10 LAUNDRY TIPS FOR A GREENER WASH
With Mother Ocean Day celebrated yesterday and World Ocean Day coming up on 8th June, the sea is firmly on our minds, as are the steadily rising energy and water bills. I wanted to share a round-up of eco laundry tips that might be helpful to you — not least prompted by a washing machine maintenance habit that fell by the wayside this past year and forced me to reevaluate (basically, don’t ignore the limescale!). I’m sharing the following laundry steps that worked out better for both the planet and my wallet — and a big thank you to everyone who shared their own tips with me on Instagram!
Wash on a lower temperature
This is the obvious one, which has been promoted industry-wide during the last decade, but I know some people are still hesitant about washing their laundry on a lower temp. Don’t worry — washing at 30°C rather than 40°C works just as well to kill bacteria, and can also save you 38% of the energy. It’s such an easy switch, and a truly impactful one, too. If you can manage to make this a routine, then do remember to do a regular maintenance hot wash intermittently with special cleaners to manage limescale, grease and detergent build-up — more on that below.
Opt for a quick wash
Obviously, less time in the wash = less energy used. If your clothes aren’t particularly dirty, opting for a quick wash or light wash option on your machine might be something to consider.
Switch to air-drying
Tumble-drying may well come in handy in the colder months when your kid needs their uniform and you just don’t have three days to wait. But now that it’s warmer outside, it might be time to start air-drying again — it will take much less time than it would have a couple months ago, and save loads of energy, too. And there's nothing like that feeling of freshly sun-dried laundry.
Try ‘airing’ outfits to get another 2 wears out of them
If you’re not a sweaty person or didn’t perspire in your freshly washed clothing, and you didn’t get it dirty either, then consider hanging it back up and giving it an airing ready to go again (don’t store worn items for long periods though as they can attract moths). Washing clothes is very symbolic for cleansing the energy accumulated during the day, but you can also give an item an energetic refresh ready for a new day by using an intention ritual. Items that don’t sit directly on your skin such as suits and knitwear can benefit from being hung up to air by the window or any outside space just as you would your coat/hats/boots etc. Just be careful they don’t become sun-bleached on a very hot day (and heat can set in any stains you might have missed!).
The perfect load of laundry
Just like with your digestive system, make sure not to overfill or underfill your drum. Overfilling stops your clothes from being able to move around the machine and get washed properly, whereas underfilling means you’ll have to do your washing in more loads and use much more energy.
Spot-clean
Just because you spilled a little sauce on a piece of clothing doesn’t mean it needs a full-body wash, as it were. Sometimes, you can spot-clean with a natural stain remover, or common household ingredients such as baking soda and vinegar, white wine and good old-fashioned gentle castile soap and water. This is also a good practice to adopt to allow you to tackle a stain sooner rather than later, instead of waiting for a full load to build up. Once the cleaned area is gently rinsed, allow the garment to air dry. Spot-cleaning and then popping into a 30°C wash with other similar colours is another great way to enjoy a lower temp wash while still having tackled stains.
Don’t wash your jeans
Good quality denim is designed not to wash, ever — as the Levi’s CEO once said to much controversy. Instead, try spot-cleaning and sticking it in the freezer, which many people swear by, and see how they feel for you.
Run regular limescale washes
If you live in an area that has hard water, make sure to run a regular limescale detox wash. This will allow your machine to work more efficiently, meaning you won’t waste any energy on having to run it again (same goes for your dishwasher, too). You can do this using white vinegar — just add two cups to your drum (to be safe, as it could impact any rubber parts if you add it to the dispenser) and run the machine whilst empty. You can do this once every month or two. Otherwise opt for purpose-made sachets — EcoEgg and EcoZone do great ones. You can also try a limescale ball in your washing machine and dishwasher - mine went missing (baby) and since then I’ve had a limescale problem!!!
Save up items to wash together
If you divide your loads of laundry between wools, delicates, whites, light colours and dark colours, you might be tempted to just wash a few items here and there. But if you save up items in one category over a couple of weeks or so, you’ll be able to save water by just doing one wash. It may not be quite as convenient, but it’s so worth it for the planet-saving effects. Don’t forget to spot-clean any stains as and when they happen, though!
Try laundry strips
Laundry strips are a water-free detergent alternative that (for obvious reasons, once you see them — they’re like thin foam sheets) which save water in the way they are formulated. Plus this lightweight product can be packaged in pure recyclable and biodegradable cardboard. Not only do they take up less space in your home, they are more easily transported, which also makes a difference to both the price you pay and the price of the transport. I’m currently experimenting with a few different kinds, including Kind Laundry and Simple Living Eco. Why not try them out at the same time as I do and let me know your thoughts? Visit the Green Home shop page for more great eco products. Soap nuts are something I have experimented with as well as pure soap flakes — both great for sensitive skin and perfect for babies.
Crowd-sourced tips!
I took to Instagram to ask you for your best eco laundry tips, and you definitely delivered! These are the four recommendations or a version of that came in again and again so they must be working for people!
“Laundry strips! The best”
“I use soap nuts, few drops of essential oil in a quick wash.”
“Only use a full drum. Wait or add bedding etc. to fill up the wash.”
“Use a water filter on the back of the machine to filter out microplastic from polyester clothing.”
SOME MORE CLOTHING CARE TIPS