With everyone trying to cut back on expenses these days, I thought I'd share some of the tips I've come across over the years to save money on laundry.
- Wash in cold water. This seems to be all over the place these days. Most detergents, especially the liquid ones work well in cold water. If there are a few things that you just have to wash in hot (like children's bedding or something) combine it all in one load.
- Run your washer with full loads. Sometimes that means waiting a day or two to make sure that you have enough items to put in. Having four boys, I've pretty much given up on separating my colours/whites. I buy mostly non-white socks/shirts for them, so we can just put it all in the same load and not worry about the colours.
- Measure your detergent accurately. Don't just randomly fill the scoop - most people use much more than they actually need. And if you have a High Efficiency washer, they use even less.
- Use a High Efficiency washer. When we bought ours, I was amazed at the chart comparing the water usage of a typical top loading one versus a front-loading HE one. It uses much less water, and doesn't use too much electricity either. They also spin more of the water out of your clothes and it takes less time to dry.
- Do your laundry during off-peak hours. For us, that's evenings. It works pretty well. I put a load in most nights while the kids are getting ready for bed.
- Use your dryer as seldom as possible. Use an outdoor clothesline. This one has been going around for so long too, but so many people don't, for whatever reason. The biggest laundry expense is the electricity to run the dryer. The average electric dryer load costs about $.50 per load (found here). If you can skip it for the summer months, you'd be saving a lot of money. For us, we haven't yet hooked up our dryer at our new house - we've been here about 8 months. It hasn't been on purpose, but it has saved us a lot of money! I usually hang the clothes throughout the rooms upstairs and on the railings during the winter. It's dry after about a day and a half - not too bad.
Even if you don't do them all, choose one or two steps to help you start saving some money. Do you have any other tips to add?
lovely post
ReplyDeleteThanks again for stopping by, Amrit!
DeleteMarya, I also take a liquid fabric softener and soak hand towels in it and let them completely dry. They are a perfect alternative to using dryer sheets and you can use the hand towel over and over (about 10 - 15 loads) before you have to put in a fresh-soaked one.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea, Aletha! Thanks for sharing. I think my mom used to do something like that years ago.
DeleteI would LOVE to hang my clothes out to dry! Sunlight is a wonderful sanitizer, and I hear the smell of sun-dried clothing is also good. My problem: my house sits close to a road, with TONS of dust. there is NO way I’m going to dry them in such dusty/dirty conditions. Dry them inside, like in this post? Nope. My home was built in 1945, with very poor construction, the outside world is very present through large holes and areas that are open to the outside. (On the west side of my house, I can actually see sunlight through a large gap in the wall and foundation, about 1.5 inches thick running about 3 feet!). In the winter, there is much mold present: not visible, but when attempting to make kombucha, I was not successful due to mold forming. So..... the dryer it is for me.......
ReplyDelete;-(
I have 2 clothes drying racks (brand name Minky about $10 ea). I have summer & winter spots for them. In my old house I had no space to set them up so I set them up in the bath tub. I would leave the curtain open to speed drying ( & close if unexpected company arrived). Even now I wash one load a day so there is plenty of drying time. Also, one rack is designed to hold one load; I use two racks so each item gets 2 bars to drape over-- which allows better air flow & quicker drying time.
ReplyDeleteSurprised you did not mention washing items less often. I wear my pants more than once & bath towels are washed once a week. I wear yard work clothes more than once. Lightly worn shirts/skirts get re hung with the hanger turned around backwards so I remember it's already on double duty.
People may also want to experiment with DIY laundry detergents ( I use a powdered formula) and using vinegar as a fabric softener & soap rinse. My costs are under .05/load