Laundry Problems...

Okay, ladies.... I'm looking for input on this one!

I'm doing laundry today; and as much as I enjoy Laundry Day, I have some problems with it... some things about laundry that I haven't quite figured out.

What I have figured out is the laundry routine that works best for me.

• I (try to) do laundry twice a week--Mondays and Thursdays.  This not only keeps my laundry pile under control, it also makes each load a little smaller, meaning the clothes seem to get cleaner, dry faster, and take less time to put away.
• I sort my laundry into four groups--darks, lights, whites, and towels/bedsheets--which both controls any color-bleeding issues and keeps each load to a manageable size.
• If my laundry is to be completed from start to finish in one day, I have to focus only on laundry.  I am much more apt to put clean laundry away promptly if I am remembering to pull it from the dryer in a timely manner.
• I take my clean laundry directly from the dryer to my bed and use that as my folding area.  Many people talk about having a folding table in the laundry room, but I have never seen the sense in folding laundry--including things that ultimately need to be hung--and packing it neatly into a laundry basket just to turn around and unpack the folded laundry to put it away.  Instead, I use the large surface of my bed to fold laundry in piles according to how it will go into the dressers and to lay flat the items that need to be hung.  Processed laundry then goes directly from my bed to the appropriate closet or dresser.

What I haven't figured out is some of the little details of maintaining my laundry to keep it as like-new as possible.

1. Stain Removal:  I have yet to find a stain remover that I can count on.  I have discovered that Fels-Naptha laundry bar soap works wonders on baby poop stains (and on some other of the less stubborn stains); and I have had luck with dabbing my actual laundry detergent right onto a stain before washing.  But as for products that are marketed as "stain removers," they certainly have been ineffective for me.  Should I give up the search for a good stain remover and continue treating stains with laundry soaps, or is there an easy solution out there that actually works?
2. Shrinkage:  In the past, I have had trouble with children's clothing shrinking by a noticeable amount when washed and dried for the first time and have therefore gone to hang-drying most of the children's clothing that has been purchased new in order to ensure that it fits for as long as possible.  (I usually assume that second-hand clothing has already been shrunk and therefore put these items in the dryer.)  This method has worked well, but as our family has grown, causing us to purchase more items new (and therefore not preshrunk), I fill my drying rack to the max every time I do laundry.  And, I have to wait for that much more laundry to air dry before being able to put it away.  The additional time and effort required to hang-dry clothing, as necessary as I think it seems, is becoming a bit of an inefficiency in my laundry routine.  Should I purchase another drying rack and remain a laundry day behind in putting away the air-dried items, or is there a better solution to the shrinkage problem?

So, what tips and tricks do you have for keeping your laundry stain-free, shrink-free, and like-new?  Click on the comment link below to share your Laundry Day solutions!

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