How to Do Less Laundry: 10 Hacks for Working Women

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Laundry is one of the most important – and time-consuming – household chores for working women.  These 10 hacks will show you how to do less laundry by shopping strategically, homogenizing laundry, and reducing weekly clothing use.

The ice-cold concrete floor chilled my body from the moment my bare feet landed on it.

It was 5:15 a.m.  Not much time, I thought, shaking my head in irritation at myself.  I needed to be gone in 5 minutes.

And yet, here I was again.  The same old story.

When you work full time, things like cleaning and laundry can quickly overtake your time at home.

You’ve worked hard all week, changed your clothes countless times, as an sane person would.

Saturday rolls around and you find you have a load of darks, a load of lights, a handful of delicate/cold wash items, a load of whites, and a few things for the cleaner’s.  That’s 4 loads of laundry, plus another errand on your to-do list!

Before you know it, you’ve spent your entire Saturday slaving over the washer and dryer.  Who wants to spend one of their precious few days off doing that?

Rather than searching high and low for magical laundry hacks, it can be more effective to make lifestyle adjustments that will result in less laundry to begin with.

How to Do Less Laundry

I used to traipse across the frigid floor of my laundry room most weekday mornings, in search of clean clothes in the dryer or a random laundry basket.  Usually, it was right before I needed to be out the door and on my way to work.  I was generating a lot of laundry, and having trouble getting it all washed and put away.

As a result, I ended up with more than I could handle at the end of the week.  The last few loads were left to hang out until I did the laundry walk of shame down to the basement, timidly pulling wrinkled clothes from the dryer.  I was always scrambling to find an outfit and leave the house on time, and it made me feel awful about myself.

I started thinking of laundry, cleaning, and organizing as forms of self-care, and I realized that I deserve so much better than to be grabbing wrinkled clothes from the basement minutes before I jet out the door.

You and I, we’re adults, and that kind of nonsense shouldn’t fly in our households.  It doesn’t fly in mine anymore, and I hope after reading this post, it won’t fly in yours, either.

Hold on tight, because some of these hacks are tantamount to laundry guerrilla warfare.  But they work for me, and they’ll work for you.  Read on to learn how to do less laundry!

Laundry Scales of Economy

Ever heard of scales of economy?  It’s the basic principle that it’s faster and cheaper to get something done on a large scale, rather than a smaller scale.

Economies of scale can apply to laundry, too.  And that’s the driving goal behind most of the laundry load-cutting tips I’m going to share today.  The goals are to:

1. Homogenize the items in your laundry (And avoid items that require special care) to avoid doing specialty loads, and
2. Reduce the amount of dirty laundry you produce each week

In other words, aim for a wardrobe that can, for the most part, all be washed in the same (Theoretical) load of laundry.  And, wear fewer clothes overall.  The fewer loads you have to do, the faster and more efficient your laundry routine will be.

Shop Smart For a Lighter Load

One of the best tips for how to do less laundry is to shop smarter.

As stated above, the best way to simplify laundry is to homogenize your laundry load.  (Aka, make it all, or mostly, the same in terms of care).  As a result, getting all of your clothes on the same page (Or care instruction tag) starts with how you shop for clothes.

Avoid Buying Special Wash and Special Dry Clothing

Silk, cashmere, and wool are all luxurious fabrics – and they suck to wash and dry.

Don’t get me wrong, I own some of each.  But I generally avoid buying them, and any other garments that require special laundering or dry cleaning.

While they’re beautiful and comfortable (Except maybe wool!), they add an extra step to the laundry routine.  This is because they have to be treated differently than the rest of the laundry lurking in the basket.

Pay attention to garment care instructions when you’re shopping.  If the tag says, “Wash separately, cold wash, hand wash, hang dry,” etc, then make sure you’re head over heels for the item before purchasing it.

Special wash as a labor of love is one thing.  Special wash as a matter of routine is a productivity killer.

Avoid Buying Clothing That Requires Ironing

Crisp shirts are wonderful, aren’t they?  Each time I see a beautiful, perfectly-ironed piece of clothing, I wonder who spent their precious time running a hot iron over it to get it pristine.

Ironing becomes a worse and worse use of time the busier we become.  I’m not saying to walk around like a slob in wrinkled clothes.  Buy clothes that don’t need ironing to look good.  You can also use a few strategies to avoid wrinkles in clothing at the end of the dryer cycle.

