Make Laundry Day Greener

 

 

Written by Jenny Catton

 

If you want to do your bit for the planet and create a greener household, a good place to start is with your laundry. Washing and drying creates a large amount of energy but there are a number of ways in which you can make the process more environmentally-friendly.

Here are some ways you can make wash day greener:

 

Wash at 30
Washing at 30 degrees uses around 40% less electricity than washing at 40 degrees, so it’s an easy change to make with a big effect.

 

Full Loads Only
Avoid small loads of one or two items and instead wait until you have a full load to make the most of the electricity used.

 

Choose Energy Efficient Appliances
Next time you replace your washing machine, check the energy efficiency before making a new purchase. Also choose a model that has specific economy settings.

 

Switch Your Detergent
Many laundry detergents are packed with ingredients such as bleaches and phosphates that can be harmful to the environment. There is however a wide range of environmentally-friendly detergents to choose from, so look out for these instead.

 

Switch Off the Tumble Dryer
Try to minimise the number of times you use a tumble dryer for drying clothes. On a sunny or windy day, hang laundry outside to dry and in winter make the most of heat from your radiators to dry your washing. If you do use a tumble dryer, you could invest in special dryer balls that cut the amount of time taken to dry clothes.

 

For more tips on being green at home, visit: www.thedailygreen.com

Categories: day greener, dryer, energy, environmentally friendly, greener nbsp, laundry, nbsp, nbsp switch, tumble, tumble dryer, washing

Life Hacks: How to Do Your Laundry without the Stress

Laundry. Is there a more dreaded chore? The piles of clothes just seem to grow and grow until you realise that you’re never going to catch up, and organising the chaos spills out into other aspects of family wellness. How many times have you yelled at your kids for leaving tissues or money in their pockets? Luckily, help is at hand to save your wellbeing from a world of laundry heartache. Here are the best tips we could find.

 

Sick of sorting socks?

Give each member of your family a mesh bag that they can chuck their dirty socks in. Then all you have to do is, once a week, zip it up, throw it in the washing machine and return it to the owner. Everyone gets their socks back and the kids can even decorate their own bag with fabric markers!

 

Tired of your towels?

Why do hotels always have white towels? Is it because they’re so chic and expensive? Of course not! White towels are easier to match when they need to be replaced and bleachable when necessary. In fact, going white is a good idea when it comes to your little ones’ clothes. You might be afraid of putting messy kids in white t-shirts, but these are so much easier to bleach. If you’re worried about the chemicals, try bleaching with lemon juice and sunshine.

 

Can’t get rid of grease?

While other stubborn stains seem to have a go-to fix – throwing white wine on red wine stains, for example – grease just never goes away. However, not only does grease have a go-to solution, it’s so simple you’ll kick yourself; chalk. Go to your nearest arts and crafts shop, get yourself a pack of chalk, and thank me later.

 

Trouble differentiating between your delicates?

What do you do when you have one or two items that need special care, like leaving them to hang dry so that they don’t shrink? You may be tempted to wash these things individually by hand, but why bother? You can keep track of the hang dry only items you’re washing with a dry erase marker, like they use on white boards. Simply write down the items you need to hang dry directly on your machine, and then you can pull the items out before you dry the load.

Categories: laundry, socks, whites