It has been a crazy week for our family, just as so many other families, as the school year is drawing to a close. Last week I crammed in some work, read a literary classic to share for our great reads for moms section, frantically tried to finish some knitted projects, volunteered at school, hit the gym three times this week, went to a end-of-the-year concert, hosted a mom’s night out, and tried to work on new summer recipe ideas for the site. Did I also mention that my book proposal will finally be going out into the world this week after spending the week editing it? I am a little scared about that one!
The craziness seemed to take whole new levels and my husband, at one point, said he wished he could have photographed me in one of my crazier moments. He came home from work to find me entertaining the kids, on the phone with a conference call, threading shrimp, whispering directions to him on the grill for the new recipe, and then putting the phone on speakerphone so I could take photographs of our dinner before we sat down. Ironically, it is hard to even tell you what we did last week because it was such a whirlwind. Have you ever had a week like that?
I admit, I can’t do it all and felt a little overwhelmed.
The laundry continued to mount and so I decided this would be the perfect week to try the not-sorting laundry idea that had been highlighted in our Notebook two weeks ago. When I told my husband that I was doing this for a Notebook Experiment, he said, “That is going to be one expensive experiment if it doesn’t work.” Obviously, he does not know how awesome my friend Laura is and how I was willing to take a gamble and see if it would work.
We have a front-loader (which I absolutely love) and so I had to read through her comment thread to figure out where to put the vinegar, which was supposed to help set the color in my load. I have used vinegar in the past as a fabric softener, particularly when we were cloth diapering, but had never thought of it as a tool to set color.
After reading through the thread, I put my regular detergent in the detergent dispenser, my fabric softener in the softener dispenser, and the 1/2 cup of vinegar in the bleach dispenser. I ran it through the Normal cycle selection and then ran the dryer on the Normal cycle selection after it was done washing.
Here are my son’s uniforms after this mixed-up load went through the dryer. The whites were still white and the blues still blue. I won’t say I didn’t feel completely weird about this experience and can’t say if I would do this all of the time, as I value my pearly white socks and white undershirts a lot and love using my Whites cycle on my washing machine to make everything look like new again.
For a week like this one… it was exactly what I needed to get things done.
What are some ways you save time or money on doing your laundry loads? What system of sorting/tackling laundry seems to work with your family? Do you sort? I would love to hear your ideas!
I bought three little clothing baskets and placed them in our closet…so I sort as I go…when one is full, I wash that load…so I do one or two loads a day, instead of a full day doing laundry! this has helped immensely. I wonder if water quality factors in to cleaner clothes. The only thing that works well on our clothes is Tide…so we just fork out the money for it. Thankfully, target has tide coupons in their mailout!!
.-= Leanne´s last blog ..Happy Birthday, Yvonne!! =-.
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Amy Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 6:50 am
That is really interesting you say that, Leanne. Consumer Reports always ranks Tide as the top detergent over all of the brands every year. I have to say that I have been sampling different detergents and love the Method too for an eco-friendly alternative too. It doesn’t seem to matter which detergent I use as much now, my front loader has gotten everything so much cleaner and my clothes look so much better coming out of the dryer. My sister kept telling me there was such a difference and I didn’t believe her..I am a believer now.
Thanks so much for sharing!!
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This week was a bust for me as well. I have started doing laundry on Mondays as the weekend always makes more laundry and I don’t want to spend my weekend doing laundry. I have stopped sorting my clothing as well. Everything goes (clothing, undies, towels, etc.) in a load. I also only use cold water to clean everything. One thing I have noticed is that when putting towels and clothing together in the dryer I get more lint out. If I just put clothing or just do towels, I don’t get as much lint. I currently use Purex liquid, but when that runs out I am going to make my own detergent. So far everything is okay- normal color and clean.
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Amy Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 8:37 am
Glad to hear that it is going well for you, Carol! I can’t wait to hear how it goes with your homemade detergent! Thank you so much for sharing!
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I don’t really ever sort my clothes just because I have one of those hampers with 3 hanging baskets – one for whites, lights, and darks. My 5 year old even knows what goes where now, so we all just put our clothes away in the correct basket as we go.
