Laundry day can be a hassle for some. For others, it may be great fun to sort, wash, dry and fold. However you look at it, there are ways to save time and money to make laundry better.
There are also hacks and tips that will help you create a better environment for your pets and kids. With these hacks your clothes will be cleaner, softer and your time will be spent more wisely.
Here are 19 laundry hacks everyone should know.
Dry Your Clothes Faster
If you’re in a rush to finish your laundry, you’re not alone. You can dry your clothes much faster if you add a towel to the wash.
After you’ve run your wash cycle and even done a spin cycle, don’t stop there. You can soak up even more of the moisture in your clothes.
Choose the most absorbent towel around and toss it in the wash. It will work to absorb moisture so you need less drying time. Less drying time will also save electricity.
Clean Your Washer
After having a washer for a number of years, your clothes may begin to absorb an odor from the washer. This may cause you to have to wash them again.
Save your self the time and ensure that you wash your machine to prevent odors. With the nature of the washing machine as a cleaning tool, it’s easy to overlook the fact it needs a cleaning too.
The easiest way to clean your washer is by using vinegar. Just add 2 cups of vinegar to the wash cycle and let it run through.
You can finish up by using some Dawn dish soap to leave a lasting and pleasant fragrance.
Get Out Greasy Stains
Chalk is ideal for removing stains. If you have children, chances are, you’ll have chalk or access to chalk. Whether it is chalk-board chalk or sidewalk chalk.
Keep even the nubs from the sidewalk chalk. Whenever you run into a greasy stain, remember, it’s to remove. Just rub the chalk into the fabric before putting it in the wash.
The dry and powdery nature of the chalk will help to absorb the grease from the stain. You can also add baking soda to the chalk to remove more stubborn stains.
Save On Dryer Sheets
If you run out of dryer sheets in the middle of a load, the answer is simple. Just take a sponge and soak it in fabric softener. Add this to your dryer with your load and voila, a reusable dryer sheet.
This method is only a fraction of the cost of disposable dryer sheets and it will keep on giving. An even better way to do this is to soak a batch of sponges and keep them by the dryer.
They will never go bad and after you use each one, you can just put it back into the fabric softener.
Keep A Bin For Missing Socks
In my household, pairs of socks are always going missing. They may end up in another pile of clothes, under furniture or other random places around the house.
If you don’t have time to go hunting or you haven’t come across the missing pair just preserve the current pair. Keep a small bin in your laundry room to hold single pairs.
Once you find and wash the next pair, you can pair them up and put them away.
Use A Lingerie Bag For Line Dry Items
You can save a lot of time by avoiding the sorting segment of wash day. Keep different hampers for different types of clothes.
Having a hamper for whites, colors, silks, cotton etc. helps to make it easier when wash day comes. To make it even easier, keep a bag for line dry items in the wash.
A lingerie bag would be a perfect fit for this hack. Just place the line dry items in the bag and wash with everything else. When the load if finished, just pull out the lingerie bag and hang those clothes to dry.
Watch Your Favorite Shows While Folding
Time flies when you’re having fun. Make the time go by much faster when you’re folding laundry. Save your favorite shows for binging or podcasts for listening.
When the laundry is done and it’s time to fold and put away, just turn it on, turn it up and listen or watch. As you fold and set each piece aside, you’ll enjoy every moment.
You may even get bummed when it’s over. This will make any task, as long as you can swing it, a lot more enjoyable.
Soften Fabrics With Vinegar
Vinegar can be used to soften fabrics. This is especially ideal if you’re sensitive to fabric softeners or fragrances.
Just add a small amount to the wash and rinse cycle to experience softer clothes. This will even penetrate tough fabrics and make them gentle on the skin.
White vinegar does not only have softening properties but, is antibacterial and will eliminate lingering odors. Imagine keeping your washer fresh while washing your clothes; it’s a homemakers dream!
Spray Starch Straightening
There will come a time when there is barely enough time to pick out clothes and get ready. When this time comes, you may find yourself settling for wrinkled clothes.
Keep it together by straightening clothes before you need them. If you don’t have time to iron everything or is simply too lazy, use spray starch to help you.
Spray the article of clothing with your linen spray, put it on a hanger and leave it in a warm room. The heat will act with the spray starch to straighten your clothes for you.
Wrinkle Free With Ice Cubes
Color Fast Salt Hacks
There are times when it’s hard to tell if a fabric is color fast. If you have trust issues with these fabric or you’re just in a hurry. Add some salt to the washer to keep the clothes from running.
