Save time and money with these unmissable laundry life hacks
Whether you like or hate doing laundry, going to the washing machine doesn’t have to be the epitome of tedious work. It can be something you really look forward to. With a few clever tricks, you can make your clothes look cleaner, brighter, and fresher than ever, and solve a few frustrating problems right away. It’s time to say goodbye to missing socks, stubborn stains and faded whites once and for all.
The ten tips below can also save you some time and money while doing your laundry, or at least simplify and streamline your laundry experience.
For more laundry hacks, check out tips at how to kill mold in your washing machine, energy saving ways how to do laundry and how to stop liquid detergent against spills everywhere.
1. Leave your laundry smelling great without dryer sheets
We like to use dryer sheets for all kinds of household usesbut we’re a little done with using them in the dryer: they can form a sticky film that covers the lint trap and exhaust hose, blocking airflow. Ultimately, the dryer works less efficiently and you use more electricity to dry your clothes.
If static electricity isn’t a problem, a drop or two of your favorite essential oil is a much easier, customizable, and eco-friendly way to keep your laundry smelling great. Dampen an old, clean sock and dab it with two drops of rose, lavender or peppermint extract. Then turn it inside out and throw it in the dryer with the rest of your clothes. The oil only leaves residue on the sock, not on your clothes or lint catcher.
We like to experiment with Plant Therapy oils and customize them by mixing and matching their extract combinations.
2. Place foil in the dryer
If static electricity bothers you, you still don’t have to resort to dryer sheets. They are single-use products that produce excess waste emit potentially harmful chemicals into the air.
To tame the static in the dryer, simply throw in a few balls of aluminum foil. The balls discharge static electricity, which prevents your clothes from sticking together. They are chemical-free and the same dryer balls can be reused dozens of times.
Foil dryer balls can prevent static electricity in the dryer.
Depending on the size of the load, you will need two or three foil balls, each with a diameter of 5 to 8 cm. Use about 3 to 4 square meters of foil for each ball, pressing it together as tightly as possible with your hands, making sure to press down any pieces that could snag clothing or loosen the ball.
3. Never lose a sock again
Don’t be resigned to ending up with unmatched socks. Just gather all your dirty socks and throw them in a mesh laundry bag before putting them in the washing machine.
Never leave a sock behind again.
Keep them in the bag when you dry them and do not remove the socks until you put them away. It is a foolproof method to leave no sock behind.
4. Add a little blue to white to your charge
Adding a light blue dye to a load of white can even make the items look whiter.
If you want your white to be super white, try making it blue. Blue tint – sold as blue, wash blue, dolly blue or wash blue – can be found in the laundry aisles of most supermarkets and adds a bit of blue dye to a load of laundry.
Mrs. Stewart Concentrated Liquid Blueing is one of the most popular brands and dates back to 1883.
This isn’t like accidentally dropping a red towel into a white load: the addition of a little hint of blue tricks the eye into thinking the laundry is whiter and brighter.
Bluing is a great way to brighten bed linens, towels, button-down shirts and even yellowed curtains.
Bonus tip: If you hang your white laundry in the sun to dry, you can bleach it naturally without dyes.
5. Turn that top inside out
Keep your favorite little black dress or worn-out jeans from fading by simply turning them inside out before throwing them in the washing machine. This ensures that the part that no one sees experiences more wear during washing, spinning and rinsing than the outside.
Pro tip: To keep your dark colors vibrant, wash them in cold water and hang them dry. This allows the dye to adhere to the fabric so that it does not end up in the wash water and fade.
Read more: Tips to prevent your clothes from fading
6. Repair a shrunken sweater with baby shampoo
In the rush to get laundry done, we’ve all accidentally thrown a favorite wool sweater into the washer or dryer, only to discover that it turns out to be four sizes too small.
You can still save that shrunken sweater.
Don’t send it to Goodwill yet. Mix a solution of cold water and baby shampoo (or hair conditioner) in a bucket or sink and submerge the shrunken garment for at least 30 minutes. The shampoo relaxes the wool fibers, allowing you to (carefully) stretch the garment back to its original size.
However, it is not a foolproof method: if the fibers are completely felted (that is, shrunk and pressed tightly together), they can cannot be stretched back to their original form.
6. Dry clothes faster with a clean towel
If you turn up the heat of the dryer, your clothes will naturally dry faster. But the more heat you use, the faster your clothes shrink and wear out. And higher heat uses more electricity.
If you need to dry something quickly (especially a smaller load), put some dry bath towels in the load to absorb some of the moisture.
7. Use chalk or shaving cream as a stain remover
A grease stain can feel like a fatal wound to a beloved blouse or T-shirt. But if you rub a little chalk over the stain as it occurs, it will absorb much of the oil before you have a chance to throw the garment in the wash. It’s like having your own homemade Tide pen.
Shaving foam is ideal for removing stains when you’re on the go.
If you don’t have chalk, baby powder works in much the same way: sprinkle the talc directly on the affected area and let it sit overnight before washing.
Shaving cream is also a great stain remover for medicine cabinets, especially if you’re traveling and are short on supplies. Work a dollop into the stain, let it sit for at least 20 to 30 minutes, then blot it up.
8. Use ice cubes to remove wrinkles
No time or patience to iron? Get the wrinkles out of your favorite shirt by tossing it into the shirt dryer with a handful of ice cubes and run the tumble dryer on high heat for about 12-15 minutes. The steam from the melting ice cubes acts as a natural wrinkle remover.
Ice cubes melt in the dryer and act as a natural clothes steamer.
When the cycle is complete, hang it up and smooth the cuff, collar and seams by hand.
You can also throw one or two wrinkled clothes in the dryer with a damp bath towel and set the timer for five minutes on medium heat.
The most important thing with both tips is that you remove the garment immediately, otherwise it will wrinkle again:
9. Wash your pillows to make them extra soft
To wash a synthetic pillow, just throw it in the machine with detergent and some fabric softener. Set your washing machine to the “sanitize” setting – or to the hottest wash cycle and fastest spin cycle available.
When the cycle is finished, place the pillow and a clean bath towel in the dryer and set it to sanitizing mode or the highest possible temperature for 30 minutes. If it is still damp, put it back and select the damp-dry mode or set the timer for another 10 minutes. If it is still not dry, run the dryer again, but check it regularly.
Yes, you can Run your pillows through the washer and dryer.
To wash a down pillow, remove the cover and ensure there are no visible cracks through which feathers could escape. It is actually better to wash pillows two at a time (to balance the wash tub) and load them vertically to avoid damage from the agitator.
Wash on the delicate cycle and use less detergent than normal, and run additional rinse and spin cycles to wring out as much soap and moisture as possible. Warm or even cold water will damage the feathers in the pillow less than a high temperature setting.
Dry the pillows on a low or even no heat setting for 15 or 20 minutes. It may take more than one cycle, but make sure you take them out of the dryer and shake them up between cycles.
10. Double your supply of dryer sheets
If you plan to purchase and use dryer sheets, you can easily stretch them further. Instead of watching your stash disappear in a few weeks, you can use the same box for twice as long by cutting each sheet in half.
You don’t need a whole sheet for one load of laundry. Cut them all in half and throw in a half for each smaller load. You still get the same amount of freshness without wasting money on something you’ll literally throw away.
