|
Post by RoadRunner on May 26, 2014 18:52:07 GMT -5
|
|
mairef4
New Member
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 7
|
Post by mairef4 on Jun 9, 2014 6:09:05 GMT -5
Smaller loads are always easy. But what about curtains and sheets?
|
|
|
Post by cricket on Jun 21, 2014 11:13:33 GMT -5
Just noticed this question, mairef4, and curtains and sheets are the perfect mini loads. You can wash, dry, and then hang one set of curtains back up, right out of the dryer, with very little stress. You'd have enough time to clean that one window while the machines were going, and have time left over to rest and do something fun. It may seem efficient on paper to do all the curtains at once, but rehanging them all becomes a huge, endless chore.
Same with sheets. Strip a bed, wash, dry, then put them right back on the bed they came off of an hour ago. One set will dry very quickly.
The alternative, the way I used to do sheets, was to strip the bed and put the sheets in the hamper, then remake with sheets from the linen closet. The stripping and remaking process seems to go on forever, which made me dread it like it was an ordeal.
Then the dirty sheets got lost in the mountains of laundry I wasn't keeping up with. I had several changes of sheets, but sometimes I still ran out of clean sheets! When I did a load of sheets, it took too long to dry the over-filled load, and then I had all that bulky folding and putting away to do, which I also procrastinated on.
Doing it mini-load style breaks up the hands-on time. Stripping the sheets and tossing them in the washer is an easy task I don't mind doing. The machines do most the work, and I have fresh sheets an hour or so later. Then making the bed up is another short, easy task with a big visual reward--seeing that clean, made bed, and knowing I'll be sleeping on clean sheets tonight. Best of all, no folding and no putting away!
|
|
|
Post by Arid on Jun 21, 2014 12:57:39 GMT -5
I do a variation on what cricket does. I may start a load of laundry immediately after stripping the bedding off the bed, but I put on a clean set that I had "in reserve." I'm busy putting on the clean set while the dirty ones are washing. Yes; this does mean that I have the folding and putting away to do of that laundry when it is finished, but at least, I never run out of clean bedding! Also, there is no waiting around for the laundry to be clean before I can make the bed. By the way, I have a third set of clean bedding, too, for each bed, including summer-weight and winter flannel sheets. So, yes--that means that I have *SIX* sets of sheets (at least!) per bed. That also means that while one load of bedding is being washed, one set of sheets and a mattress pad are being put on the bed; and one set of clean sheets and a clean mattress pad are ready to use "in case of emergency." (This is especially important if one has children--or an undependable water supply, washer and/or dryer, and/or physical energy, ! !!) I realize that not everyone has the storage space or the resources to have so many sheets on hand, but I'm very fortunate in that I do. Anyway,--this is the "system" that I've found works the best for me and my family. Arid
|
|
|
Post by def6 on Jun 22, 2014 19:38:46 GMT -5
Cricket , I bet your sheets smell terrific and they are warm coming out of the dryer...lovely thought for anyone out there. We all need to clean off our beds and sleep on clean sheets!
|
|
|
Post by turkeyhill on Jun 23, 2014 8:07:00 GMT -5
No perfectionism of waiting until I have EVERYTHING that could possibly go in the washer gathered up. . My mom was always hollering for that last item, totally stressing out like it was her only chance that month to use a washing machine, she would do way to much at once, then if something happened it was like major drama to fix it. I have trouble bending over so sometimes I don't get "every last thing" will just pick up a few things to wash them, I don't know what her reaction would be. My ds helps with laundry and I make it a point not to criticize small things and give lots of praise but it's like biting my tongue. (Where does this inner laundry police come from???) If you stick clothes in the washing machine, transfer them to the dryer, then hang them up, you have clean clothes instead of dirty ones on the floor!
|
|
|
Post by def6 on Jun 23, 2014 9:12:17 GMT -5
Very well put, TurkeyHill! I need to put that last line you wrote on a list called "Directions" They say life life doesn't come with a list of directions…..but I sure need one. "Inner laundry police" that's a good one!
|
|
|
Post by cricket on Jun 23, 2014 9:51:33 GMT -5
Turkeyhill's "Laundry Police!" " style="max-width:100%;"] I think I have that in my head, too. My big laundry nitpick right now is turning everything possible inside out, though little policing is required there since the kids have taken to that hack like ducks to water. I discovered that washing and drying denim inside out (and in cold, shortest agitation time) keeps it dark for years, and keeps everything else looking brand new longer, which makes a big difference when you thrift almost all your clothes and the "new" items have some mileage on them already. My daughter introduced the concept of turning it inside out as you take it off, before even putting it in the hamper, which saves time on laundry day. In general, they love anything that seems smarter or more efficient or like getting one over on the man. They love thrifting, too, for that reason. I show them the retail store prices for even low-quality clothes at Walmart, and google up the retail price for the Ralph Lauren polo I just thrifted for $3, and they write odes to my wisdom. Well, not really, but they do think I have the the system beat--less moneys for stupid clothes, more moneys for the video games! Priorities, folks! Sadly, you can't turn dress pants or dress shirts inside out due to wrinkle issues, and hub seems to wear his out pretty fast since he wears them to work daily. Or can I? Dang, I just realized I was ASSUMING I couldn't! I'll do a test run, turn one of each inside out this load and see what happens. Now I'm excited to do laundry today! Though, now I think about it, wear shows up as frayed collars and cuffs on those items, not really the general fading or surface wear/pilling I see on other clothes, so I'm not sure if it will extend their lives or not. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I'm always up for an experiment just to break the monotony. While I'm procrastinating on doing laundry by talking about laundry, I'll throw it out there that I use Sun detergent from Dollar Tree, which seems to give me the most bang for my buck, but I only use a scant 1/3 cup scoop per load. (I transfer it from it's narrow box into a larger, top-opening container and put my own scoop in, a long-handled, 1/3-cup dry measure.) We don't generally get into greasy, heavy dirt, so it works well for us. I was making my own frugal detergent for a while, but while clothes were getting cleaner than ever as measured by feel, smell, and absorbency, they also got dull-looking after about six months of that, and I finally realized that the optical brighteners in commercial detergent affect appearance more than I'd counted on. So small scoops of discount brand detergent is part of keeping clothes looking new for me now. (I also learned on this site that it's better for dishwasher maintenance to only use a tablespoon of dishwasher detergent, rather than filling the cups up, so now I decant Sun dishwasher detergent, again from Dollar Tree, into a thrifted glass apothecary jar and keep a tablespoon in it to scoop with. I think it looks cool on the counter, and it encourages me to use the measure, no free-pouring from a box. Now a one-dollar box of detergent lasts me a couple of months. I was spending five bucks every couple of weeks on Cascade in my previous spend-thrift, fill-up-both-reservoirs days, thinking I needed it to get the dishes clean. Now I realize the dishwasher was struggling with the overload of detergent. My dishes are actually cleaner with less. Over and over again I learn the counter-intuitive lesson that less is literally more. Less detergent=more clean. Less laundry in a load=more laundry done. Less stuff=more space=less work=more beauty.)
