Kathi Lipp (00:09) 

Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter-Free Academy, where our goal is to help you take small, doable steps to live every day with less clutter and more life. And we are back talking about that dirty business of laundry, and I am here with Tonya Kubo. ? Tonya, you’re gonna have some extra laundry because you just had a little adventure, didn’t you? 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:31) 

Yes, 

  

I did, I did. We rescued a kitten and ? he is currently cuddled up in lot of dirty towels. 

  

Kathi Lipp (00:39) 

Well, you know what? And I bet he could not be happier. He has a safe place to rest and recover. Cause he was found in a couple of car engines. he is, he’s, I know it’s amazing. Well, you’ll have to keep us updated on this little bambino. So sweet. But let’s talk more about people laundry. So last time we talked about setting up a sustainable laundry routine. 

  

Tonya Kubo (00:49) 

Yes! I’m just so glad he didn’t get hurt! 

  

Yes. 

  

Kathi Lipp (01:06) 

Today we’re focusing on keeping that system running smoothly with tips for folding sorting and keeping up when life gets chaotic. ? You know, when we had five adult bodies living at our house, ? the laundry was insane. It has died down a little bit. also don’t have people throwing clean clothes into the laundry. Also, I would say one of the things that has made the 

  

biggest difference for us is on the back end, not having as many clothes. I don’t know why that happens. We’re not wearing less clothing. In fact, we insist on people wearing clothing here at the Red House. We’re big on that. But ? I know that we don’t let it get as piled up because we have our favorites. We like to wear them and we wear them over and over again. ? 

  

Tonya Kubo (01:48) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:03) 

How do you feel like laundry piles up at your house or is it pretty much is the dirty laundry contained in the the garage? Okay, hold on We’re gonna we’re gonna do some counseling here with Tonya. Like I just saw that look come over your face 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:18) 

Yeah, 

  

well the thing is, is because I live with people, back to the past episode, they want to put all the dirty clothes on the floor. Like in their mind, clean clothes go in baskets, dirty clothes go on the floor. So the hallway tends to be where everybody wants to throw their dirty laundry. And I really don’t feel like it’s that much work to put it into a basket and walk it out to the garage. But I seem to be the only person who feels like that’s not a lot of work. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:44) 

You 

  

Tonya Kubo (02:47) 

So yes, that is tough. Laundry does pile up. In fact, that is something we just had a conversation about that we’re solving this weekend. It’s you know, mom finally had to say this is not sustainable. If I have to take over laundry as I do everybody’s laundry, I will because this is very frustrating to me and I need a different system. 

  

Kathi Lipp (02:48) 

Yeah. 

  

Hmm. 

  

What the frustration is seeing all the dirty laundry everywhere or not having what you need or what? 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:15) 

Well, it’s the fact that I slip and fall on dirty laundry that’s left in the hallway, especially when I get up in the middle of the night. That’s okay. You know, Kathi, falling at 47 is a whole different ball game than falling when you’re like 11 years old. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:22) 

No, not okay. 

  

It’s a different thing. 

  

my goodness. Yes. And you know what? We also want to be able to get back up. so, yes, absolutely. my goodness. 

  

Tonya Kubo (03:33) 

Mmm 

  

Right. So that 

  

that’s my main frustration. But the other thing is, and I think anybody who has kids understands, they get littler kids, right? They get very attached to a certain outfit. Like they get in their head, they’re going to wear this thing today and nothing else will do. And I’m like, well, then you really should have thought about that yesterday and made sure that thing was clean. 

  

Kathi Lipp (03:42) 

Yeah 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:07) 

But I feel like if everything wasn’t on the floor, then it would be easier to establish a 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:15) 

Yeah, I agree. agree. you know, no, no, no, no, we’re a safe space here. And here’s the thing. We know that kids don’t think ahead. You know, most kids, there are some who do. There are some who plan their entire lives. Kimberly was one of those kids. But most kids are just living on a wing and a prayer. But it’s our goal to help raise them into good adults who can start to think ahead and can start to make these choices. 

  

Tonya Kubo (04:18) 

Thank you for letting me rant. 

