What are your laundry hacks? - Page 4

khorrell · 05-13-2008, 02:27 PM

I agree about the donation bag, and the dry cleaning bag. Both of those things make my life a lot easier. I keep the donation bag in a trash can, and when it is full, I tie it up and drag it out to the car. Dry cleaning hangs around until my husband needs a suit done and then the bag goes with.

Also, paring down our clothes makes a huge difference. If we only have 10 outfits, then we never have more than 10 outfits worth of dirty. If we have 50 outfits, we could have 50 outfits worth of dirty at any one time. Ick!

I fold things as they come out of the dryer and sort them into room stacks. When I was hyper-efficient, I would use the music - one song to dry, one song to run everything to the right room, and one song to fill the washer again. Since I've been trying to get my kids to be part of the process, sometimes there are baskets waiting for them to put away.

lucille · 05-31-2008, 04:43 PM

I think moving to a warmer climate might be the ultimate laundry hack. I have noticed since it got warm out our weekly laundry loads dropped by about half. Well duh. Fewer pairs of socks as more of us wear flip flops. Fewer sweatshirts or other extra layers of clothes and summer clothes are usually less fabric in general. I had half as many loads this morning.

Sundai · 06-02-2008, 06:29 AM

This is SUCH a unique thread. First time I have EVER seen people talking about their laundy habits. I like it.

I also live in an apt. I have to go down 5 flights of stairs to laundry room. I usually bag my laundry, I have 3 or 4 GOOD laundry bags that can take a beating since I roll/kick it down the spiral stairs. I found that a lot easier than dragging or carrying it. BUT if room is busy, which it sometimes is, I do have a huge storage locker IN the laundryroom where I can put everything until the machines are not being used.

My laundryroom is Dangerous sometimes. I have been verbally AND physically threatened, chased and my actual laundry taken OUT of machines and thrown on the floor so someone else could use the machine. These are NOT nice people who do these kinds of things. Even Violent and criminal types have to do laundry sometimes. BUT as luck would have it, their outrageous behaviours are not just there but anywhere else in the building and are usually evicted in short order. There was a time when I had to bring a gun with me to do laundry but not recently. I actually tried going OUT to laundramat instead but there OTHER bad things were going on. I did go to 6 or 7 Different laundramats in different areas of town but it didn't matter, these criminal types are EVERYWHERE. So now I am back in my own building TIMING When I go down there. Seems mid week mid afternoon no one is around. This is working out well.

I remember the days when I had my own home. The laundryroom was upstairs between the bedrooms, a very LOGICAL place to put the laundryroom since most of the laundry originates there. One big mishap was when one of the hoses broke, flooded entire first floor of the house and caused many thousands of dollars of damage.

Only thing now about doing laundry that is a Killer is carrying up 5 flights of stairs clean, folded laundry. It's a back KILLER. I TRY to really organize doing laundry once or twice a week. I used to change my clothes multiple times a day, now I am more Normal, ONE outfit a day, maybe wear things twice without washing if I only wore it a few hours.

Doing laundry here is relatively inexpensive .75 to wash and .50 to dry so it's worth it NOT to go to laundramat anyway. It's all a matter of "Timing".

kav122 · 06-02-2008, 08:06 AM

wow, sundai---I think that situation would definitely make me think twice before I threw something in the hamper!

lucille · 06-02-2008, 12:34 PM

Wow Sundai. Back in my younger years in one apartment I had a bunch of my nicer clothes stolen from the dryer in the laundry room downstairs. I had one drunk creepy guy stand in the doorway and try to not let me out. That was a contributing factor to moving out among a bunch of others. I tried using laudromats and had equally bad luck with weird creepy people (usually guys) showing up and acting odd (and not doing laundry) or various inappropriate behavior. I started taking my 110# dog with me to the laundromat.

If I ever had to move into an apartment situation again I would try to get one with the washer/dryer closet in it or find one of those apartment sized units you can stick in a kitchen. Compared to what a headache it was to not have a washer/dryer at home I think I'm pretty lucky even if I have to use a step stool to keep the dryer door shut.

Sundai · 06-09-2008, 05:32 AM

I am glad others understand, in here I mean. I felt my post was a bit off topic but I was just talking about what goes on here. The aprtment IS worth it though. It's HUGE, ceiling to floor south facing windows and Charming as all get-out and the rent isn't too bad. Only thing that'd make it perfect would be access to the roof so I could have a garden and sunbathe. It's a very old building but updated.

And guess what? TODAY IS Laundryday!!

