Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Have blankets and sheets to fold, but no capable adult to recruit into taking the other end? I have a super-simple, highly effective folding partner, who is always willing and available, and never lets go of their end and drops it on the dirty ground: gravity. If you have stairs in your house, you probably have this partner, too. Just stand somewhere high, and let the sheet hang low. In my old house, the best place was the hallway beside the banister on the second floor, dangling over the stairs. In my new house, it's halfway up the first floor stairs, hanging over the downstairs hallway. All you need is enough height to let the whole length or width of the sheet hang loosely without touching the ground. Fold the top, and the bottom will follow. It's so easy and effective, I actually use this method even when there is a recruitable adult nearby!

Even the dreaded fitted sheets aren't too hard with this method. I just turn one corner inside-out inside the opposite corner, then do the same thing with the doubled-up corners. But, in general, I use the "wash it and put it right back on the bed without folding it" method whenever possible.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

I try not to start a load of laundry if there are clothes in the dryer waiting to be folded and put away, because dry clothes can sit indefinitely, but wet clothes need to go in the dryer within a very limited time-frame, or they will start to stink. But, occasionally, there are exigent circumstances (like a diaper blowout, or I just forgot), and I end up breaking this rule. Then, once the washer cycle finishes, I am faced with a dilemma: Fold and put away all the dry clothes so I can use the dryer, or let the clean, wet clothes sit and get mildewy. One option requires too much effort, and the other option is kinda gross.*

So, here's my stopgap solution: Open the dryer, and take out a few of the biggest, bulkiest items. Towels, sweatshirts, and the like. Fold them, and put them away (or just drape them over the banister, for now), then add the new, wet clothes to the remaining already-dry clothes, and dry the whole lot together. I think the new stuff actually dries faster with some dry stuff mixed in, and the previously dried stuff (which had been sitting for who knows how long) get dampened and de-wrinkled. Everybody wins!

*I realize that "Just take the dry stuff out of the dryer and stick it somewhere else temporarily" might seem like a good solution to this dilemma, but in my experience, it's not. When things get taken out of the dryer and aren't immediately folded and put away, they are indistinguishable from dirty clothes. I have rewashed the same clean clothes too many times to see this as a labor-saving tip.

Crappy Housewife Camping Tip of the Day

When you get home from ten days of camping, make laundry soup. Fill the bathtub with hot water and several scoops of Oxy Clean. Add all of the filthy laundry, and let it soak all day, mixing occasionally. When you're ready to wash it, transfer to the washer in small batches, using a Rubbermaid tub.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

With the exception of new and heavily-dyed clothing, I don't really sort laundry by colors anymore. I sort by "effort required to fold". When I'm doing multiple loads, the first load will be the fiddly, annoying stuff - mostly my shirts and the girls' clothes. I usually have more energy for folding at the beginning of a laundry day, so I try to get the annoying stuff out of the way first. Next, I tackle the bulky stuff that folds up quickly and easily - like bath towels and Jeremy's shirts. Finally, I wash the things that don't really need to be folded at all, like socks and underwear, so that when laundry day bleeds into laundry night, I can just stick them in the dryer and go to bed, without worrying about the inevitable wrinkles in the morning. (This also works out nicely because the socks and underwear tend to sink to the bottom of the hamper, anyhow.)

I use the same logic when I'm doing just one load of laundry, and not tackling the whole pile. I start by throwing in the things I need right away, and as I throw them in, I assess the time required to fold them. Then I throw in towels or shirts or socks to fill the washer the rest of the way, based on how much remaining folding energy I expect to have.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Never buy a white shirt for a baby or a toddler.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

When you are doing a bunch of laundry and know that there is no way you are going to get around to folding it all, fold one large item in the load and set it on the top of the unfolded laundry in the basket. This way when you come back to the unfolded stuff a week later you won't mistake the unfolded mess for dirty laundry. Also, saves you from the sniff test to check if stuff is clean or dirty!

(Submitted by Trish)

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Hate sorting socks? Get rid of all your socks and replace them with several packs of the exact same kind. No more sorting! Just put them all in the drawer. When you need a pair, grab two and go!

(Submitted by a whole bunch of people. I actually did this with my husband's socks - he has only two kinds of socks, now, ankle socks and long socks, all the same. I like variety in my sock drawer too much to do this for myself, but it's tempting!)

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

When you put bibs in the laundry hamper, turn the pockets inside out. (Unless you like finding cheerios in your clean laundry.)

