This post is part of a series called How I Simplify.
Iused to be obsessive-compulsive, but now I don’t have the time. I wish I had come up with this expression. It makes me laugh because it describes me, and it makes light of perfectionism. Whether or not neuroses are a product of our indulgence is a question I cannot answer, but I do recognize that less time means less worry over little details.
Sure, I sometimes miss my relatively buttoned-up life. My photos used be kind-of organized, my emails reasonably answered, and my bookshelves dusted (at least the part you could see).
We also used to have nice, crisp spot-free clothing. With more kids and an old house, things are a little messy around the edges. But my standards haven’t been completely buried by slung backpacks and chubby chocolately fingers. Here are the ways I’ve figured out to keep our clothes reasonably clean without spending all Sunday doing it.
1. Fast-Track Stain Removal
While sorting clothes, I used to examine every piece of clothing for spots, and then give each stain a spritz of Spray ‘n Wash. As you can imagine, this process would majorly slow me down. Now I dump in a scoop of Oxiclean along with the regular detergent, set the washer for longest cycle with the hottest water, and then throw a pinch of salt over my left shoulder.
Despite my reliance on luck, I was amazed at how effective this quick method has turned out to be. Yeah, sure, our cloth napkins have faint grease stains on them, and sometimes my kids go to school with splotches of paint on their sleeves, but — oh, well!
(Note: I find that eco-friendly laundry detergents like Seventh Generation work well, but I have not yet found a similarly effective spot-remover. Any hints? I also think it would be fun to experiment with making laundry detergent out of borax, baking soda, and bar soap.)
2. Minimize Folding
I do still sort dirty laundry into piles (lights, darks, etc.), but when those duds come out of the dryer, they get one fold at most. Piles are easier to carry upstairs if they are more like log cabins than skyscrapers. So pants get folded once longways, and shirts get sleeves folded in, and that’s it.
3. Get Kids to Help
Most kids above the age of four can put away their own clothes, as well as sort and fold laundry. My third- and fourth-grade daughters take turns dividing up weekend chores that take about 20 minutes each: vacuuming upstairs, vacuuming downstairs, mopping the kitchen, and folding two loads of laundry. (I clean the bathrooms, do most of the laundry, iron shirts, and everything else). They also put away their clothes, and pretty soon, my three-year-old son (boys can do household chores too!) will be ready to do the same.
My kids don’t get paid to do this work; it’s just part of being in our family. (If they want to earn money, they can do extra jobs around the house or yard.) Of course they sometimes complain about it, but they take pride in their work, and I catch them showing off their sweeping skills when their grandparents are visiting or bragging to their friends: “Of course, I know how to vacuum. You don’t?”
One last note: I am totally supportive of people hiring out cleaning and laundry services. In various stages of my life, I have done just that — either because it was affordable or because I was overwhelmed, and why not? It doesn’t make me any less of a woman, as Meagan Francis has eloquently stated in The Truth About Hiring a Cleaning Service. We do it ourselves now to free up funds for the renovations, and I also like how it keeps the us grounded. But if a cleaning service is something you have decided is worth it to you, then go for it and enjoy the fruits.
Do you have some laundry tricks that save time and effort? Let us know in the comments.
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I have found Biokleen’s Bac-Out to work really well on stains including tomato. Most of my tomato stains are small splash and not big oops, but if you poor or spray it on pretty quickly (I like the spray better for that extra force into the fibers) I’ve gotten out the stains.