Where Do You Keep Laundry Hampers?

Updated on April 15, 2012
M.C. asks from Ann Arbor, MI
21 answers

I have one hamper in the main bath. It's in a cabinet where it can slide in and out when needed. The only problem is, it fills up fast since it's only 3 feet high. I have another in the hallway downstairs by the guest room. I don't like keeping hampers out in view of the living areas, but I don't have any other solutions other than to take dirty clothes downstairs to the laundry room. Where do you keep your hampers? Do your kids have hampers in their bedrooms? Just curious to know what others do.

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Featured Answers

T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

We have baskets in the bedrooms and/or bathrooms.
But it doesn't seem to matter, my kids STILL throw their dirty clothes on the floor, RIGHT NEXT TO THEIR BASKETS!!!
You can lead a horse to water, right?
<sigh>

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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

I had 2 in my master bedroom closet but I just got rid of them this week:). I now have 3 laundry baskets (whites, colors and darks). This is so much easier. When a basket is full it gets carried to my laundry room and washed.
Towels and sheets go directly in the wash when I am ready to wash them.

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T.M.

answers from Redding on

I always had a hamper in the kids room and have one in our room.
We dont ever put anything wet in it.... which is what really causes them to stink.

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N.J.

answers from Los Angeles on

I went laundry basket crazy last summer when Target had them on sale for 1.50 :) My washer and dryer are out in the garage which is such a drag, so I have two permanent baskets out there that I use to cycle with the hampers in the house.

We have 4 in our master bath--this is primary where everyone bathes/showers so it makes sense that's where we undress. I have one for every-ones whites, one for my and my husbands colors, a basket for the boys colors, and a basket for towels only. We tend to wash towels and whites more than colors so that's why I have mine separated that way. The boys also have a small decorative hamper in their bedrooms for when they don't get changed in our bathroom. Sheets and wet clothes go directly out to the garage in the two hampers that are cycled with the ones in the house.

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K.S.

answers from Detroit on

Wonderful question. I've been wrestling with this myself for awhile now. I have been planning to move to the three hampers, one for whites, another for darks, and a last for brights, but I haven't found just the right container nor the location. We've got a tiny house, and this is particularly problematic.

1 mom found this helpful

J.P.

answers from Lakeland on

I keep my hubby's and mine in the closet. We have one for each of us. Our walk in closet is also in the bathroom so it is easier to toss them in before a shower. My daughter and step daughter have their own in their closets.
I have always had one for my daughter’s dirty clothes and she will put them in without me asking her to. My step children are a different story, they got used to tossing dirty clothes anywhere and still do even though they both have laundry baskets of their own.

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S.L.

answers from Kansas City on

When our kids were home we had a small one for each child and they kept them in the closet. They were for their clothes. We had a bigger one in the laundry room for things like sheets and towels were washed daily. If the closet isn't big enough for individual hampers maybe just somewhere in the room out of sight. If done weekly or more often they don't get too full usually. We did try the baskets for dark, whites, etc. but didn't seem to work as well for us.

1 mom found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

My daughter has a fancy hamper she picked out in her room and she brings in down when it is full.

I keep a 2 standard size hampers in my master bath. One is for towels only, the other is for all other clothes.

I also have laundry baskets organized in my laundry room sorted with colors, whites, handwash, etc.

Basically, my areas are all private so there are no worries about them being in the public eye, with exception to hubby, myself and daughter.

1 mom found this helpful

K.A.

answers from San Diego on

Everyone has a hamper in their bedroom. When it's time to wash it all get carried downstairs and dumped on the garage floor and washed from there. There really should be one in the bathroom downstairs where everyone showers but it never stays in there for some reason so it just ends up on the floor and then tossed out the garage door since they are right next to each other. Dirty clothes would never end up in a hamper at all or washed if there wasn't one in every room!

1 mom found this helpful

M.M.

answers from Tucson on

All our bedrooms and laundry room are upstairs. I have a large laundry room, so i have a rolling hamper with 3 slots for darks, lights, and whites. I also have one in my bedroom which is right outside the main bathroom and everyone puts their clothes in it when we shower. Then my 8 yr old has one in her room also that i have her empty in the laundry room hamper.

