5 Ways to Go Green and Save on Laundry Day

Summer is always a high energy expense time of year. With so many forces outside and inside our homes generating heat, staying cool on a budget can seem like a losing battle. With the air conditioning on full blast, everyone can use a new ideas to keep their energy bills down. Hopefully these are some you haven't heard yet.


1) This is probably a no brainer. Use the coolest temperature setting possible on both the washer and dryer. This will decrease the work done by the water heater and the dryer heating element. Less heat in your appliances also means less radiant heat in your home which translates into less work for the air conditioner. It's a moneysaving snowball effect!

2) Wait until you have enough for a full load before doing laundry. No matter what size load you wash, your washer and dryer use the same amount of time and energy to operate. You'll save electricity, water, and time in the long term.  Since you'll be consolidating the number of loads you launder, you'll also reduce the wear and tear on your washer and drying making them last longer.

3) Use a residue free soap or try reducing the amount of regular detergent you use in the wash. In many cases, you can decrease the amount of detergent by 25-50% without compromising cleaning power because of the caustic surfactants used in most detergents. If you are washing an extra dirty load, agitate then let it soak overnight to loosen the grime before running a full wash cycle. This will reduce or eliminate the need for an extra rinses when you do laundry.

4) Harness the energy of the sun to double task drying and disinfecting. If you use high heat settings in the washer or dryer for disinfecting purposes, try an old fashioned clothes line. The UV light emitted by the sun which causes sunburns is also a powerful antimicrobial death ray. If you're pressed for time, start with the clothes line and finish with the dryer. You'll decrease the amount of heat needed on laundry day, which will keep your home cooler and your wallet fatter.

Line drying tip: Hang drying clothing can leave them stiff and rough feeling. Tumble for a few minutes on a no heat setting to refluff your sun dried laundry.

5) Help your dryer work faster by adding a clean, dry towel or two.  The towel will wick water out of the wet clothes, allowing them to dry more quickly. Since the towel is dry to begin with, the heat of the dryer will evaporate moisture almost immediately so that the towel can draw out wetness continuously. A word of caution: don't get too excited about this idea and overfill your dryer. The wet clothing needs to be able to tumble freely in order for this to work.  Also make sure to use towels of similar color to your laundry in order to minimize the appearance of lint and to avoid this method altogether except for items you don't mind possibly getting some lint on.

If any of these ideas helped you or you have more energy and money saving cleaning tips, I'd love to know about it!