If you’ve ever read one of my books you know that I hit bottom when our third child was born. It was before organizing was an industry and there wasn’t much help for all of the poor, lost souls who just didn’t have a clue. So., I made a list and noted each one of my problems. It was a long list. I looked at the list and decided to work on one problem at a time. Laundry was number one.
What’s wrong with laundry? Well, it’s always in a state. It’s never done. As soon as you think you’re finished, there’s a new pile stacking up in the hamper. So, the first thing I did was to schedule the laundry so I’d have a few days a week when I didn’t even think about doing laundry. Yep, laundry is never done – but with a schedule you FEEL done. That was an immediate relief.I field a lot of questions about laundry in my workshops and setting up a specific schedule is always my first advice.
A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend (mother of six) and she gave me the most wonderful insight about laundry. She, of course, is buried in laundry! Despite the chore, she said that she was so glad that she had clothes to put on her children’s backs. She was grateful that she was physically able to do the laundry – to fold and put away the laundry. While I still don’t wake up in the morning with a song in my heart when I know it’s laundry day – that statement made me stop and think.
We’ve had laundry issues lately. It’s been taking three cycles to get the clothes dried. We started looking for a new dryer and in the process, talked to a dealer. He asked us if the dryer was getting hot. It was. He told us that we didn’t need a new dryer – but that we needed to get our dryer vent cleaned out. We found a company that specializes in just such a problem (Indoor Solutions) and within fifteen minutes, he had climbed on the roof and sucked all the lint out of the complete system. Now the clothes are dried before the cycle is completely finished. What a miracle. Saved us a few hundred dollars, to say the least.
This particular dryer has a a long screen vent mounted on the top of the dryer that should be cleaned after each load. It’s been a pain to do that until I hit on this idea. I put a stack of coffee filters into an old Cool-Whip container and added some water to get the filters all moistened. Then, I put the container on the shelf above the dryer. Now, when I have to clean the screen, I grab one of those damp coffee filters and wipe out the lint. Not only does it work, but it cleans the vent better than ever.
In one of my books I wrote a whole chapter about laundry. The title of the chapter is Wash and (S)Wear. Maybe not. I’m happy that I have a washer and a dryer in our home and I’m grateful that we have clothes to wear and that we have the muscles and the mobility to do the laundry.