Laundry Love

by Patric Richardson

  So how can you improve your laundry room? Well, that depends on your space, but I have a bunch of ideas:

  If you have any say in the matter, buy an efficient washing machine. People always ask me what type of washing machine to buy. If your washing machine dates back to 2003 or earlier, it’s time to consider upgrading to a high-efficiency (HE) model. The HE designation means that it uses less water, less electricity, and less soap than a traditional washing machine. Next, make sure that you’re only looking at ENERGY STAR models. This certification ensures that these machines have a greater tub capacity, according to energystar.gov, allowing you to wash fewer, larger loads; plus, they use 25 percent less energy and 40 percent less water. Once you’ve checked those two boxes, confirm that the machine you purchase has three features that you can control: temperature, spin speed, and the number of minutes a wash runs. If your machine can do all this, you’re A-OK. (If your dryer has seen better days, consider upgrading your dryer as well. For more on energy-efficient dryers, see page 125.)

  Turn up your lighting. There’s no need for you to be doing laundry like a prisoner in a dark dungeon. If you lack a window and its inherent natural light, contemplate using daylight bulbs via track lighting, flush-mount fixtures (mounted right below your ceiling), or can lights (which disappear into the ceiling). By illuminating every corner, you suddenly won’t feel like fleeing the room; plus, sorting clothes, finding and treating stains, sewing on buttons, and all laundry-related tasks will be that much easier to perform. And don’t forget about adding a table lamp or under-cabinet lights for such tasks as treating stains or sewing on buttons; LED bulbs with a rating near 100 will provide a comfortable light. If the laundry room you use is not your own, consider discussing these and other potential improvements with the powers that be at your apartment building or college dorm.

  Get organized. Each bedroom should have a laundry hamper, preferably one that can by carried by its handles. If a hamper can’t be carried, transfer dirty clothes to the laundry room or Laundromat via a laundry basket or bag.Ideally, you’ll wash all of your textiles on a single day, but that may not always happen. If you’ve got the space—say, you live in a single-family home—and your bedroom hampers are often overflowing, consider adding rolling laundry-sorting canvas bins to your laundry room; mark each with a sorting category: whites, blacks, cool colors, warm colors, and activewear. Doing so, especially if you have a household of three or more individuals, means that your loads are ready to wash whenever you are. Finally, once everything has been washed, dried, and folded, use the laundry baskets, bags, or hampers to return items to your home or to your bedrooms. Or simply carry the clothes in your arms to your bed, where you fold everything (of course, it helps that my bedroom is right next to my laundry room).

  Make it functional. If you use a Laundromat, you’ve already got oodles of washing machines and dryers at your disposal—super functional. That’s especially true if you choose a less-busy time to get your laundry done. Land four machines simultaneously and you’re headed home in no time.But, if you have your own laundry room, you can make a big difference in the time you spend there by boosting its functionality. For example, if you have a sink in your laundry room, you can certainly get by with a standard faucet—but having a high-tech one, including a pullout head for filling buckets and a spray feature for helping to remove stains, makes a nice upgrade. For storage, if you have the space, consider adding kitchen cupboards or open shelving, and invest in bamboo, natural straw, or water hyacinth woven baskets—all good, environmentally friendly choices—that look beautiful and work just as hard as any plastic baskets. To ensure you line-dry as often as possible, outfit your laundry room with at least one drying rack. Consider a freestanding design or, if you’re tight on space, wall-mounted models that feature accordion racks or multiple swing-out arms; these fold flat against the wall when not in use. (These are also a great option, perhaps tucked away in a closet or pantry, for folks who often handwash and need a place to dry a few items.) A rolling rack is another good option; it lets you hang up clothes to dry or store during an off-season. I suggest ordering yours from an industrial supplier—most run less than $100. Or you can install a hanging rod for the same purpose. Finally, a small counter, placed atop your washer and dryer, makes a nice folding table in a pinch; or if you have more square footage, a folding table is ideal for folding clothes and removing stains.

