Are You A Rebel? Here are 7 Laundry Tips That Break All The Rules. Are You Ready To Save Time And Money? Read On.
I would never in a million years consider myself a rebel. I play by the rules 99.9% of the time.
Being frugal does mean going against the grain and doing things that others might think is weird. In that sense, I’m definitely a rebel. I break a lot of laundry rules that others live by and guess what…
I still have clean laundry, it just costs me a lot less time and money. With five kids I don’t have a lot of either to spare.
So here are the rules I break and if you’re feeling rebellious, you can feel free to break them too.
1. Buy Used Clothing – There are so many awesome reasons to buy your clothes second hand, yet it’s still kind of taboo in the U.S. to buy used clothing. It still seems to be associated with being poor. I say, spend like you’re poor to live like you’re rich.
Besides saving a ton of money on your family’s clothing, your clothes come pre-worn, pre-shrunk, pre-washed (multiple times) and here’s why that’s a good thing. When you get your clothing new you have no idea what a few rounds in the washer and dryer will do to the fabric. You don’t know if that sweater you adore will be too stretched out to wear six months down the line.
When you buy used, you can already see how the fabric has stood up to kids and their stains, and to washing and wearing. Even though I wash them when I bring them home, I know I don’t need to worry about the dye bleeding onto other clothes in the wash which can happen with brand new clothing, especially jeans and dark clothes.
2. Buy The Cheapest Set of Appliances You Can Find – In America, we tend to like our appliances to have as many bells and whistles as possible. Unfortunately, the more features your appliances have, the more possibilities that one of those features will break, causing you to shell out big bucks to either fix or replace it. You’ll be whistling when you see how much those features actually set your bank account back.
I find the most basic model appliances I can. Sure my washer doesn’t automatically weigh my clothes to determine exactly how much water is needed or have a million different cycles to choose from (mine has 3), but the washer I bought for about $250 is still washing my clothes 11 years later. Knock on wood. I hope it lasts another 9 or 10, but if it doesn’t I’ve more than gotten my money out of it. The dryer that I bought for about the same price made it 10 years and when we replaced it (you can guess) we bought another basic no frills model.
When our old dryer finally started to go, we were able to extend its life by about six months by thoroughly cleaning out the lint trap, I do clean the lint screen after every use, but sometimes the lint gets stuck in the vent and that can make it take a lot longer to dry a load of laundry.
I also hang my clothes out to dry in the warmer months so that definitely extends the life of both my clothing and the dryer.
3. Buy Laundry Detergent For Dirt Cheap – I try never to pay more than $1.50 for a bottle of laundry detergent. I pick up 3 or 4 bottles for what most people pay for one. How do I do it?
Ditch the brand loyalty. I know some people have their brand of detergent that they’ve been buying for years. Chances are your mother bought the same brand and maybe your grandmother before her. Brand loyalty can be that strong.
But if you’re willing to be disloyal (now that sounds rebellious) you can save a ton of money. I have a grocery store here in NY that typically runs a loss-leader sale (marking down an item drastically to get you to the store to buy other things at full price) once a week on a few different brands of laundry detergent. I pick whichever is listed that week and stock up on a few bottles. If I have a coupon or an e-coupon that makes the price even lower than all the better. I’ve spent as little as nothing up to as much as $1.88 per bottle. But I stock up on 2-4 bottles at rock bottom prices so I don’t have to buy them at full price.
If you don’t have time to get the store, try Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program and get a discount for shipping multiple items. You can also clip a dollar off coupon on your first subscribe and save offer. Try Amazon free for 30 days and get free shipping.
4. Make Your Own Stain Removers – I used to buy stain removers all the time. Did I mention I have kids? But honestly, they never did a fantastic job. Maybe my kids are just especially talented at creating stains. So when my last bottle ran out six or seven years ago I just started adding some of my regular detergent to the bottle along with some water. I mix and spray it on my clothes. It does about the same job as the brand I used to buy.
