One last way to help with laundry management is to limit the number of clothes that each person owns or has out at a given time. In our house this is managed when the seasons change, which for us (sorry to those up in the frigid north) is just about now.
This is a process that I find tedious, so if you have a better system, please feel free to share it.
We have our clothes sorted and stored in this manner. Gender, size and season, so I have a GIRLS box of SIZE 4 clothes for both SUMMER and WINTER. Got it?
I begin week one by pulling out the appropriate size, season, and gender bin for one or two children.
I have two sets of girls who are less than 18 months apart and I also have a set of boys who are close in age, so I will work through each of those pairs of children together. That way if anything doesn’t fit the larger child it can be passed down for the smaller one to try and vice-versa.
So each child tries on the clothes in their bin and I check for fit and style. Dividing into two piles, 1.fits and is cute OR 2.doesn’t fit or doesn’t look cute on this child.
Next I sort the “fits and is cute” pile into 4 categories: pajamas, Sunday clothes, nice going out clothes, and everyday clothes. Now the children get to “shop”. They love this part. I tell them how many from each category that they get to pick. Here are our current shopping guidelines:
- 2 pairs of pajamas
- 2 Sunday outfits for boys and 3 for girls
- 3 pairs of nice going out clothes
- 5 pairs of everyday clothes.
I try to be strict on these numbers, but sometimes a child has so many cute little things to choose from. However, I always regret letting them keep more than the above numbers because we simply don’t have room and they end up just wearing a few things anyway.
When I finish with a child or pair of children I make a list of their size and any things that they might need. I put their pile of “new” clothes aside (no they don’t get to wear them yet) and go to the next child or pair of children. I take my time with this step and it may take me a week to get through all 9 children.
After I finish getting out all of the “new” clothes for everyone in a room, the next step takes place on that rooms laundry day. When their day rolls around they get to put on one of their “new” outfits and I give special instructions in gathering all of the laundry from their room. Not only must they gather everything from the basket, under the dresser, beds, etc. they must also bring me everything out of their drawers including socks and underwear and everything (including shoes) out of the closets. I want their room to be clothing free.
Wash, wash, wash and sort, sort, sort by person.
After everything is washed, we get out the boxes that these clothes will go into and loads of empty trash bags to pack with things to give away. Since we have multiple children in each room this day is much messier than the previous week, but it will be worth it when it is all done. So, to continue our above example one of the boxes would be GIRLS, size 3, WINTER. I sort through all of this child’s “old” clothing. Since I don’t have another girl after this one, I won’t be keeping any of this. I put it in bags to pass on to my sister-in-law. If I do have another child who will wear these clothes in the future, I sort very carefully only keeping what is still in nice shape. The rest is given away. Also, if I have more than what will fit in the box, the excess is given away.
Now, we sort the underwear and socks. Each child keeps 10 pairs of underwear and during the summer 3 -4 pairs of socks and 1 pair of Sunday socks. (Boys keep 1 pair in each color blue, tan, and black.) I continue making my list of items that I need to purchase for each child.
Coats are put away along with any outgrown or out-of-season shoes.
Now we put their “new” clothes and shoes in the bedroom. Yes, we even have a shoe quota in our house. I know, I know I’m a clothes Nazi.
Put the boxes away, take the giveaway bags where they belong, and make a pile of socks that don’t match (we will match those up at the end of the week after switching all the bedrooms and then any that are still mate-less get tossed.)
OK, I promise this is my last laundry post and if you read all the way to the end of this one, you’re my hero. Thanks.
There is a lot more laundry info if you are interested. Now go hug your kids!
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We use a very similar system for clothing storage. Boys-winter-size 8- or whatever and all are stored in the attic. As my youngest girl will soon be 10, I have been giving away her hand-me-downs. I don’t have as many children as you, so I don’t have to do a complete switch at one time. Some days we need shorts right now and the next day we may need long sleeves! I don’t label my clothes boxes with sizes. Each set of boxes is labeled with a three digit number. 100s, 200s, 300s, etc. The 200s are my boys clothes and are individually labeled 201, 202, etc. I have an index card box with cards labeled for each section indicating what size clothing is in which numbered box. This way the boxes can be reused. I learned this a few years ago from my real-life friend, Roan, at The Joyful Johnsons.
Off to clean up the dropped oatmeal!!
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I have a similar system, but without close attention the last couple of seasons, it has gotten a little messy! Reorganizing the clothes boxes, relabeling them, and having my 4 younger children “shop” is on my list for Spring Break later this week. We have one more day to work in the yard….it is supposed to rain the rest of the week.
Have a great day!
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Hi Kimberly!
Thanks for sharing the “numbers” of things they should have. I like things simple and these numbers will be great for me to use when I finally get to switch our clothes over. Have a great day!
Great post! I only have 3 kids…as you know…so my system is slightly easier!
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I have told myself to limit each category of clothing so my laundry stays under control but stumble when so many “cute” outfits keep coming out of the box. I need to work on this as my 3 year old has more Sunday outfits than my husband. I have wanted to only keep what fits in the box but winter clothes are bigger and bulkier how do you handle that?
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Kimberly Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
MomStarr,
I still limit myself to what will fit in the box for our winter clothing. I am much happier when I follow my rules, things are just more managable.
