Destress the Damsel


“I was going to throw in the towel, but then I remembered how much laundry I already have.”

I’m not sure who coined this cheeky line, but it rings true for me, as it likely does with all homemakers. Unless you and your family happen to be members of a nudist colony, you probably have clothes piling up to be washed as we speak. (Although, I’m sure laundry piles up for the nudists too – in the form of sheets, towels, etc. – so wipe that silly grin off your face…nudism won’t help you escape from the laundry room!) Nudist jokes aside – laundry can be a never-ending source of stress for many women. The ever-flowing hampers, the ever-soiled garments, the ever-spinning washer, the ever-beeping dryer, the ever-strewn chairs, the ever-bursting closets, and the ever-cyclical nature of the task in general, all make laundry a commonly despised chore among wives and mothers. As the laundry mounts, so does the frustration and weariness. But is despising a chore a good use of energy? Will complaining about laundry piles help them to disappear? Since when has a negative attitude solved a problem? Daughters of God are called to be workers at home. Whenever we start to despise any aspect of that calling, a perspective shift is in order.

Let’s face it: laundry is a fact of life. The way I see it, we have three options by which to respond to that fact: We can either a.) quit our homemaking, and leave the laundry to someone else, b.) dread doing the laundry, and moan about it every day for the rest of our lives, or c.) tackle the laundry as cheerfully as we know how, and maybe even learn to take some delight in our accomplishments. Which will we choose?

For us damsels, Throwing in the Towel just isn’t an option. And we all know how God views grumbling and complaining. So, I guess we’re left choosing the high road: option C. Friend, are you ready to win the laundry battle once and for all? Today, I have 5 simple “rules” for you (we’ll call them battle strategies) that I hope will make your laundering duties 1.) easier, and 2.) more enjoyable. Firstly, we will consider…


Wash whites after each and every use…don’t put them back on the hanger until they are laundered.

Have you ever pulled a once bright, crisp, white garment out of your closet, only to find out it had deteriorated into a dull, dinghy, yellowed thing, stripped of its former glory? If so, it’s probably because you didn’t follow The White Rule. While some garments are fine to be placed back into the closet without laundering (any item that is free of sweat, dirt, stains, etc. is usually a fine candidate for a second wear) white clothes do not fall into this category. Even if a white garment looks and smells clean, oils from your skin will begin to yellow the item over time as it hangs in your closet. Save yourself the hassle of stain removal, and always put whites straight into the hamper after every use. Trying to minimize one piece of laundry now isn’t worth the risk of a big laundering headache later. You want to work smarter, not harder.

Now, what if you failed to follow The White Rule in the past, and have yellowed whites to contend with? Time to turn to your new best friends: water, hydrogen peroxide, and the sun. Don’t ask me to explain the science, but this high-powered combination works wonders at removing stains from white clothing. Grab a clear, plastic storage container, and submerge your white garment into a mixture of 75% water and 25% hydrogen peroxide. Cover with a clear lid or plastic wrap, and place outside on a sunny day. Leave the tub in direct sunlight for 4 or more hours…this will greatly reduce, or eliminate, the stains on your white items.

Christ Connection: And His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. – Mark 9:3

Don’t Throw in the Towel. Follow The White Rule, and win the laundry battle once and for all!

Secondly, we will consider…


Arrange your closet by the color wheel…don’t neglect to keep a system of organization.

If you want to make laundry fun (yes, it’s possible!) your closet ought to be a place of beauty and order. If your closet is unorganized and has no sense of logical arrangement, you’re not going to want to spend any time there. However, if your closet is organized and well-arranged, time spent inside will be a delight. I highly recommend following The ROYGBIV Rule: it’s as simple as hanging your items up in rainbow order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). You can bookend those colors by hanging your whites to the left of your ROYGBIV clothing, and hanging your browns, greys, and blacks to the right. As creatures made in the image of God, we are naturally attracted to beauty and order, and repulsed by ugliness and chaos. Arrange your closet in a beautiful, orderly way, and you’ll find yourself drawn within its four walls.

Now, what if you failed to follow The ROYGBIV Rule in the past, and need to reorganize your whole closet from ground zero? You’ll likely want to set aside a full morning or afternoon for this task. Once all of your clothing is organized, your job will be as simple as performing maintenance and upkeep. When you have “a place for everything, and everything in its place”, you’ll always know exactly where to return each item, ensuring that your closet continues to look picture-perfect and magazine-worthy each time you enter. You will admire your work every time you see that place of beauty, making laundry a lot more enjoyable.

Christ Connection: As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. – Ezekiel 1:28a

Don’t Throw in the Towel. Follow The ROYGBIV Rule, and win the laundry battle once and for all!

Thirdly, we will consider…


Remove stains immediately upon notice…don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

There is a saying about fruit: “the longer it sits, the worser it gets“. The same can certainly be said of stains. The longer you wait to tend to a soiled garment, the more you run the risk of a stain setting permanently. The Brown Rule tells us it’s always best practice to stain-stick an item and get it into the wash right away. Of course, it’s not always convenient to wash a load of laundry at the exact moment a garment is spilled upon. If you’re out and about when the spill happens, don’t try to deal with the stain haphazardly. Wiping the spot with a napkin won’t do any good – that will only serve to smear the stain further. Better to leave the stain alone and tend to it properly once you get home. If you are at home but aren’t in a position to wash a full load of laundry right then and there, you can a.) run a tiny load for your one item, using only a smidgen of detergent, or b.) stain-stick the item in advance, throwing it into the hamper for a later wash.

