How to Save Money on Laundry

Laundry is a routine that impacts every family's cost of living. It is very easy to waste money by not being mindful of the little details involved in doing laundry. Start saving dollars by applying these simple techniques the next time you wash, dry and iron your clothes and linens.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dryer balls
• Portable timer
• Aluminum foil

1. Sort the dirty clothes and linens not just according to color but also according to dirtyness. Very dirty, stained or soiled clothes should be washed separately from slightly soiled ones.

2. Choose the cold water setting as a default. Use warm water only for towels and bedding.

3. Use the shortest washing cycle as a default. Use longer cycles only for heavily soiled laundry.

4. Consider using store-brand laundry detergents. Name brands are often considerably more expensive, even though store-brand equivalents do exactly the same job.

5. Wash and dry full loads to save on power. Half-full loads may use up less water but consume the same electrical power as full loads.

6. Consider reusable dryer balls instead of expensive disposable dryer sheets to soften and fluff the clothes in the dryer.

7. Consider air drying. Forget the clothes dryer altogether; or use it for just 15 minutes on high heat, then pull out the still-damp laundry and hang it to air dry. This leads to considerable savings, especially in the summertime.

8. Pull clothes out of the dryer promptly to save on ironing costs. Leaving clothes in the dryer will set the wrinkles, which will require longer ironing time.

9. Insert aluminum foil between the ironing board and its cover. This will help conserve heat. Moisten the items to be ironed to soften the wrinkles and require less time to press.

10. Keep your laundry equipment clean and well maintained to function at peak performance. Clean the clothes dryer's lint filter after every load and vacuum the lint exhausts regularly. Clean flatiron surfaces with mild detergent and warm water. Follow manufacturers' instructions on cleaning washing machines to remove calcium and detergent deposits.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a portable timer to alert you when the clothes dryer is almost done.
• When buying new clothes and linens, consider fabrics that don't require heavy ironing.
• Don't wait until clothes and linens are heavily soiled before tossing them in the laundry pile. It will take more water, detergent and power to clean them.
• Schedule your laundry sessions so that you can do consecutive full loads at a time. Schedule your ironing sessions so that you can do several items at a time. Sporadic isolated sessions waste energy from the more frequent cold starts.

Resources

• Dr. Laundry Blog
• Gomestic: Being Frugal with Your Laundry

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on 6/14/2008 Great tips. I especially like Step #9. 5 stars