  

Kathi Lipp (04:44) 

Especially you’re in such a busy time right now with your kids have a lot of extracurricular activities We don’t want to be fighting about Laundry. Okay, so I want to talk about folding and can I tell you why I resist folding I resist folding because then he comes the putting away and It’s just it’s it’s a hard thing and it’s gotten better since I have really organized my drawers But I also know ? 

  

I’m going to say something that is going to shock and surprise you. ? Marie Kondo. I am adopting something that she talked about, which is not what I normally, not what you normally hear from me because I don’t really ? love her system for people who are cluttery. If you’re born organized, that system’s gonna work for you. But. 

  

Tonya Kubo (05:22) 

Yes. 

  

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

  

I would agree. 

  

Kathi Lipp (05:41) 

One thing that she advocated for, and I thought, well, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. And I have now changed my ways. So I’m admitting I was wrong and I was judgy. And here we are. And we shall never speak of it again. But she has a folding technique where it’s not just like folding in half or folding into fourths. It’s folding so that you see kind of the, how do I want to describe this? The bump of the clothes is standing up. And so, 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:09) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:11) 

I have been using that for my sweatshirts and my sweats. I tried it one time, I don’t know, 15 years ago when all this was starting, I’m like, well, this is dumb. But what I’ve learned is my drawers needed dividers so that everything could kind of sit tight in there. And you know what? It really has made a difference. So. 

  

Tonya Kubo (06:20) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Kathi Lipp (06:37) 

? I needed more of an explanation back then for it to work. So I got these drawer dividers and I’ll put those in the show notes. But ? those have really made a difference in ? being able to ? pack things in there in a not overwhelming way, but in a tight way. I’m assuming that, well, you’ve told me your family doesn’t believe in folding clothes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:01) 

No, they don’t. only my stuff like my stuff. Brian, if he’s putting away clothes, he’ll just put it in the drawer. He doesn’t fold anything. ? I hang most of my things, though. Just we don’t have to argue about how it’s folded if I just hang it up. 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:14) 

Right, okay. 

  

Yeah, ? if you resist folding like I do might I suggest pairing it with something that you love and let me tell you what I love I love crawling into bed with moose and watching something like Downton Abbey or something i’ve watched a hundred times and I fold but I don’t put away that night I fold and I stack everything and I put it back into the basket and then the next morning I’ll put it away and ? 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:26) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (07:48) 

But it’s getting done every single day and it makes me super super happy. I don’t have a I don’t have a laundry room that Allows for folding area like you kind of have to squeeze your way in there just to Do it so i’m either folding on my bed and putting it away Or I might be folding at lunchtime and then taking it upstairs and putting it away 

  

Tonya Kubo (07:59) 

Hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:16) 

What is your folding method and area? 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:18) 

So 

  

well Brian likes to dump the laundry on the bed and then fold from there right so that you have to put you have to fold and put away the clothes before you can go to sleep It’s not my favorite. I would rather do it in the living room, you know watching TV I do 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:23) 

Okay. ? 

  

Yes. 

  

No. Yeah, because you go to bed earlier than him, right? 

  

Yeah, so that means you’re putting it away. That makes me sad for you. 

  

Tonya Kubo (08:40) 

I’m putting 

  

it away or it’s getting shoved in a basket so I can go to bed. Neither of which actually makes me happy. But I would rather do it on the couch and just watch TV while I’m doing it. That would make me happy. But yeah, sometimes I’ll just play Spotify like podcast or music when I’m putting clothes away. You’re right though, it’s like pairing it with something fun makes a big difference. 

  

Kathi Lipp (08:45) 

Yes. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Yeah. 

  

Mm-hmm 

  

and to come to find out that it really takes just about ten minutes to fold a load of laundry in my brain It takes 45 minutes, you know a business day, you know, like that’s what it takes. Yeah Okay, I want to talk about some realistic storage solutions. So we’ve talked about some of these in other ? Podcasts, but one thing for me that has been 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:11) 

It doesn’t feel like that. 