  Add a bit of whimsy. Life can get pretty serious. So it’s great to be able to set most of your worries aside while accomplishing a task like laundry—especially if you’re doing so in a playful place. Why not get creative with paint? If your laundry room is your own, consider painting a border around your hopper windows, an underwater scene on your walls, a bright color on your floor, or a blue sky and a couple of fluffy clouds on your ceiling. Or add a mural, perhaps with a colorful geometric design or some serene nature element, to your space.Last summer a friend applied peel-and-stick wallpaper of classic white subway tile to her laundry room’s drywall—and suddenly the space looked brighter and better than ever before. Fortunately, even renters can use peel-and-stick wallpaper. Moving out? Just remove the wallpaper that you enjoyed so much while the apartment and its laundry room was yours.

  You can also add art to the space. While the trend is to hang a sign that says “Laundry Room,” I’m guessing everyone in your household knows what the room is for. How about an actual print, a framed favorite poster, or a fanciful sculpture? One Laundry Camper placed a hedgehog sculpture in her laundry room’s window. There are no limits to what you can select. Just choose something that you love and will continue to enjoy every time you do laundry.

  Make your escape. Need a space to call your own—or even a hideout? If you’ve got kids under age eight, it’s likely you don’t even go to the bathroom by yourself. As long as you’ve got another adult caring for the kids, I’ve got a fix: Announce that you’re headed to the laundry room or Laundromat, and I’m guessing no one will follow you there. The key to this plan is keeping to yourself just how much fun laundry is! Then make the experience your own: Add an aromatherapy diffuser, a table lamp or a Himalayan salt rock light, a throw rug you can sink your toes into, perhaps a yoga mat. Don’t own your laundry room? You can still level up the experience—pack your favorite magazine or current book, chocolate, a beverage, and some tunes. Then, while the machines are a-rocking, grab some well-deserved time for you!

  You get the idea. Transforming this space—stereotypically known to be underwhelming and sometimes even depressing—will make laundering all the more enjoyable. After all, this is the room where you spend a good deal of time showing your love for others by caring for their clothes, bedding, and more. Making it nice for you makes it all the more conducive to doing something nice for others.

  Top Ten Reasons to Love a Laundromat

  Having clean clothes is a luxury. And while there are downsides to doing laundry in a shared facility (e.g., jockeying for machines, using a washer that’s very familiar with fabric softener, and literally airing your dirty laundry in public), there are lots of upsides, too—even for people who have their own laundry rooms. Let’s count them down.

  10. Most Laundromats boast a bevy of windows, which can make the space inviting and ideal for tasks in need of good light, such as sorting and stain removal.

  9. At a Laundromat, you can wash and dry those bulky items (down comforter, I’m looking at you) that require a front-loading machine. Plus, as I mentioned before, with numerous washing machines and dryers at your disposal, it’s likely you can run multiple loads at one time—talk about a time-saver!

  8. When you’re on vacation, where else can you launder your clothes and mingle with locals, from whom you might learn about the best hole-in-the-wall restaurant or a great playground for the kids?

  7. Undistracted by other household chores, you can relax while your clothes tumble through the machines. Bring along a throw, a favorite book, and a fancy coffee and you’ve got the makings
of a great afternoon.

  6. On the other hand, why not make it a date or a gabfest? Invite a friend or two to join you, pack snacks and beverages, and launder while you socialize. In college, my friend Bethany and I stayed caught up by hitting the Laundromat at the same time every week. Doing laundry is all the more fun when you do it together! (A dear friend to this day, Bethany is totally a “handwash cold, dry flat” type.)

  5. Take advantage of the Laundromat’s amenities. Most provide free Wi-Fi, magazines, and TVs. A rare few are complete show-offs, offering coffee bars, actual bars, free pizza, and even hairstyling services.

