Washing Clothing – Green Tips

Energy Star Label
Don’t rush out and buy a new machine for the sake of saving energy but if you are in the market for a new washing machine, look for the Energy Star label. Energy Star machines can use up to 50% less energy than standard washing machines. These machines also spin the clothes better resulting in less drying time. The newer front loading washing machines can also use 40-75% less water than standard machines.

Wash in Cold water when possible
Did you know that 80-90% of the energy used washing clothes actually is to heat the water in the washing machine? Washing in hot water really isn’t necessary anymore with advances in washing machine technology and detergents. Unless you are washing diapers, or need to wash out oily or greasy stains then washing in cold water is actually better for your clothes and the environment!  Set your machine to “Cold” water setting. Unless the clothes are stained with oil or grease then washing in cold water is satisfactory for any load. Whites will still be white, and colored clothes with retain their color longer. If you need a warmer temperature then use “warm” rather than hot where necessary. Use spot stain removers or soak stained items in buckets as a pre-wash to avoid having to heat the whole load of laundry. By doing 4 out of 5 loads in cold water it is possible to cut 72 pounds of CO2 emissions in one month.

Load setting
The amount of water used in washing machines accounts for 14% of the
average households water consumption, that’s a lot of water just going
down the drain! Try to wash full loads to avoid wasting water, and energy. However if you have to wash a small load switch your load setting appropriately. This automatically adjusts the water used so that none is wasted unnecessarily.

Cleaning Cycle
Modern machines have many cleaning cycles depending on fabric types, duration of wash vs spin etc. Really consider how long your clothing needs to be washed. How soiled is your clothing really? Does it need to be agitated in detergent for 15 minutes? Most the time for regular everyday use clothing can be perfectly clean from the shortest wash cycle. Obviously if you have children with messy clothing, diapers, or sports clothing then adjust accordingly to how soiled the load is. Most of the time though we overestimate the duration and waste energy on long cleaning cycles.

Detergent
Contrary to manufacturers opinions you don’t need a special detergent to wash white, colored, hot or cold loads. One detergent WILL work for all just fine. The problem in fact lies in the AMOUNT of detergent used. Most people severely overestimate how much detergent to use. The majority of the cleaning done in the washing machine is by agitation not your detergent so use less! Most brands have measured caps or cups that is the ‘standard measure’ but that doesn’t mean you have to use that much. Try half the stated amount. Not only will you use less detergent, therefore buying less but it’s less polluted water for the water companies to deal with. If you haven’t switched to an eco-friendly laundry detergent then now is the time! There are some great ones on the market and they work just as well as standard detergents without all the pollutants.

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