I have been adding a cup of baking soda to my whites to help them stay whiter (it also removes any odor). You just put that in with the clothes if you have a front loader because it makes a mess if you try to put it in with the detergent. I wonder what baking soda and vinegar together would do for the whites. I know how those two react (homemade volcano anyone?) but in the wash that reaction might be a good thing. I don’t know…
I’ve been using Costco’s Kirkland Brand Eco Friendly detergent for over a year now and am really happy with it. It is just lightly scented, kind of a lavender smell but not strong, which is perfect since my son has asthma. I don’t really like using extra scents and stuff with him. Before Costco’s I liked All Free & Clear and Costco used to sell that before they created their own version. I would be interested in trying Method though. I love all their other cleaning products & use regularly.
Sorry for writing a book! Guess I have a lot to say about laundry, or maybe I just talk too much.
.-= Katie @ goodLife {eats}´s last blog ..Mother’s Day Gift Guide: The Aspiring Chef =-.
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Amy Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 8:30 am
That is great feedback on the Costco brand. I wish we still had a Costco near us. I did notice that Sam’s Club is selling something similar to that and maybe I will give it a try next time. The Method cleaners have tiny dispensers and require a tiny shot of soap to get the job done. I am amazed how little the bottle is which is awesome for the environment and for space-saving in your laundry room. Thanks so much for sharing about your laundry routine, Katie!
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I don’t normally sort my laundry but I understand what you mean about having pearly white clothes. If I do sort, I just pull out the whites/underwear and wash them on hot (I feel better knowing that it might be more sanitary) or I may add a touch of bleach. Everything else gets put together and washed on cold.
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Ali Federwitz Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 8:01 am
I know I am replying to my own comment but I also wanted to add that I do not use fabric softener (liquid or dryer sheets). It’s one more way to cut costs, one less chemical, and there are only a couple of times when we have static issues. If you aren’t this bold, try cutting the sheets in 1/2 or using the same sheet twice. And DON”T use them on towels as it makes them water repellent. I guess I had a lot to say about laundry as well.
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Amy Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 8:27 am
Ha, great feedback! I have been working on a ways to save on laundry piece- it is one of those things that people just don’t think about. The vinegar can also act as a softener which is why we used that for our cloth diapers because any chemicals would have caused them not to absorb as much.
One other idea with saving on softener (should you choose to use it) is to use a brightly colored washcloth and soak it in fabric softener. Allow it to air dry and now you have a reusable softener sheet that you can throw in 15-20 times before it requires another soaking. Just make sure it is completely dry before using, to prevent any spotting on the clothes.
And I agree, NEVER EVER use softener on towels. It just builds up on them and makes it difficult to get anything dry!
GREAT discussion!!
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Kids toss all laundry in the hall, mom designates oldest to take them downstairs. Mom later goes through and sorts all laundry into piles. Sometimes oldest will toss a pile or 2 into the washer. This is how it gets done, but normally mom has to go down to make sure it actually got put in the washer. I wish there was a simpler way, I hate the stairs.
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Amy Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 8:28 am
I hear you on the stairs. We live in a quad so it is three sets of stairs to get laundry up and down- what a pain!
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Carol Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 11:53 am
When we lived in a townhouse and our laundry cente was downstairs, I used to have my youngest kids kick the clothes down the stairs. It was fun for them and easier for me. They loved it.
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That’s awesome Amy! Doing laundry this way really has changed my life and I’ve yet to ruin a piece of clothing. So glad you tried it!! If there is a way to simplify something I’m on it because then I have more time to do the fun stuff
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It’s hard to just keep up. I’m glad to see that I’m not alone!Thanks
.-= Cindy Small´s last blog ..Marketing Online For Extra Money =-.
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I use a few squirts of dawn as our laundry soap, and vinegar in the downy ball. our clothes are clean, stains are gone and its cheap!
also i never sort our laundry
we’ve never had clothes bleed onto whites and its faster.
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Heather Reply:
April 28th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
never tried Dawn- thanks for the tip!
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Amy,
This makes me laugh, because I (gasp) never sort my laundry. I’ll have to click over to read the original post, because it never occurred to me do anything “special.” I wash everything on warm/cold and usual regular detergent (clear All or Purex).
