10 Frugal Laundry Tips
May 11, 2007 by Karen Weideman
Filed under cleaning, energy saving, frugal friday, frugal living
About 90% of the energy used for washing clothes is for heating the water. Unless you are washing clothes that are really dirty, the cold water wash will usually work fine. I wash all of our colored clothes in cold water and I wash the towels and whites in warm water. This seems to work fine for us.
More thrifty laundry tips:
1. Wash only full loads. If you have to wash a smaller load then adjust the water level.
2. Don’t overdry your clothes. If your dryer has a moisture sensor, use it.
3. Clean the lint filter after every use.
4. Periodically inspect your dryer vent to make sure it’s not blocked. (When we moved in this house, I thought our dryer was broken. Our vent was blocked.) This will help save energy and prevent fires.
5. Air dry your clothes, if possible.
6. When buying new appliances, look for the energy star. When buying a new dryer, look for a moisture sensor.
7. Always rinse in cold water.
8. Dry towels and heavier cotton separately from lightweight clothing.
9. If your clothes are really dirty, wash them in warm water instead of hot.
10. Add a cup of vinegar to your wash. It will act as a laundry booster and softener.
Do you have any tips to add?
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Along the lines of #5– if you air dry your clothes and find that they are too “crunchy,” after they dry (or are almost dry) throw them in the dryer for as little as 5 minutes, and they will be just as soft as if you had dried them the entire time!
Maria, You’re right! I’ve done this many times. Thanks for sharing.
I also put my clothes in teh dryer for 3-4 minutes with a damp cloth to get the wrinkles out. It is faster than the iron.
Living in Germany where dryers are scarce and electricity is very, very expensive, everything has to be air-dried. In the summer, I put things out on the balcony and they’re dry in 20 minutes or so.
In the winter, it’s another story and I miss having a dryer more than anything.
Maybe, though, just maybe, if everyone air dried in the summer months, the oil and gas supplies would last just a little bit longer.
Great post, I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about using air conditioners in thrifty ways this summer!
Kate, I lived without a dryer for many years and it was horrible, especially in the winter!!! I’ll have to give some thought to a post about air conditioning. I did one in the winter about saving energy, but one for summer use would be good too.
Several More tips I have acquired over the years.
1. Don’t use fabric softner sheets. The chemicals used in these things cause havoc on your dryer and its efficiency.
2. If you ignore number one, then at least scrub your lint screen periodically. (i.e. with a toothbrush). All the chemicals in the dryer sheets cause little micro-remnants to get caught in the screen. This makes the screen less efficient at grabbing the lint, causes the lint to stick to the screen when it does, and does not allow proper airflow. Cleaning out the screen will help things flow smoothly.
As a tack on reminder to Number 10. WHITE VINEGAR ONLY! No red wine or balsamic vinegars please folks. (P.S. The vinegar will also help prevent Mold from growing in unseen nooks and crevices of your washer).
I’ve been using vinegar lately instead of fabric softener. I think it works great. Yes, I use white vinegar.
I always use baking soda as a laundry booster and then vinegar in the rinse cycle, works great on those extra dirty loads. Note: using them at the same time will do nothing because the acidity/base cancels them out.
I agree about washing everything you can in cold water. Make sure though that when you wash sheets you wash them in hot water. It may be a pain, but washing sheets in hot water helps prevent the growth of bed bugs, which is a problem you definately don’t want!
Kari: Yes, I usually wash our sheets in hot water to kill dust mites. I don’t think washing your sheets in hot water will prevent bed bugs though. My husband used to work in pest control. He says you don’t ever want to get bed bugs. They’re horrible to get rid of!
Laura: I like to add 1 cup of baking soda to my whites and allow them to soak. The results are fantastic!
Thanks for dropping by!
I have a question, if you don’t use fabric softener sheets, how do you get your clothes not to cling?
Julie: I use white vinegar instead of liquid fabric softener or sheets. I add the white vinegar to the wash, in the same way that you would add liquid softener.
Thanks for dropping by.