Laundry is the task families most often leave out of the request and the one a shift runs into first. A week of linens and towels looks small on a list. It stops being small when the machine is in the basement, the stairs are steep, and the bed sheets cannot come off without two people. Before you name laundry in the request, count it from the real house.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

1. Count the loads from the real week

  1. Walk the house and list every washable item that leaves a room: bed linens, towels, bath mats, clothing, chair covers.
  2. Write the count per week, not per visit.
  3. Ask the person who does the laundry now which items they wash separately, which get hot water, and which must be dried flat or hung.

Bed linens per week: ____ sets

Towels and cloths per week: ____

Clothing loads per week: ____

Items that need separate washing or drying: ____________________

2. Find where the machine is

The machine location decides the shift more than the count does. Ask the family these questions and write the answers down:

  • Which floor is the washer and dryer on, and is there a step, a threshold, or a basement stair between it and the bedroom?
  • Is the path wide enough for a full laundry basket to pass without turning it sideways?
  • Does the dryer vent run clear, and does the family want air drying for certain items?

Listen for a candidate or agency who asks to see the machine before answering, names the stairs or the basket route without being prompted, and says plainly what they will not carry. Be wary of a candidate who agrees to all the laundry without asking where the machine sits.

3. Name the linen route in writing

  1. Mark the path on paper, room by room: bedroom to hamper, hamper to machine, machine to the place clean linen is stored.
  2. Estimate the weight of a full basket of wet towels and write it beside the route. If a basket is heavier than the person who will carry it can lift safely, name the second arrangement before the first shift.
  3. Decide who replaces the bed linens and how often, and where the spare sets are kept.
  4. Empty pockets before anything goes in the wash. Anything that is not clothing goes back to the family.

Soiled linen needs its own line in the written task list, including the wash setting the family wants and whether gloves are used. The caregiver should not decide these on their own, and the family should not assume they were covered by a general phrase like light housekeeping.

4. Check whether the laundry fits the shift

Add the minutes for each task on the route: sorting, loading, moving, folding, putting away. Write the total and compare it to the hours in the request.

Minutes per load: ____ Loads per shift: ____ Total minutes: ____ Shift length: ____

If the total is larger than the shift, the laundry is not a side task. It is a separate job, and the request, the quote, or the schedule has to say so. Do not let the laundry quietly push the shift past what was agreed.

5. Walk-away signs

  • The written task list says light housekeeping with no line for laundry, or with laundry in a phrase no one has defined.
  • The agency or caregiver will only wash what fits in one trip, and the house has stairs between the bedroom and the machine with no plan for them.
  • No one can say who buys detergent, who replaces linens, or who makes the trip to the store for supplies.
  • Soiled linen handling is refused outright in a house where it is part of the routine, with no alternative named.

6. Write it down before you sign

Task: ______________________ Frequency: ______________

Machine location and route: ______________________________

Who carries a full basket: ______________________________

Wash settings and detergent chosen by family: ______________

Who buys supplies and linens: ______________________________

Minutes per shift for laundry: ____ Total shift length: ____

For the rest of the hiring steps, the order of work is on the Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring page, and the comparison between agency and direct hiring is on the Hire a Caregiver in St. Louis: Agency or Direct page.