When I lived in Memphis I had a friend. She wasn't a close friend, but more of an acquaintance. I visited her a few times for playdates and let me tell you. Her house was beautiful. It was nestled in a gated community with white picket fences and laughing children. It was my dream house and she kept it immaculate. One afternoon I stopped by, unannounced to drop off something and with a smile she invited me in. As we walked to the living room, she sweetly turns to me and says, "Oh, ignore that. I was burned out on laundry for two weeks and just now catching up."

That woman had mountains upon mountains of laundry on her couches, on her coffee table, on her floor, on the kitchen table.. They were everywhere. So, how does one get to that point? The point of laundry burnout? How can we, as Moms make the laundry easier?


Well, I wouldn't be human if I didn't say I've, often, looked at the laundry pile and thought to myself Yeah. I'm not touching that. One thing I've learned, however, is that the magical laundry fairy is not going to do it for me.

I mean, I'd settle for husband or children to at least attempt it, but they don't pick up a finger at all. So, I look at my small laundry area in the garage and I think about how amazing my new Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer are and I'm trying my best to have a great attitude about the piles of laundry that appear, from out of nowhere, mid-week. That's when I came up with six ways to avoid that laundry burnout and keep us sane.


1. Learn to love your laundry area: I don't care if you have a small closet or HUGE room. You HAVE to love the area your in or that laundry attitude of yours is going nowhere fast. Spruce it up with a nice coat of paint, some decor, and maybe even a radio to play some tunes while you wash and fold.

2. Create a laundry table: You guys remember me saying my laundry area was getting a makeover? Well, my sweet husband built me a "laundry folding" table out of old wood he found on the side of the road and extra flooring we had left over. It's been amazing to have that little extra to keep my clothes contained. Plus, you're not forced to put clothes away right when they're done.

3. Have a designated sock basket: I've said this countless times. I don't DO socks. They are so time consuming, trying to pair, and it just puts me in a bad mood. So, I have my own sock basket I keep under my laundry table where I can just chunk socks as they come out of the dryer. The kids have a chore to pair 10 socks each afternoon.

4. Trash can: Remember, you should be emptying the lint filter on your dryer after each load. I'm kind of a natzi about it. So, the trash can in my laundry room gets good use. Plus, it's close by for old socks that need to be thrown away, Affresh cleaner wrappers when I clean my washer, and the lint I find when I clean the dryer vent every few months.

5.  Designated Detergent Shelves: We ALL know that laundry detergents, softeners, and extras take up a LOT of room and they can clutter a room REAL fast. The Whirlpool Duet pedestals are fantastic at storing all you need to wash clothes like detergent, bleach, softeners, etc. I even keep my iron in there. Don't have a duet set? That's cool, simply build shelves on the walls with containers to keep it all in.

6. Do a little at a time: If I'm facing 10 loads of laundry, I'd rather curl up in a ball and sleep the day away. However, if I'm looking at two small loads, I'm more apt to get to it because it'll be done faster. A wise woman once told me, do one or two loads a day and you'll be a happy Mom. You know what's cool? The Whirlpool Duet washer actually has a delay wash time button. So, you can put your clothes in at night and have it delay and start at 5:00am OR you can also use the FanFresh option. Add this feature when you turn on the washer at night and it keeps your clothes tumbling with a light fan to keep them fresh until you can get them to the dryer for up to 16 hours!

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So, what do you guys do to keep your sanity and avoid laundry burnout?

Oh and do you remember what my laundry room looked like BEFORE I became a Whirlpool Mom Blogger? Yup. That's it down there. Pretty sad. I always had it in my head that if it's in the garage there is NO way to make it look pretty, but we've come a LONG way from that since we received our Whirlpool Duet Set. Stay tuned in November when I fully unveil my laundry room makeover!




Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a test-drive campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Whirlpool and received a complimentary Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer to facilitate my review.

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