Laundry: Simplified.

Laundry. I've learned to not let it get out of hand. It can get out of hand can't it? Over the years I find this system works the best for me, so I thought I would share it with you. If it can help one person that's good enough for me.
I typically do laundry once a week. But if I have time I'll grab a basket or some sheets during the rest of the week and get it done. It takes me no time at all to get laundry done, I spend a day doing it because I wait for the cycles to complete. But it's not a big deal, I tend to do floors and bathrooms on the same day. Get everything done at once. The rest of the week I do light cleaning of those areas.
There have been seasons where I do one load a day, but this system has worked really well over the years.What works best for you?

Here's my Laundry Method.

1. Everyone gets a basket. I don't have one set of hampers where whites/darks/etc get sorted. That doesn't work for me. I find myself spending too much time sorting and such at that point. 
2. On laundry day I have everyone bring me their laundry baskets. They also strip their own beds.

All the whites go into separate mesh bags. Whites get washed and dried together, in the bags. 

For whites:

1. I check to make sure the kids have put their whites in their personal mesh laundry bags. I take the mesh bags filled with whites and set them aside. 
2. All but a few of our towels are white, so those also go in the whites pile. No bags needed for bigger items.
3. If there are any white sheets, kitchen towels, pillow cases I wash these in the same load.
4. I wash all the whites together, including each person's whites IN the mesh bags.
5. Everything gets transferred to the dryer in the bags.
6. After the cycle is complete I simply fold the towels AS THEY COME OUT. I find that if I leave anything for later, it SITS around till later. (I put these away after I start the darks cycles).
7. For my families whites, I empty the mesh bags into each person's laundry basket. I don't fold them, I don't have to sort them. I don't match socks. My children are ages 7-9 they are more than capable of putting laundry away. They often load the machines and start them for me also.

Sorted laundry. Delicates have their own pile!

For the darks/colors:

1. I wash each person's laundry by basket. One load per person. All their sheets, and everything in their baskets. *there have been times where I've been able to throw one child's clothes into a huge mesh bag and I can get two baskets done at once, in the same cycles*
2. I dry each load, and once the cycle is done, again I just put them into the person's basket, without folding for the most part. Some days I'll fold but again, my children are more than capable. I do fold DH's clothing. 
3. If there's something that needs to be hung up, I do that right away. I lay anything on hangers on top of each person's basket after the rest of the clothes are in there.
4. When the kids get home from school they put their laundry away. I do make the beds up for them though. I have this thing about getting into a freshly made bed with fresh sheets.

Delicates, blankets, dark towels:

1. For delicates I wash them together, and hang them to dry.
2. Dark towels and blankets I wash together. 

That's it. That's what I do. Now this might not work for everyone, but it works for me. Really well too.

What about you? Any tips or tricks? Leave me a comment I'd love to streamline even more!