One otherthing I didn't mention is we have a Free Table in the laundryroom. People put stuff there they no longer want or need. Good stuff I mean. Usable houshold items and clothes, books, toys etc. It is SO much easier than bagging up things to take OUT to a Mission or Goodwill. It works out VERY nicely for everyone. And since I am sorting out my Winter/Summer clothes I have quite a bit that has to go on it right now. And I keep a bag near the backdoor of my apt in the hall and whenever I come across something I don't want I put it in that bag and when it's full I just take it down there. Works GREAT if you are a PackRat in need of DownSizing.

amyschiff · 06-09-2008, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucille

If I ever had to move into an apartment situation again I would try to get one with the washer/dryer closet in it or find one of those apartment sized units you can stick in a kitchen. Compared to what a headache it was to not have a washer/dryer at home I think I'm pretty lucky even if I have to use a step stool to keep the dryer door shut.

This was my ONE requirement when I moved into my most recent apartment after starting my new job. Six years of laundromats and apartment shared facilities throughout school was enough. It is way less of a hassle, and I don't have to deal with people who don't respect others' belongings.

Megan · 06-10-2008, 09:22 AM

I'm also in an apartment and stuck with using communal machines. It's not as bad as I thought - we have machines on every floor, and I've never had to wait, nor have I had anyone take my laundry out. It is expensive though - $1.75 to wash and $1.75 to dry. So my frugal hacks are to wait as long as possible so that I can have a completely full machine, which has meant buying more socks and underwear than I probably need.

Of course, that doesn't work on clothes that I wash on the gentle cycle (my work clothes) or my various technical workout gear that must be washed without fabric softener. Both of these categories of clothes, however, have some stuff that must hang dry and others that can go in the dryer. I don't have the space to hang everything in the apartment, so I try to do both of these loads at once, then toss the dryer stuff in one machine rather than two. It's not a huge frugal hack.

Megan · 06-10-2008, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucille

I think moving to a warmer climate might be the ultimate laundry hack. I have noticed since it got warm out our weekly laundry loads dropped by about half. Well duh. Fewer pairs of socks as more of us wear flip flops. Fewer sweatshirts or other extra layers of clothes and summer clothes are usually less fabric in general. I had half as many loads this morning.

Lucille, I was thinking that now that summer was here, my laundry loads would drop. But we've been under such a crazy heat wave that I feel like I'm going through clothing like crazy! Things that normally could be reworn get sweaty after one wearing, so I'm going through twice as much clothing. It's probably equivalent to what I wash in the winter.

amyschiff · 06-10-2008, 09:49 AM

I also combine loads in the dryer. I always end up with a delicate load which is mostly hang dry, so I don't dry the non-hang-dry pieces until I have a second load ready and put them both together.

05-31-2008, 04:43 PM	#32
lucille Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 375 Reputation: (19)	I think moving to a warmer climate might be the ultimate laundry hack. I have noticed since it got warm out our weekly laundry loads dropped by about half. Well duh. Fewer pairs of socks as more of us wear flip flops. Fewer sweatshirts or other extra layers of clothes and summer clothes are usually less fabric in general. I had half as many loads this morning. __________________ Dark Style Blog http://darkstyleblog.blogspot.com/

06-02-2008, 12:34 PM	#35
lucille Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 375 Reputation: (19)	Wow Sundai. Back in my younger years in one apartment I had a bunch of my nicer clothes stolen from the dryer in the laundry room downstairs. I had one drunk creepy guy stand in the doorway and try to not let me out. That was a contributing factor to moving out among a bunch of others. I tried using laudromats and had equally bad luck with weird creepy people (usually guys) showing up and acting odd (and not doing laundry) or various inappropriate behavior. I started taking my 110# dog with me to the laundromat. If I ever had to move into an apartment situation again I would try to get one with the washer/dryer closet in it or find one of those apartment sized units you can stick in a kitchen. Compared to what a headache it was to not have a washer/dryer at home I think I'm pretty lucky even if I have to use a step stool to keep the dryer door shut. __________________ Dark Style Blog http://darkstyleblog.blogspot.com/

06-10-2008, 09:22 AM	#38
Megan Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 293 Reputation: (49)	I'm also in an apartment and stuck with using communal machines. It's not as bad as I thought - we have machines on every floor, and I've never had to wait, nor have I had anyone take my laundry out. It is expensive though - $1.75 to wash and $1.75 to dry. So my frugal hacks are to wait as long as possible so that I can have a completely full machine, which has meant buying more socks and underwear than I probably need. Of course, that doesn't work on clothes that I wash on the gentle cycle (my work clothes) or my various technical workout gear that must be washed without fabric softener. Both of these categories of clothes, however, have some stuff that must hang dry and others that can go in the dryer. I don't have the space to hang everything in the apartment, so I try to do both of these loads at once, then toss the dryer stuff in one machine rather than two. It's not a huge frugal hack. __________________ Counting My Pennies