Now, what if you failed to follow The Brown Rule in the past, and have stained clothing on your hands? Unfortunately, I have yet to find a way of removing stains that have “set”. If your garment has already been washed and dried without the stain coming out the first time, you might be out of luck. While minor stains can often be concealed, hopelessly stained items ought to be downgraded to underclothes, work clothes, children’s play clothes, or even rags for cleaning projects. Sometimes you must simply bite the bullet and throw a ruined item away, committing to tend to your stain removal more promptly next time.

Christ Connection: “Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before me,” declares the Lord God. – Jeremiah 2:22

Don’t Throw in the Towel. Follow The Brown Rule, and win the laundry battle once and for all!

Fourthly, we will consider…


Put each piece of laundry where it belongs…don’t allow yourself a “grey area”.

A leading cause of messiness in the home is laundry without a designated landing place. Clothing strewn all over chairs, tables, beds, or floors will make any living space look like it has been hit by a tornado. Such a sorry workstation can only make added laundry seem like more of a drudgery. If your home looks like a twister passed through, you probably haven’t been following The Grey Rule. One of the best homemaking tips I’ve ever learned is this: “never touch an item twice“. (For example, when you take off your clothes at night, don’t throw them on the floor – put them straight into the hamper or closet.) By putting each item where it goes immediately, you are only touching it once. In doing so, you are saving your valuable time and energy by eliminating the middle-man, A.K.A. the grey area, A.K.A. the floor. That’s a smooth move!

Now, what if you failed to follow The Grey Rule in the past, and your home looks like it has been through a natural disaster? First things first: tidy up the place by returning all your displaced laundry items to their appropriate spots. Don’t add newly washed laundry to the chaos; conquer one step at a time. Your mood will be positively impacted when you clean up before starting a new task. A tidy workstation is significant. Additionally, putting all your old laundry away will allow you to see how much room you have for putting away a fresh load. If you’re running out of space, that’s a good sign that you’re due for a clothing purge!

Christ Connection: No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. – Luke 5:36b

Don’t Throw in the Towel. Follow The Grey Rule, and win the laundry battle once and for all!

Fifthly and lastly, we will consider…


Keep a standardized hanger collection…don’t collect a mish-mash.

Hangers have to be among the least exciting items one can buy. While hangers get the job done when it comes to hanging our clothes, the prospect of spending money on them doesn’t exactly thrill us. Most of us don’t ever even give our hangers a second thought, as is evidenced by the random array of hangers found in the average closet. Some hangers are black, some are white. Some hangers are plastic, some are metal. Some hangers are long, some are short. Some hangers are thick, some are thin. If you really want to take your laundry to the next level, I suggest following The Black Rule. (Black, plastic, long, thick hangers just so happen to be my personal preference, but any hangers will do as long as they’re all the same.) When all your hangers are consistent, your closet will be that much more beautiful and orderly.

Now, what if you failed to follow The Black Rule in the past, and your closet is currently filled with every kind of hanger under the sun? Well, what I don’t want you to do is go spend tons of money to replace all of your hangers. Beauty and order do not trump prudence, but each of these are important qualities for the homemaker. I suggest slowly replacing your hangers over time. Secondhand stores often sell hangers for extremely low prices, as do dollar stores, or garage sales. You can also work with what you have by matching your hanger colors to your clothing colors for a sense of uniformity – classic ROYGBIV style!

Christ Connection: All things must be done properly and in an orderly manner. – 1 Corinthians 14:40b

Don’t Throw in the Towel. Follow The Black Rule, and win the laundry battle once and for all!

In conclusion…

Do you ever feel like throwing in the towel when it comes to your laundry?

Hopefully the five tips we learned today will help make your laundering duties a little bit easier and a little more enjoyable.

Remember to…

Follow The White Rule: Wash whites after each and every use.
Follow The ROYGBIV Rule: Arrange your closet by the color wheel.
Follow The Brown Rule: Remove stains immediately upon notice.
Follow The Grey Rule: Put each piece of laundry where it belongs.
Follow The Black Rule: Keep a standardized hanger collection.

While none of these “rules” are moral laws, they are helpful battle strategies that can aid us in conforming more toward the image of Christ in our daily life. How so? Think about it:

Jesus is the master whitener. Jesus is the radiant rainbow. Jesus is the expert stain-remover. Jesus cleans up our old mess to make room for the new. Jesus brings beauty and order. Best of all: you’ll never catch Him throwing in the towel. I want to be just like Him, down to the way I do my laundry. What say you?

You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face. – Unknown

For God’s glory,
Mrs. Dustin Bolks

Chaste Bolks is a church of Christ preacher’s wife, and the home educating mother of two children. She and her family currently reside in Northwest Iowa.