How to Prevent Laundry from Sprawling All Over the House (The 2-Basket Laundry System)

When my spouse and I first got married, we often had laundry scattered all over the house in the process of being folded. It seemed easy to just pull clothes out of the dryer and put them away, but life happens. You don’t always have the time to put laundry away right when it’s ready. And then another load goes through the washer—where do you put the clean clothes? Well, on the bed, of course! Or maybe somewhere else in the house.

What started as a simple solution soon turned into chaos. The laundry began to take over every room. After some serious brainstorming, we came up with a much better way to tackle the laundry mess: The 2-Basket System.

What Is the 2-Basket System?

Instead of just having a dirty laundry basket, you also have a clean laundry basket for each person in your household. This is the key to keeping things organized! 

We opted to install some shelving above our washer and dryer to store the clean baskets. Now, when you’re putting laundry in the dryer but there are already clothes in there, simply move the clean clothes into the person’s basket. This eliminates the need to pile up clothes anywhere else in the house.

How It Works

1. Two Baskets per Person: Each person gets their own clean laundry basket and dirty clothes basket. 
2. Label or Color-Code: Use labels or colored tape to make it easy to identify whose basket is whose. You can also use different-colored baskets for dirty and clean clothes, making it even easier to distinguish between them.
3. Easily Fold from the Basket: When you have time to fold, just pull out your clean laundry basket. It’s organized and contained, so no more piles of laundry everywhere.
4. Living Out of the Basket: If life gets a little crazy and you end up living out of your clean laundry basket for a while, that’s okay! At least everything is contained in one place, and you don’t have clothes scattered all over the house.

The Benefits

• Less Clutter: By using a dedicated clean laundry basket, you avoid the problem of laundry taking over your home.
• Easy Access: When it’s time to fold, everything is already in one place, making the task quicker and easier.
• Keep Clothes Contained: Even if you don’t have time to fold or put clothes away immediately, the baskets help keep your clean laundry organized and out of sight.

We’ve found that this simple system has really helped us manage our laundry without the chaos. It’s a small change, but it’s made a big difference in keeping our home more organized. So next time you’re drowning in clean clothes, give the 2-basket system a try!