I know some people are big believers in doing the laundry throughout the week. They do one or two loads a day, every day.

I’ve always been a big fan of having one specific laundry day where it all gets done.

Getting the laundry done is one of the 3 chores I do every weekend for a more relaxing week.

Why? Because then it’s DONE!

There are so many chores around the house that seem never-ending.

The second you get all of the dishes clean and put away you have to make dinner and do it again. And the moment you finish cleaning the bathroom, someone has to use it and you walk back in to see soggy counter tops and smudges on the mirror.

By doing the laundry all in one day, I have a chore that is done. I don’t have to think about it or do anything until next week’s laundry day.

Now of course, logistically, doing the laundry all in one day is a bit tricky. But no worries, I’m going to walk you through it.

Make sure to pick your laundry day for a day that you are home pretty much all day.

How To Get The Laundry Done In One Day

Get Started Early

On my chosen laundry day, usually Friday, I make sure to get my first load started right after breakfast. I’ve got about 5 loads to get through, which can easily be done in one day as long as I get started early and keep the loads moving through.

Even if you have way more laundry than me, I’m sure that it’s possible to do 10 or more loads in one day if you start early and keep them moving.

Set A Timer

The timer is important!

To keep the loads running through efficiently, you need to be reminded of when each load is done.

I have had many laundry days where I started a load right after breakfast and remembered I was supposed to be doing all of the laundry that day at around 7pm. Not great.

I don’t like to use the buzzer on my machine because I can’t hear it throughout my whole house and it only goes off a few times and is done. I want my timer to beep until I turn it off and go switch the loads!

You could use a timer on your phone if you keep your phone on you all day. I use my oven timer because I can hear it anywhere in the house and it doesn’t stop until I turn it off.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to turn the dryer on. Haha! I do that all the time!

Collect All Clean Laundry

Folding is by far the worst part of doing the laundry, right?

I don’t even worry about folding until all of the laundry has gone through the washer and dryer.

I collect all of the clean laundry in one room, usually our bedroom, to be folded.

If you need to, you can grab out a few important things that are especially wrinkle-prone. Other than that, just collect it all in one spot for what’s to come…

Folding Party

In the evening, or sometimes even the next day, I fold it all. For me, it works best to make the bed and fold it all into piles on the bed.

The most important part of the folding party? Netflix! Or whatever you want to watch.

I was going to watch some TV anyways, so I just turn on a show on our iPad (there’s no TV in our room) and fold while I watch.

Put It Away. Now.

I used to fold everything on the dining room table and sometimes it would just stay there all week. 🙂 Oops!

I recommend putting everything away right after your folding party or else someone will end up digging through your nicely folded piles looking for their favorite shirt and all the piles will practically look like they were never folded!

Here’s a peek into the closet my husband and I share from my post about simplifying your wardrobe.

The Special Stuff

I keep one special laundry basket in our room for all of the delicates or items that need to be washed in a special way, like dress clothes, sweaters, bras…

It’s the black basket in the picture above. All of the rest of our laundry baskets are white so we don’t confuse the special laundry with the regular laundry.

This way I don’t have to sort through the dirty clothes to find those special items that might get messed up in the dryer and risk missing one.

I pretty much refuse to buy anything that needs to be dry cleaned so I don’t have to worry about that.

About every other week I wash the items in the special basket and then I hang them up to dry. If my husband helps with the laundry, he knows not to worry about the special basket. I handle that one.

Laundry Confession: I don’t separate my lights and darks. I take out towels and do those in a load with color-safe bleach. And I do my sheets and “non-dryables” each separately. But the rest of our clothing all goes in together.

My Laundry Essentials

Detergent: My favorite for a while now has been ECOS Free & Clear. It comes in a huge jug that lasts a really long time.

For Hard Water: We have insanely hard water, so I add a small scoop of Borax to most loads to help out. Plus, it has many other uses for cleaning around the house which means I can buy less cleaning supplies.

Laundry Baskets: My favorite laundry baskets are the one that are taller and skinnier (like this one). They use more vertical space and take up way less floor space in your bathroom or closet.

⇒ What’s your laundry system? All in one day or throughout the week? Do you separate your laundry or put it all in together like me?