Wednesday, April 1, 2009

So Fresh and So Clean Clean.

Laundry is one of my favorite chores to do. Weird? Maybe. Here are six tips to make laundry day a tad more eco-friendly.

1. Line dry |
I stopped doing this for a while, because, well I am lazy and we had free laundry. I am so happy I've started this again in the recent months. It takes very little effort and makes me so very happy. For more on how I line dry inside check out this post.

2. Soap nuts | OH EM GEE. Get some of these and get them NOW. I am amazed that something this natural could actually work, but, they so DO. Soap nuts grow on trees and you toss them in your laundry in a little linen bag. After a few loads of laundry, the soap nuts break down and you can compost them. How awesome is that? Check out their website for more info!

3. Dry cleaning shmy cleaning
| I wash EVERYTHING in the washer - including my wool winter coat, dress pants, and bras. As long as I use cold water and line dry, it works great! Wool is a natural fiber, so it can be wet. Dry cleaning processes use TONS of nasty chemicals, anyway. Yuck.

4. Wash full loads | If you wash smaller loads, you waste water. And we don't like wasting water.

5. Don't wash clothes unless they're dirty | Wear your clothes as many times as you can before you throw them in the washer. Simple, right?

6. Wash with cold
water | Most clothes can be washed in cold water, which uses way less energy.

The best part about all of these? They'll save you money, as well!

15 comments:

  1. You make being eco-friendly seem SO practical! I'm intrigued by the soap nuts! And I want to see if I can't figure out a way to line dry... I hang a lot of things, but line drying would make me immensely happy - like sunshine seeping in my clothes... ha :) Thanks for sharing your tips!

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  2. Regarding point #5... washing your clothes less often also equals less wear and tear. Your clothes will last longer! That's also less wasteful, right? :)

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  3. I already (mostly) do 3-6. I will dry clean fancy dresses, but only after a few wearings and at our eco-friendly dry cleaner. (Although I've never done any research into it, so I don't know how much better it is than traditional.)

    I've never heard of soap nuts before!

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  4. Ugh, I HATE doing laundry, so I definitely have the full load thing covered. More like many full load(s), because I've waited until the last possible second to do it!

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  5. Will you come do my laundry. Actually, it's not the washing or the line dry - it's the folding and hang part that annoys me!

    Glad to see I'm doing all right according to your list.

    I totally checked the soap nuts website during class. I think the boy behind me was a little weirded out be the breast feeding mom on the website :-P

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  6. So what do you think of homeowners' associations that don't allow residents to have clotheslines? I think that's ridiculous! Although honestly I can't dry everything outside because it catches the pollen and I have bad allergies.

    However, my cat loves it when I set up my pop-up clothes dryer for sweaters in the living room. She thinks it's her personal fort! (Being kind to animals counts, right?)

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  7. Also use white vinegar instead of fabric conditioner!

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  8. Laundry is one of my favorite chores, too! And I'm so with you on the dry cleaning. I used to design environmental audits for a software company and began to realize that some state governments had very strict regulations about how dry cleaning chemicals could be disposed of. Made me realize I don't ever want my clothes treated with that stuff.

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  9. I LOVE doing laundry too and ironing!

    I never ever dry clean my clothes unless I get a stain that I can't get out myself.

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  10. laundry nuts?! these sound amazing!!

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  11. Great laundry tips!! I typically do most of these, except instead of line drying I lay my clothes out flat on top of my dryer... I haven't ironed in Years!! I was going to look at the soap nuts site but was put off by the breastfeeding picture... woah! lol. Anyway, keep up these lists, I am loving them.

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  12. saw the soap nuts woman at a conference! I'm with you and line drying except I don't have a line outside but I use every chair and dresser drawer I can open up.

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  13. I love this! These are all easy things to remember and do. I'm saving this post to help on laundry day!

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  14. I wish I would've read this before washing my wool sweater yesterday :(

    Great blog! I'll be following!

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