Aside: I was going to say, "Wash bibs with the pockets inside out," but doing it when you put them in the hamper lets you get out the nastiest goop right now, rather than letting it rot in the hamper. It also gives you a second chance to do it when you are transferring them to the washer, in case you forgot the first time.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Place a sock basket in you laundry room and when socks are done, just put them in the basket. If someone wants socks, they can find the mate!

(Submitted by Scatterbrained Homemaker)

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Ditch the kitchen washcloths. It seems like no matter how good I am at wringing them out and hanging them up when I am done, dishcloths get stinky fast. Sometimes it seems like they're only good for a day or two before they smell too gross to use. And if you let them sit too long before washing them, that mildewy stink lingers, and they smell bad again the first time you use them.

Instead, get yourself some Handi Wipes (USA) or J Cloths (Canada). Imagine a halfway point between a paper towel and a washcloth, and there you have these (which don't seem to have an easy shorthand other than brand name, so I just call them "blue cloths"). Handi Wipes are $2 for a six-pack, which is about what you would pay for one or two washcloths.

But they're not just cheaper. Here are some of the many things I love about blue cloths:

-When you wring them out after using them, they get almost completely dry. You don't even need to hang them up; if you squeeze all the water out and leave them in a blob on the counter, when you come back a few hours later, the blob will be completely dry. And, if you recall your middle school science lessons, bacteria need moisture to thrive, so a dry cloth is a non-bacteria-y cloth. (Non-bacteria-y is totally the scientific term.)

-You can wash them in the washing machine. So, when they do get gross (usually because I let them sit inside a gross sink or something), you can just toss them in the wash. They only survive a handful of washings, because they are not designed to last forever, but they can go longer between washings because they dry out completely and don't get stinky. (I recommend air-drying them, though, the dryer makes them break down faster.)

-I don't feel bad throwing them out. So, if I have to clean up something really gross (I will spare you the examples), then I can just toss them, guilt-free. Their disposableness also makes them an awesome choice for outings and camping trips. In fact, they would also be an awesome thing to keep in the diaper bag. (Why didn't I think of that before? I'm going to go put one in there right now.)

-Because they come in multi-packs, I always have a bunch of them on hand. So when I am doing a big job, like cleaning all the kitchen counters, I can use several of them to soak more sections of counter at one time. I keep one on the high chair to use on faces, another by the sink to use on dishes, and another under the sink for cleaning.

Sorry, I didn't mean to make that sound so much like a commercial. I assure you that neither Handi Wipes nor J Cloths are paying me any money to say this stuff, I'm just a satisfied consumer/zealot. These things are awesome. Try them sometime.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Put a hamper in every room where dirty laundry tends to get dropped on the floor. Bedrooms and bathrooms are obvious choices, but consider a small hamper (or basket) near the couch in the living room, where socks get stripped off, or in the kitchen for dirty towels.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

While the kids are taking their bath, pre-treat today's stained clothes in the bathroom sink. You're just sitting there supervising, you might as well be productive.

*Note: I realize that this almost qualifies as a Good Housewife Tip. I almost didn't post it, but then I remembered that the children of Good Housewives don't get stained clothes in the first place.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

If you take an article of clothing out of the washer and notice that it has a stain you forgot to pre-treat, don't throw it in the dryer. The dryer will just cook the stain in so it will be impossible to get out. Air dry it, and save it for "around the house" wear this week, and pre-treat the stain next time laundry day rolls around. It's not as effective as pre-treating it before the first washing, but it at least gives it a fighting chance.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Even when you have your own washer and dryer, it's worth it to take your laundry to the laundromat once in a while when you're really behind on laundry. Go late at night and take over all the machines. You can do 12 loads of laundry at the laundromat in the time it takes to do one at home.

It helps to have all your clothes clean at one time, at least once per season, so that you can effectively gauge what new clothes you might need for the next season. Plus, you just might find that red shirt you thought you lost, hiding at the bottom of a laundry pile.

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

What to do with socks that never have mates? Use for dusting. I've also used doubled up socks in a pinch when for some reason I cannot find my hot pot holders.

(Submitted by Scatterbrained Homemaker)

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Hanging takes less effort than folding, so hang as many of your clothes as you have closet space for. Invest in a few garment racks if you're short on closet space. Hanging clothes also means less ironing later. (Honestly, I don't even know where my iron is anymore. I avoid ironing at all costs.)

Bonus tip: Buy plastic hangers, and hang wet clothes on hangers straight out of the washer. They can dry right on the hanger, and skip the dryer completely. (Hey look, one of my tips is actually good for the environment!)

Crappy Housewife Tip of the Day

Fold laundry while it's still hot from the dryer and you'll never have to iron. Don't feel like folding laundry right now? Restart the dryer.