Going green in the laundry room is a way to save costs, extend your clothes' lifespan and also preserve the ecosystem. Going green is also a great way to conserve water and energy consumption in every home. Going green doesn't require much from you, with a little tweaking here and there, you too can join the eco-friendly community.
Below is a list of what to do to join the green laundering team.
You don't have to wash after every wear
Deciding to go green means that you increase the lifespan of your clothes. If the clothes are not dirty, smelly or stained, you don't have to wash them after every wear. Materials like jeans and dark-colored clothes are top on this list. Don’t make this an excuse to become dirty though, wash your jeans after the third time of wear.
Consider your detergent
You can choose eco-friendly high-efficiency detergents for washing. Doing this ensures you use chemicals that are green friendly and not toxic to the environment. Concentrated laundry detergent has a lower carbon footprint, making it ideal for going green. Be sure though that your machine is rated to us whatever choice of soap you choose to buy.
Hand-washing
It might not seem to be true considering the time and stress required to hand wash, but there are some advantages you stand to benefit from when you wash your clothes by hand. Hand washing helps you determine how many clothes you wear within the week; it’s also a great way to preserve the texture of your fabrics. To make hand washing easy, take your laundry with you into the shower. You'll get about twice as much use out of the water.
Cold water washing
Most of the energy consumed in washing is for heating water. Using hot water to wash is not necessary anymore as almost all detergents are effective in cold water. More so, constant hot water washing wears your clothes out faster and causes them to shrink.
Spread it out to dry
If the weather looks bright and sunny, put your clothes out to dry. Taking advantage of sunlight energy reduces carbon dioxide, cuts down on your power consumption and reduces your clothes wear and tear. Drying your garments under sunlight helps your clothes retain their texture, thereby reducing the cost of you having to replace.
Who likes to iron anyway?
Going green also involves you limiting your use of the iron. Having to iron clothes is a task most people shy away from because it's tedious and time-consuming. Restrict ironing to only clothes that are wrinkle prone; this way, you save a lot on energy consumption.
Going green with your laundry is an effective way of reducing cost, saving energy and giving back to the ecosystem.