Simple Savings: Laundry

One simple way to save money and time is to only wash clothes when they are dirty or when they smell.  It is easy to just throw things in the laundry basket without checking to see if they are really dirty.  You could save yourself one or two loads a week or more by doing this.  Another idea is to give each person in the household a different color of towel.  They can always know which towel belongs to them and use it all week long.  You will also know who is leaving the towel on the floor by the color!  Another thing you can do to save money is to use half as much detergent that you use now.  Try it and see how it goes.  I would bet that your clothes still come out just as clean.  One of the laundry places around where we live has a sign on their wall that says you should wash your clothes ones a month with no soap since lots of soap builds up in them.  After I read this, I decided to use 1/2 to 1/3 less soap and have had no trouble getting things clean for years.  With the price of laundry detergent, who wouldn't want to make it stretch for a longer time?  You can also try washing in cold water.  I haven't done that yet, but it could save some money.  I still think that hot water means cleaner clothes, especially for whites.