# Where do you keep your dirty laundry basket?



## Essie

This may be a weird question to ask, but; how do you all deal with your dirty laundry?

I don't know if we are freaks or what, but DH and I have 2 hampers in our bedroom and they are constantly full! I've been getting grossed out by it simply because it's not nice to view, and also b/c I don't think it contributes to the smell of our room!

In other words, I think it's starting to make the room smell "not so fresh". We don't have a laundry chute and our washer and dryer are in the basement so it's really not convenient to bring stuff all the way down there. We could throw it down the stairs but the basement is at the opp end of where our room is.

Just thought I'd ask; what do you do about this dilemma?

Thanks!


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## Viola

Well, I have a hamper in my closet, my husband has one in his (we have separate closets), my older daughter has a hamper in her closet, and my younger daughter has a hamper that sits in the laundry room and never seems to get moved back up to her room. She has a clothing pile in her room that I clear out every day or so, and put it in the hamper in the laundry room.

When I was a kid, my dad built us a house that had a built in laundry hamper in the bathroom, between the two sinks. That was cool.


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## caro113

we have a one bedroom apt with the washroom off our bedroom. We keep the main one in the hall/WIC (which is how the washroom and bedroom are attached) and then we have a little one under the sink in the washroom for her diapers (cloth).


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## Fujiko

We have a three-compartment hamper in our bedroom. The three compartments are for whites/towels/underwear (things to wash in hot water), colored clothes (cold) and jeans/clothes that might "bleed" their colors/dark-colored clothes (cold). We just take our dd's clothes from her room to the hamper every night when she gets in her pj's (it's just across the hall), so she doesn't have a hamper in her room. There is a hamper in our bathroom because I often just cannot be bothered to haul my clothes all the way down the hall to the bedroom. It gets emptied on laundry day, which is once or twice a week. I typically (or ideally) wash all clothes in one go, so that at the end of the day we shouldn't have any dirty clothes. (I'm a SAHM though so I'm here all day.)


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## oceanbaby

We have a small hamper in our bathroom. The kids have a hamper in their bedroom. Whenever our small hamper gets full, I bring it downstairs to the laundry area and sort it into the 3 bin sorter I have there. When one of those is full, I wash it. The kid laundry gets washed whenever their hamper is about 3/4 full (that's about how much can fit in my washer). Their hamper is one of those pop up soft sided ones with handles so it's easy to carry downstairs.

ETA: If you have two hampers and they are always full, then it sounds like you need to do laundry more often! Try going to one smaller hamper - it really does solve the always full problem. If you have a large hamper, you wait until it's full (like we all do), but then only the top 1/2 - 2/3 fits in the machine. Then you continue to pile clothes in, and the stuff at the bottom rarely gets washed. With a smaller hamper, you can fit it all in the washer at one time, so it is always fresh. Plus, you are forced to empty it more often!


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## vegemamato

we have one in our bedroom for clothes (the kids, dh and I all share a room) and one in a lower bathroom cupboard for towels. I try to do laundry daily..


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## Drummer's Wife

We have a hamper in the bathroom in our room. Everyone tends to shower/bath in the master bath, so most of the dirty laundry ends up there. When they get dressed/changed downstairs, they toss stuff on the laundry room floor. I keep meaning to put a basket or hamper in there, but then figure there isn't much point b/c I end up washing what is tossed in there before it gets to be too much for a load.


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## akwifeandmomma

We have a basket in each bedroom. As long as nothing gets put into the baskets wet, we don't ever have stink issues...

I do at least one load of laundry every day.


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## Penelope

We've got one in our bathroom, and the kids each have one, plus there's one in the laundry room for kitchen towels, etc.

I don't notice it smelling, and I think I'd notice. I do try to get my sweaty running clothes washed more or less right away (partly because otherwise they get mildewy.)


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## becoming

We have a hamper for towels in our linen closet and a big basket for clothes in our walk-in closet. Our kids each have a basket in their own closet.


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## KatWrangler

We have two in our bedroom closet.


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## mata

I have a large sorter one in the laundry room closet, then built in ones in the cabinets of the upstairs hall and master bath. That arrangement works well-I collect from the upstairs and sort it out downstairs.


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## ChristyMarie

We have two of the triple sorters - on wheels and the basket part is cloth and only holds one load unless you really smush it down.







