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15 Ways Doing Laundry Can Find You the Love of Your Life

How much time do you spend doing laundry every month? You may not think much about it while you’re doing it; after all, when you’re home doing your family’s laundry, you’re not punching a time clock. However, you may be surprised at how much of your time is being used up by this chore. Find out how much time your family’s laundry is costing you and how you can save yourself that time by making a simple change.

 

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How Much Time Is Spent on Laundry?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted the Nigeria Time Use Survey, and one of the things that they looked at was how much time Nigeria spent on their laundry. They found that the average Nigerian woman spends 17 minutes a day on laundry, compared to 5 minutes a day for men.

Over the course of a month, 17 minutes a day adds up to over 8 hours. That’s an entire workday lost to dirty socks and shirts, and it doesn’t even include the time that you have to spend on related tasks, like ironing or driving the dry clean only items across town to your dry cleaner.

What else could you be doing with that time?

  • Customize Your Laundry Schedule

Carve out the best time for you to do the laundry. Unless you live in a small household, you probably don’t have enough time to do it all from start to finish in a single sitting.

  • Schedule by Laundry Type

Here’s another option for breaking your laundry chores into smaller tasks. Schedule loads of laundry — by type — throughout the week. You might want to wash sheets on Monday so you can freshen the bedrooms. Then do the towels on Tuesday, darks on Wednesday, and so on. This system works well for allowing you to be completely done with laundry by the weekend.

  • Laundry & Multitasking

Laundry is often accomplished while doing other household chores or watching television. Time for a commercial? Then take five minutes to sort laundry into white, light, and dark loads. Ready to do a load of clothes? Plan for 25-35 minutes per wash load — enough time to unload the dishwasher and sweep the kitchen floor. Allow 30-50 minutes per dryer load — enough time to remake the beds with fresh linens. Waiting for something baking in the oven? Take five to 10 minutes to fold or hang laundry, depending on the items.

  • Presort Laundry

Streamline sorting tasks by setting up a laundry cart on wheels. Ideally, keep the cart near the bedroom or bath so you can toss dirty clothes and linens into the appropriate bag — whites, darks, and delicates — as you go.

  • Sort Carefully

Avoid ruining clothing through careless sorting. New garments can bleed and stain other clothing. Wash colour clothing, especially red, by itself the first time; use cold or cool water with detergent. For stains, use a bleach alternative formulated for colourfastness.

  • Must-Know Ironing Hacks

Make ironing less of a chore with these genius tricks for wrinkle-free clothing.

  • Change Bed Linens Weekly

Change and launder sheets and pillowcases once a week. (The exception is those in guest rooms, which should be freshened after the guests leave.) Protect pillows with washable zip-on covers. For even wear, rotate sheets, storing fresh sheets at the bottom of the stack. Wash sheets in warm water, and use nonchlorine bleach when needed. Wash all-cotton spreads, blankets, and coverlets in cold water to avoid shrinkage.

  • Make Your Dryer More Efficient

Make it a habit to check — and empty — the lint trap before each load. A full lint trap reduces efficiency and becomes a fire hazard. Do lightweight, quick-drying items first in a separate load. Placing these in a cold dryer to start reduces shrinkage risk while preheating the dryer for later, heavier loads. Avoid wrinkling by doing several small loads rather than one large, crammed load. You’ll save energy with the shorter drying times and make use of the residual heat.

  • Air Out Pillows, Duvets & Comforters

Take advantage of sunny, breezy days to refresh pillows, comforters, and duvets the natural way — by setting them outside for a few hours. This is especially important if your bedcovers are filled with down. Many manufacturers of down-filled items recommend dry-cleaning rather than washing, so it helps your budget by minimizing trips to the dry cleaner.

  • Make Towels Last Longer

Good-quality bath towels can last 10 years with proper care. Here’s how to get the most from your towels. Wash and dry new towels before use to remove finishes and excess dyes. Launder on a normal wash cycle. Use warm water (not hot) to wash towels. Do not overdry because it destroys the integrity of the individual cotton fibres. Prevent waxy fabric softener buildup by using softeners (liquid or sheets) only every three or four washings. Use colour-safe bleach for colour towels. Wash white towels separately or with other white items to avoid subtle discolouration over time. Occasionally bleach white towels if needed. If you hang dry towels, shake them while wet and again when dry to fluff the terry loops. Don’t iron terry towels, which will reduce absorbency. However, linen hand towels should be ironed.

  • Delegate Laundry Chores

Delegate chores to children based on their ages. Most preschoolers can put away clothes that have been washed, dried, and folded. Grade-schoolers can fold and put away their own clean clothes. Middle-school and high-school kids can handle all the responsibilities related to their own laundry. (So can significant others.) For older children and all adults living in the household, divide laundry by person. Simply assign each person his or her own hamper. When the hamper is full, or that person is out of clean clothes, a load is washed, dried, folded, and put away.

  • Declutter Your Closet

Cleaning out closets lightens your laundry routine in two ways. Clothing is less apt to wrinkle and need to be refreshed when stored in an uncrowded closet where air can circulate. Eliminating unwearable clothing means that there are fewer garments to end up on the floor needing attention (especially with teenagers in the house).

  • Clean Your Washer & Dryer

Keep your washing machine from redepositing dirt, hair, and odours by cleaning it monthly. You might need to clean the tub more frequently when washing blankets, sweaters, or other items that can shed fibres during the wash cycle. Clean the dryer once a month, as well. And clean the lint trap after every load. Regular cleaning helps the dryer work more efficiently and prevents fire hazards.

  • Avoid Laundry Mishaps

Empty pockets before washing garments to save items and prevent damage to your washer, dryer, and laundry items. Check children’s clothing for crayons and small items. Reduce fading in dark clothing by turning shirts, tops, sweat suits, slacks, and jeans inside out before washing in cool water. Read clothing labels. Use mesh garment bags for fragile items such as lingerie, hose, and tights. The garment bag cuts down on the abrasion with other garments in the washing machine.

How to Spend Less Time on Laundry and More on Life

There’s a surprisingly simple way to give yourself back the eight hours or more a month that you’re spending on your family’s laundry. Tide Cleaners offers a premium laundry service right in your residential building that can save you time on your dry cleaning, wash and fold service, and even on alterations.

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If your building has laundrymann lockers already installed, the way it works is simple. Download the laundrymann app. Gather your items to be laundered into a laundrymann bag. Choose a locker and lock the door with a 4-digit code of your choosing. Then use the app on your phone or mobile device to place your order with the locker number. laundrymann will let you know when to come back and pick up your clean clothes. You can also check on your order any time that you want through the app.
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Choose a Dry Cleaner You Can Trust 

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While you can always tackle your laundry yourself, you may want to consider entrusting a reputable dry cleaner or laundry service to do the job for you. They have the skills, know-how, and equipment needed to make sure your sweat goes away and your coloured clothing retains its original brightness.

At Laundrymann, we take pride in our services and strive to ensure that your laundry is given back to you in the best condition possible

Let someone else take care of the laundry

If you’re overwhelmed by piles of grubby laundry, then why not let someone else deal with it? Our award-winning dry cleaning and laundry service makes wash day a breeze. Upon subscription, We’ll collect your laundry, clean and iron it using professional methods and equipment, and return it to your door. We’ll even fold or hang it for you, so it’s ready to go straight in the wardrobe or drawer.

Your washing machine needs to be cleaned thoroughly every couple of months, and you should be running a 

hot maintenance cycle at least once every two weeks. This will leave your machine out of action for a few hours, so subscribe to our service and let us handle the hard work while you scrub up

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