I think we can all agree that women do more laundry than men.
But did you know that women spend more time doing each load than men do? The average guy will spend about five minutes loading, unloading, fluffing, and folding, while the average woman spends almost 17 minutes doing the same workload. It’s not because men are smarter; it’s because women are more diligent in their duties.
Part of that thoroughness women practice includes paying special attention to how what they do affects the environment. (Women are also much more faithful to recycling practices than men.)
So, before you do that next load, here are a few insider tips from some eco-friendly laundry experts that can help you get the cleanest clothes and keep the planet clean at the same time.
1) Use Lemon Juice to Keep Your Whites White
Bleaches can be touchy – no make that dangerous – stuff, especially when handled improperly. You must watch the splash, and even the vapours can cause harm to your health.
So, to help you keep your whites that bright white you want, add ½-cup of lemon juice to every load of laundry you do.
To take care of those serious stains on whites, let them soak a bit in lemon juice.
And all-natural lemon juice is 100% biodegradable and earth friendly.
2) Stiff Towels? Air Dry Them Then Add Water!
You get better results when you hang dry towels than when you let them tumble dry in the machine. All that hot air, after the towels soaked in the soapy laundry water, is what causes the stiffness that you hate.
One solution is to add a little less laundry detergent, but for most people that is not a practical solution.
So, try this. Hang-dry your towels. Then, when they are dry, take a water spritzer bottle and give each towel a quick spritz. Not too much now, you don’t want to make them soaking wet.
Take the towels and tumble them in the dryer for five minutes, but with NO HEAT.
That extra five minutes will bring them back to full, fluffy life.
3) You can Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
You can search the internet and find dozens of “do-it-yourself” laundry detergent recipes. Many of them use eco-friendly ingredients. That helps eliminate all those harmful chemicals from swirling down the drain and out into the world.
The challenge with some of these recipes is that some ingredients are hard to find, or you need to be a bit of a chemist to figure out how to mix everything together.
Here’s a suggestion: click here and visit Tru Earth. We have some unique laundry products that are 100% eco-friendly and zero-waste. (And they save you the time and energy of hunting down ingredients and then mixing the formula correctly!)
4) Have You Given Cold Water a Try?
Turn the dial on the washing machine to COLD.
First, that will help save you on the electricity or hot water bill.
Second, when you use cold water in the laundry, you save 90% of the energy you use when you set your machine to warm water. (Just imagine how much you save from the HOT setting!)
Save energy, save water, and save money… This simple move is a triple winner!
5) Get Those Musty Smells Out of Your Fabrics
Do you hate to load your machine with clothes that have that musty smell?
Here’s a simple solution: add about 1/4 -cup of white vinegar to the load.
This will get rid of that awful mildew smell from any of your clothes and textiles.
Oh, and don’t worry about the vinegar --- it disappears without a trace after you finish the load.
6) Give the Fast Spin Cycle a Try
Find the fastest spin speed for your washer.
Make sure (read the label on the clothes) that this speed is something that your clothes can handle without getting ripped or damaged. The faster your washer spins, the easier it is for the water to get whisked out of your load.
This results in your clothes spending less time in the dryer.
This makes you use less energy and help save the environment. And again, you save some money.
7) Remove the Wrinkles with a Little Steam
Who actually likes to iron clothes?
No one.
Ironing uses a lot of energy and it’s tedious.
You can make the wrinkles disappear with this quick and simple trick. Hang your wrinkled shirts, pants, slacks, or jackets in your bathroom before you take a warm bath or shower.
The humidity from the steamy water will help the wrinkles vanish and make them look like they just got ironed.
8) Upgrade Your Old Machine
Don’t wait for that old-timer in the laundry room to kick the bucket. Replace the old machine with one of today’s new, eco-friendly models.
This upgrade saves a lot of time and money while you recycle laundry water. Make sure you replace your current washing machine with an Energy Star-rated model that helps reduce your water consumption by almost half and lowers your energy costs by a quarter.
Can’t replace the old machine right now? No problem. Just be aware of the settings you use. Set the washer to its lowest water level settings to save more water. This one move can save you as much as 4,500 liters of water every year.
9) Try the Tru Earth Solution
Tru Earth, the Canadian company that leads the way in eco-friendly laundry solutions, offers a revolutionary zero-waste laundry detergent.
First, it does not come in a plastic bottle. (So far, they have saved almost 5 million plastic bottles from wasting away in landfills and garbage dumps around the world.) That means less plastic used, and cleaner air for everyone.
Second, their unique laundry strip format saves space. That means more product on the delivery trucks, and fewer trucks on the road polluting the air.
You also save space in your laundry room because of the handy size of the Tru Earth Laundry Strips.
Just toss one into the load instead of pouring in those nasty liquids and powders.
You help protect the environment, and you enjoy clean, fresh-smelling clothes and linens every wash.
And when you click on this link, you can save 27% on your order for Tru Earth Laundry Strips, either the Fresh Linen or Fragrance Free scents.
You get a full-year supply of a great zero-waste, eco-friendly solution to your laundry needs, while helping reduce your carbon footprint and helping our planet at the same time.
Click here now and add Tru Earth Laundry Strips to your clean routine.