The advantage is that if something gets stinky I can wash the entire thing.

I'm guessing that:

1. You need to do laundry more often. Sucks but...yeah.

2. You need to clean the hamper depending on what material it is or replace it because it has just been absorbing nasty odors and now smells.


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## Irishmommy

2 in the bathroom, one for lights, one for darks. If the clothes aren't in either of them, they don't get washed.


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## NiteNicole

Quote:

1. You need to do laundry more often. Sucks but...yeah.

2. You need to clean the hamper depending on what material it is or replace it because it has just been absorbing nasty odors and now smells.
Agreed! We each have hampers in our closets and then hampers in the bathrooms for towels. It's very humid where we live and things that go in the hamper damp tend to stay damp so this means "wet" laundry (towels) can't get mixed in with clothes and need to be done more often.

For whatever reason, our clothes are kind of self-sorting by colors (I tend to wear all the same colors, my husband wears mostly darks, my daughter sticks close to the same color family) so I can kind of take it in turns getting our clothes done, but towels never any less often than every other day. I hang things to dry when the weather is nice, so that takes away a bit of my laundry guilt.


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## Serenyd

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Essie* 
This may be a weird question to ask, but; how do you all deal with your dirty laundry?

I don't know if we are freaks or what, but DH and I have 2 hampers in our bedroom and they are constantly full! I've been getting grossed out by it simply because it's not nice to view, and also b/c I don't think it contributes to the smell of our room!

In other words, I think it's starting to make the room smell "not so fresh". We don't have a laundry chute and our washer and dryer are in the basement so it's really not convenient to bring stuff all the way down there. We could throw it down the stairs but the basement is at the opp end of where our room is.

Just thought I'd ask; what do you do about this dilemma?

Thanks!

D/P and I both have hampers. DP's hamper is on wheels and he puts it in the hallway or in the kitchen when he is doing laundry. It's annoying but I think he's getting the message I'm tired of having his stinky laundry all over the house. Mine lives in a corner of my room. I try to wash clothes often so there isn't much smell. (IMHO, my clothes do not stink like his do,either) His hamper mostly stays in his computer room, because that is where he spends the majority of his time at home. My sons hamper usually ends up in the laundry room or just outside it. He is responsible for making sure his clothes get to the laundry hamper when he is done wearing them.

Maybe you could throw some dryer sheets in the bottom of your hampers to help with the smell? It works in my diaper pail. I also try to do a load of laundry every day (whether it gets folded or not) so there aren't piles of dirty laundry sitting around waiting to be washed.


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## 2xy

We have a weird house with a finished attic and a finished basement. DH and I sleep in the attic room (there is a half-bath up there). DS2's bedroom is on the main floor next to the full bath, and DS1's room is in the basement, where there is another full bath (but he's the only one who uses it).

Both kids have their own hampers in their rooms. There isn't room in any of the bathrooms for hampers....they're oddly shaped or too small. DH and I have hampers in our room and we also have a three-bin hamper right outside the door of the bathroom on the first floor. It's sort of unsightly and I don't like it there, but it's a bit necessary. When I get home from work at midnight or 2am, I really don't want to haul my dirty clothes up- or downstairs after showering.

We also use one of the three bins for towels, cloth napkins, and cleaning cloths.

I, too, wish we had a laundry chute. We're renting. One of these days.....


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## Tizzy

I have a "catch all" basket outside the bathroom downstairs and then in our room we have shelves behind our door that hold 4 laundry baskets (whites, colors, jeans and DH's work clothes). Every day I usually do one load of laundry so none of the baskets ever get overly full. It's almost getting to the point where the kids need one in their room, but since they usually get dressed downstairs their dirty clothes usually end up in the "catch all".


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## mamalisa

Ds has one in his closet that is the family hamper, towels go right into the laundry room (it's right off the kitchen) and I have a small basket up in our room for my clothes.

Putting towels and washrags in the laundry room makes it a lot easier to control the stink. Plus I try to wash stinky boy socks every other day or so


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## Hey Mama!

I have a basket in our bedroom, dd #1 bedroom, and one of the bathrooms. Otherwise I will collect the dirty laundry that is scattered about and take it to the laundry room.


