Comments on: 10 Frugal Laundry Tips

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:32:45 +0000

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.

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:12:48 +0000

I have a question, if you don’t use fabric softener sheets, how do you get your clothes not to cling?

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:57:19 +0000

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!

By: Kari

Kari — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:28:38 +0000

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!

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:48:13 +0000

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.

By: 50 Helpful Thrifty Mommy Articles

50 Helpful Thrifty Mommy Articles — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:50:14 +0000

[...] 10 Tips for Saving Money While Doing Laundry [...]

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 17 May 2007 21:28:12 +0000

I’ve been using vinegar lately instead of fabric softener. I think it works great. Yes, I use white vinegar.

By: JayMonster

JayMonster — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:44:43 +0000

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).

By: Karen is Thrifty

Karen is Thrifty — Sun, 13 May 2007 02:42:24 +0000

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.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 12 May 2007 07:19:13 +0000

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!