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05-13-2008, 02:27 PM	#31
khorrell Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 297 Reputation: (35)	I agree about the donation bag, and the dry cleaning bag. Both of those things make my life a lot easier. I keep the donation bag in a trash can, and when it is full, I tie it up and drag it out to the car. Dry cleaning hangs around until my husband needs a suit done and then the bag goes with. Also, paring down our clothes makes a huge difference. If we only have 10 outfits, then we never have more than 10 outfits worth of dirty. If we have 50 outfits, we could have 50 outfits worth of dirty at any one time. Ick! I fold things as they come out of the dryer and sort them into room stacks. When I was hyper-efficient, I would use the music - one song to dry, one song to run everything to the right room, and one song to fill the washer again. Since I've been trying to get my kids to be part of the process, sometimes there are baskets waiting for them to put away.

06-02-2008, 06:29 AM	#33
Sundai Junior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 9 Reputation: (10)	This is SUCH a unique thread. First time I have EVER seen people talking about their laundy habits. I like it. I also live in an apt. I have to go down 5 flights of stairs to laundry room. I usually bag my laundry, I have 3 or 4 GOOD laundry bags that can take a beating since I roll/kick it down the spiral stairs. I found that a lot easier than dragging or carrying it. BUT if room is busy, which it sometimes is, I do have a huge storage locker IN the laundryroom where I can put everything until the machines are not being used. My laundryroom is Dangerous sometimes. I have been verbally AND physically threatened, chased and my actual laundry taken OUT of machines and thrown on the floor so someone else could use the machine. These are NOT nice people who do these kinds of things. Even Violent and criminal types have to do laundry sometimes. BUT as luck would have it, their outrageous behaviours are not just there but anywhere else in the building and are usually evicted in short order. There was a time when I had to bring a gun with me to do laundry but not recently. I actually tried going OUT to laundramat instead but there OTHER bad things were going on. I did go to 6 or 7 Different laundramats in different areas of town but it didn't matter, these criminal types are EVERYWHERE. So now I am back in my own building TIMING When I go down there. Seems mid week mid afternoon no one is around. This is working out well. I remember the days when I had my own home. The laundryroom was upstairs between the bedrooms, a very LOGICAL place to put the laundryroom since most of the laundry originates there. One big mishap was when one of the hoses broke, flooded entire first floor of the house and caused many thousands of dollars of damage. Only thing now about doing laundry that is a Killer is carrying up 5 flights of stairs clean, folded laundry. It's a back KILLER. I TRY to really organize doing laundry once or twice a week. I used to change my clothes multiple times a day, now I am more Normal, ONE outfit a day, maybe wear things twice without washing if I only wore it a few hours. Doing laundry here is relatively inexpensive .75 to wash and .50 to dry so it's worth it NOT to go to laundramat anyway. It's all a matter of "Timing".

06-02-2008, 08:06 AM	#34
kav122 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 396 Reputation: (156)	wow, sundai---I think that situation would definitely make me think twice before I threw something in the hamper!

06-09-2008, 05:32 AM	#36
Sundai Junior Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 9 Reputation: (10)	I am glad others understand, in here I mean. I felt my post was a bit off topic but I was just talking about what goes on here. The aprtment IS worth it though. It's HUGE, ceiling to floor south facing windows and Charming as all get-out and the rent isn't too bad. Only thing that'd make it perfect would be access to the roof so I could have a garden and sunbathe. It's a very old building but updated. And guess what? TODAY IS Laundryday!! One otherthing I didn't mention is we have a Free Table in the laundryroom. People put stuff there they no longer want or need. Good stuff I mean. Usable houshold items and clothes, books, toys etc. It is SO much easier than bagging up things to take OUT to a Mission or Goodwill. It works out VERY nicely for everyone. And since I am sorting out my Winter/Summer clothes I have quite a bit that has to go on it right now. And I keep a bag near the backdoor of my apt in the hall and whenever I come across something I don't want I put it in that bag and when it's full I just take it down there. Works GREAT if you are a PackRat in need of DownSizing.

06-10-2008, 09:49 AM	#40
amyschiff Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lansing, MI Posts: 244 Reputation: (28)	I also combine loads in the dryer. I always end up with a delicate load which is mostly hang dry, so I don't dry the non-hang-dry pieces until I have a second load ready and put them both together.