  4. Have children? A Laundromat is an endlessly fascinating place for kids, packed with rows of giant machines filled with water and spinning clothes. They’re like screens, only better. Plus, many shared laundry facilities feature kids’ play and reading areas. And a change of scenery is often great for the whole family.

  3. Writing a book? Finishing your master’s in sociology? Beefing up your photography portfolio? Any of these reasons and many more might draw you to a Laundromat, where the people watching can’t be beat.

  2. What’s better than people watching? Some days it’s people chatting. You can hear interesting conversations in a Laundromat, but why not join in? Pretty much everyone is there for the same reason, so you’re likely to have other things in common as well.

  1. Doing all of your laundry in one session is exactly what you do at a Laundromat—and that’s what I recommend. No need to go there twice in a single week. Pack up all of your textiles plus a backpack or a reusable shopping tote with all your supplies: soap flakes or a safe, plant-based, liquid laundry soap stain-removing gear; wool balls; essential oils; and an aluminum foil ball. These days, you might not even need to bring quarters—most Laundromats offer change machines, and many washing machines and dryers allow you to pay with your phone. You’re good to go!

  Kids in the Laundry Room

  At Mona Williams, I carry child-size brooms. That’s because I believe kids want to contribute to their family’s happiness and that they gain satisfaction from a job well done. The same is true of caring for clothes.

  Even young children can start learning these skills. Toddlers, for example, can remove their clothes by themselves and place them into a laundry hamper. Better yet, teach children to hang up their clothes after wearing, and that prevents a whole bunch of nearly clean clothes from needing another wash.

  Once children are a little older, invite your kids to help put away freshly laundered textiles, teaching which items are tucked into drawers and which items are hung on hangers. A simple system and plenty of storage space help ensure that children are successful. Consider placing the closet rod low so that kids can reach it easily, and ensure any drawers close slowly to avoid pinched fingers.

  When the kids hit their tweens, invite them to start helping out in the laundry room, loading the washer and dryer, and helping to fold the clothes. Depending on the kid, you’ll know which skills to introduce. And while some chores—such as cooking a multicourse dinner without any help—are beyond most kids at this age, they can be successful launderers all on their own.

  Finally, ensure that they’re doing the family’s laundry and not just their own. Learning about the joy of service to others should start early.

  I hope you come away from this laundry-room chapter bursting with new ideas to improve your overall laundry experience—whether it regularly takes place in a plain-Jane or fancy-schmancy laundry room, a shared basement laundry, or your friendly neighborhood Laundromat. As I’ve said before, doing laundry should be fun! And don’t forget the disco ball.

  11

  Better Laundry Leads to Better Shopping

  I feel like I should be able to wear what I want, when I want, however many times I want.

  —TIFFANY HADDISH, ACTOR, COMEDIAN, AUTHOR

  Second to textiles in this life, I love Christmas. I love everything about it: I love decorating for Christmas (every room in my house features a Christmas tree with themed decorations). I love buying Christmas presents, selecting the perfect thing for each family member and friend (January is not too early to start shopping). I love cooking for Christmas, especially my mom’s sugar cookies, Granny Dude’s Blue Cheese Spread (recipe, page 168), and Roberta’s Bourbon Balls (recipe, page 173). And I love celebrating Christmas with my family and friends.

  So it’s no wonder that my first-ever outing as an infant was with my Granny Dude (giving my tired mom a break), who took me to the annual Christmas parade in Grayson, Kentucky, and a local boutique where she bought me an adorable outfit. Of course I was introduced to shopping and Christmas, my two favorite things, in one fell swoop when I was only weeks old.

  Little did Granny Dude or I know just how much shopping we were going to do together after that first outing. We shopped—a lot—and often with my mom. I don’t even have a memory of going back-to-school shopping, because we were always shopping, anytime of the year. Not that we always bought something—we were browsers as often as we were buyers.

