I love a good laundry trick. Anything makes this never ending chore a bit easier is A-OK in my books. And if a laundry trick saves time too, it’s definitely worth sharing.

In our house, laundry is primarily my job. It always has been. In fact, my husband didn’t figure out how to use our washer and dryer until almost 10 years into our relationship. And it’s not as though we have some super complicated laundry system: stuff in some clothes, add soap, push button. That’s it. Seriously.

Our 7 year old son knows how to work the washing machine, so…. I’m pretty sure my husband not knowing how to do a wash is a classic case of selective learning.

Of course, it’s probably better that way. The last thing I need is someone shrinking my already tight jeans, or throwing the whites in with a new red shirt. (I like pink, but not for bath towels. Some things you just want to stay white, you know?)

So although I keep giving him a hard time, I’m secretly ok with owning the laundry chores. Besides, it’s WAY less gross than hauling the stinky garbage bins out to the curb.

This Simple Laundry Trick Saves Time

You know how annoying it is when your kids (or husband, or maybe just your hurried self) pulls off their clothes and throws them into the laundry hamper inside out? And then you have check each item and turn it right side out before you put it in the washer? Ya, me too.

My aunt actually refuses to wash clothes if they’re put in the laundry inside out. She hates it so much that she’s willing to pick that battle with her kids. I never went quite that far, but I’ll admit it used to annoy the heck out of me.

So here’s what to do about it. Nothing.

That’s right. Nothing at all. Leave them inside out. In fact, you may want to start pulling your own clothes off inside out on purpose!

Here’s why.

Washing and drying clothes inside out not only saves you time when you’re in a hurry to get load of wash done, it also has some big upsides for the clothes. The “right” side of the fabric is protected a bit from the friction and potential wear and tear caused by rolling around in the machine with zippers and buttons.

This is particularly true for garments with embroidery, screen prints or other delicate decorations.

Don’t worry, everything will still get clean! I promise!

Ready to Take Inside Out a Step Further?

On board with washing inside out? Leave them inside out when you put them away.

Of course, you do have to remember to turn them right side in before you put them on. Leaving them inside out will in the closet will help keep light coloured carpet fluff, dust and pet fur off of your dark clothes. My orange kitty cat seems to seek out black clothes to sleep on, and even crawls through the back of my dresser to sleep IN the drawers. With inside out clothes, I don’t have worry about about everything looking dirty even though I just washed it.

So that’s it! Super simple and easy, but once I started it was a life changing revelation! (Ok, possibly not life changing, but definitely laundry changing.)

Happy washing!