Money Saving Series for Real People- Laundry

Why laundry? Why now? Is there that much to $ to be saved in doing laundry?

Yes.

How much?

That depends on you.

If you read my post from yesterday, then you know how your laundry detergent works. It's the agitation from the washing machine in the water that gets it clean.

I remember when we had an upright washer, on some occasions I would pack it so full, and we used powdered detergent because it was cheaper, there would be white residue all over the clothes. So that load had to be split into 2 loads and re-rinsed. That wasted water, time and $.

• So the idea is to make sure you have a full load, but don't pack it too full or they won't get clean. Like with cars, washing machines come with an owners manual (if you get it new, and if you're getting it used from a reputable looking person at a yardsale (as my mom calls them) then they just might have the owners manual. If they don't have it handy, you can ask if you leave your name & number if they find it, can they call you? Worst thing that can happen is they say no. But you've just bought a washing machine from them- you've done them a favor.) Otherwise in the age of the internet, you can find the manual online. Find out what the recommended wash size is.

• But then your detergent. Just don't use as much, as I already went over in yesterdays post. In an HE machine, that's already very little, but you can still use less. For example, the detergent I'm using now, comes with a cup like most liquids do, and has fill lines on it, one for regular and one for heavily soiled clothes. For our house, heavily soiled is my husbands clothes. When he's home, he's working on something and is getting pretty dirty & smelly in the process. When he's at work, he's not getting as dirty and sweaty, but he's wearing the same clothes all day long, and likely hasn't had a shower in days. And he smokes a pipe, so his clothes REEK! I use less than the recommended amount for a regular wash on his clothes, run a normal cycle (not the heavy duty) and they are pleasantly clean & fresh when they come out of the washer.
• Don't try to skimp and buy the regular detergent for your HE machine either. The HE kind costs more b/c it will not get as sudsy, which is a disaster for your HE. Those very suds can coat the internals of your machine b/c they puff up and get where a regular HE detergent can't. And you just might need to make use of your warranty. So protect it.
  
• Wash in cold. Don't buy the detergents specifically for cold water. If you have something super dirty-oily, then a presoak in your sink in hot water will suffice.
  
• Line dry. The sunlight is free. The UVA rays will bleach out any stains and kill any germs. Also kills the nasty odor causing bacteria that sometimes doesn't get killed in the dryer. You can pop them in the dryer for a couple of minutes with some dryer balls when they're almost dry or dry to soften them.
• If you're saying, I don't have time to line dry b/c I do my laundry at night. Hmm. If you have a front loader, you probably have a delay setting so it can be done when you get up in the AM. For example, I get up at 7 am everyday. I know the regular wash takes about an hour. So at midnight I set it for it's max time which is 6 hrs and it's ready when I get up for me to put it on the line. And it can stay there all day til you're ready to take it off, when you get home from work, or running errands or whatever. So they're also not laying around in a dryer for a long time getting wrinkly.
• Invest in some dryer balls. You can eliminate the need for fabric softeners and your clothes will dry faster with them.
  

• Wash full loads. I have 3 hampers. 1 for cloth diapers. One for lights & delicates and one for darks. They're presorted and I wash those 3 loads.

Good luck!