sounds like a great idea!

Quakenbush's said...

Neat post Heather, of course with a family of eight we never get "done" with laundry. We recently just started making homemade laundry soap and the boys and I just finished designing a pedal powered washing machine. to be hooked up to either a stationary bike or an electric motor. We are taking steps to fulfill our missions call to Haiti, and I intend to have my "funny machine" working great for my wife, by the time we get there. :) Love reading your blog. We pray for you guys in our Bible time [homeschooling] very regularly. God Bless!

~Regina~ said...

My laudnry motto....one load of clothes a day keeps the laundry at bay. I hang out all of our clothes and only use the dryer for the white socks/underclothes or for pre shrinking fabric that I sew with. :). If it has been rainy, and we finally have a nice sunny day, I will wash as many clothes as I can fit on the clothesline! :). I too sometimes fill my washer the night before so it will be faster getting finished in the morning, :). My children fold and put away their own laundry. The older boys now are washing, hanging out and putting away their own laundry. By starting teaching them from a young age, our 5 year old can fold laundry neater than some adults!

Anonymous said...

Dearest Heather,
How do you do it? You think of the neatest topics to write about! I Love the cute pic of the 2 children hanging out their doll clothes! It reminds me of what my Grandmother says "A childs highest form of play is working along side an adult."
I have also learned to do Laundery daily.It is fun and not bad! But Monday is my Laundery Day. That's the day I try to keep the washing going off and on all day. It's also the day I have to iron and mend, although I seldom do those things! So Monday is Wash day,
Tuesday is Baking day (bread, granola and a snack for prayer meeting, and I don't get all these things baked. Because of the lack of time), Wednesday is cleaning day, because I have prayer meeting at my house, Thursday is office day, but homeschooling gets in the way most of the time. And Friday is My Project day. Oh, and Saturday is Town day! At least this is what works for me now! I hope this wasn't, too much to share on a coment, but I just LOVE reading how others days are organized, so I thought I would share! Love and Prayers, Hannah Klunder

Daryl Hausman said...

Fun post... even if it IS work. There is rarely ever a day that I'm doing laundry that I don't think of you as I start my dryer and count my blessings, while I pray for YOU! I WELL remember the rainy, cold, days of RU where clothes often had to be re-washed for they would sour before I could get them to dry! But oh the memories of holding my washer so it wouldn't "Walk" down the hallway! Yes, we laugh hard about it now... Bryan even thought it was COOL then too! Love ya much, Laura

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