Back-to-school season: the time of year when your calendar goes from “kind of busy” to “is this some sort of prank?” Between packing lunches, signing permission slips, and pretending you remember how to do fifth-grade math, laundry can sneak right up and sabotage your sanity.
One day, it’s all fresh uniforms and crisp gym socks. The next, your kid’s entire wardrobe is stuffed into a hamper that smells like a cafeteria met a locker room.
But here’s the thing: With a few smart moves (and the right laundry essentials), you can spend less time stressing over stains and more time reminding your kid to actually put their socks in the hamper.
Let’s break down six easy laundry tips to keep your school year looking and smelling fresh.
1. Fight Wrinkles and Odors Fast with Fabric Refresher Spray
No one has time to stand over an ironing board on a Tuesday night when there’s homework meltdowns and science fair dioramas to supervise. Enter your new best friend: Fabric Refresher Spray.
A good spritz smooths out wrinkles, kicks static cling to the curb, and leaves your kid’s outfits smelling like they belong in an upscale boutique, not crumpled at the bottom of a backpack.
Hang the shirt, spray lightly, tug gently, done.
2. Outsmart Last-Minute Washes with Pre-Measured Laundry Pods
It’s 11 p.m. and your kid just remembered they need their nice clothes for picture day tomorrow. Of course they did. This is exactly why you keep pre-measured laundry pods on standby.
No eyeballing detergent caps, no mystery globs dripped all over the washer. Just toss in a Laundry Sauce pod: powerful bioenzymes tackle stains, premium scents handle the mystery smells, and you get to look like a laundry wizard at midnight.
Detention for dirt. Extra credit for you.
3. Cut Down on Dry Time with Wool Dryer Balls
Wool dryer balls boost airflow, helping clothes dry faster so you’re not stuck folding socks at 1 a.m. They can cut dry time by up to 25%, which means more time for snack duty, science projects, or just collapsing on the couch.
Bonus: The U.S. Department of Energy even backs them up. Less dryer time = lower energy bills. Saving time and money? Consider it your A+ in laundry economics.
4. Beware of Back-to-School Stains
New school year, new clothes—and about five minutes later, new stains. Between art projects, lunch mishaps, and surprise recess incidents, back-to-school stains are a rite of passage.
Don’t panic. Here’s your cheat sheet for the usual suspects:
Ink and Marker Stains
Ballpoint Pen: Dab with rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer, then rinse with cold water.
Dry-Erase Marker: Gently dab with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball.
Food and Drink Stains
Chocolate: Scrape off the extra (try not to eat it), soak in cold water, pre-treat, wash as usual.
Ketchup/Mustard: Blot with cold water, dab on dish soap + hydrogen peroxide mix, toss in the wash.
Juice: Rinse with cold water, pre-treat, wash cold.
Grass Stains
Mix a solution of one part white vinegar to two parts water, and sponge the stain. Alternatively, rub a paste made of baking soda and water into the grass stain, then rinse and wash.
Sweat Stains
Apply a paste of baking soda and water to the sweat stain, let it sit for an hour, then launder as usual. White vinegar also works well.
5. Start a Laundry Sorting System
Properly sorting your laundry is essential to prevent color bleeding, shrinkage, and damage. However, between kids’ sportswear, school clothes, and casual clothes, keeping everything organized is tough.
The fix? A simple sorting system.
For starters, you can use different colored hampers for white clothes, dark clothes, and delicates. You can also label laundry baskets for uniforms, sports uniforms, and towels to make sorting simpler.
Pro tip: Check out our ultimate guide to sorting laundry.
6. Take Special Care of Sports Gear
Sports gear like jerseys, gym clothes, and uniforms are notorious for reeking of sweat. One way to fight back against body odor is to hang those items to dry completely before throwing them in the hamper—otherwise, they can end up smelling like mildew.
You can also add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle for extra odor defense.
Pro tip: Check out our ultimate guide to getting sweat smell out of clothes.
Laundry Sauce: For the Best-Smelling Kid in Class
When you wash your clothes with Laundry Sauce, your kid won’t just show up to class stain-free. They’ll be the best-smelling one in the whole school.
- Australian Sandalwood: For the kid who wants their outfit to smell effortlessly cool.
- Mojave Peach: For the kid who’d rather smell like summer vacation than last Tuesday’s lunch box.
- Italian Bergamot: For the kid whose hoodie needs to smell as fresh as their TikTok dances.
Stock up now and get back to being the parent who totally has it together (at least on laundry day).
