Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by P&G. Save on NEW Gain Flings and Tide Pods at Target. Text CLEAN to Target (827438) for mobile coupons*.

For the most part, my laundry room has looked like this for the past few months. A basket full of clean clothes waiting to be folded and put away. More clothes hanging on the drying rack, waiting to go to the basket.

I’ve gotten a bit behind on laundry.

I blame Mary Virginia. I also blame winter, two babies in cloth diapers, Kool Aid hand prints on the slip covers of my couch, and my husband who insists on a clean pair of socks every single day.

No matter how behind I get on laundry, I never take shortcuts to just get it done already.

I always hang my clothes on the clothesline, even in winter, and I’d rather let my shirts get wrinkly in a laundry basket than fold them the fast, ahem, “wrong” way.

Behold the “correct” way to fold a shirt:

1. Fold both sleeves over, using two fingers to measure from the collar.

2. Fold the shirt up from bottom to top using a fancy tri-fold.

3. Done! A beautiful stack of shirts.

[Brigham doesn’t help with folding. Not at all. Not even once.]

When Tom and I were first married and I folded his shirts this way, he said they looked like they were from a store.

I’ve always remembered him being impressed with my folding; I think about that comment every time I fold his shirts. Such a newlywed memory.

I learned all this stuff — washing, hanging, folding — from my mom. I’m particular about it because she was. [Except the part about leaving unfolded clothes in the basket; I didn’t learn that part from her. She actually folded clothes at the clothesline before even bringing them inside. Something about them not getting wrinkled that way…]

Laundry is a very ingrained, personal thing. It is for me, anyway. I’ve used the same detergent, the same process since I started doing my own laundry in college.

I won’t switch it up on a whim; I have to be convinced.

I got a chance to try Tide Pods and Gain Flings from Target, which would be a switch from my normal routine. But I was willing to make this switch for two reasons.

First, the only detergent I’ve ever used is Tide, so I knew I could trust the brand.

Second, this is a change that could make my laundry routine easier without cutting corners.

It’s easier because these little pods pack a big punch. They’re pre-measured, plus the Tide Pods include detergent + brightener + stain remover, and the Gain Flings have 50% more scent + Oxi boost + Febreze.

In that little pod!

[If you have a giant or extra-dirty load, just use two pods.]

These are also awesome because you can, as the name suggests, just fling them in the wash. This is especially timely for me because Mary Virginia wants to be held all the time, so I can only do things that require one hand. Some things I cannot do with only one hand include:

1. Buttering a piece of toast
2. Blowing my nose
3. Getting an unwieldy box of Tide off the shelf, measuring out the correct amount, putting it in the machine, putting the box back on the shelf, all while keeping grabby baby fingers out of the detergent.

I washed a few big mixed loads to really put it to the test. Towels, sheets, baby clothes. I even tried them with my running shorts. I’m pretty particular about technical clothes. If you wash them with the wrong detergent they get stinky, so I usually use a special detergent for technical clothes.

The pods were up to the challenge. Everything was clean and fresh — from Tom’s favorite Virginia Tech sweatshirt to Mary Virginia’s crib sheet.

So easy, so fresh. I even folded them the same day.

Not having to measure or add in extra brighteners or stain removers might seem like a little thing. And it is. But it’s the little things that make my day a bit easier, help me work through my to-do list after being up all night with a teething baby, and get me back to the living room floor where I can play with my kids.

It’s little, but it’s also big.

This post is sponsored by P&G. Save on NEW Gain Flings and Tide Pods at Target. Text CLEAN to Target (827438) for mobile coupons*.

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