Cutting down on your laundry will not only make life a little easier for you, but it can also save money. If you missed the first article in this series, click here: Minimizing Your Wash Will Maximize Your Savings.
Now let’s talk about combining your wash loads.
Washing clothes on cold means that there is very little if any dye transfer, so go ahead and wash reds in with your other darks. (For the very first time with new red garments, I suggest hand soaking them first to get out the loose dye, although I’ve never needed to do this myself.) I never wash reds separately. With three kids, I am never short on full loads, so I do tend to separate darks and lights. However, I have washed lights and darks together on cold when someone had to have a special outfit thrown in to the wash for the next day’s wear. Everything turned out fine.
There are also special additives to the laundry that you can purchase to catch the dye. Personally, I have never tried these products, but I would love to hear from someone who has and can talk about them.
Another way to minimize your wash is by making your clothes last longer between washings. Have you ever worn more than one set of clothes in a single day. The scenario might go something like this (I’m going to assume that showers are taken at night, but you can switch this to morning as well): Wake up in PJs, change to shorts and a t-shirt. Putter around the house, then change to a more presentable outfit to take the kids to the park. Then at night, maybe put on another set of PJs. That is at least three outfits going in to the wash for a single day.
Check back again. I’ll continue discussing this topic and offer a solution for reducing the number of dirty outfits and the importance of having your laundry organized.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don’t miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
Related Articles:
Frugal Laundry: Make Your Own “Detergent”
Dry Your Clothes Twice as Fast
Alternatives to Hanging Laundry Outside