The next time you have a big mess to clean up try “the pile method”. The pile method is when you collect all the stuff that needs to be put away in one giant pile, and then sort those things — like with like — into smaller piles, and put those piles away one by one. At first it felt counterintuitive to make one giant mess, but it really does speed up the process and it’s so satisfying to be efficient and tidy. — CD

We still have an outdoor clothes line, in addition to our dryer, to take advantage of solar energy. Over time a rope line will sag. This clever, inexpensive device, a $7 Clothesline Tightener, will cinch your line taut with a hard pull. It’s affixed to the end of the line. It won’t work with thin wire lines, only rope lines. – KK

Laundry detergent sheets are a thing. Instead of pouring either powder or liquid into the tub, you drop in a napkin-like sheet of detergent. At home this makes no difference, but these tiny tidy sheets are exactly what you want when you travel. Their concentrated form takes up no room, they weigh less than an ounce, and there’s no possible mess – nothing to spill. I keep some small sheets in a baggie in my luggage. They work in a basin or in a machine. Many similar brands make laundry sheets. I use True Earth Eco-Strips ($13). — KK

Laundry Lens is an iPhone-only app that scans the inscrutable laundry care symbols on clothing tags and translates them into English. It’s free and doesn’t display ads. Here’s the result of my T-shirt label scan. — MF

Before I transition from one room to another I try to grab 10 things that I can put away and clean up. If you have kids and want to get the whole family to participate check out this Apartment Therapy article for tips on how to implement it. When I read this ridiculously simple rule for keeping your house clean it was both an aha moment and a duh moment. — CD