Here are some great homemade stain remover recipes you can try. I should note that I buy dye and perfume free detergent. This helps not to create detergent splotches which let’s be honest you can only see under a black light and I’m guessing most of you are old enough where you aren’t hitting up the clubs very often, but if you are – Rock on!
5. Give Up The Fabric Softener/Dryer Sheets– Smell is a really strong sense. It can bring to mind pleasant memories and it can create an emotional connection to an object or place. I think of my grandmother’s house which always smelled like something yummy was cooking.
Why is that important, because as a society we’re absolutely hooked on the way things smell. We’re even taught to believe that “clean” has a smell, when in fact clean only has a lack of smell. Anything else is added perfume. So it can be hard to give up the softeners because they smell so darn good.
But honestly, if you look at the chemicals found in dryer sheets you’d probably be shocked. Now my family doesn’t have any skin sensitives, but I still like to limit our exposure to chemicals in all aspects of our lives but especially things like their clothing which touches their skin. I thought for sure my husband was going to complain that our clothes weren’t as soft, but nope not a word. Nobody noticed any difference at all.
You can always try reusable dryer balls which soften clothes without any chemicals. Try putting a few drops of your favorite essential oils on them for the fresh scent you’re looking for.
6.Wash Less Often – I do 2-3 loads of laundry every other day, which I think is pretty good for a family of 5. The key is to break a few rules. For instance, you know how you were taught to separate the whites from the colors? Well, in my house, I let them co-mingle. If I waited around to have full or even half load of just whites everyone would constantly run out of socks and tee shirts. I couldn’t care less if these items aren’t bright white. When was the last time you checked out someone’s tee shirt or socks? They’re hidden by your other clothes.
Now if there is a fancy dress shirt or something I might and that’s a big MIGHT consider washing it separately. Using cold water also helps keeps clothing dye from running.
Wear it more than once. I know we’re taught to wear it once and throw it in the hamper, which is cool unless you’re the ONLY one doing laundry and you multiply that rule by five family members. When I was little, I’d watch my grandmother get home from church and hang her dress back in the closet and put on a housedress. I thought it was a little odd at the time. Now I think it’s genius!
Why wash something that was only worn for an hour or two? If you haven’t been around smoking or bad smells and haven’t gotten any stains on it, I say hang it back up to wear again. Not only does it save you on the amount of laundry you have to do, but it also reduces the wear on your clothing. Less washing extends the life of your clothes.
It works really well for jeans. Shirts I tend to wash more often because of the sweat factor (not that I really sweat – ha ha). But think of the dry cleaning money you could also save if you took that special outfit you wore once for a few hours to a holiday party or job interview and just hung it back up to be worn again.
7. Line Dry Your Clothes – You know that lint you scrape out of the filter on your dryer? Yeah, that’s your clothing right there. Drying your clothes on a line outside or on a drying rack
reduces stretching, pilling and extends the life of your clothes. The UV rays from the sunlight also help get out stains the washer missed. Just don’t let your colored clothing hang out there for more than a day at a time or you could start to see fading.
There you have it! Seven ways to break the rules that say clothing, laundry and appliances need to cost you a lot of money. Fair warning, frugalness is not for the faint of heart. Some people might think you’re weird. It’s cool with me, though, I’ll take my uncool savings right to the bank!
Change Your Wallet By Changing Your Vision
You don’t need to make six figures to live a rich life. All you need is a little frugal Lasik eye surgery to view your income and resources differently.
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If you liked this post, you’ll love “10 Disposable Items You Can Live Without” and “4 Steps to a clean House In Only 15 Minutes A Day.”
Erin Johnson a.k.a. The No Drama Mama is the author of “So, You’re Broke? 18 Drama Free Steps To A Richer Life.” She can be found writing about faith, family, and frugal living on her blog www.thenodramamama.com when she's not wiping poop or snot off her three adorable kiddos. This “tell it like it is” mama has NO time for drama, so forget your perfect parenting techniques and follow her on Facebook or Twitter for her delightfully imperfect parenting wins and fails. Her work can also be found on The Huffington Post, Money Saving Mom, Mamapedia, Worshipful Living and Hudson Valley Parent magazine. 