7 things people who are always on top of their laundry have in common – they make the whole process so much more manageable
Stay on top of your laundry pile with these essentials from very organised people
There are some people who just seem to have laundry figured out. Their washing baskets never seem to overflow, clean clothes don't live in laundry baskets to be sorted later, and they always have somewhere to dry clothes indoors during autumn and winter.
Who are these people, you ask? Well, I'm about to tell you! As someone who tests the best heated clothes airers, steam irons and other laundry kit for Ideal Home, I've learned that a good laundry routine isn't necessarily about doing more washing. It's often more about having a few simple systems and the right tools in place to make sorting, washing, drying and putting clothes away that little bit easier.
According to the laundry pros I spoke to, there are seven things worth having in your laundry arsenal.
1. They own more than one laundry basket
One enormous laundry hamper might look tidier, but it can leave you with a mountain of clothes to sort before you've even got them to the washing machine.
'Separate laundry baskets make sorting as you go much easier,' says Emma Rawley, Product Development Director at Beldray. ' Stackable baskets (like this set of 2, £9.99 at Amazon) are great for separating lights, darks or different household members, while collapsible designs are ideal when storage space is limited.'
Mary Widall, Product Category Manager for Laundry at Minky, agrees. 'Using a divided laundry hamper is one of the simplest ways to make sorting easier, as clothes can be separated as soon as they're taken off rather than tackling one big mixed pile on laundry day.'
For larger households, she recommends giving each family member their own basket. Stackable versions like this laundry basket organiser (£37.96 from Amazon) are particularly useful as they make use of vertical space and can then be used to return clean clothes to the right room.
Shop pretty but practical laundry baskets
2. They use a versatile clothes airer
A reliable clothes airer is one of the first things I'd invest in for a smoother laundry routine, particularly in the UK where the weather can't always be relied upon.
'A good airer is another essential, particularly in the UK where drying outdoors isn't always an option,' says Mary. 'Choosing one that suits the size of your household and folds away easily when it isn't being used can help prevent laundry from taking over your living space.'
Emma recommends having a mix of drying options, such as a main airer for larger loads and a radiator or heated clothes airer when you need additional space or faster drying.
Catrin Parry, Buying Lead at Lakeland, also recommends an indoor/outdoor airer, like this Lakeland airer, £44.99, that can be folded without removing all the clothes if the weather suddenly changes.
The important thing is having a drying setup flexible enough that one rainy day doesn't bring your laundry routine to a halt.
Shop clothes airers you won't need to hide
3. They've invested in a heated clothes airer
If you regularly dry washing indoors, I think a heated clothes airer really comes into its own during autumn and winter.
Catrin recommends Lakeland's Dry:Soon Deluxe heated clothes airer, £169.99 (our top choice in our buying guide), which can hold a whole load of laundry and costs around 8p per hour to run, based on Lakeland's figures. She also suggests pairing it with a cover to help speed up drying.
However, you don't necessarily have to buy another airer. Mary highlights Minky's SureDRI Heat Pod Pro, £45 at Argos, which can turn a standard three-tier airer into a heated drying set-up.
Whichever method you choose, remember that drying clothes indoors releases moisture into the air, so ventilation is important too and is one of the main considerations when choosing a heated clothes airer and one of the main reasons why getting your hands on a good dehumidifier with a laundry mode is a real gamechanger.
Shop our favourite heated clothes airers
The Dry:Soon's Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer is our best overall pick thanks to its 21 metres of drying space and three-tier design, which can hold up to 15kg of washing, which is enough for two laundry loads.
Beldray's winged heated airer is a great budget buy. With 18 aluminium bars and a quick 230w heat up, it can hold up to 15kg of clothes and has a long 1.4m power cord so you can place it wherever you need it to go.
This heated airer has the largest capacity of all the airers we've tested, holding 20kg of washing on 23m of drying rack space compared to the Dry:Soon 3-Tier's 15kg and 21m.
4. They use mesh wash bags
This is possibly the smallest addition to the list, but it's one all three experts really rate.
'Wash bags are great for keeping delicates such as bras and smaller items together, while larger bags can be useful for washable trainers,' explains Emma. 'Using wash bags protects delicates and can help extend the life of clothing and also helps you keep socks together.'
Catrin similarly recommends using different mesh bags for bras, trainers and socks (like this set from Amazon has a selection of different sizes and shapes for items, £9.33) to stop smaller pieces disappearing amongst the rest of a load or becoming tangled.
