The Laundry Room Deck

Why does this happen here?

1. Nothing marks the moment a cycle ends → MISSING TRIGGER
2. Whoever starts a load is not the one who moves it → UNCLEAR OWNERSHIP
3. The door is shut between loads, so the drum never dries out → MISSING STANDARD

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. The lint screen goes back in without being cleared → MISSING STANDARD
2. Nothing records when the duct was last cleared → MISSING TRIGGER
3. The duct behind the machine is crushed, kinked or packed with lint → SAFETY CONSTRAINT

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. The lids are the nearest flat surface in the room → NO ASSIGNED HOME
2. The folding counter is covered, so things migrate here → INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY
3. Nobody ever agreed the lids stay bare → MISSING STANDARD

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

A drum you have to empty before you can fill is the single reason a household skips the last step of a wash day.

You need

• masking tape and a pen
• the vent brush if the lint screen is due a clean

Steps

1. Empty both drums, take everything off both lids, clear the lint screen and put it back, prop the washer door ajar, and write this month on a strip of tape on the side of the dryer.
2. Check the tape already on the dryer: if the month reads more than a year ago, treat the duct itself as this cycle's real job, not next month's.
3. Wipe down anything sticky left on either lid before you leave the room.

Victory. Both drums empty, both lids bare, the door propped open, and a date on the dryer you can read from the doorway.

If this keeps happening

• MISSING TRIGGER
• MISSING STANDARD

Part of: WASHER AND DRYER and WASHER AND DRYER STANDARD

Next: WASHER AND DRYER STANDARD

Lint packed behind the dryer is the highest fuel and the highest heat of any indoor room outside the kitchen, and a hose gone hard at the collar sprays without warning.

You need

• a step stool or helper to ease the machine forward
• a vacuum with a hose attachment
• rigid metal duct if the current run is a foil accordion

Steps

1. Unplug the dryer and ease it forward on its feet far enough to reach the duct connection.
2. Disconnect the duct and vacuum out any soft grey packing built up at the bend behind the machine.
3. If the duct is a flexible foil accordion, replace the run with rigid metal now rather than promising to do it later.
4. Check both fill hoses for a hard or bulged collar while the machines are already pulled out, and replace either one that has gone stiff.
5. Push both machines back, level on their feet, and reconnect the duct fully before running the next load.

Victory. The duct is clear and rigid where it can be, both fill hoses are supple at the collar, and both machines sit level on their feet.

If this keeps happening

• SAFETY CONSTRAINT
• NO ASSIGNED HOME

Part of: WASHER AND DRYER and WASHER AND DRYER STANDARD

Next: EMPTY THE DRUMS AND DATE THE DUCT

Trigger: when the dryer buzzer sounds and you are still standing next to it

Write on

• Who agreed this: ______________ and ______________
• Date: ____ / ____ / ______
• Where this card lives: ______________________________

This is a write on card. Fill it in with a pen, in your own words if the printed sentence is not yours, and put it where the zone is. A standard nobody signed is a preference.

Ninety seconds, if that is what you have

• Pull the dryer forward, check the duct for a soft grey buildup, and write this month on the tape strip if it is clear.
• Lift the folds of the washer door gasket and wipe out whatever has collected in the seal.
• Prop the washer door open a hand's width and check the lint screen is fully clear before you leave the room.

Why does this happen here?

1. A new one is bought before the open one is finished → EXCESS
2. The open bottle sits behind the others where it cannot be seen → POOR VISIBILITY
3. Nothing says only one of each kind is open at a time → MISSING STANDARD

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. No cap carries a true dose line, so everyone pours by eye → MISSING STANDARD
2. Two people dose by two different habits → CONFLICTING USERS
3. The measuring cap is sticky and almost never gets rinsed → DIFFICULT TO CLEAN

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. The pod tub sits at or below a child's eye level → SAFETY CONSTRAINT
2. Something was decanted into a container with no label → MISSING STANDARD
3. The tray sits on the floor because the shelf is already full → INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

A second open bottle of the same product almost always means the first one had gone invisible, and a low, unlatched pod tub is a poisoning risk in a house with children.

You need

• a permanent marker
• a wipeable tray
• a high shelf or latch for the pod tub

Steps

1. Bring every laundry product onto one wipeable tray. Keep one working bottle of each kind, ink the true dose line on each cap, and latch the pod tub above shoulder height.
2. Recycle the empty or near-empty duplicate the moment the working bottle is confirmed.
3. Wipe the shelf under the tray before anything goes back onto it.

Victory. One of each kind standing on a wipeable tray, a dose line you can see on every cap, and nothing a child can reach.