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## StrawberryFields

We do just throw our laundry down the basement stairs. Well, that's not an entirely true statement. Ds, dd, and dh leave their laundry on the floor and *I* throw it down the basement stairs









Our basement is away from the bedrooms a bit but I can't find a good place to keep a hamper so it is what it is. And I notice when it comes to bedroom, it is hard to keep it smelling fresh. I always thought that it was a combo of the closed door (lack of air circulation) combined with all the textiles (sheets, blankets, comforters, quilts, curtains, hanging clothes, etc.). And so I try to keep the door open when I can, open the window for fresh air each day, and shake out the blankets and sheets. I think that dirty clothes would just add too much to an already closed in space.


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## Alyantavid

The boys each have a basket in their room. Dirty towels have their own basket in the laundry room. Dh and I have a weird situation. We turned the master bedroom into a playroom, but we kept our clothes in the closets there (we have no closets in our room now) so the basket is kept in our computer room, right beside the playroom because it's more out of sight.


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## OhMeOhMy

We just moved, so we have a new set up. In our last house there was a cabinet in the kitchen (next to the stove) that was actually a laundry chute that went to the laundry room in the basement. In theory the clothes would get dropped down the chute to be collected in a large rolling laundry bin underneath it. I say "in theory" because more often then not the kids clothes just stayed on their bedroom floors until I collected it.








In this new house we have a laundry closet in the main bathroom (upstairs with the bedrooms). I just bought a hamper to put there to collect the clothes and I do two to three loads a day to keep it empty (there are six kiddos plus DH and I). There is a "galley" like entrance as you go in and so the basket gets tucked to the side, across from the machines. My only regret is that I bought such a big hamper (well I dislike the color too), but that was all they had when I went to the store and I NEEDED one.
I am hoping this will make things better as I used to get behind in the old house. It was out of sight out of mind and more often than not the basket would be overflowing and all over the floor downstairs.

ETA Here is a link to pics of our set up. I realized I probably did not describe it very well. Laundry Set Up


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## enkmom

I'm less embarrassed now that strawberry said it first - the bulk of it gets thrown down the basement stairs







. I have a hamper in my bedroom and the kids each have a hamper, but there is no room in our tiny bathroom for any kind of hamper, so towels and the clothes we wore before showering get thrown down the stairs, along with the kitchen laundry. I go down every morning and sort into my 5 basket system and wash when one basket is full. The kids bring their hampers down when they are full (to overflowing) and I sort and wash.


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## LZP

Well, right now it's just the two of us, but I am particular about laundry, so I do about 3 loads or 4 loads a week at least. I do all the wash on one day, usually Sunday while DH is home watching sports of some sort anyway.

we have one hamper, and only 2 laundry baskets. It forces me to put away the clothes that are in the baskets when i need to do laundry.
i have one plastic basket to lug the wet clothes from the basement up to the drying racks, and one wicker basket w/liner that holds lots more, that usually holds the clothes that come out of the dryer.

We toss kitchen towels, cleaning rags, cloth napkins, and DHs stinky running clothes down the basement stairs, and I collect it usually every night, and put in the three bin laundry sorter next to the washer. we also have one hamper in our WIC- that's where all of our dirty clothes go, together, as well as bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths from our upstairs bath. i NEVER put a damp or wet anything into the hamper.

I empty the hamper into a basket and bring it down to the basement- sort it into the 3 bin sorter (and sometimes on the floor too if there are more than 3 loads) and just go one by one. i usually alternate dryer loads and line dry loads, so the machines are running pretty much all day, but there isnt any "down time"

we use a towel for 3 days usually, maybe 5 if i'm lazy or forget. I figure- you're CLEAN when you get out of the shower, so it's just water on there. no need to waste water washing a clean towel every day.

My tactic would be- take one day and just do ALL the laundry. then stay on top of it after that, so you're not always overwhelmed by dirty laundry and the smell that accompanies it! you could spray down your hampers with a mix of water and some kind of essential oil, and then just let it air outside for a few hours.

Two things that really work for us are: only having the 2 baskets, so we have to put clothes away, and washing only once per week. so i dont feel like I'm always doing laundry.

Good Luck!


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## katie9143

ours is in the dinning room







(we dont eat in there tho) the changing table is in there too


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## limabean

DH and I have separate closets, each with a hamper.

There's also a hamper by the washing machine, where we toss stuff like kitchen/powder room towels, beach towels/bathing suits, the kids' clothes when we change them downstairs, etc. -- it's kind of the catch-all hamper.


