The Eco Laundry Room

The Eco Laundry Room

Sure, upgrading to a new machine that uses water and electricity more efficiently is a fantastic step toward a more sustainable society. So is investing in a quality clothes line system for hanging to dry outside. The reality is that these options are not always practical. Some of us live in very busy, congested areas where the air quality is poor, dusty, or perhaps there tend to be a lot of flies or some other bug. Not something you want on that clean laundry. And not everyone has the financial means to buy new and have those new machines delivered and installed. Don’t despair – because there are numerous things we can all do that have a measurable impact both financially and for the environment.

When the washing machine first clicks off thick items such as towels, robes, stuffed toys and rugs are still heavy with water - run them through a spin cycle before placing in the dryer. When loading the dryer, fluff the wet and tangled laundry items before tossing into the machine. Rather than being all tightly twisted and bunched up, these loosened items allow the air to permeate immediately – using the dryer more efficiently, while preventing fabrics from stretching. Because hot settings use so much energy, tend to shrink fabrics and can cause fires, they should be avoided. Use cold or cool water settings for the washer; use the medium setting for the dryer, but choose the coolest setting for delicates.

And finally, one more thing you can do in the laundry room – purchase only natural, eco-friendly, unscented products. Use a felt marker to make a dark line where the proper measured amount would be on the lid. Lids do have a ridge there to mark measurements, however far too often those ridges are very hard to see. It is also quite common for people in the household to vary in their guessing estimate of what the load will require. Having the ridge marked with a heavy dark line will help the household use the product efficiently. 

Also, consider switching over to cleaning vinegar, instead of fabric softener. It really works. If you are using the concentrated cleaning vinegar, add a tablespoon in the fabric softener dispenser – for regular vinegar pour until you’ve reached the fill line in the dispenser.

~~

Visit the Brummet's @: http://BrummetMedia.ca

~~