  

Mmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (09:32) 

Not life-changing, but laundry changing will say that are the honeycomb dividers that ? I keep my socks. So it looks like a honeycomb and it sits in your drawer ? and it’s just like little cubby holes for socks. And ? that has been, that has been really, really good for me. I mentioned the drawer dividers. Those have been, that’s been really helpful to really section off my drawers in a good way. And then, ? 

  

Tonya Kubo (09:35) 

Mm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (10:02) 

Something that’s been important for me, and I think it’s important for other people who live maybe more seasonally than you do in central California, is ? I have a winter wardrobe and I have a summer wardrobe. And yes, there’s some spring and fall that mixes over that, but we use clear ? storage boxes that we put up in our attic with things like ? heavy coats and winter boots and… ? 

  

Pants tend to stay the same, but like big bulky sweaters. So not having everything in my closet all year round. When I lived in San Jose, I had everything in my closet all year round. And we had some snow stuff that we kept in the garage. But living so seasonally like we do, it’s just different here. Do you put anything away in a different area or is it pretty much everything altogether all the time? 

  

Tonya Kubo (10:51) 

Yeah. 

  

Yeah, so I have under the bed storage and I put ? like formal wear, you know, because you use that once every other year. So that’s underneath the bed. And then I do put all the overcoats and ? big bulky sweaters. Those go underneath the bed during the summer months. And then that just frees up some more space in the closet. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:08) 

Right? 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Okay. 

  

I love it. Okay, we’re gonna take a quick commercial break and we’re gonna come back We’re gonna talk about maintaining your your system and troubleshooting But before we go to break, I just saw you check on the kitty everything good Okay, we’re all in this together Tonya I know you don’t have a name there are certain members of your household who don’t even know you have a new cat yet, but 

  

Tonya Kubo (11:34) 

Everything’s good. 

  

Nobody 

  

knows except for Brian. 

  

Kathi Lipp (11:47) 

This is amazing. I’m so excited. Okay, we’re gonna take a quick commercial break and we’ll be right back 

  

Okay, guys, ? we want to talk about how do you maintain the system and maybe some troubleshooting along the way. ? One thing I like is I would say about once a month, I’m doing a laundry reset day. Like I am just gathering everything from everywhere. I’m also doing some of the things that maybe have been neglected. Right now, I am washing all the throw blankets in our house. 

  

we have a lot of throw blankets. Roger’s like, do I smell? Why are you doing? I’m like, no, no, no, we’re gonna have company. I want everybody to have a fresh blankie, that kind of thing. So ? also that’s my day to match socks in case, you know, I just have a lingerie bag with ? extra socks and about every six months or so I just start over except for my Bamba socks. I’m still holding out hope that 

  

Tonya Kubo (12:23) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mmm. 

  

? 

  

Kathi Lipp (12:51) 

Someday we will find 

  

those. ? And then something I do that I don’t know that other people do, but maybe they do, is I keep a stain treatment up in my bedroom. So yes, so if I’m getting undressed and there is spaghetti sauce on something, I’m spraying it then. So in case I forget to check everything as it’s going in, that has been. 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:04) 

Smart. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:17) 

That’s been a game changer. What detergent do you use? 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:21) 

I use a super bougie powder detergent that I buy online. ? Both me and Lily are very allergic to anything you buy at the store. Even the Arm and Hammer Free and Clear, which they tell you you can wash cloth diapers in, we react to everything. So yeah, we spend a ridiculous amount of money on laundry detergent, but that’s what we do. 

  

Kathi Lipp (13:28) 

? 

  

? 

  

Really? Yeah. Yeah. 

  

? 

  

yeah, 

  

that’s fascinating. Okay, I was gonna say we do tide free and clear because Roger also Roger is super sensitive to smell, especially it’s not so much the the rubbing up against him. It’s the smell that will make him sick. And so we just and ? it was really interesting. You know, I love the wire cutter podcast and that’s their number one recommendation. 

  

Tonya Kubo (13:54) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:14) 

I’m going to ask you after this podcast to go check the name of that because we’ll have other people here who can’t use detergents and are looking for something. ? So I want to, we’re going to take another quick commercial break. And when we come back, I’m going to give you a couple of recommendations of things that I use that are, I’m really, it’s one, but it’s changed my laundry life. So we’re going to take this quick commercial break and we’ll come right back. 

