It seems like doing laundry should be fairly straightforward, but there are tons of pointers, websites, and articles out there. And while this is a wonderful thing, it can be overwhelming when you just want some budget- and eco- friendly ideas. I recently stumbled upon this compilation of 50 tips, conveniently sorted by topics such as "Prep Work" and "Line Drying Secrets," and bookmarked it almost immediately.
The list contains many tried-and-true classics such as drying darks inside-out, but also had some fresh ideas. It's not all-inclusive — for example, it doesn't have ways to get out specific stains — but it is a helpful, well-organized overview.
10 Great Tips from the List
- Body oils rub on shirt collars and attract dirt, leaving them grimy and worse for the wear. Reverse the damage by grabbing your shampoo and a clean paintbrush and painting a line over the soiled collar before washing.
- For stubborn food stains, such as coffee, soy sauce, or mustard, blot the troubled area with foam shaving cream and allow it to sit for half an hour. Repeat process and if the stain remains, leave cream on overnight.
- Adding a quarter cup of baking soda to a wash will take care of stale, musty odors common during the summer months and give your machine a fragrant boost to boot.
- Dirty clotheslines make for spotty clothing. Once a month, use a rag to go over your outdoor clotheslines with warm water and pine oil cleaner.
- Let whites take in a bit of sun in the early morning — it might surprise you how strong a natural bleaching effect solar rays can have on your garments.
- Try not to under-pack your dryer. Too few clothes will reduce the tumbling action, lengthening overall drying time and in turn, wasting energy.
- Adding a clean, dry bath towel to heavier loads containing blue jeans, rugs, blankets, or bath towels helps absorb extra moisture and reduce drying time.
- In order to prevent down items from clumping in the dryer, remove them from time to time and shake vigorously.
- When dealing with pleated items, start at the bottom of the fold and iron in an upward motion. Your pleats will be perfectly straight with little effort.
- The natural heat of a warm dryer can actually save you from ironing smaller items like pillowcases and t-shirts. Simply fold and allow them to rest on top of the machine.
Read the entire list of all 50 tips at Country Living.
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The natural heat of a warm dryer can actually save you from ironing smaller items like pillowcases and t-shirts.
People iron pillowcases and t-shirts? /boggle
I've done away with fabric softener. I use white vinegar in my wash instead.
I have some wool dryer balls which help absorb some of the moisture of the wet clothes as in tip #7 above. They add loft to the clothes as they bounce around in the dryer, shortening drying time even more. (Depending on the load, they've cut drying time by 1/4 or 1/2). The felted wool gently rubbing against the fabrics also helps soften.
Some wonderful tips! thanks AT!
This is great info. Sometimes I feel I'm just barely out of the separating colors and darks stage so I'm printing out this list and posting it in my laundry closet.
i've eliminated fabric softener and dryer sheets completely. they are unnecessary.
also unnecessary? the "recommended" amount of detergent. i use 1/2 and my clothes are still clean.
I remember reading an article a while ago (I think it was in the New York Times) about how new clothes washers don't require nearly as much detergent as bottle claims. It's actually better to use too little than too much because too much detergent makes the fabric rough and stiff.
I've done away with using the dryer completely. It seems wrong to waste so much energy on a task that evaporation can take care of in a few hours.
Some people even iron sheets . . . I guess some people need hobbies.
I'd love to see more on setting up a laundry room, especially in smaller spaces. I thought I had a really big laundry room until I was informed that the water heater needed to go in.
will try out the tip about the shampoo.
Have also been using vinegar instead of any kind of softener. And far far less detergent than what is recommended. So far, so good.
I have an HE washer and hang clothes on the line.
The only thin I miss about a dryer is the softness of my fleece pieces. I've never really used fabric softener in my life so am not too familiar with it. Does anyone use softener with an he machine (I've never seen one marked he) or do you know of another way to get the softness in sweatshirts/sweatpants?
muesli, vinegar? do you have an he washer?
I use vinegar in my HE washer with no troubles.
As someone who rarely irons, my aunt taught me a great trick that I use everytime I wash clothes in cold to be hung dry: I put them in the dryer on warm or hot for tops 5 minutes, to get the wrinkles out, then hang them. They dry virtually wrinkle-free then. Although the dryer is being used a little, it encourages hanging, which saves energy. I put an extra shower rod in the back of my bathtub, so I can hang stuff year-long.
I use those plastic dryer balls and I love them! They help dry things much faster. I didnt know about the shampoo for "ring around the collar" though, I might have to try that. And another de-wrinkle tip: throw a wet rag into the dryer with wrinkled shirts and turn it on for a bit. Thats the easiest way to get the wrinkles out when you've left a load sitting in the dryer overnight!
Any tips for getting a food-grease spot out of your favorite shirt?
great overall tips but i would hesitate to use expensive shampoos on collars when your detergent poured on will do the same thing. it's scary that shaving cream and shampoo have deep stain removing properties, though! What do they do to face and hair?!?
Using dish detergent can help get a grease stain out, as it is designed to cut food grease. Just gently rub it in with a toothbrush and put it through the wash again. OR, if that isn't enough, you can buy "degreaser" stain remover.
Kaiticorn-I use a product called d-solv-it on grease spots. even if you've washed and dried the item. just spray it on and wash it again. I haven't been able to find it retail for a while but I ordered it online. it's a natural orange solvent.
Is anyone else familiar with the stain-removing wonder of goo-gone? Seriously, my mom consistently gets years-old been-through-the-dryer grease stains out using that stuff.
@Kaiticorn and debby_va - I've been using a natural orange solvent called Citrasolv. It's a concentrate and can be diluted for general household cleaning. I use just a small dab of the straight stuff for grease stains on clothes.
I looked for d-solv-it online to see if it was similar to Citrasolv and couldn't find d-solv-it. I wonder if it's been discontinued?
I second the dish liquid to remove food grease stains from clothes. A couple of drops on the stain, rub it in with your finger until it sort of jellifies, then straight into the wash.
For a simple, potent, and green laundry detergent simply grate up one bar of scented pure castile soap (vegetable soap) and mix it with two cups of borax and two cups of Arm and Hammer super washing powder. All you need is two tablespoons per load, and your laundry will smell delicious!
Shaving cream works on spots because it's *soap*. If the foam texture makes it easier to get on a spot, fine, but you can also use hand soap or Dr Bronner's or rub with the wetted corner of a bar of ivory. It's kind of ... weird how many people don't know exactly what soap does anymore.
@maushopgirl:
Yes, I have an HE and just add the vinegar into the rinse cycle.
I second the tip about using dish soap on grease stains. I've found that both Seventh Generation and Dawn are great at getting out most thing but especially anything greasy or oily. I've tried Goo-Gone and Citra-Solv too but we always have dish soap and it just ends up being more convenient and works so well.
Only stain I've never been able to remove is from too much deodorant in my husband's tshirts. It leaves a stiff feeling greasy looking stain and I have yet to find a way to remove that gunk!
jmorri26, we have that same problem.
Also, I've heard the "bleach it in the sun" tip before, but no one says whether it should be dry or wet...?
Thanks!
I love these nonconventional tips! I do quite a bit of laundry and I'm always looking for different ways to get out stubborn stains.
I also use tennis balls in the dryer to cut down drying time and fluff towels.
Arlington Laundry Care
Has anyone tried the mew Tide Pods? I have, and I am really pleased. They seem to work well on things that are pretty dirty, leaving them clean, freesh, and kind of conditioned. I always hated measuring, so I am sold on Pods.