The greener, homemade laundry

Don't you think the laundry just the best room?  Don't you just love filling the machine, taking wet clothes to a line, pegging, sorting, folding and ironing?  No?  Huh, me either!  But short of buying new clothes each week, wearing dirty ones or having someone in regularly to do the chore for you (of which the second option is the most appealing to me), we have no choice. We have to wash our clothes and linens. But how we go about it is a choice, and over the last twelve months, my choices have become increasingly more green and homemade. I can't see any more options for greening up our laundry (short of hand washing everything), so I thought I'd share what I do and the recipes I use.

Washing day makes me so happy!  errr.... no, not really{image}

Firstly, all washing uses power and water, so reducing how much washing I do makes sense. We use mostly cloth things here (rags, napkins, hankies, wee wipes, girly hygiene things etc) so there is always plenty of those things, but we try to make sure we put our clothes in the wash only when they need it. A wind cheater can be worn several times, so can pyjamas, but socks, undies and workout clothes go in after one wear. I run the washing machine 3-4 times a week and only ever with a full load. 

Because I do my washing through the week, I tend to do it as soon as the washing basket is full (conveniently, one load). I don't sort colours from whites (gasp!) or anything else for that matter. I only sort if there is a new pair of jeans/red socks that will ruin the rest of the wash. I just throw everything in together and because I only wash in cold water, we have no problems. This means clothes don't have to wait for colour buddies to get washed and my laundry isn't full to overflowing with dirty washing. 

Some things occasionally need a good soak to get out stains and grub. Stu's shirts and the boys school uniforms get a soak about every two months. I soak in hot water with some laundry powder and lemon juice. The lemon juice gives a bleaching effect (without bleach) and the action of soaking in hot water gets the gear clean again. Sometimes, they need a little hand rub and scrub to help, but only when I'm feeling particularly housewifely. 

For regular, everyday stains (shirt collars, food grubs etc), I use my homemade stain remover. I found the recipe here, and love how it works (better than the shop bought one I had). Simply mix the following together (in a well ventilated room as it smells!), pour into a jar and then some into a spray bottle (recycled if you can) and spray onto the stained clothes as you put them in the washing machine.

Pre-wash stain remover

2/3 cup regular dish detergent

2/3 cup Ammonia

6 tablespoons baking soda

2 cups warm water

Stain remover

Our washing machine is a front loader, so uses less water and power than a top loader and is gentler on the clothes. I know this because I can throw my bras in it without a blink and they last ages, but pop one in a top loader without a lingerie bag and the wires come out after one wash!  

We only ever wash with cold water and mostly use our daily 30minute wash (note that 30minutes greatly depends on water pressure, we used to live in a house with terrible pressure and this cycle took well over an hour!). Into the machine I put a dessert spoon full of my homemade laundry powder (recipe from here), which I mix together about once every four months.

 

Laundry powder

4 cups of grated soap (2 bars laundry soap)

2 cups washing soda

1 cup borax

Making laundry powder

 

If I'm washing clothes that I like to have a soft feel, like towels, I add a dash of white vinegar to the rinse section. This is especially important in summer when the heat makes them crunchy and also helps with absorbency (good for towels or cloth nappies). 

If I'm washing something smelly or that needs disinfecting, I add a capful or two of eucalyptus oil to the rinse section. 

The winter Hill's hoist - bare like a deciduous tree :)

After washing, I hang my clothes on a line. We gave away our clothes drier last year and as we don't have a roaring wood fire to dry in front of, drying on an outside line is pretty much our only option. In summer, we use the hills hoist in the sunny backyard. In winter, I use the line strung along the north facing verandah and a clothes horse/rack beneath it. In summer, clothes are dry in a few hours, in winter it might take two days, but they still all get dry. The only times I miss the drier is when we have a need/want it dry NOW moment, but we deal with it, wear something else and remember that we're green for a reason! Very occasionally, something isn't getting dry outside, so I air it in the lounge room and it is dry eventually. 

Cloth hankies on the verandah line

All of the clothes are hung with pegs, even those on the clothes horse. By hanging with pegs, I avoid folding clothes over the line and doubling up the fabric, so things dry quicker. Our pegs used to be kept on the line when not in use, but the UV and general weathering wears them out faster, so now, I keep my collection of old plastic, wooden and recycled plastic pegs in an old bucket. The bucket has holes drilled in the bottom so it can't fill with water and has a hook to be hung on in the laundry when not in use. 

Our dry washing is sorted and put away by its owner (I rarely put away anyone else's, but I do all of my own and all of the linens and again, when feeling housewifely, the rest). Ironing is done on an as needs basis. I can't bring myself to iron any stretch clothes and choose mostly easy wear stuff for me and the kids. I iron going out clothes when I'm going out. The only thing we iron regularly are Stu's business clothes which he often irons while watching football. 

And that's it!  A few simple ingredients, some patience and not tooooo much work and our washing is done in a green and homemade fashion without any nasty chemicals in our septic or on our clothes, and no money or excess power wasted in the process. 

I know lots of the people who read here are also green laundry folk, have you got any other hints or tips?  And if you don't do your washing like this, maybe I've inspired you to give it a try - let me know!  You know I love your comments.