The chloride in the salt helps to protect vibrant colors and assists them in staying put in the wash. Chemical compounds of soap tend to also cause the colors of clothes the fade.
The salt will also protect your fabrics from fading. This can be a simple insurance tactic to protect your clothes.
Eliminate Ink Stains With Hair Spray
Ink stains are almost unavoidable when you work with pens, markers, children or have children at home. However, it’s simple and easy to remove ink stains.
All you need is an alcohol based hairspray and the stain itself. Set the fabric down on a flat surface and spray with your hairspray.
Once the stain is completely saturated, let it sit for 10 minutes or more then throw it into the wash. You’ll notice that the stain is gone and the color has returned to normal.
Leave Messages With Dry-Erase Marker
If you’re constantly forgetting when an item you washed needs to air dry or machine dry then this hack is for you.
You can also use this hack if you have room mates, children or spouses that interface with the same washer. Use a dry erase marker to leave directions and messages on your washing machine or dryer.
Dry erase markers can indicate simple steps, reminders or let the next person know what’s happening with the wash cycle in your absence.
Un-Shrink Clothes With Conditioner
By any mistake, you can end up with shrunken clothes in your laundry. If this happens to you and you’re about the toss the shrunken piece. Stop, there is a way to un-shrink these pieces.
Just add ordinary hair conditioner to a tub of lukewarm water. Dissolve the conditioner by any means to prepare it for the clothes.
Add the clothes and let them soak, you can start to stretch them back to their normal form while they’re in the water. Squeeze them dry, stretch some more and let it air dry.
Detergent Cap In The Wash
Detergent tends to drip everywhere after you measure it in the cap. This can be wasteful and messy.
If you want to save yourself sometime cleaning up and put the soap the good use, just drop the cap in the wash. Toss the cap in the wash with your clothes and it will come out totally clean with no dripping.
You would have also used all the soap possible for that load. Just remember to remove the cap before you transfer the load to the dryer.
Lint In A Tissue Box
If you have limited space in your laundry room or laundry area, use an empty tissue box for dryer lint. You can throw it away once the box is full add it to your compost pile.
Lint can be a real asset to your garden when used in compost. Another way to use up collected lint is to make fire starters for your fireplace or camping trips.
Simply, stuff a toilet paper tube with lint and store them in a box or container. When you need to, just set it in your fire and light it up.
Pool Noodle And Drying Rack Hack
Another place that cause creases that seem inevitable is the drying rack. To avoid this, you can use a pool noodle. Cut a piece of pool noodle to the length of the rod on the drying rack.
Next, make a cut on the length of the pool noodle to open it up. Finally slip the noodle on to the drying rack and drape the clothes over it.
The pool noodle will create a cushion between the drying rack and the clothes to prevent harsh creasing.
Pre-Soak For Workout Clothes
Workout clothes tend to have a much less fresh odor than regular clothes. This is because workouts are quite sweaty. Just help this along by doing a pre-soak with vinegar.
This will dissolve sweat and release strong odors. Put the workout clothes in a tub and completely submerge them in cold water.
Pour 1/2 cup of white vinegar and leave the clothes to soak for about an hour. Afterwards, wash them with gentle soap to get them nice and clean.
Unbutton Shirts Before Washing
An easy way to keep formal shirts and blouses in one piece is to unbutton them before washing. Take extra care to unbutton them before adding them to the wash.
Washing your tops while they’re buttoned can cause unnecessary tension on the buttons. This stress can wear out the buttons and threads that hold them together.
The likelihood of buttons breaking or threads bursting then becomes greater. Keep your favorite formal tops’ buttons longer by unbuttoning them in the wash.
19 Awesome laundry hacks to make doing laundry fun and save time.Laundry Hacks Everyone Should Know
Instructions
Dry Your Clothes Faster
Clean Your Washer
Get Out Greasy Stains
Save On Dryer Sheets
Keep A Bin For Missing Socks
Use A Lingerie Bag For Line Dry Items
Watch Your Favorite Shows While Folding
Soften Fabrics With Vinegar
Spray Starch Straightening
Wrinkle Free With Ice Cubes
Color Fast Salt Hacks
Eliminate Ink Stains With Hair Spray
Leave Messages With Dry-Erase Marker
Un-Shrink Clothes With Conditioner
Detergent Cap In The Wash
Lint In A Tissue Box
Pool Noodle And Drying Rack Hack
Pre-Soak For Workout Clothes
Unbutton Shirts Before Washing
Make chores funner, keep the fabric of the environment in tack or make tasks easier by choosing and employing any of these hacks.
You can also share your favorite tip with a friend or neighbor to make their lives easier too!
