Save some green while doing laundry

Although many of the tips I give you are not huge savings, all the little things do add up. One huge savings tip would be in your laundry room. When you have  a large family like mine, the savings really do start to add up. Here are a few ways you can save with little or no effort.

Make your own liquid laundry soap-Why pay $6.99-$10 for 30-40 loads of laundry? I do at least 2 loads of laundry a day, which adds up to 14 loads a week, 56 a month.  Buy liquid soap and your paying an average of 22 cents per load. When you make your own laundry soap you spend 1 penny per load. Thats 56 cents per month. So wanna pay 22 cents or 1 cent? Easy directions to make your own laundry soap brought to you by me!
http://hannaqueen.blogspot.com/2010/01/laundry-soap-for-less-than-penny-per.html

Ditch the dryer sheets-Another huge savings is to not use dryer sheets. Do you really need that super strong smell to tell you they are dry?  And whats more annoying that dryer sheets stuck to everything including you in that not so great moment. How many of you have found dryer sheets stuck to your clothes at work? Another horrible thing is that you have to throw them away. Cannot be recycled because of the wax and toxic chemicals on them. Some save them to use as filler in stuffed animals but not recommended.
How do I stop using them? Easy, just don't use them. You can invest in dryer balls which cost anywhere from $3 at Rite Aids dollar section if you can find them, or order them on the net which will cost you about $15 not including shipping cost. Or make your own. There are lots of directions of how to make them. Some even just use aluminum balls you just make from your regular aluminum foil. Or you can get craft and make wool balls.
http://howtomakedo.net/154/make-your-own-wool-dryer-balls

If you just stop using dryer sheets and use nothing, you will have static for only a few loads of laundry. This is due to your clothes having all that wax and chemicals from the dryer sheets. Once that is all gone, it will have no static.

Another option which I love is to sew together some fabric and stuff it with some dried lavender. Just toss in the dryer  with your wet clothes and dry as usual. Your clothes will smell so good.

There is also biodegradable dryer sheets but I have yet to find a brand sell them and keep them on the market. Ive used several brands but still had the same problem with the sheets being all over my home. Plus they are usually made of paper. But you can throw them in your compost bin.  Seventh Generation has how started selling these which is good because they are an excellent company and have been around for a long time. They are hard to find in stores but usually can be found on amazon or drugstore.com.

Clothes Line-Over the years ive hung our clothing outside in limited space, in our home on our shower rod, and even just hung stuff on hooks. Now that I have an excellent backyard, I can use a clothes line. Easy to make and cheap to buy. Head on over to your local Dollar Store and they will have clothing line you can buy and also the wooden pins you will need. Just take home and find some nails. I drape mine from my home to the fence making sure that I put it up during nice weather or take it down during the winter. My husband likes this because he cant stand to see our clothing hanging everywhere. You can also buy clothing racks. I just found an amazing rack at Costco for only $21 and its all metal. Folds away so I can put it beside my dryer and the wall. This one also had shoe hooks so I can now hang our wet shoes on it. This option is great for people who rent and cannot just put their clothes where they want. The wooden or metal racks are best unless you have a dog who likes to chew on wooden ones. gguurrrr! If its a nice day, put the clothes out to hang dry and take advantage of the sun. Its free to use anytime you want and saves on your energy bill!

To wash or not wash-Do you really need to wash towels after each use? I say no. We use our towels at least 3 times before we wash them. After each use we simply hang it up to dry on the shower rack. My family is not dirty, we do not do dirty jobs so this works for us. Blankets only washed when they smell not so clean or if were sick. After each cold/flue we wash all blankets/bedding. Decorative pillows are washed every few months. Just think about stuff when your throwing it in the washer. Do I really need to wash them each use? Can we get by with a few uses?

These few tips can easily save you $20 or more a month. Obviously depending on  how big your family is or how much laundry you do.  If you have any questions about anything above, leave a comment! Always willing to answer any questions

p.s. Don't you just love that picture? Too funny.