How to Clean Your Laundry on a Shoestring

Laundry expenses can quickly eat a chunk out of the average family budget. Detergents, spot treaters, whiteners and fabric softeners are not only expensive but may contain unwanted chemicals as well.

The fabric care industry doesn't want you to know that you can keep your laundry clean for a LOT less than you expect. Here are a few tips to keep those clothes looking new for longer:

Don't Wash Unless It's Needed:
If you wore something for a short time and it does not have any obvious dirt or stains, hang it up and allow it to air out instead of tossing it in the wash. This will reduce the wear on the garment from washing as well as reduce the amount of water, electricity and chemicals you need to keep it looking its finest. You can wear some items several times before washing them and reduce your cleaning bill even more.

Pre-Treat (but not with the Advertised Stuff):
Grab a bar of Octagon or Fels Naptha soap and dip one end into some water to moisten. Rub upon the spots, moistening the bar as needed to work the soap into the fabric. Rub the spot well to work the soap in and wash at a later time (allow to sit on the spot for several minutes at the least).

Separate Your Laundry:
Separating your whites from colors is one of the most important things you can do when cleaning your laundry. This allows the whites to remain free of the dyes that leach off of the other clothes, enabling them to stay a brighter white. If you have a large number of a certain color or type of clothing (like jeans), washing them separately can keep them looking their finest. The more you can reasonably sort your laundry into colors, the better your laundry will turn out--but don't go overboard. It is perfectly okay to just sort into whites and coloreds, or whites, lights and darks.

Use Homemade Laundry Soaps:
Commercial laundry detergents are not only expensive but contain chemicals that may irritate your skin. Homemade laundry soaps are made with very few ingredients and can be worked up quickly at a cost of approximately 75 cents a gallon. These cleaners, including a powdered version, only contain what you want them to contain and eliminate the heavy perfumes that can bother your sinuses.

Boost Your Laundry Detergent With Ammonia:
Ammonia is an inexpensive cleaner that removes body oils and other greasy dirt from laundry with ease. Add 1/2 cup per load of laundry can brighten and freshen your wardrobe in a surprising manner by removing the buildup your laundry detergents and fabric softeners leave behind. Ammonia is also excellent at whitening dull whites--just don't add it if you are using bleach! Instead use ammonia as your everyday whitener, and rotate with bleach on your whites for an occasional boost to minimize the fabric deterioration that bleach can cause. Don't worry--your clothes will not have an ammonia smell after using this laundry booster!

The Extra Rinse:
Modern top-load washing machines only allow for a single rinse which can leave soap residues behind on your laundry. These residues will attract dirt to your clothes faster, making them look dirty sooner. An extra rinse will remove that extra residue, allowing your clothes to be as clean as possible for as long as possible.

Use Vinegar:
Vinegar is an acid that will help your washer to remove the last vestiges of soap from your clean laundry. When combined with an extra rinse it enables your clothes to get extra clean. A gallon of vinegar costs less than $3 in most areas--a lot less than bottles of fabric softener a portion of the size! Use 1/2 cup per load in the final rinse by placing in the fabric softener dispenser or using a softener ball to dispense the liquid when needed. Vinegar also has another added benefit in washers with fabric softener dispensers--it won't clog up your dispenser in the slightest!

Remove Promptly From The Dryer:
Removing your laundry from the dryer in a prompt manner will help to prevent wrinkles from setting in your clean clothes, reducing the amount you need to iron. If you are unable to remove your clothes promptly you can toss a damp cloth into your dryer and allow to run for a few minutes to remove some of the wrinkles. If this is a recurring issue, you may want to consider hanging your damp clothes on hangers and allowing them to dry naturally instead of using the dryer to avoid the wrinkle issue.

These tips will enable you to have a beautifully clean wash at a fraction of the price, creating breathing room in your budget while giving you cleaner clothes at the same time.

Source:
"The Minimalist Cleaning Method" by Annie Jean Brewer