That Japanese folding technique (look up "Japanese Folding in English" on yourtube) really is quite miraculous. I'm going to try when I get home tonight.

Hire some one to do it, and be done with it. It's well worth every penny!

I used to drop my former boss' laundry off at a wash and fold... that is a good and affordable way to avoid doing laundry. I've often dreamt of having a laundress... my situation sounds like yours Elana, except that my husband isists that I use organic detergent, fake bleach, green oxy clean wanna be and some wierd prickly dryer balls. I am seriously considering smuggling in some Tide, Oxy Clean and bounce sheets.

Lala,

If you're doing the laundry you should use whatever products you like, just like your husband can use whatever he likes when he does the laundry ;)

I live in a bungalow so... I bought a laundry basket with three storage bins on it, and its on wheels, so I just have to roll it down the hall!  I  also own the LG washer/dryer combination, it is great on electricity, plus you do not have to through your stuff in the dryer, you can leave and when you come back its dry, but it does however take about 3 1/2 hours to do a load.  One load a day and I stay on top of the laundry anyway. Also things need to be ironed more often which doesnt bother me in the least, but thats my laundry situation :)

I have three teenage children.  Each bedroom has a hamper. In the laundry room I have a bookshelf type thing that has slanted bottoms in 6 shelves, I sort the dirty laundry by colour into these compartments.  Easy to see when a particular colour has a full load to do.  Once wash is done, we have another shelf with each person in the house having their own shelf with a large wire basket.  Once laundry is dried and folded it goes into each persons basket. Then it's up to them to take their basket when it's full to their room to put away.  Keeps things neat and organized and avoids piles of clean laundry being put on a chair or bed.

Meg, I like your idea of having a shelf with each persons pile of clean clothes left in the laundry room for them to put away.  I have pre-teen girls (so lots of clothes) and when I bring clean clothes up in piles on their bed - they usually get knocked to the floor and end up mixed with dirty ones getting washed again!  Anything to get down to less than two loads of wash a day is great!  And if I build a house - definately have a laundry room close to bedrooms!

At our old home our 4 kids each had a small colourful "diaper" pail in their rooms for dirty laundry.  One of their chores was to carry the pail down into the laundry room when full.  In our new home, we have a laundry chute built into one of the linen closets upstairs.  This is directly above the laundry room and the hamper sits right below the chute to catch everything.  Awesome, however, the laundry quickly doubled as the kids ended up throwing absolutely everything down the chute. Hubby and I re-educated them very quickly!

one basket/hamper for darks, one for lights, one for non-dryer items. each one gets subdivided into whites, almost whites, colours and darks when it comes time to hit the washer.

I have always equipped each bedroom closet with a separate hamper and have used a laundry basket for collection.My  Washer 'n Dryer has always been located on the main floor which has been a plus. (ie: Kitchen linens)   Ironing chores are done in a spare bedroom.

I moved our washer & dryer into our walk-in closet a few years ago.  Best thing I ever did!  All of our clothes, bedding, towels are upstairs and within a few feet of our closet.  The only thing I have to carry up and down the steps are tea towels.  When I unload the dryer, I take out a shirt, grab a hanger, hang it up and move on to the next item.  I take the sheets out of the dryer and put them right back on the bed - no folding or carrying them around the house.  When we build our next house, having the laundry room off the bedroom will be a MUST.