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K.M.

answers from Chicago on

We have one in the laundry room it is near a bathroom, hunny often gets dressed in the living room/bathroom/laudry room area (how the house is laid out) because he does not want to stir too much attention and wake the dogs,kiddo and me. In addition I have one upstairs with a lid near the top of the stairs (small townhome) and I have a "traveling" hamper - one that I use to transport the clothes from upstairs to downstairs that typically stays in the laundry room as well. I do not mind hampers being seen by company, my hampers have lids or are empty so it's no biggie to me.

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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

In the walk-in closets.

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☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

We've got a chute that falls into a wooden crate type catcher near the washer. (Talk about a meaningful house warming gift--that crate! The previous owners used an old tv box for 20 years!)

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M.G.

answers from Seattle on

My husband and I have a hamper in our bedroom as do each our children ages 8 and 5. It is their responsibility to make sure to put the hamper in the laundry room when it is either full or the end of the week. I wash towels and sheets as needed a few times a week but do not expect those to go into any particular hamper provided it's in the laundry room and I know about it I'll make sure it's washed.

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S.K.

answers from Dallas on

Our kids have had hampers in their rooms since they were infants. They have the kind with a mesh bag so if needed, I can yank it out and take it to the laundry room instead of the whole hamper. I also have a laundry basket (Flex and Carry basket by Rubbermaid) under my bathroom sink and one under my husband's. Mine is for lights and whites and his is for darks, jeans and reds. It's great because they are semi separated when it is time to do laundry. I have a hamper in the laundry room for stuff that we take to the cleaners.
Also, I have taught the kids that wet clothes including sweaty socks go on the side of the laundry room sink until they are dry or thrown in the washer.

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C.M.

answers from Grand Rapids on

I have one of the hampers that has three spaces and mesh bags that hook onto it.
We use one for white,colors and towels. My hubby and son has one too to put their clothes in.If it wasn't for that,all of the laundry would not get done. I just take a bag off and take it downstairs to the laundry room. If it is heavy,I close the bag up and throw it down the steps rather than trying to walk down the steps and hold the bag. I have balance problems on occasion.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

We had hampers in the hallway for the kids to put their dirty clothes in, one for dark, one for lights/whites, and one for multi colored items. The 5 year old liked to take them and use them as weapons so they didn't last long there. They are now in the laundry area and each person is supposed to sort out their own stuff into the proper hamper. Right...I end up carrying it all and sorting it myself.

I would suggest, if you own your home, to consider taking the space of that cabinet and cutting a hole in the floor. You can use galvanized tin or some other material and make a laundry chute. The home where I was a nanny had one and it went down the same chute from the top floor to the basement onto a huge cleared out area by the washer and dryer.

One of the most fun things the kids would of course do was climb down the chute nearly every day. It was pretty narrow but easy for a kid to manage. The pile at the bottom, 7 kids and 2 adults, was always enough cushion too.

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B.G.

answers from Champaign on

We need to get a hamper for the bathroom, but I have no way to conceal it. (Maybe if it were decorative ... hm, something to think about.) There's one in our room and one in the boys' room. Neither is out in the open. We also have 3 baskets that we use to carry the laundry around.

Yeah, we don't have a very good system. I blame it on our small house, but it might be time for me to try and adapt.

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K.M.

answers from Detroit on

Each kid has a hamper in there room n each bathroom upstairs has one wish. Had a laundry shoot

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K.P.

answers from Seattle on

We keep one in our bathroom. I don't care if people see it. It has a lid and laundrys a part of life :)

Then my husband has his own on his side of the bed and I have my own on my side and my son has his own too.

I separate everything. I like to wash all towels together, and generally all of our clothes separate too. Especially my husband's clothes, they get real dirty from work a lot so I just wash his stuff alone. Etc.

It makes it easy though cause I can just grab whoever's basket and wash it all cause its already separated.

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

i keep mine in my closet, and carry it downstairs on the weekends which is when i do my laundry.
i presume everyone has theirs in their closets too. but since one of the first skills i taught my boys was how to do their own laundry, i haven't had to worry about that one in years.
:) khairete
S.

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