Blessings,
Kimberly
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Thanks for the numbers, and the labeling system on this – it’s too easy to let things pile up quickly! Whenever a new grab bag appears, our rule is if you pick out a new outfit to wear now, you have to give away one outfit from your dresser. For shoes, we have one pair of rubber boots, one pair of tennis shoes/hiking boots, and one pair of dress shoes. I may have to add one pair of sandals to this for hot Florida.
An idea for bulky winter clothing is to get those flat storage bags that can have the air vacuumed out of them… I’ve just used sturdy trash bags (white and labeled) with lots of children sitting on them to squish the clothing, then tied them quickly before the air gets back in. You can also just tightly roll up a bulky winter jacket like sleeping bag and tie some string around it – it just has a lot of fluff and stuff.
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This is such a helpful post for me. I get so frustrated with not enough room for clothes- I see how simple the solution is
Now I just need to apply this wisdom and not get hung up on all the cute dresses. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
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I love this idea.
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What is your shoe quota if you don’t mind my asking?
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You are MY hero! Wow! I mean, I realize you’re just talking about laundry here but it’s so much more – it’s about boundaries and restraint and setting a standard and sticking to it. Organization = peace and more time with family, more time to do the things you like… All this reading on your blog is really inspiring me!
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
November 24th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Thanks, but don’t be too inspired. I MUST stay organized or chaos ensues. It’s a never ending battle.
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Kimberly — Just found your site recently and I love, love, love it! Thank you so much for all the practical ideas.
I used a clothing system like this for years but recently switched to a one-bin-per-child system instead of several bins covering every size and gender between the ages of 13 and infant. I like the new system better b/c there aren’t nearly as many bins of clothes to try to manage.
Each child has a generously sized rubbermaid or similar bin with their name on it that holds all the clothes they are not currently using that will fit them someday. If something no longer fits a child when we do the seasonal clothing swap, and it is still in good shape, it gets passed to the next child of the same gender. That child may not wear it for a couple of years but it is in their box waiting for them.
This way my dh can just go to the shed and pull out the bins by name (only for a couple of children at a time or it gets overwhelming). Before we started doing it this way I was constantly dealing with 2 or 3 bins per child — for example the current toddler might fit in the 18 mth stuff, but some of the clothes from the 2T bin may work as well.
I love your “going shopping” idea!
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 6:04 am
I am very intrigued by your system and have some questions.
How much large are those bins? How do you know if you have enough summer or winter items, or enough of size 18 months and not enough of size 2.
I can see how this might work better and am seriously considering a switch, I’d just like to know a few more particulars.
Thanks!
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I looked for the link to the website where I was introduced to this system and I can’t find it anywhere… but if I find it, I will post it for you. That would probably be the most helpful thing, because I am relatively new to the system too, and I am still working out the kinks for our family! But I can tell you what has worked for us so far.
I checked my bins and they are mostly 18-gallon Sterilite totes. I bought mine at my local Walmart and they have lasted forever. I am thinking of moving most of the kids up to the next size bin though — so that their coats and jackets, shoe boxes, etc will fit in there along with the clothes.
As far as knowing whether I have enough… well, I guess I am comfortable with not knowing for sure. That is probably not a good thing, is it?
I do try to think a couple of seasons ahead when we go through each child’s bin. So for example, when we changed out their clothes for this winter, I took notes for each child covering: 1) what else they need now, for this winter; 2) what they will probably need for this coming spring/summer; and 3) what I think they may need for *next* fall/winter (although that is a little far out to judge growth spurts etc).
I keep these notes with me all the time in my purse and watch for good deals when I am out shopping. Sometimes we get hand-me-downs from other families and my lists help me to keep what we will need and pass on the rest to someone else. And often a quick check in the bin (or drawer) of the child just a little older lets me know that such-and-such an item will be ready to pass down and so I don’t need to write it on the needs list.
Also — I find that my kids wear the same few things over and over again (I think you mentioned yours do too) and that they really don’t need all that many outfits. I actually had to make a rule that they couldn’t wear the same exact thing every day of the week, no matter how much they like it.
I find I am constantly purging and giving away because they just have more than they need or will actually wear.
One more benefit to this system is that it is easier for my older children to be responsible for part of the process. I have everyone over about 8 yrs old do the preliminary sorting through their own current clothes and their bin before I come to help, looking for things that are too small etc.
It has gotten a little tricky knowing what to save from the current baby — because there is no one younger yet. So I have been just keeping a box of first year stuff for a girl, and a box of first year stuff for a boy. I already use the larger size bin for this (30 gallon, I think?) and I guess we’ll see if that ends up working out or not.
Anyway this has gotten really long! Sorry about that. Hope it helps a little! Maybe I’ll be able to find that link…
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Thank you! I can see how this may solve some of our problems (too many boxes, keeping clothes too long), but there are a few things I’m not sure will work. Honestly, I’d love for it to work so if you find the link that’d be great.
Thinking, thinking…
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Great list, I have been trying to figure out this for So long, Any chance you will be sharing about Mom clothing in the near future? Or do you have about the same amounts as the children? And for pregnancy and breastfeeding do you just try to keep about the same amount of clothes?
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Kimberly @ Raising Olives Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I don’t have a great system for my clothing because of all the different sizes that I wear.
I don’t have enough to make 8 or so different outfits in any given size/season, so I just make do with what I have.
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