If this keeps happening

• EXCESS
• SAFETY CONSTRAINT

Part of: DETERGENT AND TREATMENT ZONE and DETERGENT AND TREATMENT ZONE STANDARD

Next: DETERGENT AND TREATMENT ZONE STANDARD

Bleach and an ammonia-based cleaner sharing a shelf, or a bucket, can mix into a gas in a small room with the door shut.

You need

• a spare shelf or bracket if the bleach shelf is corroding
• the drip tray
• a permanent marker

Steps

1. Move bleach and any ammonia-based cleaner onto separate shelves, never sharing a tray or a bucket.
2. Check the bracket under the bleach shelf for rust or corrosion from fumes, and replace it if it has started to give.
3. Carry the drip tray to the sink, scrub the tacky corners, dry it, and set it back under the containers.
4. Write the job on the tray edge under each bottle, wash, whites, stains, so a returned bottle lands in its own footprint.

Victory. Bleach and any ammonia-based cleaner sit on separate shelves, the bracket underneath is sound, and the tray is clean and marked by job.

If this keeps happening

• CONFLICTING USERS
• DIFFICULT TO CLEAN

Part of: DETERGENT AND TREATMENT ZONE and DETERGENT AND TREATMENT ZONE STANDARD

Next: ONE TRAY, ONE BOTTLE OF EACH

Trigger: when a jug runs empty and you are holding it

Write on

• Who agreed this: ______________ and ______________
• Date: ____ / ____ / ______
• Where this card lives: ______________________________

This is a write on card. Fill it in with a pen, in your own words if the printed sentence is not yours, and put it where the zone is. A standard nobody signed is a preference.

Ninety seconds, if that is what you have

• Ink the true dose line on the cap of whatever bottle you use next, right at the machine.
• Line up every bottle on the shelf and carry any second open jug of the same product to recycling.
• Check the pod tub is latched and standing above shoulder height, and move it if it is not.

Why does this happen here?

1. The bags are behind a door or across the room from where clothes come off → WRONG LOCATION
2. The nearest bag is too full to take anything more → INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY
3. Whoever drops them cannot reach the bag from standing height → POOR ACCESSIBILITY

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. The bags are not labelled, so things go in the nearest one → POOR VISIBILITY
2. There are more sorting streams than anybody honours → EXCESS
3. Two people sort by two different schemes → CONFLICTING USERS

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. There is no dish to empty pockets into at the hamper → NO ASSIGNED HOME
2. The dish is never emptied, so nobody uses it → MISSING TRIGGER
3. Pockets are checked at the machine, by which point the load is already in → EXCESS MOTION

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

A bag that stays a third full for weeks is not sorting, it is clothes taken out of circulation.

You need

• three bags
• a marker or labels
• a small dish

Steps

1. Cut the sorting streams to the three this household will actually honour, label those three bags, stand them clear of the walking line, and put an empty dish on the shelf for pockets.
2. Empty any spare hamper you were holding for a stream that never filled on its own.
3. Check the floor in front of the washer door is bare before you leave.

Victory. Three labelled bags, none above half full, bare floor in front of the washer door, and a dish holding only today's pocket contents.

If this keeps happening

• EXCESS
• POOR VISIBILITY

Part of: SORTING AND HAMPER ZONE and SORTING AND HAMPER ZONE STANDARD

Next: SORTING AND HAMPER ZONE STANDARD

A hamper in the walking line is a fall you take with your arms full, and reaching blind into a bag of work clothes is how a blade finds a hand.

You need

• hooks or a low shelf for the bags
• a small parts tray for pocket finds

Steps

1. Walk the path from the door to the machines and move any bag standing in that line to the side.
2. Fix a hook or shelf for each bag so it has a real spot away from the walking line.
3. Add a rule out loud: check every pocket by hand before it goes in the bag, not by reaching in blind later.
4. Confirm the dish on the shelf catches what pockets hold, so nothing sharp waits at the bottom of a bag.

Victory. Every bag sits clear of the walking line at a reachable height, and pockets are checked going in, not pulled out blind.

If this keeps happening

• WRONG LOCATION
• POOR ACCESSIBILITY

Part of: SORTING AND HAMPER ZONE and SORTING AND HAMPER ZONE STANDARD

Next: CUT TO THREE BAGS

Trigger: when you undress at the end of the day

Write on

• Who agreed this: ______________ and ______________
• Date: ____ / ____ / ______
• Where this card lives: ______________________________

This is a write on card. Fill it in with a pen, in your own words if the printed sentence is not yours, and put it where the zone is. A standard nobody signed is a preference.

Ninety seconds, if that is what you have

• Tip the fullest sorting bag out and start that load right now, even if it is not the usual day.
• Check the pocket dish on the shelf and empty anything sitting in it before the next load goes in.
• Straighten each sorting bag so none of them stand in the walking line to the machines.

Why does this happen here?

1. Nothing says when the baskets get taken to the bedrooms → MISSING TRIGGER
2. One person folds and delivers for everybody → UNCLEAR OWNERSHIP
3. The wardrobes they are going to are already full → INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. It is the only clear flat surface on this floor of the house → NO ASSIGNED HOME
2. Things were parked here on the way somewhere and never collected → UNRESOLVED DECISION
3. It has looked like this so long nobody sees it any more → PERCEPTUAL BLINDNESS

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. The counter has to be cleared before folding can start → EXCESS MOTION
2. There are no hangers to hand for the things that should not be folded → WRONG LOCATION
3. Loads are mixed, so every basket has to be sorted by bedroom first → MISSING STANDARD

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Clean clothes with nowhere to go are the reason a dry load goes back in for a second tumble.

You need

• one basket per bedroom
• six spare hangers

Steps

1. Clear the counter completely, put one empty basket per bedroom underneath it, hang six spare hangers on the rail at the end, and take every piece of clean clothing in this room to the bedroom it belongs in.
2. Wipe the bare counter once it is cleared, before the next load lands on it.
3. Confirm no basket is left sitting full on the floor instead of stacked under the counter.

Victory. A counter bare enough to roll pastry on, an empty basket per bedroom beneath it, and no clean clothing left in the room.

If this keeps happening

• NO ASSIGNED HOME
• UNRESOLVED DECISION

Part of: FOLDING SURFACE and FOLDING SURFACE STANDARD

Next: FOLDING SURFACE STANDARD

One person folding and delivering for everybody is how the baskets quietly become where clean clothes live.

You need

• nothing beyond a short conversation with the household

Steps

1. Name the folder for this load and the deliverer for each basket, out loud, even if they are the same person today.
2. Agree the delivery happens the same evening the basket is filled, not whenever there is time.
3. Photograph the bare counter and keep the photo somewhere visible, so 'clear' has one agreed picture rather than a guess.
4. Check the wardrobes the baskets deliver to are not already full; if they are, that capacity problem belongs to the bedroom, not this counter.

Victory. A named folder and a named deliverer for every load, and no basket sits full past the same evening it was filled.

If this keeps happening

• UNCLEAR OWNERSHIP
• INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY

Part of: FOLDING SURFACE and FOLDING SURFACE STANDARD

Next: CLEAR THE COUNTER AND DELIVER THE BASKETS

Trigger: when you tip a dry basket out onto the counter

Write on

• Who agreed this: ______________ and ______________
• Date: ____ / ____ / ______
• Where this card lives: ______________________________

This is a write on card. Fill it in with a pen, in your own words if the printed sentence is not yours, and put it where the zone is. A standard nobody signed is a preference.

Ninety seconds, if that is what you have

• Carry one basket to its bedroom right now, even if the rest are not folded yet.
• Clear anything off the counter that is not part of the load you are folding.
• Hang one item that should not be folded onto the rail instead of stacking it.

Why does this happen here?

1. Things stay on it after they are dry because nothing prompts a check → MISSING TRIGGER
2. Far more is being air-dried than genuinely needs it → EXCESS
3. The wardrobes these clothes belong in are full → INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. The room has no moving air, so drying takes more than a day → WRONG LOCATION
2. Items are hung overlapping, so the middle of the rack never dries → INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY
3. The drip tray is never emptied and sits wet under the rack → MISSING TRIGGER

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. The rack is folded away somewhere it has to be fetched from → EXCESS MOTION
2. Nothing at the machine says which items never go in the drum → POOR VISIBILITY
3. Two people apply two different rules about what can be tumbled → CONFLICTING USERS

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

A rack that never folds flat has become a second wardrobe, not a drying rack.

You need

• nothing beyond fifteen minutes and the rack itself

Steps

1. Take everything off the rack that was washed before today, put the dry things away, wipe out the drip tray, fold the rack flat against the wall, and put six spare hangers on the rail.
2. Check the drip tray corners for standing water before you fold the rack away.
3. Confirm nothing at all is left hanging when you are done.

Victory. The rack folded flat with dry bars, an empty tray beneath it, and nothing hanging that was not washed today.

If this keeps happening

• MISSING TRIGGER
• EXCESS

Part of: HANGING AND AIR-DRY ZONE and HANGING AND AIR-DRY ZONE STANDARD

Next: HANGING AND AIR-DRY ZONE STANDARD

Items hung overlapping never dry in the middle, and a room with no moving air turns the rack into a permanent fixture.

