Save money on your laundry and help the planet.
Laundry stops for no one but it would be nice to think we could at least make laundry choices that saved us money especially in current times.
If you’ve yet to calculate your laundry costs with our smol wash-o-meter then it’s a great place to start.
And once you know what you’re up against there are a number of ways to cut the cost of your wash and they all have the added bonus of making your laundry kinder to the planet too!
Save money on your laundry and help the planet with these 7 tips.
Stay cool!
Yes, it’s the one everyone quotes, but really, washing on colder temperatures is going to instantly save you money.
Washing at 30°C can cut your machine’s energy use in half in comparison to a 40°C to 60°C cycle.
If you can wash at even lower than 30°C you will of course save even more. Many modern machines now have cold wash cycles and nowadays a good quality bio detergent such as smol, will perform really well for you in these cool washes. The enzymes in our bio work well in cool temperatures, digesting the dirt and stains on clothes to give really great results.
Try to save your hot washes for any bedding, underwear and towels, as these items are most likely to host bacteria.
Check the cycle.
For even further savings, use the eco setting on your washing machine. Many modern appliances have these cycles now and whilst they do take longer (which puts many off) they actually use less water and electricity as the temperatures are lower. The majority of the cost of your wash comes from heating your water so anything that prevents this is going to save you money.
Does it really need a wash at all?
Of course the easiest way to save money on your laundry is not to do it in the first place. And you’d be surprised just how many items we wash that really didn’t need to be laundered. Remember there are other ways to freshen up clothing - hanging outside for a time in the fresh air, running an iron over your clothing, spritzing with water and a little bit of fabric softener or just spot cleaning with a clean damp cloth on the areas that actually need attention.
Get loaded.
Ditch those half laundry loads and you’ll save yourself money on your washing. Two smaller loads of clothes cost much more to wash than 1 full load because they pretty much use the same amount of water and power as running a machine to wash a full load.
One way to make sure you are washing the best amount of clothing at one time is the hand span check. When your laundry is in the drum, put your hand at the top of the pile - you’ll want there to be just the width of your palm between your clothes and the top inside of the drum. That way you know you are washing the optimal amount of laundry for one wash cycle.
What about the time?
There are some times of the day when running your washing machine or tumble dryer will really eat up your energy bill. This is because increased demand for power can make electricity more expensive depending on your tariff.
If you are on an Economy 7 or 10 tariff then the most expensive time to do your laundry is between 4pm and 7pm, so try to avoid using your machines between these hours, if possible.
One way to cut the cost of running your washing machine, is to use the time delay, which lets you control when the cycle begins. Putting your laundry in during the evening and setting the cycle to run into the early hours of the morning could cut your electricity costs because energy prices tend to be lowest between 10pm and 5am.
Line-drying rules.
Whenever it’s possible if you can line-dry in the sun you are going to save huge amounts on your laundry compared to using a tumble dryer. Tumbles use the most energy out of all standard household cleaning appliances. Even drying your clothes on a drying rack in front of a radiator is more energy efficient.
Save on your detergent.
But things don’t get much more free than the sun so opt for drying outside at every opportunity. smol laundry capsule 4-packs are the best way to save money on your detergent aside from using our friend referral scheme (which gives you a free pack for every friend you successfully introduce).
Swapping over to our 4-pack offer means less frequent deliveries to your home of our 96 capsule pack AND an overall saving of £2. Of course the packs will no longer fit through your letterbox but the savings speak for themselves so if you’d like to swap across just drop our awesome customer service team a line on help@smolproducts.com and they’ll move you over and decrease your rates of delivery!
Try our wash-o-meter here.
*energy trust
