Free Printable - How to Sort Laundry Chart

How to sort laundry free printable, in two versions! If you want to be more specific about how you sort your laundry for the washing machine, as well as teach your kids how to do the laundry, check out the guidance below!

In the past year, since adding baby number four, the amount of laundry we have seems to have multiplied like wet Gremlins.

I’m not sure why this has happened all of a sudden after the fourth child, since Lydia’s clothes are the littlest of all, but it could be because the older kids get dirtier too as they play in the dirt, sand and water, so that adds to the ever growing pile as well.

While reading an excellent book called Large Family Logistics, which sadly is currently out of print, I got the idea to try and have a specific Laundry Day where we do all the laundry in the house. Throughout the week, I also have to wash a couple of loads of cloth diapers and bed sheets, but everything else currently gets washed on Thursdays.

You might also like: No-Grate Homemade Powdered Laundry Soap

To conquer the mountain of clothes, I’ve enlisted my children’s help. But since our laundry room is in the basement, I would continually have to go downstairs to answer questions like “what pile do the blacks go in?” “what kind of water do I use?” (meaning water setting on the machine) and “can I use these leggings as a funny hat?”

While the last one is truly unrelated to washing clothes, most of the questions I would get from my 6 and 8 year old were repetitive. I decided I needed to be more efficient with my time {plus, I’m sorta lazy} so I made a How to Sort Laundry chart that I can hang in a frame in the laundry room to show my children two things:

What type of piles to sort the laundry into for washing.
What settings to use on the washing machine for the different piles.

For the last three weeks, this has been a complete success! And so I share my laundry printable with you today, hoping that you will find it helpful in your own home!

7 Tips for Teaching Your Kids How to Sort Laundry

A couple of things I want you to know.

I realize that the laundry process is different in everyone’s house. You may think I’m insane for washing any clothes on hot or for sorting my darks into different piles.

But growing up in a home with a mother who was incredibly particular about her laundry, I have very much relaxed my standards ;) This is how we like to do it and I hope it’s helpful for you!

For our family, getting our kids to sort laundry seems to work best starting when they are about six years old. (Pic of my cute helpers below!)

1) Bring your child to the laundry room or washing area with a big pile of dirty clothes and laundry, preferably all of the kinds on the printable, so they can get some hands-on experience!

2) Show your children how the washing machine works and where to put in the detergent. You can write out some directions on a notecard and hang it by the machine if that helps them remember.

3) Explain where you want your kids to sort the laundry into their various piles. Explain how full the washing machine should be with clothes, so they know to stop if the load is getting too big.

4) Assist them in using the detergent. Keeping it on a low shelf so they can reach it is helpful of course.

5) Help the first couple of times and then encourage your kids to do the task most of the way through all by themselves, checking on them for the first few tries if you want to.

6) Encourage your children, even if they mess up! It’s not the end of the world and your relationship with them is more important than perfectly done laundry :)

7) Move on to helping them switch the laundry into the dryer after they have mastered the washing machine! Enjoy having one less chore to do once they become skilled “laundry ninjas”, as my 6 year old likes to say ;)

The laundry printable doesn’t tell your kids how to put in detergent and start up the washing machine. I just spent a couple of Laundry Days with my kids teaching and then monitoring and checking on their progress before they hit “start”. Being they are 6 and 8 it didn’t take long for them to catch on! And the three year old LOVES to help so he’s my little sidekick when it’s our turn. :)

How to Sort Laundry Printable (Two Options)

I have created two options, a darker, “chalkboard” like print and a floral print that uses less ink.

Chalkboard How to Sort Laundry Printable (PDF)

Floral How to Sort Laundry Printable (PDF)

If you’d like to download an IMAGE (jpg) of this FREE How to Sort Laundry Printable, just click here!

Printing Suggestions

For the chalkboard print, I would suggest having it printed out at Staples, Walmart or another print shop on cardstock or photo paper since it is mostly black and will use a lot of ink. It is an 8×10 printable that can also be printed on a regular 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper.

The floral one is easier to print at home on cardstock since it uses less ink.

Laundry & Cleaning Products to Make the Job Even Easier!

Some of our favorite, time-tested laundry and cleaning products that we love and highly recommend! I sometimes purchase my products at Target or Amazon when the deals are good, but I really like Grove Collaborative, especially because they have products that are safe and natural, which I want for our family. If you’d like to try some products from Grove, you can get a free gift set, by clicking here.