Comments on: 5 Tips For Saving Money and Energy on Your Laundry

By: JMK

JMK — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:45:23 +0000

Electricity is charged a different rates at different times of day in our area so running laundry (particularly the dryer) in off peak times can save 50%. I load the machine before I head to bed and set it to start at 4am. When I get up at 5:30 I move it to the dryer while I wait for the morning coffee to brew and have it folded before the rate goes up at 7am.

I also use our toaster oven whenever possible. I don’t know what the savings are, but it’s got to be cheaper to run a little oven rather than the big oven to bake a meatloaf or small casserole.

Make intentional leftovers. When cooking pasta or rice we always cook extra so be used in a different meal the next night. It not only saves time the second night, but it’s one less burner running to repeat the same task. When cooking onions and ground beef for spaghetti sauce, just double everything and freeze half for another night.

By: Your Money Relationship - 10 Ways to Go Green and Save More Than $500 Per Year

Your Money Relationship - 10 Ways to Go Green and Save More Than $500 Per Year — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:04:00 +0000

[...] I have talked about this before in my post on saving money and energy on your laundry. [...]

By: the weakonomist

the weakonomist — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 04:50:42 +0000

I have a very simple way to save on laundry – don’t do laundry. I’ve done the math on the “clean to dirty” ratio of per use items. I can get 3-4 uses out of work clothes before they are in need to cleaning again. It sounds gross until you try it.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:59:20 +0000

@Caley – Hope you are enjoying Korea! Not sure if I would like the idea of not having a dryer. I guess you have to work with what you got!

@Pinyo – I am going to give the dry towel a try. I have heard of that before but I never really remembered about it when it came time to dry.

By: Pinyo

Pinyo — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:06:49 +0000

I wish I can convince my family on the half detergent philosophy. Trust me, I tried.

Here are two more tips. 1. Pick quick or “lightly soiled” cycle. 2. Throw in a dry towel into your dryer for a quicker drying time.

By: niv

niv — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:55:28 +0000

I agree with Caley and lulugal11, we hang our cloths outside during the summer and on a rack indoors during the winter. If you give the cloths a good stretch you can get out all the wrinkles from the wash and after they are dry they don’t need to be ironed.

By: lulugal11

lulugal11 — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:16:17 +0000

I bought a drying rack and use that to dry my clothes. You might want to look at that in the summer. Just put the clothes on the rack and you are done.

If you hang them on hangers while wet they dry on the hangers hanging off the rack and don’t need ironing.

I have a spare room and dry clothes in the winter as well….but you don’t need to be that extreme.

By: Caley

Caley — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:05:38 +0000

Hey Adam-
I saw your website on Facebook, so I started reading. My finace and I are living a small apartment in South Korea right now and here- there are no clothes dryers. I’m sure they exist in this country, but I haven’t seen any and we don’t use one. We just hang up everything. It takes longer to dry and sometimes the clothes are a bit wrinkled (and we don’t iron anyway), but it must be cheaper! Well that’s my tip- I don’t have much choice in the matter, but I’d imagine it could help others save some money.

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:09:21 +0000

We don’t even have hot water running to our washer. You didn’t mention specifically, but I do see that you are using a liquid detergent. Powdered detergent only flakes up and causes a mess when the water is freezing cold. In the summer here, the water is fairly warm all the time, so okay to use a powder. It is great that you are so dedicated to your laundry. Your fiancée must love that! She’s a lucky gal!

By: Yana

Yana — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:50:12 +0000

Good tips. My husband also likes to do the laundry. We only do full loads, and don’t let them sit in the dryer. We don’t wash outerwear that is not dirty, meaning not necessarily every time an item is worn. Some people do that, and that wears out the clothing faster. Same with bath towels used to dry off a clean body. I imagine this is harder with a larger household, but it’s just the two of us. Another tip that isn’t necessarily cost-saving, but convenient, is that when an item must be hand-washed, I put it in the car to dry. Living in California with the car parked in the sun, this makes for a quick dryer – and afterwards, the car smells like a laundry room