.-= carrie´s last blog ..A prayer for Nathan =-.
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Amy Reply:
April 27th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Okay, I guess it is just me that is weird about this. I keep looking at my whites to make sure they aren’t any less white. I think it must be my type-A-ness kicking in again. Did your mom sort the laundry, Carrie? My mom did- maybe that’s why I do it that way
.-= Amy´s last blog ..I Did Not Sort My Laundry This Week…And We All Lived =-.
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I gave up sorting clothes about 10 years ago and have never put vinegar in our laundry. The only problem I have ever had is one red shirt of my son’s that would bleed, so I would save it for whenever I had a dark only load. My mom always sorted our clothes into 3 groups (whites, darks and in betweens). Amy, try not sorting for a few more weeks and see if you think there is a difference?
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I only wash the bath towels and kitchen towels, etc together and keep our clothes seperate. I don’t sort. My mother gasped when she found out!
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Heather Reply:
April 28th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Also, I use cold water for most everything. Wash bed sheets in warm.
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Pingback: The Motherload » Freebie Friday: April 30, 2010
What a great resource!
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Excellent posts & Nice site….
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I use the Costco version of All Free & Clear in my HE top loader, and I never ever use fabric softener (or vinegar).
I have a divided hamper/laundry sorter in my closet. In the first division, I put “whites” (which include colorful underwear and lots of black socks and probably shouldn’t), but I call them “whites” because they are the dirtiest clothes (at least the smelliest) and wash them on the “whitest whites” setting on my washer. Every once in a while I wash only the true whites with bleach. I have to say, though, my husbands undershirts don’t look so white.
The second division of the hamper holds all my every day shirts/soft clothes, while the third holds harsher clothes like jeans, jackets, or anything with a zipper. I do this because I took a textiles class and learned about abrasion, which is part of what creates lint, wearing out the cloth. Think of hot metal zippers in the dryer. You don’t want those scraping against your oh-so-soft rayon blouse, do you? Abrasion is also what causes those little pills all over your fabrics. (Also it’s because the cloth was probably made from a blend of natural and synthetic fibers, and natural fibers are weaker, so they break off, while the synthetics they are blended with do not break off. So the synthetic holds onto the broken-off piece of natural fiber, creating those pills)
So while my whites aren’t the whitest (which could probably be remedied by removing all the black socks from the “whites”–which I may start doing, now that I’ve been inspired by this conversation), since I don’t sort by color, I am avoiding abrasion, and hopefully helping my clothes last longer by sorting by material.
Whenever I have an extremely delicate article, I throw it in with my tops/soft clothes and wash the whole load on delicate/handwash.
Towels and sheets get their own respective loads.
That about covers it, and boy did I go on and on…I just hope it makes sense and is helpful!
Also, thanks for telling me how to do the vinegar in my HE washer!!! I could never figure out where to put anything besides standard ingredients either. Now if only we can find out how to use powders, which I don’t think we can in HE machines…
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Krista Reply:
May 21st, 2010 at 1:20 am
P.S. I don’t follow what the labels say. They only tell you the safest method, and it’s not always necessary!
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I’m a man and I never sort my laundry, it works well even without vinegar
I don’t recommend it generally though, I think it depends a lot on what clothes you have, some keep the color better than others and if I have something new that looks suspicious I test before washing together with something important.
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I just ran , by accident. I just ran across your site by accident and I love it. Just wanted to say, I started making my own laundry soap a couple of months ago from a recipe I found on line. And let me preface this by saying that I have always been a die hard Tide user. No matter how broke we are, I will find the money to buy Tide! Well this homemade stuff is amazing! I just had to share. I added a little more borax and washing soda than it called for(1cup of each) and it works just like Tide! The only complaint is on greasy or oily stains, but I just rubbed the stains with felts naptha bar soap or Dawn dishsoap and…all gone. You grate a bar of body soap, whatever is cheap, into boiling water stir til dissolved, add that to 3 gallons of water and 1 cup each of washing soda and borax let sit over night and use 1 cup per load! Sorry had to share, I am so excited that other people care about this stuff and I am not really crazy!
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