You need

• a small fan, if the room has no window or extractor
• space in the household's wardrobes for what the rack is holding long-term

Steps

1. Hang each item with a hand's width of space from the next, rather than pressed together.
2. If the room has no window or extractor, point a small fan along the rack rather than reaching for a bigger rack.
3. Sort what has been up longer than a week: if the wardrobe it belongs in is full, fix that capacity problem directly instead of leaving the item on the rack.
4. Wipe the wall and floor behind the rack where splash marks have built up.

Victory. Every item on the rack has visible space around it, air is moving through the room, and nothing has been up longer than a week without a reason.

If this keeps happening

• WRONG LOCATION
• INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY

Part of: HANGING AND AIR-DRY ZONE and HANGING AND AIR-DRY ZONE STANDARD

Next: STRIP THE RACK AND FOLD IT FLAT

Trigger: when you open the washer to start the next load

Write on

• Who agreed this: ______________ and ______________
• Date: ____ / ____ / ______
• Where this card lives: ______________________________

This is a write on card. Fill it in with a pen, in your own words if the printed sentence is not yours, and put it where the zone is. A standard nobody signed is a preference.

Ninety seconds, if that is what you have

• Touch every item on the rack and carry off anything that is already dry.
• Empty the drip tray and dry it before it goes back under the rack.
• Fold the rack flat against the wall the moment the last item comes off it.

Why does this happen here?

1. There is no hook, so there is nowhere for them to go → NO ASSIGNED HOME
2. The hooks are above where the person who uses them can reach → POOR ACCESSIBILITY
3. Handles lean against the wall and slide, which is how they end up down → SAFETY CONSTRAINT

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. The head is put away damp because nothing prompts drying it → MISSING TRIGGER
2. It hangs head down, so water sits in the fibres instead of draining → MISSING STANDARD
3. The bucket is used to store things, so it is never rinsed out → NO ASSIGNED HOME

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

Why does this happen here?

1. Attachments are loose rather than in one labelled caddy → NO ASSIGNED HOME
2. They are used elsewhere in the house and not brought back → UNCLEAR OWNERSHIP
3. Nothing shows at a glance that one is missing → POOR VISIBILITY

Pick the answer that is true in your laundry room, then turn to that root cause card. If two are true, take the one you could change this week.

A tool that leans against a wall is a tool that will end up on the floor, and an outline is the only thing that reports a missing tool from the doorway.

You need

• a marker, paint pen, or tape for the outlines
• a labelled caddy
• tape for the bucket's floor square

Steps

1. Hang the broom, mop and dustpan heads up and mark an outline behind each one, gather every vacuum attachment into one labelled caddy, and empty the bucket and stand it inside a taped square on the floor.
2. Knock any wound hair or lint off the dustpan and broom before you hang them.
3. Confirm the outlines are visible from the doorway, not hidden behind the door swing.

Victory. Three handles off the floor with outlines showing behind them, every attachment in one caddy, and an empty bucket standing in its square.

If this keeps happening

• NO ASSIGNED HOME
• POOR ACCESSIBILITY

Part of: UTILITY AND CLEANING ZONE and UTILITY AND CLEANING ZONE STANDARD

Next: UTILITY AND CLEANING ZONE STANDARD

Drain cleaner and bleach kept at floor level next to the mop bucket get knocked, decanted or mixed during a rinse, and anything leaned behind a door swings down at head height.

You need

• a shelf above the bucket for chemicals
• wall hooks for anything currently leaning

Steps

1. Move drain cleaner and bleach onto a shelf above the bucket, never inside or beside it.
2. Walk the room for anything leaning against a wall behind a door, and hang or bin it instead.
3. Check the shelf bracket under the chemicals for corrosion from fumes, and fix or replace it if it has started to give.
4. Wipe the bottle exteriors and the shelf, keeping the cloth off the labels so they stay readable.

Victory. Drain cleaner and bleach sit on a shelf above the bucket, nothing leans behind the door, and the shelf bracket is sound.

If this keeps happening

• SAFETY CONSTRAINT
• POOR VISIBILITY

Part of: UTILITY AND CLEANING ZONE and UTILITY AND CLEANING ZONE STANDARD

Next: HANG THE TOOLS AND OUTLINE THEIR HOMES

Trigger: when you clear the lint screen at the end of a wash day

Write on

• Who agreed this: ______________ and ______________
• Date: ____ / ____ / ______
• Where this card lives: ______________________________

This is a write on card. Fill it in with a pen, in your own words if the printed sentence is not yours, and put it where the zone is. A standard nobody signed is a preference.

Ninety seconds, if that is what you have

• Hang the broom and dustpan back on their outlines instead of leaning them for later.
• Rinse the mop head and hang it to dry before it goes back on the rail.
• Check every vacuum attachment is in the caddy, and go find the one that is not.