While wicker baskets are usually reserved for storing and stocking a number of materials like clothes, toys and the other household ornaments that can get in one’s way otherwise, small wicker baskets have found a niche in the gifting industry. There are a number of companies that are beginning to use wicker basket as the very packaging their wares are shipped in. Not only is this extremely easy on the environment but if you think about it also an extremely easy way to wrap anything as quickly as possible. All you have to do is just plonk on some wrapping paper and you’re done!
However, back to their more traditional uses. Small wicker baskets are pretty much the cliché American storage box especially when it comes to storing washed clothes. Like one of my colleagues says, the cliché is a cliché for a reason. In this case, the reason is that wicker baskets are extremely lightweight and portable in addition to having a number of ‘breathing holes’ allowing for the clothes and other items that are stocked in them to dry off quickly.
Another reason that they’ve become so widely spread is because they are extremely study – enough to withstand the beatings and tribulations of a 7 year old who would like nothing better than to find their favorite toy in the mess that is their wicker toy chest.
Once you bring home a set of these (Yes, a set. Just like a Russian Matryoshka doll they work best with company) your cluttered shelves will become clean in an instant. As for that laundry stash that you keep hauling around, here’s a quick tip – have a separate basket for the whites, the coloreds and then another one for the clean clothes that you pull out of the dryer. This three basket storage system has been working amazingly well since the day wicker baskets were first used as a routing station for laundry and it won’t fail you today.
If you are using them for laundry specifically, make sure that you choose a set of small wicker baskets that have been reinforced with wire mesh and has handles built into them. Another thing you want to be careful with the handles is that you should look for needs to be added on later to the basket and be one of the cut-out ones that is usually built into most of the garden variety wicker baskets that are available on the market.
Related posts: