10 Frugal Laundry Tips

Laundry is a fact of life, but I’m not sure we all realize just how much of our time and budget is devoted to the business of getting our clothes and linens clean. Our family is largely dependent on a good working budget, and I’ve put a lot of thought into the various ways we can save money in this area. I have for you today a list of 10 Frugal Laundry Tips that have made a measurable difference in our monthly budget. Hopefully you’ll find a few suggestions to help you get a handle on yours!

1. Don’t Do Small Loads

The only thing you save by doing small loads of laundry is a bit of water. It takes the same amount of power, and the machine has to work just as hard to do a large load as a smaller one. Wait until you can do full loads of laundry; you’ll save money and wear-and-tear on your machine!

2. Make Your Own Laundry Soap

I’ve made my own laundry soap for years and have tried any number of recipes. I’ve made gel, liquid, and different powder varieties, but this one is by far my favorite! It cleans well, only takes 1 – 2 tablespoons to do a large load in my high efficiency front loading washer, and it’s almost all-natural. My favorite recipe uses 1 bar of grated soap, 1 cup of baking soda, 1 cup of washing soda, 1 cup of borax and 1 cup of OxiClean. I calculated the cost of the needed ingredients based on Walmart prices, but I buy baking soda and OxiClean at Costco for even more savings! Baking Soda ($0.27), Washing Soda ($0.54), Borax ($0.39), OxiClean ($0.86), Orange Lavender Soap ($1 – I make my own all-natural bar, so it’s probably a little less than that, but $1 is what I spent for bars of soap before I made them myself.) At 1-2 tablespoons, your cost is anywhere from $0.04 – $0.08 per load! I honestly believe this soap cleans as well if not better than my previous favorite name brand, and I KNOW that brand costs more than four to eight cents a load. Plus I have peace of mind knowing exactly what ingredients are being passed through my family’s clothing each day, and that is worth its weight in gold!

3. Wash in Cold Water

In my experience, cold water really is capable of tackling most loads of laundry. I like to wash towels and my husband’s really dirty work clothes in warm with a cold rinse cycle, but everything else in our house gets washed in cold. However water is heated in your house, washing your laundry in cold water equals real savings.

4. Line Dry

Line drying the great majority of my family’s laundry has hands down been the #1 money-saving difference for us!! My husband is a bit obsessive with tracking our monthly electricity usage (He is a power plant operator after all; call it an occupational hazard, haha!) and says we have saved between $40 and $50 on our bill (Our dryer is electric.) for every month I have primarily line-dried our clothes. That’s real savings and reason enough I’d never go back to 100% machine drying.

Clothes dry on the line in my area of the Southern California desert very quickly and can be hung out most months of the year. Wind is out biggest obstacle, though most days I can finish one load before the wind becomes a real issue. Line-drying is best for the longevity of your clothes too, and they come down smelling fresher and cleaner than machine-dried clothes.

Obviously line-drying means big things for the bottom line, but I want to talk about just how much I have come to love it–even aside from the savings! I put a lot of thought into where I wanted my clothesline before my husband installed it. I’m a very, very fair Irish/Scottish redhead and will sunburn just looking out the window, seriously. I needed the line to be somewhere I could hang clothes daily without being in the direct sunlight (Because who wants to put on sunblock every morning just to do their daily chores?!? Not me!). The sidewalk and most of the clothesline are shaded by my house until about 10:30 every morning. I’ve had to adopt a one, possibly two-a-day, load limit for the sake of time and shade, but it works well with my schedule to do it this way. I find it cathartic to be out in my yard by myself near my chickens, turkeys, and rabbits, enjoying a peek-a-boo view of our local mountains, hanging our clothes on the line, and listening to the sounds of my rural neighborhood. It’s a blissful time for me to think through the day, listen to a little music, and just bask in the few minutes of quietness and alone time I have each morning. I knew I wanted to line dry for the savings, but I never expected it to become one of my very favorite parts of the day!

5. Cut Dryer Sheets in Half

This is another non-negotiable for me. I don’t have a particular brand loyalty, so I buy whatever Costco has in bulk or whichever generic brand is available with a scent I enjoy. I do run each line-dried load through my dryer on the lowest setting for about 15 minutes to help soften any “crunchiness” from being out on the clothesline and to help deal with any lingering wrinkles. Dryer sheets are a must in my house, but 1/2 sheet works just as well as a whole.

6. Run Washer/Dryer During “Off-Peak” Times

Some electric utilities charge higher rates for electricity used during peak usage hours (usually noon-6:00pm). Avoiding the use of electric appliances during these hours can mean huge savings! Other companies offer savings plans for customers who reduce their peak usage by set percentages. Call your provider to see what kinds of incentives they might have to offer.

7. Keep Lint Under Control

Nothing lowers the efficiency (thereby costing you more money) of your dryer like a clogged lint trap or vent. Letting this junk stay in the vent system is also a fire hazard, so make to sure to keep it cleaned out! I’m admittedly guilty of being a lazy lint cleaner, but it drives my husband nuts, so I try to be a good girl and clean the lint trap every single time I dry a load of clothes. 😉

8. Use Less Liquid Fabric Softener

Liquid fabric softener is a real weakness of mine. I make all my own soaps as well as many of my own cleaners, but I just can’t/won’t let go of my particular name brand of softener. I DO use about 1/3 of the recommended usage amount, though, and I find that it works just as well. You don’t have to give up the small pleasures you find in doing laundry to save money!!

9. Clean Your Washer at Regular Intervals

Maybe it’s just me, but my newer front-loading washer gets a musty smell every so often. Once it does, I notice that smell transfers to our clothes. When I’m busy and just need the clothes to get clean, I’m tempted to re-run the load or use more soap to avoid the unpleasant aroma. That’s obviously not the right solution from a frugal perspective! To avoid running into this problem, I make sure to clean my washer on a regular basis. There are lots of ways to rid a washer of the inevitable gunky build-up that causes the smell, but I personally like to use vinegar. Once every three months I pour the vinegar (which is VERY inexpensive) into every reservoir (bleach, fabric softener, wash, pre-wash, and a few splashes in the main basin) of my machine and run it on the washer’s cleaning cycle. Vinegar is a natural fabric softener, so it really is ok if the vinegar smell lingers, and it’s not necessary to run it more than once unless there’s visible gunk in the basin. Keeping ahead of the musty washer smell really does make a world of difference!

10. Do Less Laundry!

It’s a rule in my house that jammies are worn more than one night, towels and sheets are only washed every few weeks, and jeans are only washed when they’re visibly dirty. Don’t judge, it works for us and our budget! 🙂 Let’s get real…..as long as towels are hung up, pajamas aren’t worn all day, children are potty trained, and cookies aren’t eaten in bed, MOST of us can adopt a do-less-laundry policy in our homes without any need for concern. Doing less laundry on a regular basis is by far my very favorite frugal laundry advice, because it means less laundry!

This is by no means an exhaustive list of penny-pinching laundry tips. What are some of the ways you keep your laundry costs down??