How to Teach Your Kids to do Laundry

How to Teach Your Kids to Do Laundry – As a mother, I have found that many times, it’s more difficult to teach your kids to do something than it is to just do it yourself. However, I also realize that there are certain things I have to teach my kids if I want them to make it on their own at some point. Unfortunately, laundry is one of those things.

I am currently teaching my 10-year old how to do her own laundry. It’s a big step for us, but she has mastered it like a pro. Here’s how I taught my kids to do laundry.

Sort the Laundry

This is a no brainer, here folks. I told my daughter that if she didn’t at least separate the whites from the colored here colored clothes would die onto the white ones. I like to just teach 4 piles:

• White clothes
• Colored clothes
• Towels
• Dress clothes

A good way to teach this is to get 4 smaller baskets and label them, so your child can easily sort their clothes when they change each day.

Do a Quick Washer and Dryer Check

One thing kids and adults tend to forget is to clean the dryer vent. It drives me crazy! So, that’s one of the first things I teach my kids. Before you start a load of laundry, make sure nothing is in the washer, and that the dryer vent is cleaned out.

Put the Clothes in the Washer

There used to be a day where you would start the water and then put the detergent in, but with new high tech washers, that is not always possible. In fact, with our washer, you do not want to shut the lid and start the washer first because the lid will lock. So, teach your kids to put the clothes in the washer before messing with any of the settings.

Use Biz Laundry Detergent Pods

Let’s face it; kids are messy, and we know that even if we get them to do their own laundry, they aren’t going to clean up their messes. Also, as I said before, we used to be able to put laundry soap in with the water so it wouldn’t stain our clothing.

Now that we have a high tech washer that requires us to put the clothes in first, I have switched to using Biz laundry detergent pods. All you do with a pod is throw it in there with the laundry. There is no mess of liquid spilling, and my daughter already has a pre-measured amount of detergent. Because the pods let the detergent out once the water absorbs the outer layer, your clothes don’t get stained by detergent. It’s a win/win in my book.

Washer Settings

I just keep this part simple. I wash pretty much all of my clothes on the warm, normal setting. So, I just leave it on the setting my daughter needs to use. She also knows that if it is not on that setting to switch it to normal and warm. This setting gets everything clean without shrinking or causing clothing to bleed.

Drying and Folding

I always tell my daughter that even if she already checked the dryer when she checked the washer to double check the dryer vent. I may have thrown some towels in there to fluff up. Dryer settings can be difficult, but I go with the rule of 60-minutes and checking it half way through. So, we set the timer for the dryer for 60-minutes then set the timer on the oven for 30-minutes.

My daughter has been helping me fold laundry since she was 2-years old, so I haven’t really had to teach this aspect of it. However, if your child has never folded, you will want to do a complete load with her before asking her to do it herself.

Don’t forget to make it a rule that as soon as laundry comes out of the dryer, it needs to be folded! Otherwise, trust me, there will be mountainous piles of clean laundry in every crevice of your home.