Whether your back to school laundry routine is preparing for kindergarten or college, it’s likely most of your laundry is too old, too small, or too dated. Fashion moves fast – even in elementary school.

Decluttering your wardrobe and making space is important. Plus it’s a good excuse to go shopping. Laundry is easier to get excited about if you have clothes you’re excited to care for properly.

Use the turn of the season to save yourself some space that you can use to get properly organized. If you care enough to read a blog about laundry tips, you should care to have what we call a well thought out laundry management plan.

Donate anything that isn’t worth keeping. Buy your supplies. And be intentional about your laundry plan.

Laundry can pile up quickly. Do not wait for a totally full hamper start thinking about doing laundry. During busier laundry seasons, your laundry should be on a preventative maintenance routine.

Laundry bags not quite full yet? Maybe that means you can take a day off, right? Nope. Grab your sheets and towels or other kitchen linens. It’s these small battles that will help you win the war. A good back to school laundry routine starts with continual preventative maintenance.

Some days might be heavier than others. For most households, you can estimate how many days of the week they do laundry by taking the number of people in the household and adding one. For a household of two, the washer is generally running three days per week. In a household of four, laundry day is generally happening 5 days per week.

Stains are inevitable – keep a kit of stain treatment pens, sprays, and scrubbers handy. You’re going to need it. At a minimum, have a bottle of Shout, a quart of vinegar, and that same old cardboard box of Borax that you still haven’t gone through yet…

You should also be prepared with the laundry essentials:

• Washing Machine Cleaner Tabs: Keep your machine fresh. Pick a day of the week and run one sanitize cycle after you do your laundry. Washers get very dirty in the outer drums! Be sure to leave the washer door and soap compartment open when not in use.
• Soak Bucket: Pre-soak tough stains. It’s the same concept as the pots and pans in the sink. They’re easier to clean after after a good soak. Soaking is a laundry hack that most people don’t do because the don’t have a bucket or wash basin in their laundry room.
• Steamer: Steamers function as both a helpful stain remover but also as a finishing process. Steaming your hanging garments after they finish drying is a quick step that makes a big difference. A proper Steam Cleaner is recommended to make the process more efficient.

If you only take away one tip for your back to school laundry routine, let it be this: Check Your Pockets!

Check all of the pockets before starting the washing machine. Nothing ruins your day and your clothing like a rouge crayon that is run through the dryer. Think you don’t need to worry about it? Think again or you’ll be thinking about buying a new washing machine after a tiny bottle of lip gloss leaks in the wash cycle.

You better get ready to change your drain valve if you are leaving screws or pens in your pockets…

We’ve seen it all. And, there is a reason we check every pocket – every time.

Did you really think we wouldn’t mention this one? It’s our favorite back to school laundry routine tip!

With other chores like grocery shopping, dog walking, and lawn care available at the click of a button, why not laundry?

Whether you’re a family-homeowner with a washer & dryer who needs a helping hand or a college student without access to a washer and dryer, laundry services are proving that there is room at the table for laundry when considering chores to outsource online.

With the trend of pickup and delivery laundry service becoming more mainstream, why not give it a shot? Or two…or three…