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## ~Katie~

I have a hamper in my bedroom and one in the kid's room. Mine usually ends up getting moved on top of the dryer though. When we started to get overloaded on clothes I packed up a lot of their stuff and slimmed down their wardrobes to 5-7 outfits each plus pajamas. I might end up doing laundry more often but there's less of it.


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## boigrrrlwonder

One in the bathroom closet. One right next to the dressers. Otherwise, clothes end up on the floor. I've never noticed a problem with odor, though with a toddler in the house, we seem to do laundry all the time.


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## journeymom

Dh and I are lucky enough to have separate closets, and so we have our own baskets tucked away. I'm also lucky that dh does his own laundry. Kids each have their own laundry basket.

Bath towels and kitchen towels pile up in the laundry room sink or on the laundry room floor. I hate that, but there is no room else where.


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## medicmama

We have second floor laundry







we have a basket in the bathroom with the laundry,but for some reason dh piles his clothes in the corner of the room,and when the piles big enough he will put it in the bathroom basket.

Ds's room that is on the 1st floor will leave thing on the floor







I will only wash what goes into the basket. not my fault he has no clean clothes.


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## Essie

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Penelope* 
We've got one in our bathroom, and the kids each have one, plus there's one in the laundry room for kitchen towels, etc.

I don't notice it smelling, and I think I'd notice. I do try to get my sweaty running clothes washed more or less right away (partly because otherwise they get mildewy.)

yeah, I do this too (wash stinky workout clothes) but I have to get dh to get his at least in the basement! that may be the issue here and I'm realizing that I guess I just have to do more laundry.

Our washer uses SOOOOO much water though, and I know that cause it empties out into the sink next to it. I really want one of the front loaders!!!!! but that's a whole other issue







$$$


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## Essie

Quote:


Originally Posted by *journeymom* 
Dh and I are lucky enough to have separate closets, and so we have our own baskets tucked away. I'm also lucky that dh does his own laundry. Kids each have their own laundry basket.

Bath towels and kitchen towels pile up in the laundry room sink or on the laundry room floor. I hate that, but there is no room else where.

yeah, I like those baskets too!


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## Essie

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LZP* 
Well, right now it's just the two of us, but I am particular about laundry, so I do about 3 loads or 4 loads a week at least. I do all the wash on one day, usually Sunday while DH is home watching sports of some sort anyway.

we have one hamper, and only 2 laundry baskets. It forces me to put away the clothes that are in the baskets when i need to do laundry.
i have one plastic basket to lug the wet clothes from the basement up to the drying racks, and one wicker basket w/liner that holds lots more, that usually holds the clothes that come out of the dryer.

We toss kitchen towels, cleaning rags, cloth napkins, and DHs stinky running clothes down the basement stairs, and I collect it usually every night, and put in the three bin laundry sorter next to the washer. we also have one hamper in our WIC- that's where all of our dirty clothes go, together, as well as bath towels, hand towels, wash cloths from our upstairs bath. i NEVER put a damp or wet anything into the hamper.

I empty the hamper into a basket and bring it down to the basement- sort it into the 3 bin sorter (and sometimes on the floor too if there are more than 3 loads) and just go one by one. i usually alternate dryer loads and line dry loads, so the machines are running pretty much all day, but there isnt any "down time"

we use a towel for 3 days usually, maybe 5 if i'm lazy or forget. I figure- you're CLEAN when you get out of the shower, so it's just water on there. no need to waste water washing a clean towel every day.

My tactic would be- take one day and just do ALL the laundry. then stay on top of it after that, so you're not always overwhelmed by dirty laundry and the smell that accompanies it! you could spray down your hampers with a mix of water and some kind of essential oil, and then just let it air outside for a few hours.

Two things that really work for us are: only having the 2 baskets, so we have to put clothes away, and washing only once per week. so i dont feel like I'm always doing laundry.

Good Luck!

Thanks! you sound really organized! maybe I'm just a lazy slob?


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## StrawberryFields

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LZP* 
Well, right now it's just the two of us, but I am particular about laundry, so I do about 3 loads or 4 loads a week at least. I do all the wash on one day, usually Sunday while DH is home watching sports of some sort anyway.

You have a nice organized system. But man, I wish I only had 3-4 loads a week!!







