Minimising Your Laundry Costs

We all have to do laundry, but it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to have clean clothes. Doing laundry is more expensive than most people realise. We do laundry so frequently, that even small savings per load could end up saving you a lot of money.

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

These money-saving laundry tips will save the average family of four over $300 per year:

 

1. Air-dry your clothes. Stop using a clothes dryer. Do you have space to hang them on a drying rack or outdoor clothesline? If you can avoid using a clothes dryer, clothesline drying in the fresh air could save you approximately $100 each year. You will save on your electric or gas bill, and your clothes will last longer.

But if you only use your tumble dryer for laundry emergencies, a cheap vented dryer will work out cheaper overall.

The heat and tumbling in the dryer damage your clothing.

 

 

2. 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 drying time.

 

3. 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’ll get pretty much the same results from a warm wash or cold wash, but you’ll use far less electricity with a cold wash.

You can save a bundle by choosing to go with cold water.

4. Create your own liquid detergent. There are many online “recipes” for making your own detergent, bleach, and fabric softeners. Homemade detergent costs are a fraction of the cost of grocery store laundry detergents and fabric softeners and will still get your clothes clean.

 

5. Use less laundry detergent. You can get a great wash with a fraction of the recommended detergent dose. Remember that the companies who make laundry detergent and laundry powders want you to use more than necessary. Then, you’ll have to purchase more. Using too much detergent can lead to a build-up of ‘scrud’ in your washing machine, which could lower its washing performance.

 

Experiment with using less detergent. You’ll probably find you can use half as much.

6. Wash full loads. The electricity used to fill, agitate, and drain the washing machine is essentially the same, whether it’s a full load or half load. The same goes for rotating the drum on the dryer.

“A full laundry basket is only around 3.5kg of laundry, and your machine can take much, much more – so much you may even have trouble getting the door shut,” says Ashley Iredale, CHOICE laundry and white goods expert.

Save money by washing and drying more than just one pair of socks!

7. Cut those dryer sheets in half. Half of a dryer sheet is usually sufficient. Experiment to see what works best for you.

 

8. Clean the dryer trap. Excess lint will trap moisture in the tumble dryer and cause your clothes to take longer to dry.

The sooner the dryer shuts off, the less money it costs you.

9. Wash your clothes less often. Some people have outdoor jobs such as tradies that require manual labour. But many others have jobs where they can avoid getting dirty or sweating excessively.

As long as you haven’t soiled your clothing, consider wearing items more than once between washes.

Read some Simple Tricks To Cut Your Electricity Bills

10. Purchase energy-efficient appliances. Washers and dryers differ by brand. CHOICE magazine frequently finds cheaper washing machines and dryers that outperform more expensive, big-name brands. There are washing machines 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.

 

11. Adjust your settings. Washing clothes at a lower setting or lower temperature will save energy. Try drying with lower heat.

Every load of laundry doesn’t require elaborate settings.

Doing laundry is a household chore that many perform on an almost daily basis, especially for those with a young family as there will always be kids and baby clothes to be washed. 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 money-saving tips whenever you do laundry.

 

Check out our Energy Efficient Appliances: Buying Guide