Ah, laundry, the never ending cycle. Without some sort of system in place it can sure pile up! While large families with lots of children certainly have full laundry baskets that require a system, even small families and couples can benefit from having a simple laundry routine or rhythm to make sure there’s clean undies and towels on the regular. Here are a few questions to consider as your plan your laundry routine for 2 people.
How many loads of laundry?
You may already have an inkling of how many loads you do in a week, but as a general rule, expect 1 load of clothes for each person and a load of towels, bedding, etc. each week. If you have a lot of delicate clothing or want to separate out stinky gym clothes, you may need to add another load. Or if someone has some really muddy clothes, it might be worth another load of laundry that week. But as a general rule, 3 loads a week works great for a two-person household.
What! No sorting?
While we’ve all been taught to sort our laundry into lights, darks, whites, and so on…it’s not actually a requirement! We typically don’t bother sorting our clothes on a weekly basis and wash all colors together. However, there are a few exceptions. For example, red dye and brand-new dark denim dye does run. If an item with these dyes is coming through, I pick whoever happens to be wearing darker clothes that week and toss it into their load and grab any white or light items from that load and put it into a different one. So don’t ruin your laundry because I said you didn’t have to sort! Just do it as needed and not as a rule. 😉
Who does the laundry?
If you’re reading this, it’s probably you that is handling all or most of the laundry in your house. But don’t forget the other person in the household can contribute to the process. The same person doesn’t have to do all the washing, drying, folding and putting away. Divide and conquer! When Farmer Nathan and I both worked full-time, I would get a load started first thing in the morning before work, whoever got home first would toss it into the dryer, and then Nathan would put away his clothes and I would put away my clothes and we split the linen laundry load.
What’s your weekly schedule?
Consider what regular activities you and your partner have outside the home. Groceries on a certain day? Church? Side hustle gig? Pottery classes? Something else? To set up your laundry routine for success, schedule laundry for when you’re actually going to be home regularly. For example, at my last job I worked every Wednesday evening. That meant I had 4-5 hours every Wednesday morning at home which made it a perfect day to run a load of laundry from start to finish even before work.
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Assign Loads to Days
This is the secret to a successful laundry routine. Assign loads to a particular day and stick to it! For us, each person gets their own laundry day and the towels, bedding, and linens have their own day. This means there’s never more than one load of laundry that has to be dealt with in a single day and I know precisely which load needs to be done. You only have to remember to start the washer and dryer once. You only have to fold and put away one load rather than mountains all in one day.
So what does a real-time laundry routine for 2 look like? In our household, Monday is for my laundry. Wednesday is our linens load (towels, bedding, rags, etc.). And Thursday is Farmer Nathan’s laundry day. Having just one load in a day makes it easy to work around daily life, one-off activities, and surprises. It doesn’t matter what time it gets done that day, it just has to get done that day. It is so much less overwhelming when you know it’s only one load.
P.S. Of course, if your schedule changes, change the laundry schedule to fit accordingly. 😉
Our Laundry Supplies
- Biokleen Free & Clear Detergent
- Oxiclean for the extra stinky/soiled loades
- Wool Dryer Balls
Happy folding!