Get Your Teenager to Do Their Own Laundry

Begin by explaining why it is necessary for them to learn such a skill. For instance my husband had a college roommate who never washed his underwear; he would simply buy a new package of underwear every week. Costly and unnecessary this young man didn't have a clue how to wash his own clothes, nor did he desire to do so. He would eventually get someone to wash his other clothing, but buying new items each week was his way of handling his underwear situation.

Bring your teen to the laundry room and begin to sort their clothing. It may seem obvious to you, because you have been doing it for years, but to your child it may be Greek. Explain that clothing is sorted by colors and water temperature needed for each wash. Dark and bright clothing go in one pile to be washed in cold water. Cold water allows for no running of colors and less shrinkage. If you have them, throwing in a Clorox Color Catch is a good way to keep colors from bleeding in the wash, even in cold water.

Next is the warm water clothing. These are light colored clothing, like cream colored pajamas, tan socks, khaki shorts, sheets & pillow cases, or light clothing with a light pattern. There are mixed views on where to wash blue jeans. I have one friend who washes them in the warm water, but personally I feel they should go in the cold colored clothing wash to prevent color running and shrinkage. There is nothing worse than having to run out the door only to find your favorite jeans are suddenly a bit too snug.

Final load is the hot water wash, though of course loads can be washed in any order. This is for those white socks that never seem to be as white as the day you purchased them. White under shirts, white underwear, white sheets-you get the idea. There is one exception to this though; I do wash all my towels, bath, hand, or kitchen towels in hot water. I feel that if one of these items sits with water absorbed into them then there is a possibility of mold or mildew, and that is one smell that I can't seem to tolerate. This of course is up to you to decide to teach your child. I also add liquid fabric softener to the towels wash as well as dryer sheets for extra softness and fluff.

After the clothing is sorted and ready to be placed in the machine, of course you will have to teach your child how to operate the machines, and how much detergent is needed for that type of machine. When my boys were first beginning their own washing-starting middle school-I would place small stickers at the points where they were to turn the machine knobs. One sticker was a small star that said, "Great job" on it and another was a square that said, "Almost done" on the dryer selection. These were stickers one could find just about anywhere and basically any sticker will work until they get the hang of it. I also took a red sharpie and marked a line around the detergent cup so there was no question how much detergent was needed. Another tip is to set the box of the fabric softener sheets on top of the dryer so they would not forget to place one in the machine. These were tips to help them be successful in this new venture, not to set them up to fail and feel miserable when their clothes were itchy or scratchy.

Lastly, I set up a chart of laundry day and hung it by the washing machine in the laundry room. I asked each household member which day of the week would work out best for them to do their laundry. We would discuss sports and activities that might make doing laundry on one particular day the best option. My younger son, middle school, has laundry on Tuesday afternoons, mom has it on Mondays, dad on Wednesdays, and our oldest son does laundry on Thursdays. Weekends were for "make-up" days only. Make up days were when we really needed towels in the house so I would do the wash, or dirty jackets, or dirty Tae Kwon Do uniform, etc.

If the person misses their laundry day then they must work it out with another member of the family to switch, toss in a pair of jeans into the other's load of wash, or make due. Though this may sound a bit militant it really has changed our children's idea of being able to drop a huge load of laundry on mom or dad during the weekends, when we want our time free as well. And it has provides our teens with a responsibility that will carry them through college roommates and into marriage.