Teach Kids How To Do Laundry
Do you get easily overwhelmed by the amount of laundry that your family goes through? If your kids are old enough, teaching your kids how to do laundry can be one of the very best things you can do!
Need more Laundry Tips? Check out my post about Laundry Room Organization and How to Decorate a Laundry Room
Don’t forget to scroll down to get my free printable checklist to use while teaching your kids!
What Age Can Kids Start?
Kids can start helping with laundry as young as the age of two. Of course, kids that little can’t be doing their own laundry from start to finish, but they certainly can help you put their own clothes away.
If you are a perfectionist, sometimes this might make you cringe at the thought of your nicely folded clothes getting messed up as they are put in the drawer. But it is much more important to teach your kids independence and teach them self-reliance skills that will help them to feel proud of themselves.
As far as doing laundry from start to finish, my kids have started doing their own laundry at around age seven or eight. Because I have a top-load washer, it’s really hard for my kids to get the clothes out of the washer without nearly falling in! So I do that part for them. But other than that, they are fully capable of doing their own laundry.
The BEST Laundry Tip
One thing that I have done for years with my kids’ laundry that saves me hours and hours of time is that I do not sort my kids’ clothes into colors. Some people have a complete heart attack at the thought of this but this literally saves so much time me every single week!
Each kid has their own laundry basket in their closet and they throw all of their clothes in the washer at the same time. Think about it! Their clothes don’t get mixed up and you don’t waste time sorting them into colors and you don’t waste more time sorting things into piles that belong to each child.
One thing to keep in mind though is that you have to wash their clothes in cold water so the colors don’t bleed. In 10 years, I have never had a problem with colors bleeding. If I have new clothes, I Make sure to separate those into colors and wash them right after we buy them.
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Teaching Your Kids How To Do Laundry
When my kids are first starting to learn how to do the laundry, I make sure that I am there with them every single step of the way. I guide them through the process for probably the first three or four times that they do it. I also have a free checklist that you can download to print out and put in your laundry room.
Another great tip that I have seen others do is to put a temporary sticker next to the heat setting that you want them to use so they don’t accidentally ruin all their clothes.
- Put the clothes in the washer
- Measure out the Detergent
- Select the correct wash cycle
- Start the Washer
- Put clean clothes in the dryer (and add a dryer sheet or wool dryer balls)
- Select the Dryer Settings
- Start the Dryer
- Take clothes out of the Dryer and Fold
- Hang the clothes in the closet
My second favorite laundry tip that I teach my kids is to fold your clothes as soon as they are done drying. If you wait to fold your clothes, they get super wrinkly and that just makes more ironing work for you. So if you want to make your life easier or your kids’ lives easier, make sure to fold clothes right out of the dryer!
Teaching your kids how to do laundry is a great stress that can be lifted off of your shoulders, so teach your kids today! Teach them a life skill that will give them a sense of pride and empowerment.
Need a recipe for DIY fabric softener? Clean mama is always a great source!