Advances in fabric blends and technology have made ironing largely optional.  Since it’s usually such a huge time suck, it can be easily avoided.

Avoid Buying Colors That Will Bleed

Red tops and dark jeans.  Cute outfit for dinner with friends, but murder on your laundry load.  Dye from both red clothes and dark rinse jeans often bleeds during the first several washes.  Because of this, think twice before buying either.

Dark jeans are a tough one, because they’re a chic wardrobe classic.  As a result, be prepared to wash them separately after you wear them the first several times.  I own several pairs, and I was able to safely start washing them inside out with the rest of the laundry after several washes in separate loads.

And if red’s your thing, go for it.  But again, expect to do an extra load.  Otherwise, you’ll end up with a surprise load of pink-tinted clean laundry.

Simplify Laundry Loads

A discussion on how to do less laundry has to include ways to cut down on the amount of work required to complete your laundry each week.  These next 3 tips will help reduce the number of loads of laundry you have to do each week.  Doesn’t that sound nice?

Don’t Separate Lights and Darks (Except Whites)

Yep, you read that right.  Wash ’em all together.  The amount of bleed between lights and darks which have been washed several times before is negligible (See below for exceptions).  If that’s the case, then why not throw them all in together?

I generally wash lights and darks together on the warm water setting.  Just be sure to wash new clothes solo before wearing, and you should be good to go.  As a result, you’ll end up doing fewer loads of laundry, cutting processing time off of your laundry routine.

As with any laundry rule, there are a few exceptions.  Wash whites in their own load (See below).  You should also wash dark/indigo jeans and anything red separately (Not in the same load together, either… see above!).

Hold and Batch Special Wash Items

So you wore 2 white shirts and a pair of white socks this week?  Thumbs down on that laundry load!  Don’t wash whites or cold wash items until you have enough to constitute a small load.

An itty bitty micro load like the one described above usually takes just as much time in the washing machine as a full-size load.  That’s an extra 20-40 minutes for just a handful of clothing.

It’s not worth your time until you have enough to make up a decent-size load.  So unless they’re covered in stains, hold them to the side until you have enough for a decent-size load.

Skip the Iron, Immediately Fold or Hang

As stated above, ironing is a time suck.  The truth is, most items can look just fine without the iron.  So, skip it and hang or fold items up directly out of the dryer to avoid wrinkles.  As a result, laundry will be faster and easier.

This doesn’t work as well for oxford-style button-down shirts.  It also can be challenging for things that are 100% cotton.  But we take what we can get when we’re talking guerrilla laundry hacks for busy working women.

Less Laundry Lifestyle

Your lifestyle and daily choices may be drowning you in laundry.  Some of these might be tough to swallow, but they’ll also drastically cut down on the amount of laundry you generate each week.  These simple lifestyle tweaks are invaluable when figuring out how to do less laundry.

Aim to Wear One Outfit Per Day

If possible, make it a goal to wear just 1 outfit each day.  This might not be practical if you do intense/regular exercise, wear specialized clothing for work, or are regularly covered in baby spit-up.  But let’s take a minute and consider the possibilities.

If you DO exercise, could you at least wear a top all day that can transition over to the gym?

I did this all the time when I ran on my lunch breaks.  I’d wear an athletic t-shirt and jeans to work, change into shorts or sweatpants to run, and (Unless my shirt got sweaty), keep the shirt on and change back into my jeans.

Another approach is to dress in the morning for the most formal event you have that day.  Need to look decent for an evening networking event?  Wear that sharp outfit all day.

What’s the sense in wearing one outfit for half a day, then changing into something else because a different look is required, if you can avoid it?  I totally get the whole comfort thing, but you’ll be glad when you have less laundry to do at the end of the week.

Even if you do change into more comfortable clothes after work, why not re-wear those after-work clothes a time or 2?  Chances are you’ll only have them on for 4-6 hours before you head to bed, and they’ll probably be good for another wear or 2 before they need to go to the hamper.  Alternatively, if you’re not going anywhere after work and not expecting company, change right into your jammies!

Funny Story

I was bitten by the one-outfit-per-day bug at a young age.

I wore school uniforms from grade school through high school.  My classmates would yank their uniforms off as soon as they got home from school to change into something else.  Probably because their mom still did their laundry!