|
|
|
Post by boyswillbeboys on Jun 23, 2014 12:36:36 GMT -5
I do what Arid does with the sheets, I have several sets, I think 5 for the 2 littles beds, 3 for the bed wetter, and 2 for our bed.
On Cricket's less is more for detergent, she is so right, I used to use the lowest line on the detergent scoop that came with my tide, and was constantly buying more, I am down to about 1Tbsp of detergent per load, my last box said 80 loads, and lasted a year. I decided to try the greenworks liquid, the bottle says 50 loads, I've done 1-3 loads a day since I opened it at the beginning of the month, and it feels like I've barely used any. I'm free pouring and don't like that, so I'm going to go back to powder when this is gone, as I can measure better that way (liquid in front load, I can't rinse the measure scoop) With less detergent I've found the mildew smell if the clothes get forgotten is less, if it's there at all.
I have been doing smaller loads, and my clothes are so much cleaner, i'm quite proud of that
|
|
|
Post by Arid on Jun 23, 2014 13:13:44 GMT -5
I, too, used to "spaz out" about getting every last item into a given load of laundry.
One day, my MIL heard me, and laughingly, she said, "Oh, Arid! Don't worry about it. There's *ALWAYS* going to be another load of laundry to do! You can wash it then."
I decided right then and there that she was correct! So, that's one little "ANT" (Automatic Negative Thought) I've eliminated from my life.
(By the way, my "hang up" about including every single thing in a load of laundry stemmed from the fact that growing up, we were on well water, and we had to be concerned about the well's going dry. Lots of small loads of laundry weren't an option then. These days, my washer has the feature of using only the amount of water that is needed for a given load. The old washers filled completely with water--whether they contained a few items or were filled to capacity.)
Arid
|
|
|
Post by cricket on Jun 23, 2014 15:08:25 GMT -5
Arid, it's amazing how we carry those lessons learned in childhood with us, long after they've lost their relevance. Wish there was some easy "empty cache" button we could click to start fresh. If there were, I don't suppose we'd need site like this one!
Now I'm wondering how low I can go, boyswillbeboys! A tablespoon is awe-inspiring, my hat is off to you. I'm not using Tide because that stuff must be made of gold, the way it's priced, but if I were to cut down to a tablespoon a load, I might find it's actually competitive if I did the math.
Or maybe I need to see how low I can actually take my bargain brand! One load left to wash today, do I dare try to wash it with just one tablespoon of Sun? Will we have stinky jeans if I do? Mom-cred is hanging in the balance. What will Cricket do? The drama...
|
|
|
Post by Jannie on Jun 23, 2014 15:57:17 GMT -5
I love doing laundry (to completion) while on vacation. I'll use my host's home laundry or a coin laundry. On one ocean cruise, ,the washers and dryers were totally free! I used shampoo samples as washing detergent, free also. It's wonderful to have all your clothes clean again while in the middle of a trip. Just my input. Oh, and when I'm home, I do laundry almost every day. I never run out of clean washcloths and towels.
|
|
|
Post by def6 on Jun 23, 2014 18:22:13 GMT -5
Hello Cricket, You rock! I your laundry love and your frugal ways!
|
|
|
Post by cricket on Jun 25, 2014 17:13:03 GMT -5
Well, I used only one tablespoon of bargain detergent on the jeans load, and I cannot tell a difference. They seem clean and odor-free. They weren't that soiled to start with, no grease or dirt, but that's pretty representative of most of our laundry. I'm beginning to wonder if I need detergent at all. I'm going to adopt one tablespoon as my normal detergent measure for ordinary loads (unless I see a decline in cleanliness) but I'll probably still do higher-measure loads once in a while as an optical brighteners booster shot.
Now I'm wondering what else I can reduce to a ridiculously small percentage.
|
|
|
Post by angela on Jun 25, 2014 19:34:20 GMT -5
This is all so good for me to hear cricket! I just now realized that although I am doing mini-loads I hadn't changed the quantity of detergent! Dooh! I am trying to take very gentle good care of the clothes I have for work. I am washing in cold for the first time ever (I have always cooked my clothes in hot wash and hot dry), turning things inside out, and even hanging to dry. Part of me trying to learn how to be moderate in all things and how to be subtle and slow down and think about what I'm doing instead of cramming more into every activity.
|
|