9 Ways to Save Money on Laundry

Do you want to save money on laundry? If you say “no,” you might not realize the immense water and energy usage required to wash and dry your clothes. You can purchase cheap laundry detergent or cheap laundry soap, but there’s so much more that you can do to save money.

A few laundry gadgets can help reduce the money you spend on laundry, but to really save money, you can follow some of the tips below.

14 Tips to Save Money on Laundry

1. Choose the Cold Water Cycle

Cold water is going to save you money. Why? Hot water needs to go through your hot water heater, which is an intensive energy user. In fact, it’s estimated that switching the washer to a cold water cycle can save as much as 75% on energy consumption.

One key change you’ll need to make at this time is to switch to cold water detergents.

If you switch to these detergents, you’ll save more money on your energy bills while enjoying equally clean clothes.

2. Wash With Only Full Loads

Water and energy usage will be the same, or close to the same, when you wash at full or medium loads. The key is to wash only when you have full loads because you’ll be using a similar level of energy usage.

3. Use Washer Balls

Detergent is expensive, but it’s one of the best ways to have your clothes smell good and look good. Tide and other products work well, but they’re also going to cost you a lot of money every year.

Washer balls, like Laundry Masher, are free of chemicals and leave your clothes looking fresher.

You’ll also benefit from a reduction of:

• Lime build-up
• Scale
• Mold
• Bacteria

Think of using these balls as a means of eliminating a lot of the harmful buildup in your home’s pipes. And these balls are also an eco-friendly, chemical-free way to wash your clothes.

4. Use Dryer Balls

Dryers use a lot of energy because heating is very intensive. When your clothes bunch together, it becomes even more difficult to dry them properly. If you’ve ever tried drying a comforter, you’ll often notice that you need to run the dryer multiple times to dry it completely.

Dryer balls help dry clothes faster to save you time and energy.

You’ll find two main types of materials used in these balls:

1. Wool
2. Rubber

When you place these balls in your dryer, you’ll be doing a few key important things:

• Separate clothes to allow better airflow
• Reduce total drying time
• Reduce static

The additional bonus of using wool balls is that the wool absorbs moisture and will lead to faster overall drying times.

5. Dry Clothes in Succession

One thing I noticed when traveling abroad is that foreigners wash clothes all at once. A key reason is that the drying process is more refined and optimal because the dryer is already warm.

If you allow the dryer to cool and put clothes in it, you’ll put a larger energy demand on the unit each time.

Once a load of clothes is done drying, dry another load of clothes. The heat will already be inside of the dryer and will allow for energy savings. You’ll want to dry full loads of clothes and not wash partial loads to save money on the drying process.

6. Wash at the Best Time of Day

Did you know there’s a best time of day to do laundry to save money? I didn’t either until I looked deeper into saving money on laundry. I always thought that doing my clothes whenever I needed to wash them or had some free time wouldn’t make a difference.

But I was wrong.

You’ll find that if you wash your clothes between 4pm and 7pm, you might be spending more money. Some energy companies will charge more during these hours because they’re considered “peak hours.”

Summer and winter both have different peak energy usage hours:

• Summer energy usage is highest in the afternoon
• Winter energy usage is highest in the morning

You can check your own energy company’s rates on their website to see if there are peak hours where you’ll be paying more for your energy usage.

7. Clean Out the Dryer Lint

Dryers are energy hogs – we’ve established that – but they also run more efficiently with a little maintenance. Your lint filter is one of the fastest and easiest ways to keep your dryer running optimally.

Static will cause lint to build up and then the filter will clog.

If you fail to clean out your filter, you’ll waste more energy. Clean out the lint filter every week, or after every drying if you wish. When you clean out the lint, you’ll notice that there are some particles that remain behind.

Scrubbing the filter with a toothbrush or soft brush works very well to remove excess lint from the filter. If you use a brush once a month along with regular lint cleaning, your dryer will run better and have fewer issues drying clothes.

8. Hang Clothes on a Clothesline

If you go to Italy, you’ll notice a lot of people still hang their clothes on a clothesline. The sun’s heat is free, and these lines can dry your clothes just as effectively as a dryer. This may not be an option for someone living in an apartment or a person that doesn’t have their own yard space.

But if you do have your own space, investing in and using a clothesline can help you reduce your dryer energy usage drastically.

9. ENERGY STAR Units

If you’re purchasing a new washer and dryer, you’ll want to look for models that are ENERGY STAR certified. These certified models are able to reduce energy usage without you changing any of your habits in the process.

Simply owning one of these washers and dryers will offer:

• 25% reduction in washing energy costs
• 20% reduction in drying energy costs

Your own usage habits can help you save money on laundry costs. Be sure to use your dryer’s low setting, separate heavy cotton from lightweight clothes and follow the tips above to lower your laundry costs.