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I got my family into the habit of making sure their clothes are right side out before getting in the hamper....my pet peeve was having a ton of my husbands undershirts, all inside out and having to fold them. Folding took forever, but not anymore.

just one load and it never piles up and it is not a lot of work that way.

My tricks to help lighten my load and get laundry done faster: keep a well stocked laundry room, pre-treat stains as quickly as possible, and use Mister Steamy Mr Steam Dryer Ball.

prizehound7@yahoo.com

I put all socks and undies in lingerie bags, which keeps them all together. No undies hiding in pants legs and no socks wandering off into dryer hoses. :-)

I wash delicates first and then plan the wash accordingly to wash whites last as they take the most time.

Make it a rule that towels do NOT get laundered after every use. If you are drying a clean body then the only thing on the towel is water. I managed to reduce my laundry load for towels to one load per week.

We have a rule that if you wear something and then change you have to do your own laundry. It keeps my laundry down.

I try not to let laundry get piled up. I do laundry as soon as there are two loads' worth. So, if I have a load of darks that need done, I will follow right behind it with sheets or a load of whites, etc. That way, I feel like I really accomplished something, and the dryer is somewhat more efficient, as it is still hot when I put in load two.

my 5 yr old loves laundry and makes me do it all the time! Thats how I get it done faster! He likes the "doing" and not the folding - so if I dont keep up with him i get wrinkled clothes!

here's his utube vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_BTgpkTkj0

To save time and make things more efficient, we've gotten in the habit of pre-sorting by color and fabric ahead of time, with the help of separate baskets; using stain removal sticks to help the process during the actual laundry cycle, and using those ever-helpful mesh laundry bags to sort everyone's socks ahead of time. Definite time savers and stress relievers all!

I remove laundry from the dryer before it is totally dry and hang on hangers to reduce the ironing that I need to do.

Well, my family fights me, but to lighten the load I have them each turn their socks and jeans right side out, that way I don't have to waste valuable time doing this!

justine417@comcast.net

I wash a load of clothes while taking a shower so when I get out of the shower I can pop the clothes in the dryer and no dirty clothes left in the clothes basket! Thanks! senekers@comcast.net

As someone who still needs to scrounge around for quarters come laundry time, I have a vested interest in keeping the laundry load down! I find that some garments, such as pants, can be worn multiple times before washing. Dresses and blouses sometimes only need a little armpit washing by hand in the sink, followed by air drying. Lastly, when using the dryer, I try to distribute the towels amongst the loads as they can be the hardest to get completely dry. Washing them all together is a mistake!

I find it gets laundry done a lot quicker if you can manage your time to throw in a load, then clean something else like the bathroom in between, then put the clothes in the dryer, etc.

Instead of letting it all pile up for a week, do at least one if not two small loads a day and just keep up with it.

It's the only thing that saves my sanity. As I live with two guys that change clothes as much as any runway model.

Wear everything until it has visible dirt or stains! :) Hey, it works for us... Saves time getting ready in the morning, too, because I just pick what I wore the day before. Oh, and make sure you buy a nice set of hooks to hang your clothes up on so they don't get wrinkly and smelly on the floor.

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The Best Help for Laundry???? Teach the kids to do their own!

ToriMac

I have had to start using cold water for all the loads with the economy. I have noticed that the clothes are just as clean as long as I use the OXI! Thanks for such a wonderful product!

If I get a stain, I work on it right then so it comes out easier.

For one, we don't wash everything daily. What I mean is, we wear jeans and such more than once unless they are dirty. Same with our bath towels. This conserves not only my time, but water, energy, SOAP!, etc.

To save myself time, I wash my kids clothes separate from mine and my husband's. That way, I am folding their stuff and putting it away and not alternating between theirs and ours (which really does slow me down for some reason).

I only run the washer when I have a full (super) load unless it's something that is drastically dirty (something one of our cats has.. well... anyway) in which case I run a small or mini load. I also use cold/cold water as it reduces our bill, BUT it also saves time - using cold water, our machine cycles faster vs. using warmer water!

THANKS. :)

My best tip is simple - treat the stain as soon as possible. Of course, this isn't always easy.

Make sure you go though all your laundry before you wash it - emptying out pockets, and pre-treating stains. Your laundry will thank you for it!
Thanks for the giveaway!

I liek to go thrift store shopping, here in Los Angeles, there are a lot of vintage stores and I find great dresses and clothing but sometines there is unknown staining, that where OXY came in. a find turned into a treasure thanks to OXY

singermagic1(at)yahoo(dot)com

Wash full loads. Air dry clothes on lines or racks. garrettsambo@aol.com

I wish I had some fabulous tricks but I guess mine are just habits I gleaned from my mother. We only dry clothing for 5 to 10 minutes in the dryer and then hang them up to dry. Saves on electricity and most clothes come out less wrinkled or wrinkle free.

If you live with family members, enlist their help when folding & hanging up your clothes.

My kids bring down the laundry and then when it's down they help bring it upstairs and put it away. This is a big help and we have a two story so it saves me from running up and down the stairs so many times.

you have to keep on laundry and not let it pile up..what i do is have my teenagers each wash their own clothes and it lightens my loads :)

We use several hampers, so we can sort dress clothes, around-the-house clothes, and towels as we go. Makes getting the laundry going on Sunday a lot quicker.

I hang cloths on hangers on the cloths line (plastic hangers)
that way they dry and are already on hangers just to be put into closet

Some might think this is a bit obsessive, but I wash my clothes right after I take a shower. It's always a small load but I get it done and over with.

I'm a fan of doing all of your laundry one day out of the week if possible. However, I've found that by sorting your laundry daily, that one day isn't such a chore anymore!!

If you live in an apartment building with a laundry room the greatest time saver is finding the least busy time. This way you won't have to wait for machines or dryers and won't have to fight with your neighbors, seen plenty of those. Stalk the laundry room and count the people at different times. For me the least busy time is after 9:00 PM, busiest is Sunday night. Usually takes me 1.5 hours to do 4 loads. If I have to wait it takes up to 3 hours.

I do Laundry throughout the week so that I wont have to spend so much time on it on a given day. I also dont put too much things in the load so my first time can be my last time. When there is a stain on a clothing I pretreat it that day, not the day of laundry so the stain can come off a bit easier.

I usually put a dry hand towel in with the wet load in the dryer--seems to make the dying process go quicker!

I get my daughter to help me fold, and we do it all at once or we slack and it piles up.

I use three hampers and the laundry is sorted as it goes into them. That way I can just grab the laundry from one hamper and throw it all in the washer and not have to sit and sort everything first!

I immediately soak really dirty clothes - I may not get in the washroom to start my load of laundry for a few hours, but by soaking the clothes, I do eliminate a lot of the scrubbing and permanent staining.

I set aside one day a week to do laundry. It's better for the environment and saves me money because the dryer only has to heat up one time, and it has the psychological advantage for me of not having to think about it for the rest of the week. Oh - and it gives me a good excuse to surf the net because I need to stay near the laundry room to know when it's time to change loads, right? :-)

I usually just wash clothes once a week...that way, I get it all done at once!

Those power paks look pretty cool! Do they work with combo front loading washer dryers?

Janet

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The washer often finishes much faster than the dryer. I try to keep my dryer vent clear of lint and the lint trap clean. This keeps the air flowing and the clothes dry faster. Every couple of months, I wash and rinse the lint trap to get rid of any buildup from cleaning agents/soaps.

I have 3 young children, a husband and now my parents have been living with us. So we have lots and lots of laundry in our home! I do not let laundry pile up! On Mondays I do the sheets (everyone's) usually takes 4 loads, on Tuesdays I do the towels (all of them) usually takes 4 loads, on Wednesdays I do the kids clothes (usually takes 4 loads), etc. I have a certain day each day of the week that I have to do laundry. I start the laundry around 7 am and it is done by noon, and inbetween loads I am spending time with the kids, doing tasks around the house, and just living life. So laundry isn't really a chore that I dread, I have a routine, I stick with it, and I work on it as I am doing other things. It does save time because I am not spending a lot of time on it all at once, I do it in "sections" so to speak so it never really feels like work and seems to get done efficiently and fast! Thanks so much for the chance to enter. We love using all different OxiClean products in our home, they are the best!

Really the best thing is to do a load every day-or more if you have to. Do not, I repeat, do not take a day off and let it grow and grow. It will become huge!
You also must dry and fold and put away as soon as you are done with it. Do not let it sit or it will build up and never get done!
Also it is a good idea to air dry jeans and shirts for a few minutes in a dryer and then hang to dry. Saves money that way and the clothing lasts longer.

I like to seperate dirty clothes as they come so I don't have to do it all at once.

As a family of 6 laundry is a daily chore but we get it done faster by working together to get all the clothes hung or folded and put away.

The best way to lighten my load is when I can talk someone into helping me with it--fat chance, lol. Otherwise I try to sort them out and do smaller batches so that I can do it on Mon, Wed and Fri. I will pick one day where I only was delicates for handwashing.

runningmatey at hotmail dot com

Send the kids to spend the summer with grandparents! Now that would certainly lighten the laundry load!!

Angie

I only do laundry when I have a full, extra-large load available to wash. Sometimes my hubby will be like "where is my black shirt," and I will be like there was not enough darks to do a full load yet so wear a different shirt! hahaha This saves me time, as if I did not wait to get a full load, I would have to do laundry EVERY day! That is silly! Plus I save detergent, water, time, money, etc. by WAITING for that full load!