For parents, it is the most wonderful time of the year: time for the kids to head back to school. This time of year brings a lot of new things into Garner homes. There will be new book bags, school supplies, school outfits, shoes and more. In addition to all of the new items, time can become limited by trips to school supply stores, Raleigh malls, and department stores.

With all of these errands, organization, and laundry needs for the new items in the home, it can feel like there is no time left. But, the back to school season is a great opportunity to clean out closets, reorganized the house, and get the year started in the right manner.

It can be tough to know where to start. The laundry service experts at Mr. Laundromat of Garner suggest starting off with the closets. 

4 laundry tips to get the closets organized for the new school year are: 

1. Pack Up the Summer Clothes. Back to school season comes right before the start of Fall. It may seem like a little early, but it is a great time to pack up the summer clothes. Move summer clothing in organizational bins or Ziploc tight bags to preserve clothing for next summer.
2. Prepare the Handed Down Clothes. In Garner families with more than one child, parents are used to handing down clothes. Fall is a great time to take clothes that an older child wore the year before and give them to the next child. It is a vital part of organizing the closets for heading back to school and can save some money on buying new clothes.
3. Pull Out Last Year’s Clothing. If there are clothes that have been packed up from last Fall, pull those out and clean them. A Garner laundromat, like Mr. Laundromat, can help if there are a lot of clothes coming out of storage.
4. Prepare New Clothing. Many kids love buying new school clothes. Prepare to preserve the colors in new clothing by washing new clothes before wearing them. Be sure to sort the laundry into like colors and use color catching sheets in the laundry in order to preserve the clothing colors.

Before buying new clothes, bring out the clothes from last year and move the handed down clothes. Have those items laundered and evaluate what clothes can be worn another year or what needs to be donated or thrown away.

Keeping clothes clean and preserving clothes for the long term can be a handful. If that is a little too much to do this school year, consider using a laundromat such as Mr. Laundromat to handle all laundry needs.

After the closets are reorganized and ready with back to school clothing, the next step is to clean the items that shouldn’t be cleaned at home. Back to school, like Spring, is a great time for a big cleaning in the home.

3 items that should be cleaned before heading back to school, but can be tough to clean at home, are:

• Shoes, especially children’s shoes, can get very messy during the Summer. They could be covered in mud and grass stains. While shoes can be washed at home, they could damage the washing machine and must be washed one at a time. If the kids have more than one pair of shoes, this could take a while!
• Large Bedding. As a Garner laundromat, we suggest having bedding cleaned once a month. Many Garner families choose to wait a little longer on the larger bedding items such as pillows and comforters. The larger bedding items need to be cleaned, but don’t fit very well in a washing machine or dryer.
• Pet Bedding. Pets are a vital part of the family, but the washing machine and dryer hate pet fur. It can clog up hoses, vents, and more which can lead to very costly laundry repairs. Having pet bedding professionally laundered can save a lot of money.

While these are not the first things thought of when cleaning to head back to school and it may seem like it could take a lot of extra time, but the laundry team at Mr. Laundromat would love to help take care of these items.

Taking care of the items above may seem futile, but could lead to some great advantages such as saving money and keeping the family healthy.

A few things that will be gained by cleaning before heading back to school are:

• Make School Mornings Easier. Getting the kids up and ready for school can get the entire day started off in a stressful manner. But, having all clothes cleaned and kid’s closets organized with school clothes can make the process a little easier.
• Preventing Allergies and Sickness. Cleaning and laundering the items in the house can prevent allergy outbreaks and days out of school or work. Bedding is one of the most common areas in the home that holds allergens.
• Preserve Clothing. Having clothing, such as shoes and bathing suits, cleaned can elongate the lifespan of those items. Many Raleigh parents throw away kid’s shoes after a summer of mud, grass, blood and more. But, having those items cleaned can make them last even longer.
• Save Money. In almost all clothing situations, it is cheaper to clean and preserve than it is to buy new. Cleaning shoes is much cheaper than buying a new pair of shoes.

There are plenty more reasons why starting off the year on a cleaner note can be great for the family. And it may seem like there is a lot to do before school starts back, but cleaning the house can be great for the family.

If there is too much laundry to handle, bring clothes to Mr. Laundromat, a local laundromat off of Highway 42 in Garner. We charge 99 cents per pound of clothing to have clothing washed, dried, and folded! For more information on our services, call the laundry experts at Mr. Laundromat today.