It may seem like a trivial matter, but laundry care has a bigger impact on the planet than we’d hope. Up to 80% of clothing’s lifecycle impact is attributed to washing and drying, as both consume a lot of energy and natural resources (water). By integrating some simple eco-friendly laundry practices, you can not only reduce your environmental impact but also extend the lifecycle of your clothing.
In this blog, we will share the 10 easiest laundry care tips that will significantly reduce your environmental footprint.
1. Wash less often
Now, keep in mind that this approach is not for every fabric or garment (of course, socks, tees, and underwear come to mind), but one of the best ways to reduce laundry’s impact is to simply start doing less laundry.
We all are guilty of wearing clothing only once or for a couple hours, and adding it to the dirty pile of laundry, even if it’s hardly broken any sweat. So, the first step towards green laundry is to wear your clothing more than once before tossing it into the washing machine.
According to the UN Environment Programme, the simple step of just wearing your jeans at least three times before washing them can have a significant climate impact. With a few more wears and a few less washes you can not only extend the life of your clothing but also take positive steps towards a greener environment.
2. Use a Bio Laundry Powder
Traditional detergents contain a lot of ingredients that are beneficial for the environment or sustainability. Ingredients such as surfactants and phosphates in heavy-duty detergents cause significant harm to aquatic ecosystems (as the drained laundry water ultimately ends up in local water ways). A positive step to reduce these laundry emissions is to purchase a greener laundry powder, one that doesn’t have any of the harmful surfactants or ions.
By looking at the ingredients list of laundry powder before adding it to the cart, you can make an informed choice. If a product is biodegradable and phosphate-free, it’s good to go. Another plus is having vegetable-based ingredients, as they are less harmful for the environment (Plus, they are safe for even the people with sensitive skin).
BIORESTORE cotton is one of the best bio laundry powders in the market. This Re-Tergent is made of only six essential ingredients, and all of these are approved by both REACH (EU) and TSCA and California Prop 65 (US). Moreover, it doesn’t have any bleaches, optical brighteners, or fragrances—all of which are harmful for both the garments and the environment. Some other alternatives are soap nuts and herbal detergents that are made from natural and sustainable ingredients.
3. Update your washing machine
Traditional washing machines, especially older ones, are not very energy efficient. They consume a lot of energy and natural resources, putting a significant dent on environmental health and well-being as well as your electricity bills.
Thankfully, electrical goods have the Energy-star rating to help with informed choices when buying new laundry machines. The front-loading, or horizontal-axis machines with the Energy-star label can save up to 33% of the water consumed in laundry.
As compared to traditional models (manufactured before 1994) using up to 40 gallons of water per load, the energy-star appliances consume only 18–25 gallons of water for each load, making them highly sustainable.
4. Ditch the dryer
By skipping the dryer in your laundry routine, you can save a lot of energy (and even more money!). In terms of household energy consumption, you’ll be shocked to know that the dryer comes right after your fridge. It’s one of the most energy-consuming appliances, costing up to $96 per year for an average household.
Even if you can’t cut out dryer completely from your laundry care routine, try to do it at least occasionally. Consider using a hanging line to let your garments dry naturally. Trust me, you will be doing both your wardrobe and the planet a huge favour!
5. Use cold water for washing
Did you know that more than 90% of the energy consumed during laundry care goes into heating water? Yes, that’s right! Not only this, but fabric care experts have repeatedly recommended ditching hot water washing as it damages the textile integrity and increases the chances of colour fading.
The solution is to switch to cold-water washing. More and more detergents are being designed to wash your fabrics effectively with cold water. If you are worried about stains or brightness, don’t sweat it; cold water can get the job done as well as warm water, but only if paired with the right detergent or laundry booster.
6. Don’t overload or underload the machine
Every washing machine comes with its own weight criteria and specifications. As a rule of thumb, adding more or less than the specified laundry load is not recommended.
Overstuffing the washing machine can lead to uneven cleaning and increased wear, but, on the other hand, underloading leads to the consumption of extra energy and water, making it unsustainable for the environment.
By washing full loads of laundry, you can make sure that the machine is working at its peak efficiency (as it is literally designed like that). But if you cannot manage to fill up a laundry load, go to the “load size selector option” (if you have one) and enter your load size. This will also reduce the amount of water and electricity consumed by the washing machine.
7. Reduce drying time
If you absolutely have to use the dryer, try to cut down the drying period as much as possible. If there is a “moisture sensor” in your appliance, use it. It will automatically sense the extent of moisture in your clothes and save a lot of energy. Pro tip: Don’t let clothes over dry in the tumble dryer as this will weaken the textile fibres and reduce the strength or resistance to tearing.
8. Avoid Dry-Cleaning
I recently got to know this, but dry-cleaning is an extremely unsustainable process. Most laundry providers use a chemical named “perchloroethylene,” or “perc” which is shown to be highly dangerous to human health.
Fortunately, there are alternatives to dry cleaning. For starters, avoid buying fabrics that need dry cleaning. Also, garments made of cashmere and lambswool can be easily hand-washed.
For the clothing items that must be dry-cleaned by professionals, keep an eye out for green laundry providers. Some of the dry cleaners now use liquid carbon dioxide instead of perchlorate, which has a much lesser environmental impact.
9. Skip chlorine bleaches
Chlorine bleach uses a chemical named “sodium hypochlorite,” which is extremely hazardous and can cause multiple irritation and redness issues. The fumes of chlorine bleach are shown to damage airways and can also be fatal if swallowed.
Many times, we unintentionally add chlorine to our laundry care regime by picking detergents that have bleaches in their ingredients (do we always read the ingredients before buying a detergent?).
While picking a washing powder, spare a couple of minutes and quickly go through its ingredients. Then, pick one that doesn’t have any of the harmful bleaches or additional additives
One great example is BIORESTORE cotton, which brightens white cotton clothes without using sodium hypochlorite. Instead, it uses enzymes to target and remove lint and pilling which brightens the color of the clothing and extends the lifespan of your fabrics and clothing.
10. Say goodbye to dryer sheets
Dryer sheets are shown to be full of cancer-causing ingredients and other neurotoxins, such as toluene and styrene. The organic fibres break down in dryer sheets, which not only reduces the lifespan of your clothing but also causes a lot of damage to the environment. If you want to make your clothes feel soft and amazing when they come out of the laundry, try adding eco-friendly laundry products such as BIORESTORE cotton to your washing regime or wool dryer balls to help naturally soften the clothes whilst they tumble in the dryer.
FAQs
How to make laundry day easier?
Laundry can be quite a hectic chore. To make it easier, you can skip some time-consuming activities like ironing. Simply hang your clothes to dry instead of tossing them in the machine-drier and you will hardly notice any visible wrinkles on the garment.
How can I make my laundry ecofriendly?
Try integrating eco-friendly laundry practices such as washing your fabrics less often, using bio-laundry powder, using an energy-efficient washing machine, skipping the dryer whenever possible, using cold water for washing, avoiding overloading or underloading the laundry machine, and reducing the drying time.