  Of course, when Granny Dude was growing up, no dry cleaner did business in her small town. She just figured out how to care for her clothes on her own and wore whatever she wanted. She was brave in her fashion choices, but she was never afraid of the care they required.

  This is the first fashion lesson I learned from Granny Dude: When no item of clothing is off-limits to purchase, it’s much more fun to go shopping. As long as you can afford it, you can buy whatever you love without worrying about overbearing fabric instructions.

  All of the updated laundry skills you now have give you a new lease on shopping. In terms of fabric care, no article of clothing is off-limits anymore. A Laundry Camper was telling me how her daughter had whispered her admiration for a light blue wool coat worn by a woman passing by. But then she added, “It would show dirt so quickly, though, and dry cleaning is so expensive.” The mom was delighted to inform her daughter that she could, in fact, buy a coat like that, and she’d be glad to teach her how to care for it.

  Remember when you saw that special item hanging in that shop downtown, or in your favorite department store, or perhaps in that little boutique on your last vacation? You were attracted to it and you wanted to buy it, but you walked away because you thought it would be too hard or too expensive to care for. Now you realize just how wrong you were, because caring for clothes is easy once you know how.

  The second important fashion lesson Granny Dude taught me was this: Wear everything you own. That sounds intuitive, but it’s often not. What I mean to say is that there’s no reason to save special items for occasions that never seem to come. Don’t have a black-tie gala on your calendar? (Few of us do.) Then throw on your tuxedo jacket over a T-shirt and jeans and head to a fast-food joint. Don’t have a hot date this weekend? Then wear that darling dress to the grocery store. I’m giving you permission right now to have more fun every day with fashion.

  A Trio of Cardigans

  As someone who has worked in designer fashion for more than two decades, I understand a lot about shopping and I know how to create individual looks for my clients. I’m glad to share a few of my secrets here.

  To begin, I confess that I hate those articles that tell you what you should own—e.g., “The ten wardrobe essentials you need.” Just because those work well for one person doesn’t mean they’ll work for everyone. We all live unique lives, with individual interests, and in wide-ranging geographies. Minimalist wardrobes work for very few people—perhaps forest rangers, marine biologists, and nudists. For the rest of us, a minimalist approach seems like a great idea until your job requires you to attend a far-flung conference, or your niece invites you horseback riding, or your best friend gets tickets to an all-day music festival. Suddenly those ten pieces seem lacking.

  All to say, there’s not one right way to do a wardrobe. In addition to basic items that best serve your life, I’d suggest buying a few garments that you really want in the colors you really love�
�then figure out how to make them work with the rest of your apparel. Maybe you don’t have anything to go with that orange cashmere jacket—but maybe you do. Be open to possibilities.

  Personally, I’ve always had a thing for cardigans. I think it goes back to my granddad. He constantly wore cardigans and owned them in probably a dozen colors. In fact, Granny Dude told me that only once, at their wedding, did her husband ever wear a suit. Otherwise, his daily uniform comprised a shirt, a pair of trousers, and a cardigan.

  A cardigan just makes sense to me: It’s easier to move in than a jacket, and it’s the perfect thing to pull on if you get chilly or to remove if you’re too warm. Living in Minnesota, where the weather can change on a dime, I find the cardigan to be the perfect garment.

  In fact, the most luxe item in my closet is a cardigan. Roughly a decade ago, I was working at Nordstrom when designer Zang Toi arrived for a special trunk show. I pulled out a woman’s wrap and immediately fell in love with its extraordinary fabric. Black-and-white herringbone cashmere, it was embroidered with delicate branches of cherry blossoms. I had to have it and, because I love cardigans, I asked Zang if he’d consider making me one using this spectacular fabric. He agreed and this amazing garment was in my hands in just weeks. Yet despite its price—or maybe because of it (I will go to my grave not telling anyone what I spent)—I wear it often and everywhere. In fact, I’m surprised I haven’t worn it out. I love it so much.