***Laundry Room Organizers that can take the Hassle out of a Boring Chore

Before the advent of the washing machine, families did not wash clothing all that often. The reason for this was simple: it was hard work. Clothes had to be soaked in warm, soapy water and then rubbed against the corrugated surface of a washboard to remove dirt, odors and stains. The process took several minutes for each article of clothing and was hard on the hands. As you might imagine, scrubbing an entire basket of clothes clean could take hours. Then they had to be hung on the clothesline and left to dry.

That was the way most Americans washed clothes until mechanized cleaning devices became affordable in the late 20th century. Though it is still one of the least desirable household chores, people have discovered ways to make it doing the laundry bearable. In this article, we will discuss a few of the most popular laundry room organizers.

As much as we complain about the laundry, Americans do an incredible amount of washing and drying. The typical US family makes more than four hundred loads of dirty laundry each year. That’s in excess of a full load each and every day! On the plus side, modern mechanized cleaning is affordable and not nearly as labor-intensive as it once was. On the downside, it still takes a long time.

Washing, drying and folding a load of laundry, on average, might take up around two hours. And since most families are too busy to do a full load each day, they often leave the laundry for the weekend. Piles of dirty clothes on the laundry room can be overwhelming, which is why you need the right equipment.

The laundry room is one of the most consistently ignored rooms in home. In spite of the fact that most homeowners spend hour a week in them, most modern laundry rooms are undersized and disorganized. As a result, homeowners spend even more time than they have to doing the wash. The simplest way to increase efficiency is to fast track the entire operation by establishing different laundry room stations.

Hampers

When it comes to dirty laundry storage, the simplest and most attractive option is the hamper. Like other popular home organizers, there is a whole array of hampers on the market. There are rolling hampers, collapsible hampers, folding hampers, hanging hampers, flip top hampers, rollout hampers and even more. The type of hamper you need really does depend on its intended location. For example, hampers that are kept in bedrooms are often of the flip top variety. However, if you want a larger hamper for the laundry room, a rollout hamper works well.

Hampers are great because they are far more attractive than the old tried and true plastic laundry basket, which means that they can be placed in hallways and common areas as well as private bedrooms. Made of wicker, canvas and fabric, hampers are often placed in plain sight just like anything other piece of functional furniture.

Though the materials and sizes may differ, we prefer a particular style of hamper called the triple laundry sorter. This hamper makes the laundry-doer’s job a lot easier. Because they have three separated areas for whites, colors and mixed clothing, there is no need to separate them on laundry day. You can simply wait until enough of either type accumulates before you do a load. For people who have younger children, it’s not a bad idea to denote each compartment clearly for the kids. Laundry sorters and hampers with three compartments can be found at most home improvement centers and department sorts. When used in the laundry room, it is best to go with a model that has wheels or casters, since they can get quite heavy when freighted with dirty clothes.

Laundry Center

For homeowners who have the room, a laundry center is one of the most versatile organizers money can buy. Often used in hotels and motels that offer a laundry service, these organizers include a rod for hanging dry delicates, a triple laundry sorter and a top shelf for added storage space. The laundry center works best for people who iron their clothes frequently. Dress shirts and blouses can be placed on the hanging rod. The device does take up quite a bit of room, which means it works best in larger laundry rooms on the first floor. We prefer models that have wheels and can be pushed from the foot of the stairs into the laundry room after all the dirty clothes have been collected.

Laundry Caddy

Shelf and cabinet space is often hard to come by in the laundry room. Since most families use whatever space is available to store dry foods, cleaning products and toiletries, that leaves precious little room for laundry necessities. The laundry caddy is a clever organizer that slides conveniently between the washer and dryer, i.e., it actually utilizes unused space. Most of the models we have reviewed came complete with three small shelves for fabric softeners, detergents and bleach. They roll out smoothly on tiny casters when needed.

Doing the laundry may never be an enjoyable experience, but with the help of laundry room organizers it is a whole lot easier.