Illustration: Mark Zingarelli
Nobody wants their washer and dryer to burn a whole in their wallet, so I am sharing one of my favorite green Mommy tip’s: only wash laundry when you have full loads.
The California Energy Commission reports that “the typical American household does nearly 400 loads of laundry per year, using about 40 gallons of water per full load with a conventional washer”
By only washing full laundry loads you can reduce the amount of water used and wash less.
The savings my only washing full laundry loads are immense. You save in the follow areas:
1. Time
You save your personal time because there will be fewer loads washed. Washing several small loads can be physically draining.
2. Buy less laundry detergent
(Keep in mind that the actual amount of laundry will vary if you have hard water). But using the recommended amount of detergent will get your clothes clean and keep your clothes from being ruined as quick. Additionally, by using liquid detergent you lessen the amount of residue left on your clothes when you wash them. Unfortunately, washing and drying your clothes a lot will slowly ruin them, so only wash when you have to.
3. Reduce water usage
When you wash, use cold water. This will maximize your energy savings and your dollars too. Using cold water will still get your clothes clean but you must make sure that you don’t overload the wash load. Clothes need room to circulate so that they can actually get clean. Check out Go Green Your Home’s post about why hot water is not good to use while doing laundry.
4. Conserve electricity
Saves energy because your washer and dryer will be running less.
5. Remove Stains first
Pretreat your clothes that may have stains so that it will be less likely that you will need to wash them twice. When clothes are stained it is best to put stain release solution on them before it dries.
6. Dry Less
Use a drying rack or clothes line to dry some of your items like sheets and pillow cases. Drying your clothes less can also keep your clothes from shrinking. Heat often causes clothes to shrink over time. For towels, wash cloths, and other items you may want to put them in the dryer for the first 10 minutes and them put them on a clothes line or drying rack.
Disclosure: “I wrote this post as an entry to win a Clorox® Green Works® giveaway on the Mom Bloggers Club.”