  

Tonya Kubo (14:22) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (14:46) 

Okay guys, this is the part of our podcast, things that have earned a place in my clutter free home. And so I’ve got it here on my desk and if you’re watching on video, you can see it here. It is called Miss Mouths, like mouth, messy eater stain treater. Okay, yes, Miss Mouths, messy eater stain treater. And this, I get it on Amazon, I’ll link it in there. ? 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:04) 

I’m writing that down. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:15) 

This is it’s by the hate stains company. But this was developed for people to spray like on their child’s bib or when they got the baby food on there. You know what? It works for grown up food, too. And yeah. And so most of time I’m using just shout or something like that. But I’ve got this bottle of liquid gold that if I’ve got a stain either on something that’s really, really important to me. 

  

Tonya Kubo (15:17) 

Hahaha! 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

I love that! 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (15:45) 

Or something that’s been set in there like I forgot about it. I’m going to spray this on there and I’m going to let it Sit for at least 15 minutes, but this is the one I keep upstairs, too so if I need to ? if I need to treat it and let it set for a while and I have not thrown away a piece of clothing since owning this ? I am in deep mourning right now. You know, I I don’t know if you know this ? 

  

I did my talk on the purple hoodie for day spring last year and they got us all purple hoodies. I got bleach on mine. Yeah, we are, and we’ve already tried to dye it once and there’s still a bleach stain on it. So I’m going and buying more. I’m very depressed about this. but it’s, I, 

  

Tonya Kubo (16:16) 

Mm-hmm. 

  

Hmm 

  

we try a purple Sharpie? Or is it not that 

  

color purple? 

  

Kathi Lipp (16:41) 

It might be. I’ll try one on the inside and see how it looks. You know, at this point, it’s not going to get worse. It’s not going to get worse. So, yes. 

  

Tonya Kubo (16:49) 

Yeah. Can I ask a quick question? Would that get 

  

would that stain remover get blood out? My poor girls, again, allergies, they get nosebleeds in the middle of the night, they will wake up and it looks like a murder scene. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:02) 

Yes, so ? I know for blood you need an enzyme and I believe that this is an enzyme ? stain remover. So I would give it a try. You’re not going to waste your money if you buy this because it’s going to work for something else. ? Like I got it was on a white shirt and I got blueberry on it and I sprayed this on there and it got out. 

  

Tonya Kubo (17:07) 

Hmm. 

  

Okay. 

  

Mm-hmm. 

  

Kathi Lipp (17:32) 

So you will get your money’s worth. It’s not cheap, but it’s not crazy either. Okay, so this has been our two part series on laundry, because guys, we have to do it every single day, right? This is what we do. I mean, well, maybe we wear clothes every day. Hopefully we’re not doing laundry every day. But hopefully you’ve picked up at least one tip, because let’s be clear, clothing is expensive. Towels are expensive. 

  

And so if we can save one item, that’s a beautiful thing. If you can have your favorite comfort shirt ready to wear when you need it. And guys, I’ve got a new favorite. I’ll take a picture of it. A new favorite comfort sweatshirt. It’s a squirrel rescue shirt from our friend Susie Flory. Her daughter designed it. And not only. 

  

Does it have the best ? logo on the front? It has little squirrel paw prints on the back. It’s the cutest thing ever, Tonya. It’s the best shirt ever. And I need it to last for a million years. So laundry is very, very important to me because we’ve invested a lot in our clothes. We wanna keep them. ? this is gonna be my last suggestion. If you are feeling overrun by clothes, could you pack away half 

  

Tonya Kubo (18:33) 

? I want one! 

  

Kathi Lipp (18:55) 

quarter of the clothes in your closets in your drawers the ones you wear the least and see if you miss them and if you don’t that may be an idea to be able to say Donate some of those clothes so you don’t have because I just remember being overrun by clothes when my kids were younger and none of us 

  

Tonya Kubo (19:18) 

Thanks for having me, this was a great topic.