An Australian mother-of-four has shared a clever ‘tub’ system of cleaning that ensures her house is tidy even with three teenagers.
The woman posted about her ‘hack’ for the family of six on Facebook, which centres around how to wash, sort, dry and fold away the washing with ease.
‘There was a post about sorting washing so I thought I’d share what I do for our family (before you ask, I don’t iron a thing),’ she said.
Firstly, she bought five different coloured tubs, one for each person and another for her and her husband to share.
An Australian mother-of-four has shared a clever ‘tub’ system of cleaning that ensures her house is tidy even with three teenagers underfoot
Firstly, she bought five different coloured tubs, one for each person and another for her and her husband to share (pictured)
‘As clothes get taken off the line (by whoever is rostered that week), they get folded how they get put on the shelf so there is no refolding in bedrooms,’ she said.
After they are folded the washing gets put into each owner’s tub and by 5pm each day must be emptied into their designated drawers.
‘I don’t wash daily but there’s always something to put in someone’s tub,’ she said.
If she walks around the house and finds something ‘lying around’ it gets placed in whoever’s tub it belongs to or the children will sometimes do ‘a walk around’ and carry their tub from room to room picking up their stuff as they go.
‘My kids are now between 12 and 16 years of age but we have been doing this for years! Works a treat.’
After they are folded the washing gets put into each owner’s tub and by 5pm each day must be emptied into their designated drawers (stock image)
To cut down on time spent sorting, the mother said she doesn’t buy any clothes that require ironing.
‘I shake things down before they go on the line and hang everything upside down. I have become an expert,’ she said.
Another woman chimed into the social media conversation to say she has a lack of storage in her home and with her second child on the way, needed an easy, quick and cheap solution the household could manage.
‘I bought these cube storage tubs with lids from Kmart. The tubs have a plastic sleeve on the front for the labels to sit in. I wanted ones with lids so the clothes didn’t get dusty and full of dog hair,’ she said.
The mother made labels which are colour-coded for each child (red for her three-year-old and green for the baby) and each label has a picture of the item plus words.
‘I bought these cube storage tubs with lids from Kmart. The tubs have a plastic sleeve on the front for the labels to sit in. I wanted ones with lids so the clothes didn’t get dusty and full of dog hair,’ she said (pictured)
‘We hate folding clothes and often have a mountain of washing so this solution works well. We can just chuck the clothes into the correct basket quickly without any thought or effort,’ she said.
‘Plus our boy can do it by himself and he can easily find what clothes he needs by himself.’
The shelving unit she slides the cubes into is from IKEA.
The colour-coded system has similarly been used by mother-of-five Deirdre Turner, 35, from Victoria, who came up with the ingenious idea after she found out she was pregnant with her second set of twins.
‘When I found out I was having twins for the second time, I started following other mums with large families online to see how they did it,’ Deirdre told FEMAIL in 2019.
A savvy mum-of-five has created the ultimate organisational system for her giant brood – by colour coding her children’s items so she always knows who owns what (pictured: Deirdre’s family and new system)
‘While at first I felt panicked about having five young boys under the age of six, it has also been a gradual process of getting organised and introducing and refining systems to see what actually works.’
The ‘ultimate colour coding system’ began this week and sees each child have a separate colour.
‘For the older three, I went with their favourite colours – red, green and blue,’ Deirdre said. ‘The baby twins are yellow and orange.’
Deirdre Turner (pictured), 35, from Victoria, came up with the ingenious idea after she found out she was pregnant with her second set of twins – and knew she had to get organised
The 35-year-old then donated all of their old kids’ kitchenware to Vinnies, gave their old towels to the RSPCA for pet beds and went shopping for colour-themed items.
‘Orange was a little tricky to find, but I managed,’ she said.
‘Each child now has in their colour: two towels, one face washer, a toothbrush and kid’s flosser, a cup (or sippy cup, depending on age), one bowl, one plate, a cutlery set, a drink bottle – and toy storage is also colour coded for the older three.
‘Then they also all have one laundry hamper, which will mainly be used to fold clean laundry into so the boys can put their own stuff away.’
Deirdre said she had seen promising developments with the new system (pictured: some of the items she has bought in different colours for her kids)
Deirdre said she had seen promising developments with the new system.
‘Already I’ve seen positive results, with the kids automatically taking their own dishes to the kitchen sink and hanging their towels up on the towel hooks,’ she said.
‘At a glance I will be able to tell who has left their stuff lying around and it will eliminate the ‘that’s not my plate’ type excuses and arguments about wanting a certain plate or cup.’
She said that ‘as a full-time working mum I need to have systems that run well when I’m at work.
‘Our house is small and needs to be well-organised to prevent it all turning to chaos fast,’ Deirdre said.
‘The idea of the kids having their own colour is that they are responsible and accountable.
‘It’s easy to see who is not putting their belongings away and it’s easy for them to find and care for their own things.’
‘The idea of the kids having their own colour is that they are responsible and accountable,’ Deirdre said – plus, it’s easy to see who has not put their plate away (pictured: her system)
Deirdre has also majorly culled their wardrobes, so that each child has five winter, five summer and five transitional outfits.
‘I’m feeling positive about this system and will introduce more colour-coded items as we go along,’ Deirdre said.
Sharing her system online, Deidre was met with an influx of praise from commenters who marvelled at her work.