Washing clothes

After reading the comments to Scott's post in Bea's Zero Waste Home blog, I was reminded about how much water and electricity I end up saving using the washing system my mother taught me.

Although automatic washing machines are becoming increasingly common, specially among young couples who can afford it and "don't have time to do the laundry", many families in the Philippines still prefer to purchase either a single-tub or a twin-tub washing machine, if they can afford it at all.  We decided we could afford the expense just for the considerable time it would save us.

Here is how I do it:
1.  No hot water...or even warm water.  I always use water from the tap--unheated.  With the right amount of soap and pre-soaking if necessary, there has never been a need for anymore than plain cold tap water.

2.  Know your water.  Knowing what type of water you get in the tap will determine how much soap you need and how to segregate your clothes.  Soft water rinses away soap more effectively than hard water.  Harder water has minerals that react with the soap and may cause some sort of scum.  Knowing what water you get will help you regulate how much soap you should use while ensuring your clothes are thoroughly cleaned.

3.  Know your clothes.  Knowing what clothes are already in the hamper helps me plan what clothes to wear until the next time I wash.  If I already wore something that would stain, I try to wear similarly colored clothes or something darker that I can include with that item and not visibly stain.  Doing so helps me...

4.  Segregate well.  Clothes get segregated not just by color but also by how dirty they are.  This way, the number of batches needed are minimized--and so is the time I spend washing them.  Undergarments usually go first.  If the batch is too small, sometimes I throw in our home clothes too.  Next batch usually consists of clothes used outside or dirtied clothes segregated by color from lightest to darkest color (most of the time).  Among the last batches are the heaviest and dirtiest--denims, socks, or just the dirtiest rags.

5.  Regulate soap.  I don't just put two whole scoops of soap before the first batch.  I put just enough for the amount of clothes and how dirty they are.  More soap doesn't necessarily mean cleaner clothes.  Too much soap, in my experience, just resulted in too fragrant clothes or more rinsing cycles to get wash off that soap.  If I feel more soap is needed for the next batch, I just add more.  Each batch then gets enough soap to clean it without needing more than two rinses.

Try using about a half-scoop of soap first for the first batch.  If you get suds enough to cover the water for about 4-5 inches and the water is milky, that is good enough for me.  You can expect the suds to diminish for each succeeding batch.  I usually add a half-scoop again if I have about two more batches and the suds are almost gone.  If you've got more than two more batches to do, you may want to start with new water if the wash water looks almost blackish or really dark gray.

6.  Hand rinse.  Hand rinsing always me to see and feel for myself if the soap is all being washed off.  Segregating the clothes and regulating soap helps me save water because I only need two rinses to get rid off all the soap.

7.  No fabric softener or conditioner.  Using too much soap may leave your laundry stiff and strongly smelling of detergent after it dries.  Regulating the amount of soap I use and hand rinsing to ensure I wash out all the soap, eliminates my need to use any kind of fabric conditioner.

8.  Spin dry.  Two to three minutes in the spin dryer is enough time to get rid of excess water that may drip when I hang the clothes to dry.  There's no need to set it to run the full number of minutes in the timer.  As soon as I no longer hear water getting squished out, I give it about five more seconds then stop the dryer even if it hasn't reached two minutes.

9.  Air dry.  After spin drying, I hang them out to dry.  I try to schedule my washing in the morning so my clothes can get as much sun as they can.  If the sun does show, I can usually gather and fold my dry clothes before the sun has set.

It took me years to figure out the most efficient and cheapest system for me to wash my clothes.

Savings:
Electricity
       --From not needing hot water.
       --Segregating helps minimize the time the washing machine runs.
       --Spin drying and air drying.


Water
       --Segregating clothes.
       --Regulating soap.
       --Hand rinsing.
       --No need for fabric conditioner rinse.

Other tips:
Invert clothes inside out during last rinse.  This ensures that both inside and outside have been thoroughly rinsed.  Also, since I hang my clothes out in the sun, the side that will get the sun (and fade) will be the inside--not the side people will see when I wear those clothes out. ;)

What is your system for washing clothes?  What tips can you add?