Reserving Cloths Drying & Washing Energy

Well, I don't use the dryer. We have ample space here in my place to be able to sun-dry everything, and it's more convenient and the laundry smells better when it's sun dried. Though, I don't wait to have a full load before I do my laundry. It just takes up too much time on my part and I'd rather do laundry at least twice or thrice a week so that I don't end up stressed while washing them. Isn't it that if the laundry is at the brim of the container you get worried and you MUST do laundry? I don't like that feeling. That's why in some days I laundry the whites, then in other days I do the colored ones. I have days for the denims too and etc. I think it saves on electricity and water because you don't need much water and laundry soap for a little load, right? Plus, you don't end up too tired after doing laundry if you don't wait till the laundry or load is at its full.

Wow, I didnt know about the dry towel trick. I should give that a try someday, but I do all my laundry at the laundrymat, so it really doesnt matter I dont think, unless I want to help their bill be lower, which so many people use those machines my .2 saved wouldnt matter lol, plus Im using my quarters to dry them anyway, but perhaps Ill still try that trick there since those commercial dryers never seem to get your clothes completely dry and maybe that will help. If I was to use my own washer/dryer, I would wait till I have a full load to wash or if I have a water level selector on my machine, Id adjust the amount of water needed. I also use less detergent than it says on the container, as less is more. I use cold water also to clean, as someone else said, it cleans them the same, so why not save energy. I learned a lot about drying denim from your discussion. The fact that your clothes smell cleaner if you hang dry or flat dry I will try more often when I have the means (no line or space to do so yet) cause I just love that clean clothes smell and I also want to help my clothes last longer. Save energy and ware n tare on your applliances. Cant go wrong. Thanks for this discussion.

I use cold water 99% of the time and I use my clothes line to dry my clothes 99.9% of the time. I have short showers every other day and I wash up once a day without rinsing the plates first. People who have dishwashers annoy the pants off me. I remonstrate with them about water usage and these days I get the argument "but it uses less water than a normal sink full" But they omit to mention that they have to wash (rinse) the dishes (and cutlery, pots etc) before they put them in the dishwasher. Too many people DO NOT CARE!!

My favorite energy-saving tip is this: There was a time before washing machines. A female of the household usually was the one who had to carry the loads to the creak, river, or lake and beat them on rocks, scrub them, and what have you to clean them. Do you really think that they would do all this work after just one wearing? Of course not. They had to be actually dirty before they would make the effort. It was only after the washing machine was invented that this delusion appeared that all clothes had to be washed after a single wearing. If you have (or a member of your household) has a dirty job, that would be the only exception. So I wash my pants after wearing them for three days, shirts four or more. Underwear usually after one wearing, but I have gone two days before washing them. My socks are an exception, especially after each weekend day. I walk all over, and they get awfully ... cruddy ... even after one day.

I also try to do many things to conserve and recycle. I wear my jeans and tops more than once before washing. I always use cold water to wash, and I try to hang clothes in the bathroom to "pre-dry" before using the dryer. I did know about the dry towel trick, and I use that a lot. I compost, and I save old clothing to use as patches, and I'm also collecting old tee-shirts to make a quilt from. I purchase almost all of my clothing from thrift stores - why should I encourage manufacturers to create more excess? Restaurant meals are almost always too much for me, so I take home left-overs, and have a meal I only need to re-heat for lunch the next day.

Our household does several things to try and decrease our energy use. For one thing we reuse towels that we dry off with after a shower. Why not? I mean we are clean when we dry ourselves, so why not use it several times? We also wash all of our clothes in cold water. They come out just as clean. And we use about 1/3 of the amount of detergent they recommend. I see no reason to use that much. Hanging clothing to dry in my area isn't a good idea - too many crawly things. But, I'm hoping my new place I'm moving to has a place for a clothes line. To me hanging sheets on the line to dry is such a relaxing task on a warm summer day.

I try to conserve energy to an extent. I wait until I have a full load of laundry before washing them. I try to conserve also by using cold water if I can on some of them too. I dry them inside though because we do not have a clothes line.

Putting a dry towel in your clothes dryer with wet clothes sounds like a really good idea. I will have to give that a try. I wish I could hang my laundry outside but there is not enough room for me to and the weather right now is not good for that. I don't have any room in the house to hang much clothes either. I do however only use cold water when washing clothes and never do a load that isn't full. It may take a while for my clothes to pile up but I have three separate hampers around the house for that. Thanks for the towel tip. I will continue trying to conserve energy for our world. Cheers.