I feel like I could stay on top of it if I could do it all in one day like that. But dang, two kids, two additional beds, and all the bibs, rags, towels, and clothes changes that come along with them has added so much to our laundry. I do about 2 loads a day if I want to keep my head above water. I can't imagine when the new baby is born and starts his or her own pile to the mix!! My hat goes off to families with 4+ kids, do you do anything BUT laundry?


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## limabean

Quote:


Originally Posted by *StrawberryFields* 
You have a nice organized system. But man, I wish I only had 3-4 loads a week!!







I feel like I could stay on top of it if I could do it all in one day like that. But dang, two kids, two additional beds, and all the bibs, rags, towels, and clothes changes that come along with them has added so much to our laundry. I do about 2 loads a day if I want to keep my head above water. I can't imagine when the new baby is born and starts his or her own pile to the mix!! My hat goes off to families with 4+ kids, do you do anything BUT laundry?

I hear lots of people say this. Maybe we're just gross, but we don't generate tons of laundry per week as a family of 4. But the kids and I rewear clothes if they're not dirty (DH wears something new every day for work), and we use our bath towels for 4-5 days before switching them out. DH also does his own laundry, so maybe that makes me think that we have less than we do. Let's see, we have:

--4 loads of clothing (DH's lights/darks, and then the kids' and my lights/darks, which can all fit together into 2 loads since we rewear things)
--2 loads of sheets (DH's/mine, then the kids' can be combined since they're small)
--1 load of towels (bath, hand, and kitchen towels)

So, 7 loads/week, but I only do 4 of them, since DH does his own clothes and usually does the towels too. It would drive me crazy to have to do it more often. Our laundry baskets and hampers are one and the same, so like LZP I have to put away clean laundry before I have a place to put dirty laundry, so it forces me to keep up on that part of it, which is nice and keeps the work to a minimum, since putting away 1 basket's worth of clothes is easy and only takes a few minutes.


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## StrawberryFields

Quote:


Originally Posted by *limabean* 
I hear lots of people say this. Maybe we're just gross, but we don't generate tons of laundry per week as a family of 4. But the kids and I rewear clothes if they're not dirty (DH wears something new every day for work), and we use our bath towels for 4-5 days before switching them out. DH also does his own laundry, so maybe that makes me think that we have less than we do. Let's see, we have:

--4 loads of clothing (DH's lights/darks, and then the kids' and my lights/darks, which can all fit together into 2 loads since we rewear things)
--2 loads of sheets (DH's/mine, then the kids' can be combined since they're small)
--1 load of towels (bath, hand, and kitchen towels)

I would say the opposite--you are NOT gross if you and your kids can manage to rewear clothes!







I try to wear aprons to cover my own so I can rewear as much as possible. The kids are total messes though and usually have complete clothes changes at LEAST once a day because of marker, paint, snacks, wet sandbox, spilled drinks, potty accidents, etc. etc. Dh wears fresh clothes to work and then changes into a casual outfit when he comes home. We use towels repeatedly but go through a LOT of cleaning rags, washcloths, hand towels.

This thread is causing me a TON of guilt because I am sitting here on the net while 2 huge baskets of laundry are sitting on the floor waiting to be folded.


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## ~PurityLake~

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Essie* 
This may be a weird question to ask, but; how do you all deal with your dirty laundry?

I don't know if we are freaks or what, but DH and I have 2 hampers in our bedroom and they are constantly full! I've been getting grossed out by it simply because it's not nice to view, and also b/c I don't think it contributes to the smell of our room!

In other words, I think it's starting to make the room smell "not so fresh". We don't have a laundry chute and our washer and dryer are in the basement so it's really not convenient to bring stuff all the way down there. We could throw it down the stairs but the basement is at the opp end of where our room is.

Just thought I'd ask; what do you do about this dilemma?

Thanks!

I don't use laundry baskets for dirty clothes, only to store the clean ones that need putting away. I hate storing dirty clothes. Why? That's as bad as having a cat litter box on a carpeted floor, or saving moldy sandwiches in baggies on the counter. Just, why?

I throw all dirty clothes right into the washing machine, but mine is right in the bathroom and we have a tiny mobile home so there is really nowhere else they could go anyway.
If I had a big house with washer/dryer in the basement with no laundry chute, I'd be tossing them down the stairs until one article got stuck on a step and I tripped on it. Then I'd devise some handy way of figuring out how to slide them down the stairs. If that failed, I'd get a laundry chute installed by a professional.