See, I’ve been doing my own laundry since I was in the 3rd grade. (My parents taught/supervised and then pushed me out of the laundry nest, something I’m infinitely grateful for as an adult!).

I realized at age 8 that the fewer clothes I wore throughout the week, the less laundry I’d have to do over the weekend.  So, I’d hang out in my school uniform until bedtime most weekdays.  That meant less laundry, and more time for fun.

Less laundry sounded great to 3rd grade Amy.  And it sounds even better to 30-something, work-60-hours-a-week Amy!  I’ve done my best for most of my life to cut down on the amount of clothing I wear most days as a result.

Re-Wear PJs As Many Times As Possible Before Washing

Fewer clothes by day, and yes, fewer clothes by night.

Do you wear a new set of pajamas (Or sleep shirts, or whatever) each night?

Why?

Unless you get super sweaty, you’re simply lying there for 8 hours.  Does that warrant tossing clothes in the hamper and pulling out a new set each night?

I don’t think so.  Re-wearing pajamas is another great approach to how to do less laundry.

My rule of thumb?  Simple:  Re-wear pajamas until they no longer smell clean, or you do a load of laundry (Whichever comes first).

Even if you switch out your PJs twice per week, that’s 5 fewer sets of PJs in the laundry than if you wore a “clean” set each night.  See how that starts to add up?

Sleep in Day Clothes When it Makes Sense

Are you ready to get even more ruthless?  Try this on for size.

If you wear sweats, t-shirts and athletic shorts, or leggings during the day, and they don’t get dirty or sweaty… wear them to bed, too.

Are you grossed out?

You’re probably thinking, “Aren’t those clothes dirty?”

But a better question is, “Aren’t they clean enough to wear overnight?”

If, at the end of the day, your daytime casual outfit still smells like fabric detergent and doesn’t have any visible dirt, it’s probably cool to wear to bed.

Why take off a clean-ish t-shirt and sweatpants to put on clean pajamas?  Is it worth increasing the size of your laundry load?

Obviously this doesn’t work for every outfit or every scenario.  I wouldn’t recommend sleeping in jeans, for example (Not comfy).  Or a dress.  And you should probably go ahead and, um, change your undies either way.  Because, ick.

Also, wash your bedsheets at least once per week.  That will cancel out 7 nights of sleeping in clean-ish clothes or re-worn PJs.

Re-Wear Jeans At Least Once

Another way to quick tip for how to do less laundry is to re-wear jeans at least once before washing.

Think about it… many of us more or less live in jeans.  I used to do an entire load of laundry each week that was ONLY jeans.  Once I started re-wearing jeans, it significantly cut down on the amount of laundry I ended up with.

Jeans are generally made of sturdy material.  They actually get looser and easier to wear the second time you put them on.  And, they fade with each wash.  As a result, jeans are a great article of clothing to wear 1 or 2 extra times between each wash.

It goes without saying that you should skip the extra wears and toss them in the wash if they smell bad or have visible stains.  Otherwise, spray them with a little Febreze or fold a dryer sheet into them overnight, and wear them a time or 2 more.

By the way, if you liked these hacks, you’ll love my cleaning tips for busy working women!

How to Do Less Laundry:  Conclusion

You can’t avoid laundry without smelling bad or paying someone to do it for you.  Changes in shopping habits, paired with some lifestyle adjustments, can significantly reduce the amount of dirty laundry you produce on a weekly basis.  Let’s review what we discussed:

• Avoid buying clothes that require special washing or special drying
• Avoid buying clothes that require ironing to look good
• Steer clear of clothing colors that will bleed and will have to be washed separately
• Don’t separate lights and darks
• Set whites and cold wash items aside until you have enough for a load of one or both
• Skip ironing and fold or hang clothes immediately after the dryer stops instead
• Aim to wear 1 outfit per day, when possible
• Re-wear pajamas until they no longer smell clean or you do a load of laundry, whichever comes first
• Sleep in day clothes, such as sweats or leggings, when it makes sense to do so
• Re-wear jeans at 1 or 2 times before washing

I never said learning how to do less laundry was glamorous.  But these tips have made a huge difference in the number of loads of laundry I do each week.

Want even more helpful cleaning and organizing tips for working women?  Join the ShowMe Suburban community and learn simple habits and routines to keep your home clean and organized, so you can relax away from work without feeling the stress of a messy home.  Sign up below!