They're inexpensive, take up virtually no storage space and can save time at the other end of the wash (which is an actual godsend). Anything that reduces the number of odd socks I'm dealing with is worth having!
5. They've got a laundry essentials caddy
It's much easier to stay organised when you're not searching through cupboards for stain remover or hunting for a peg bag every time you need to hang up a load.
Mary recommends keeping pegs, wash bags, stain removers and other frequently used products together in a dedicated storage caddy (this 10L capacity caddy is a great pick, £9.99 at Amazon) so they're always ready when you need them.
Even small accessories can make a difference. Mary recommends a peg bag that clips onto a belt loop to keep both hands free, like this drawstring bag from Minky, £7.99 on Amazon, while a no-peg dryer (this one on Amazon, £9.99 from Amazon, is perfect) can make hanging socks, underwear and other small items considerably quicker.
Catrina also singles out stain remover as a laundry essential (I really rate Dr Beckmann power brush stain remover, £2.75 on Amazon). Keeping yours within easy reach of the washing machine means you can treat stains immediately rather than discovering them again once the wash is finished.
Must-have laundry accessories
6. They have a quicker way to deal with creases
For many of us (ahem, me), washing and drying isn't actually the problem. It's the pile of clean clothes waiting to be ironed that brings the whole system to a standstill.
If you don't want to get a full-size ironing board out for every garment, Mary recommends a clothes steamer and steam pad for quick crease removal, or a tabletop ironing board for smaller jobs.
For larger households with substantial ironing loads, Catrin recommends investing in a good steam generator (I second this and recommend the Philips PerfectCare Steam Generator 8000, available at AO) and a sturdy ironing board to make the job quicker and easier.
It's also worth looking at how you're drying clothes in the first place. Mary recommends Minky's SureDRI Compact Drying pod (£79.99 at Amazon), which dries up to 10 garments on hangers while helping to release creases, potentially reducing the amount of ironing needed afterwards.
Shop our top-rated steam irons
With its ergonomic design and impressive performance, this Morphy Richards easyCHARGE iron earns the title of best overall iron. It's a cordless model, which makes it super convenient, but crucially, there's no faff in returning the iron to its lightning-fast charging base when you do need more charge. With powerful vertical steam, it glides well on most fabrics.
The Philips PerfectCare Steam Generator 8000 was the surprise standout favourite of my latest ironing test run. Its heavy looks can be deceiving, as it turned out that this steam generator system was an absolute dream to use. The lightweight iron itself uses OptimalTEMP technology, which means that it can automatically adjust to whichever fabric you're ironing, which, while testing, I found particularly invaluable and actually worked to boot.
If you're wondering how the Tower CeraGlide's ability to be both cordless and corded works, it uses a base for a quick burst of charge, or just be fixed to the bulk of the iron as you go, meaning there's no need to stop for a charge. This iron doesn't have the biggest water tank of them all, but it's perfectly adequate for small to medium homes with similarly sized laundry piles.
7. They have a small-but-regular washing routine
The final thing people with the best laundry routines have isn't actually something you can buy. It's a system that stops washing from reaching overwhelming proportions (which is us on the daily here!)
Rather than saving everything for one enormous laundry day, the experts recommend tackling smaller loads regularly and, importantly, completing the whole process, which is where I fall short.
Catrin sums it up neatly: 'A cycle a day keeps the washing at bay.' Her approach is to wash, dry and fold rather than allowing clean washing to become another pile to deal with later, no matter how painful it is to sort through.
Emma agrees. 'Keep to small, regular loads and having flexible indoor and outdoor drying options means you're not relying on a sunny day to stay on top of the washing.'
And don't forget the final step. Mary says one of the biggest problems is the journey laundry has to make: 'from hamper to washing machine, to drying space, back to wardrobe.' Having baskets that are easy to carry (like these lovely Minky collapsible laundry baskets, £14.99 on Amazon) or keeping one upstairs and another downstairs can remove some of that friction.
Once everything is dry, Emma recommends folding and hanging clothes and putting them away straight away.
Shop easy-to-carry laundry baskets
Emma also makes an important point, which should give you and has given me, some comfort: sometimes it's okay to be behind. Laundry around the house is a normal part of life, so the aim isn't perfection. It's simply having a routine that makes the washing easier to get back on top of. Happy washing!