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## Tofu the Geek

Quote:


Originally Posted by *oceanbaby* 
We have a small hamper in our bathroom. The kids have a hamper in their bedroom. Whenever our small hamper gets full, I bring it downstairs to the laundry area and sort it into the 3 bin sorter I have there. When one of those is full, I wash it. The kid laundry gets washed whenever their hamper is about 3/4 full (that's about how much can fit in my washer). Their hamper is one of those pop up soft sided ones with handles so it's easy to carry downstairs.

I really like this idea! Thanks for posting!


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## mommajb

I have 3 baskets across the top of my washer/dryer. One for whites/lights, one for towels, one for darks. I wash the fullest or stinkiest one. As I load the washer I make a pile of stuff that needs a lingerie bag (all line dry items so that they are noticed before going into the dryer) or other special attention. I do some amount of laundry every day for 7 people, 1 in diapers and 2 others are bedwetters, several are soccer players/runners/etc.


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## hillymum

The boys are on the second floor and they throw their clothes over the balcony every evening. They then either got put (by me or dh) into our bedroom hamper or into the smaller hamper in the launry room. I will do maybe 2 loads of laundry every second or third day apart from when I do bed linens which is an extra 2 loads.
We also rewear clothes if they are not visibly dirty and whoever wasn't doing something sweaty that day. I see that as being environmentally conscious!
We also do not colour sort the laundry. I do bag delicates but thats it.


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## beckyand3littlemonsters

mine is in the kitchen in front of the washer


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## jeanine123

They're in our closet and one is in the kid's bathroom. We also have one in the guest room downstairs since clothes that are taken off down there don't grow legs to walk themselves up the stairs and I was sick of looking at piles all over.


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## User101

Moving to Mindful Home Management


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## Ruthla

We have three hampers. One is in the bathroom (where the washer and dryer are) and holds "household laundry" (tablecloths, towels, sheets, etc.) One is in DD1's room and holds her dirty laundry. One is in the other bedroom and holds the dirty laundry for the 3 of us.

I wash an average of two loads of laundry per day- one of clothing and one of household laundry. DD1 washes her clothes about once a week. There's no time for that "not so fresh feeling" to enter the rooms!


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## MissMommyNiceNice

We have several. We have a three part sorter in our bedroom. Dark, medium, lights. DS has a small one in his room. We have a big wicker one in the bathroom. We have a fourth smaller one (milk crate) in the living room under the changing table for all the incidental socks & spill rags, peepee pants and the like. We could actually probablly use another at the top of the basement stairs for our kitchen cloth & napkins. But I usually just kick it inside the door.


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## newbymom05

Quote:


Originally Posted by *oceanbaby* 
We have a small hamper in our bathroom. The kids have a hamper in their bedroom. Whenever our small hamper gets full, I bring it downstairs to the laundry area and sort it into the 3 bin sorter I have there. When one of those is full, I wash it. The kid laundry gets washed whenever their hamper is about 3/4 full (that's about how much can fit in my washer). Their hamper is one of those pop up soft sided ones with handles so it's easy to carry downstairs.

ETA: If you have two hampers and they are always full, then it sounds like you need to do laundry more often! Try going to one smaller hamper - it really does solve the always full problem. If you have a large hamper, you wait until it's full (like we all do), but then only the top 1/2 - 2/3 fits in the machine. Then you continue to pile clothes in, and the stuff at the bottom rarely gets washed. With a smaller hamper, you can fit it all in the washer at one time, so it is always fresh. Plus, you are forced to empty it more often!

I haven't read all the responses yet, but this is what we do. I have two giant tall wicker baskets in our master closet, and I have a reg size plastic laundry basket resting on top of each. One white, one mixed/everything else. When a basket is full, I wash it. I have 2-3 baskets stacked underneath each one (nested in, y/k) so there is always an empty basket available.

I switched from the giant baskets when I had back surgery and couldn't bend down and dig everything out. This was is MUCH easier--I just pick it up and go, and a load or two a day isn't overwhelming at all, and the extra empties mean if I procrastinate in putting away, dirty clothes aren't piling up elsewhere.


