Table of Contents:
1. My laundry room was a laundry *doom*
2. The great laundry basket invasion of 2021
3. Storage hacks that kinda (don’t) work
4. Meet the Laundry Turtle. Yes, that’s the real name.
5. Why collapsible is the new sexy
6. Tangent time: my mom’s weird sock habit
7. My current setup (a.k.a. The Great Taming)
8. Real talk: things that still stress me out
9. Try this, but like, don’t blame me if it sucks
10. Send help and your laundry hacks pls 🙏
Content:
1. My laundry room was a laundry doom
Okay, picture this: one narrow hallway masquerading as a “laundry space,” complete with aggressively loud machines, one sad wire shelf, and a mountain of clean-but-never-folded socks. That was my reality for, like, way too long.
Every time I tried to Marie Kondo the place, I ended up just shoving more stuff behind the dryer and pretending I’d “get to it later.” (Spoiler: I never did.)
2. The great laundry basket invasion of 2021
You know what actually made it worse? Laundry baskets. I once owned FIVE. Why? Couldn’t tell you. Maybe I blacked out at a Bed Bath & Beyond clearance sale. Each one was a different shape, half were cracked, none of them stacked, and they took up so much space that I had to do this weird side-step dance just to reach the detergent.
They were the monsters under my laundry room bed—minus the bed, plus two mismatched socks and an expired bottle of oxygen bleach.
3. Storage hacks that kinda (don’t) work
You ever scroll Pinterest at 2 a.m. and convince yourself you’re gonna DIY a wall-mounted laundry station using a couple of hooks and a dream? Yeah. Been there. Bought the Command hooks. Watched them suffer and detach dramatically the first time I hung up a bath towel.
Also, those stackable plastic drawers everyone swears by? They work… until they don’t. Like when the bottom drawer gets stuck and you’re too tired to deal so you just take the whole drawer out and leave it on the floor for three days.
4. Meet the Laundry Turtle. Yes, that’s the real name.
Enter: the thing that changed my laundry life (said with dramatic Lifetime movie voice). It’s called the Laundry Turtle. It’s collapsible. It’s compact. It doesn’t stab you in the thigh like a spiky plastic basket. And fun fact: it folds into a freakin’ disc. Like a laundry frisbee. I’m obsessed.
It’s made with flexible, sturdy material and it kind of *hugs* your laundry, which weirdly makes laundry feel… less terrible? IDK. Point is, it’s cute and shockingly functional.
5. Why collapsible is the new sexy
There’s just something really satisfying about seeing that pile of chaos shrink into something the size of a dinner plate. When I’m done using it, I slide it onto a shelf between the dryer sheets and that one Swiffer refill I’ve had since 2019.
Seriously, if you’re short on space (or patience), collapsible laundry baskets are a game changer. I swear I’ve regained, like, three square feet of my laundry nook ever since I made the switch. If you want more convincing, here’s someone who literally wrote a whole post about how collapsible laundry baskets changed their life. Same, friend. Same.
6. Tangent time: my mom’s weird sock habit
Okay pause—quick sidebar. My mom used to iron socks. IRON them. Like, with heat and effort. She said it “made them crisp.” And then she’d fold them into military-grade sock balls that could *probably* be used in self-defense situations.
Meanwhile, my current sock system involves shoving all unmatched ones into a grocery bag and whispering empty promises about “reuniting them someday.”
7. My current setup (a.k.a. The Great Taming)
Now, I’ve got one collapsible Laundry Turtle (the teal one, duh), a hook behind the dryer to hang it when folded, and one set of small labeled bins for sorting whites, colors, and that mysterious “weird texture” category. It’s not Instagram-worthy, but it works. And more importantly: nothing falls on me anymore.
If you’re wondering how to pick a collapsible laundry basket that doesn’t collapse in *quality*, I found this hilarious yet oddly accurate review about choosing the right collapsible laundry basket and avoiding ones that fall apart emotionally (or literally).
8. Real talk: things that still stress me out
The lid to the fabric softener jug always leaks. Always. There are at least three socks that permanently live under the washing machine, collecting lint and shame. And I still haven’t found a folding method that I don’t immediately forget five minutes later.
But you know what? It’s progress. Tiny, slightly crooked progress.
9. Try this, but like, don’t blame me if it sucks
If you’re drowning in your own avalanche of laundry, maybe try the collapsible basket thing. Start small. Start with one. Start by throwing out the one with a mystery hole in the bottom (you KNOW the one).
Also, pro tip: if you’ve got roommates or go to a laundromat, these baskets are a godsend for transporting wet laundry that you 100% forgot about until the lady next to you glared it out of the washer into a corner. Been there. Don’t want to go back. Turns out collapsible laundry gear is actually ideal for folks on the go—whether that’s a dorm dweller or a van-lifer—and this breakdown of different uses for collapsible laundry baskets totally opened my eyes to how versatile these things actually are.
10. Send help and your laundry hacks pls 🙏
Anyway, that’s my story. From chaos to slightly-less-chaotic chaos. I will never be the person who color-codes their sock drawer, but at least I’m not tripping over a sea of plastic baskets anymore. If you’ve got tips, tools, or strong opinions about mesh vs. cotton… hit me up.
Oh—and if you secretly microwave your dryer sheets (totally not safe) or have a playlist called “Folding Vibes Only,” I think we should be friends.