No matter if it’s during a pandemic or living a normal life, we all want to save cash on laundry. In a time when we’re all trying to pinch as many pennies as possible, cutting back on washing clothing isn’t the worst idea in the world. To ensure that we’re not needlessly wasting any money or energy when doing the laundry and instead making a home more eco-friendly, try out these seven tips and you’ll start seeing a difference right away.
1. Wait For Full Wash Loads
It’s far too wasteful of water, energy, and detergent to turn on your washing machine if it’s only half-full. Try to wait until your laundry basket has enough coloured or white items or linen to justify a wash. Always make sure you’re sorting laundry to avoid colour bleeding, too! You can find some tips here on to sort the right way. Hand washing items in a bucket is a good idea to clean anything if you can’t wait for the washing machine.
2. Follow Your Detergent Guidelines
If you’re pouring in laundry detergent or throwing in powder or pods haphazardly, then stop! It’s best to carefully measure out the correct detergent for each load, and every manufacturer states how much to use for different load types. Also, too much detergent rarely produces cleaner, fresher clothes, as most of the time it will be harder to wash out and result in ugly stains.
3. Switch To Cold Washes & Short Programs
A lot of energy goes into heating up the water in a washing machine to clean your clothes, so by opting for a cold wash on a shortened program, you’re already saving a ton of electricity. Modern detergents work fine in cold water just as well as hot water, so don’t worry that your laundry won’t come out clean. As well, remember to pre-treat any stains so that you don’t have to wash items again. Stains will get worse the longer you leave them!
4. Remove Any Extraneous Laundry Items
Under usual circumstances, it’s fine to use dryer sheets, fabric softener, etc., but if you’re really trying to cut back on laundry costs, then avoid these items until you feel like you can afford them again. Your laundry will still come out great with detergent, but might not feel as soft and cuddly without the other extra items.
5. Skip The Dryer
Dryers certainly save us a lot of time in the drying process, but if you’re only using one to avoid hanging up laundry, then make the effort to place them on a clothing line or rack (ideally outside) as it’s often much safer for laundry and saves a lot of energy. For bigger items like bed sheets or towels, it’s usually okay to use a dryer as these items take up a lot of space (and take forever to dry), but for smaller, everyday items, hang them up.
6. Fold Laundry And Put Away
When you’re throwing clean and dirty laundry around the house, sometimes it’s not easy to tell them apart! When laundry is washed and dry, fold them and put them in drawers or wardrobes ASAP, as it would be annoying if they got mixed up with the dirty laundry pile and pointlessly washed again!
7. Don’t Presume Everything HAS To Be Washed
Underwear and socks should always be worn once and then thrown into the laundry basket, but a T-shirt or hoodie? These can usually go a few days without needing to be washed (unless you’ve been exercising in them). Do a quick sniff test on the T-shirts and check for stains, but just because you wore it for a few hours, it’s not exactly ready to be washed straight away. Jeans, especially, can go several wears without needing to be washed.
Comments are closed.