How do you do washing without a laundry room?

A laundry room is often an afterthought in our homes. I recently read an article that stated ‘If the kitchen is the heart of the home, the laundry room is the kidneys’.https://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/g16829311/small-laundry-room-ideas/

Kidneys play a vital role in our health and well being. Having a place in your home, that is organized and clean to do your washing, ironing and folding is very important.

Doing the washing is often almost as bad as washing the dishes on the ‘home chores I dislike’ scale.

I set up my laptop and watch a movie or series when I have to do the ironing!

Some things you should consider when setting up a laundry area, even if you don’t have a laundry room.  These are ideas to think about when you are building a laundry room.

Firstly is the safe storage of your detergent, softener and stain remover. A shelf about eye level for an adult, or a lockable cupboard is a good idea, so that young children cannot accidentally get hold of these toxic chemicals.

I don’t have a laundry room, so I use a cupboard.

Where do you do your washing?

Then think about how you get started with your washing day.

Do you have to turn the clothes the right way round and search through pockets? What do you do with your finds?

If it is money, why not keep a change jar handy for quick deposits?

Have a small basket or container for the other ‘prizes’ that you find.

Next is having a small sewing kit handy for lost buttons, torn hems or minor mending.

Do you have a bucket with a tight sealing lid for when you need to soak stained clothing, or other items?

A lid is vital for the safety of small children and pets. Unfortunately, there are stories every year of toddlers drowning in washing buckets.

The irony

Do you have a place to put away your ironing board so that it doesn’t take up unnecessary space when not in use?

Making sure that the ironing board is stable and in good repair will avoid possible injuries. Having a good cover that will make the ironing smoother is also a good investment as it will reduce the risk of burned clothes.

Your iron needs to be clean and the cord needs to be well looked after to avoid electrical fires or even electrocution.

Irons are not made to last, most irons no matter the cost, usually only last about a year.

Have a place to store extra hangers. These often go the way of socks and Tupperware lids!

Have a clean surface to place your freshly laundered washing. You just washed it, you don’t want it to get dirty again!

Do you have some way to store your pegs? A container or one of those peg bags are one solution.

We have those multi-peg hangers that you buy on the side of the road, where one can hang items that don’t need ironing, such as underwear or socks.

What happens if it rains? Do you have some way to dry the washing or at least a folding clothes drying rack you can set up somewhere inside?

Lost socks department

How do you keep socks from disappearing, bra’s from hooking on other clothes and other delicates from getting damaged?  Have you tried using the laundry bags you can buy? We barely ever lose socks since I started putting them into the bag.

I put a door hanger on my kitchen door so that clothes that need to go in hanging cupboards are out of the way and already on their hangers.

I have one basket that is only for clean, dry clothes which have already been folded. I can cover that basket with a cloth or towel to prevent the cat from making them dirty all over again. My cat happens to like to sleep wherever there is any clothing.

Do you have a laundry or washing area to go along with your new laundry schedule?http://kasheringyourlife.co.za/dont-let-dirty-washing-overwhelm-you/