How to save money while doing the laundry

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] 6 smiling women under tenement clothesline; caption reads: "Do we look cheerful? Washing clothes is pretty hard work generally, but if you use Kirkman's Borax Soap according to directions, it's really wonderful how it lightens labor and...makes clothes sweet as a rose and white as snow". (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

Let's face it, clothes are expensive. Taking care of those clothes can also put a big hole in your budget. By the time you buy all the products 'needed', wash and dry your laundry, you've taken a huge hit.  I budget very little for laundry. In fact, only a very small potion of our food/household budget is used for cleaning and supplies. Here are a few ways I cut back on my laundry expenses.

1.  I own very few clothes. How does that help? There isn't as much laundry to pile up before we get around to wash it.


2. We wear our clothes more than once


3. I use hand towels instead of a regular size towel when drying off from a shower. We use our towels more than once. These alone cuts my laundry down tremendously! *please see notes for a tip


4. Make your own laundry detergent - I will be adding my laundry soap recipe


5. Make your own softener- 1/2 cup of white vinegar added to the rinse works great as a softener. Your clothes will not smell like vinegar. Vinegar cuts leftover soap and will leave your clothes softer.


6. Make your own bleach


7. Wash in cold water- I do all of my loads on cold. I've never seen the need to use heated water to wash my clothes. Proper spot treatment will help a cold water wash work better.


8. Have a full load before washing


9. Use the correct measurements- this goes for water and products. Don't assume the lid on the detergent, softener etc, needs to be full in order to get your clothes clean. Manufacturers want you to use more than necessary. They sell more that way.


10. Hang your clothes to dry- either on a line outside on racks inside. I will admit I have some things (like my uniform for work) that does not air dry well. So I use my dryer.


11. Take clothes out of the dryer (if you use it) and hang immediately. This eliminates the need to use more energy by turning the dryer back on to re-fluff.

*Notes: Hang your towels up with pants hangers, this allows them to dry after each use. Use different color towels for each person.