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## abharrington

we have one in our room, one in the nursery. diapers get thrown to the basket at the bottom of the basement stairs (unfinished basement where washer is) and rags/kitchen towels have a basket at the top of the stairs. i feel like we are pretty careful to rewear clothes but the laundry is killer. the cloth diapers are about 2 - 3 loads a week. i would say 2 loads of clothes, 1 of cleaning towels and one of linens - towels and sheets.


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## Noelle C.

We keep it by the closet. If i put it IN the closet, which is a walk-in and so large enough, my fiance throws his stuff on the floor outside the closet anyway. When it's full, we just throw it all in the washer. Most of our stuff is dark or medium, so sorting it's really necessary.


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## graceomalley

We have one in our bathroom - when it gets full I move the clothes to the hamper in the laundry. I live in Australia so there are no basements and the bathroom is only 2 rooms away from the laundry. We do a load of washing each night after the 2 kids have their bath, then I do the leftovers on the weekend.


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## hottmama

I wash my laundry with the kids', and the hamper is in their closet. My husband's laundry is separate and in our room, and I've noticed it smelling lately, too. He doesn't wash it all that often and is a stinkier person than the rest of us-- especially his socks! There really is nowhere else to put it, especially if I actually want his clothes to end up in the hamper (and I have to pick them up off the floor and toss them in there half the time already). I'm thinking a hamper with a lid and maybe a cloth on the inside with EOs on it (like you'd put in a diaper pail) is our solution. The problem is that he hasn't unpacked the clean clothes from the lidded hamper he moved them in (Sept. 1). It's gotta happen before our room smells permanently like a men's locker room!


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## noobmom

We have an open, wicker basket in the bedroom for clothes. It has a cloth liner and I wash it once in a while, when I think of it. We also have 2 plastic laundry baskets that I use to sort dirty clothes into. They stay in the laundry room. During the week they do collect a minimal amount of dirty clothes, usually DS's socks when he comes through the front door (he takes after me and likes to be completely barefoot in the house) or really dirty clothes like DH's after he's been doing yard work. I don't allow that clothes to come back to the bedroom area--he has to strip it off in the laundry room. I have one laundry basket that I use only for handling clean clothes--either wet to take out to the line or dry coming out of the dryer.

Wet clothes stay on the floor of the bathroom or mud room until they are washed. Towels stay on the rack (or sometimes the floor) until they are washed. I don't throw any wet/damp clothes into the dirty clothes hamper. We don't have any issues with smells from clothes (cat box, that's another story







).


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## bezark

We don't use hampers or laundry baskets. Our washer is only about 15 feet from any given point in the house, so the laundry goes directly into it and I do a load every day. I don't separate colors except for the few white items we have, so it makes it easy.
Also, because our house is so tiny (<600 sf), we really don't have the room for a hamper. We do, however, have a small pail for cloth diapers so I don't have to set wet/poopy diapers on the floor before tossing them in the wash. And yes, dirty diapers go right in with normal clothing.


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## Turquesa

I need to get a post a pic of this, but for now I'll try to describe it.

We hung a rack of hooks in the laundry room on studs and anchors. There are three laundry bags on them--one for lights, one for darks, one for delicates. We're in the habit of simply taking all of our dirty stuff there and "filing" it in the right place. It keeps the messy hampers out of bedrooms and bathrooms and prevents us from having to do sorting.

BTW, I run at least 2 loads of laundry daily. I HAVE to stay on top of it or it gets out of control.


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## greenmansions

We don't have a good place for a hamper. DH uses a laundry basket in the hall bathroom for his clothes, the kids' get tossed in the hallway each evening and I carry them to the laundry room, and my clothes pile up in the master bath til I carry them to the laundry room. In the laundry room, I sort daily into three baskets (lights, darks, and sheets/towels/napkins etc) and run a load when a basket is full. DH drags his basket to the laundry room when it is full (usually way too full) and I wash all his stuff, usually it is three loads worth of clothes crammed into a regular laundry basket. I don't like to put his stuff in with the rest of our clothes - it seems smellier and the jeans and pants are all so heavy that I feel like it's not good to mix them with lighter weight clothing.

I grew up with each of us having a laundry basket in our bedroom closet - my mom hated hampers - and I plan to move to that system as the kids get their own rooms. They'll each have some closet space then. I love the idea of stacking a couple of baskets in the closet so there is always a basket available. I think I will do it that way. We also will do a master bath renovation in the future, and I will try to plan in space for dirty clothes.


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