Laundry Room Organization and Safety Tips

The laundry room is one of the most used, smallest and usually the most unorganized rooms of the house. Keeping the laundry room organized can be quite the challenge. Between the piles of clothing that needs to be washed and dried, clean clothes that need to be returned to their proper homes and laundry products, laundry rooms can become a cluttered mess. Laundry room organization is key to saving time while doing one of the dreaded household chores. The better organized, the easier the task.

Do not use the laundry room for extra storage. The purpose of the room should be for laundry only. Remove excess and nonessential items. There are many home storage solutions  to give homeowners the extra space that they need in order to keep their home de-cluttered and organized.

Laundry Room Storage Solutions

There are many laundry room storage solutions that can help keep a laundry room organized. Some of these tips can be bought at home stores while some are great DIY projects .

1. Create a laundry sorting system. A rolling laundry basket dresser with three baskets for whites, darks and brights is a great way to organize the laundry and save time. The rolling basket allows you to move the baskets from room to room sorting as you go. Another solution is to purchase a hamper with multi compartments to sort the laundry.
2. A great laundry room storage solution is to put up shelving above the washer and dryer for storage of laundry products. Add baskets and bins to group the laundry products together. This will make it much easier to find a soap or stain remover when you need it and keep the products off of the floor.
3. Another laundry room storage solution is to hang a door organizer on the laundry room door to put your laundry products. The metal racks will allow for easy cleaning and will help keep the products organized.
4. Hang a closet rod or hanging bar in the laundry room to hang items that could get wrinkled very easily.
5. Have the entire family help in the folding and putting away of clothes, linens, etc. This will make the project must less of a chore and get everyone involved in helping.

Fire Safety Tips for Laundry Room

A messy laundry room may also be a fire hazard. Once you have organized your laundry room, it is important to make sure that it is fire safe.  Between 2006 and 2010, dryers and washing machines were involved in 1 out of every 22 home structure fires . Clothes dryers accounted the majority of the fires at 92% with 4% from washing machines and 4% with a combination of both appliances. It is very important to keep your washing machine and dryer running properly to prevent fires in your home. Below are a few fire safety tips to keep your family and home safe:

1. Your dryer should be installed and serviced by a professional.
2. The clothes dryer MUST have a lint filter.
3. Clean the lint filter after each load of laundry. Also, remove the lint that has collected around the rim of the door or lid. Built up lint in a dryer is the biggest contributor to laundry room fires.  At least once a year, clean the lint out of the vent pipe or have a dryer lint removal service do it.
4. Keep up the maintenance on dryers. Gas dryers should be inspected by a professional to make sure that the gas line is open and the connections are free of leaks.
5. Don’t overload your dryer!
6. Turn off the dryer when your leave your home or are going to bed.
7. Dryers should be properly grounded and plugged into the correct plug or outlet, not an extension cord.
8. Keep the area around the dryer clear of things that could easily catch on fire such as boxes, cleaning supplies, or clothing.