Laundry Tips & Tricks

I have searched for some great laundry tips and tricks to help you in your homemaking! I am putting the different links I found here so you can have them in one central place! :) Enjoy!

How to Fold a Fitted Sheet (video included)

Ways to use White Vinegar in your Laundry

Random Laundry Tips

Using Borax Laundry Booster (also used in making my homemade laundry soap)

Household Laundry Tips & Advice

Using Lemon to get out Stains

A List of Laundry Tips sent in from all over!

50 Laundry & Mending Tips ~ Timeless Wisdom Collection

DIY Laundry Basket Dresser (from my personal blog)

And last...but not least this link below is the *bees' knees* of all links! It has a tremendous amount of tips and tricks for you to use! You can find these great ideas (like making your own homemade Shout Stain Remover, Removing Cooking Oil Stains, and more) at Creative Homemaking!

Do you have any tips to share? We'd love to hear them!

Cleaning out the Cleaning Cupboard

I cleaned out our cleaning supply cupboard the other day. It felt wonderful to get rid of things that were never used or just didn't belong in there. It made room for the things that *do* go in there! I'm not sure what it is about them...but I must admit that I love cleaning products. I love them all. I like to use homemade products the most...but I do keep a few other products that do a really great job at cleaning certain areas. 

I keep extra dish soap in this cupboard as well (right now I am using Mrs. Meyer's lavender dish soap....glorious!). I also *love* and put to great use my swiffer duster. It has a handle that extends so I can dust walls and ceiling fans as well as things on ground level...all without standing on a chair!

The pot and ingredients on the top shelf are for making my homemade laundry soap. I will buy laundry soap when it is on sale for a great price at the store...otherwise, I make and use my own!

Keeping your cleaning products together and neat makes it a joy to open the cupboard to use something! We keep a small basket with a few cleaning supplies in our upstairs half bath so we don't have to lug things from the downstairs to the upstairs. I used to have a cleaning caddy that I would tote my supplies around in while cleaning...but it proved cumbersome and not helpful to me. I prefer to take one thing out of my cleaning cupboard, use it and then return it back to its spot!

It's nothing super-fancy...but it works and stores my supplies well. When we complete our home addition project and I have a new laundry room, I will have a different way to house all my items. For now though, I use what I have and do my best with it!

Neatly Folded Towels

The difference between a tidy bathroom and an untidy one can be something as simple as how your towels are folded (if they are not behind closed doors). I do not own fancy towels. I would love to get new matching ones for Christmas or something...but if not, that is okay...these towels work just fine for us (even if they don't match). I like my towels to be folded neatly though. I figure, why fold them at all if you are going to do it in a messy way? Plus, having your towels stacked neatly makes you want to make sure the *rest* of the bathroom is tidy as well!

So after making sure those towels are neat...move onto scrubbing the sink, toilet and shower. Dust the walls and other surfaces and sweep the floors. Use baskets or bins to corral "like" items. Remember, you don't have to have a picture-perfect, expensive bathroom. Whatever your bathroom looks like, keep it clean and tidy. It's easy to think, "well, if my floors were nicer or my bathroom was fancier..then I could keep it clean."...the truth is you can keep your bathroom clean no matter what it is. An ugly bathroom can still be a delight to walk into when it is kept clean!

Organizing Your Laundry

The never-ending cycle of laundry. The more children you have...the more dirty laundry is created. Some helpful tips I have learned over the years are:

** do at least one load of laundry every day
** keep a basket for knick-knacks and container for change on your dryer
** hanging clean laundry out on clotheslines can save you a lot of money
** pajamas can be worn more than once

You may have seen all kinds of laundry room organization on pinterest and other blogs. I have seen many laundry basket dressers where the baskets hang on side holders (like THIS). While that does work...it has been my experience that these laundry baskets can break easily. I didn't feel they would hold up well with the weight of laundry in them.

To remedy this, my husband made me one where the baskets actually sit on shelves. I absolutely love it and have been using it for a couple years now. It has worked beautifully for us and keeps everything neatly contained between washings.

I also love making my own laundry soap. Here is the recipe for it (from my homemaking binder):

It is a wonderful, inexpensive, easy way to clean your dirty laundry! For a detailed DIY tutorial on making your own laundry soap you can go HERE.

Laundry only seems like a tiresome chore when it gets out of hand or overwhelming. When you keep up with it and keep it organized...it really isn't burdensome (getting my children to put their clean clothes away in their drawers neatly is a whole 'nother issue!)!