Minimizing Your Laundry Cost

We all have to do laundry, but it shouldn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to have clean clothes to wear. Doing laundry costs a lot more than people realize. We do laundry so frequently, we always do at least 3 or 4 loads of laundry a week. And when my girls were little the amount of laundry doubled or tripled. So even small savings per load could end up saving you a lot of money.

There are many simple things you can to bring down the cost of doing the laundry.. When you have more members in your household, it adds up to an even bigger savings.

These tips will help save you some money:

Air-dry your clothes.

Do you have space to air-dry your clothes or hang them on the clothesline outside? When my girls were little, I did just that.  If you can avoid using a dryer, you can save approximately $100 each year. You will save money on your electricity as well. And clothes will last long because did you know that using a dryer can damage your clothes.

Spin your clothes twice.

The spin cycle exists to get the excess water out of your clothes. If you spin your clothes twice, you can reduce the drying time.

Stick to cold water.

While hot water works a little better, it costs more. The biggest cost of doing laundry comes from heating the water. You can save a bundle by choosing to go with cold.

Create your own laundry products.

There are many online “recipes” for making your own detergent, bleach, and fabric softeners. These are a fraction of the cost of grocery store laundry soaps.

But it will also be helpful to pretreat any stains using the OxiClean On-The-Go Stain Pen. Pretreat as soon as the stain occurs because if you are like me, you will forget and your clothes will be sadly lost. 

Use less detergent.

Most companies who make laundry detergent want you to use more than necessary. Experiment with using less detergent. You’ll probably find you can use half as much. 

Wash full loads.

The electricity used to fill, agitate, and drain the washer is essentially the same, whether it’s a full or partial load. The same goes for dryer use. Save money by washing and drying more than just one pair of socks! Can you imagine just washing one pair of socks? 😉

Cut those dryer sheets in half.

Half of a dryer sheet is usually sufficient. Experiment to see what works best for you.

Clean the lint trap.

Excess lint will trap moisture in the dryer and cause your clothes to take longer to dry. The sooner the dryer shuts off, the less money it costs you. Plus you can put the lint outside for the birds to feather their nests.

Wash your clothes less often.

Some individuals have outdoor jobs or those that require manual labor. But many others have jobs where they can avoid getting dirty or sweating excessively. As long as you haven’t stained your clothing, consider wearing items more than once between washes.

Purchase energy-efficient appliances.

Washers and dryers differ by brand. There are washers that will handle larger loads and use less water. There are dryers that use much less energy. Sometimes these higher efficiency units cost more, but the savings is worth it in the end.

Adjust your settings.

Wash your clothes at a lower setting. Try drying with lower heat. Every load of laundry doesn’t require elaborate settings.

Washing clothes is a chore that many perform on an almost daily basis. That’s why it’s so important to cut costs wherever possible. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an extra $300 a year to spend on something more entertaining than laundry? Help the environment and your family’s budget by applying these cost-saving tips whenever you do laundry.

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