My home management system, pt. 6: Laundry (& a giveaway from Tropical Traditions!)

 If you haven't been with us for the rest of this series, you can find the rest of it under the Home Management label.

 I know many homemakers struggle with keeping on top of their laundry so as part of this little series, I wanted to share what works for me.

::Keep our wardrobes simple. Ben and I do not have a ton of clothes. I have 5-6 shirts that I wear most days, along with t-shirts for sleeping in, and undershirts. I wear a denim skirt almost every day, though I do have other skirts I mix things up with from time to time (and nicer ones for Sundays). The children have more clothes because they're messier, and because they have generous grandparents. But, obviously, fewer clothes equals less to wash, fold, and put away.

::Do one load from start to finish every day. Most weekdays, I do one load of laundry from start to finish (wash, dry, fold, put away). I wash the sheets once every week (Fridays), and other items as they get dirty during the week. I don't sort clothes/towels by color unless it's something brand new and very bright or dark. I wash everything together in super loads on warm, and usually do one cold load a week for more delicate items. Because of Ben's allergies/asthma, I do not hang clothes out to dry. I wash diapers every other day. Sometimes when I wash diapers, I don't do a load of clothes that day but other times I do. It depends on our schedule and the situation in the hamper. One benefit to washing clothes daily is that if I miss a day, it's not generally too hard to get caught back up (this could be in part because I only have two children!).

To tell you the truth, that's basically it. Most of the time I'm pretty much caught up on laundry, though there are certainly days (and even weeks) when things get out of hand and Ben is scrounging around for socks.


The Giveaway!

 As an added treat, Tropical Traditions has generously offered to give away a 5lb. container of their fabulous powdered laundry detergent to one of y'all!

I am always looking for ways to take toxins out of our home, and using this detergent is one great way to do it. It is free from the dyes, perfumes, fillers and phosphates so often contained in commercially made laundry detergents. The folks at Tropical Traditions sent me a package of this detergent to review, and I have been so happy with the results. Our clothes come out wonderfully clean, and I love knowing they've been washed without toxic chemicals. 


To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite tip for staying on top of the laundry pile at your house.

For bonus entries (please leave a separate comment for each one!):

::Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions newsletter.
::"Like" Tropical Traditions on facebook.
::"Like" Covenant Homemaking on facebook.
::Subscribe to the Covenant Homemaking RSS feed via feed reader or email.
::Follow @mrsmurch and @troptraditions on twitter and tweet about the giveaway, tagging both of us and linking back to this post.
::Share a link to this post on facebook.
::Post about the giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post.

That makes for eight possible entries! This giveaway will be open through Saturday evening, when I'll select a winner via random.org.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.