How to Make Your Laundry Routine More Eco-Friendly

Have you ever considered the impact that your laundry habits might have on the environment? Would you be prepared to implement some changes to make your laundry routine more eco-friendly?

This week, our washing machine broke down. We inherited the machine when we bought the house six years ago, though we think it had only recently been installed prior to that.

Being self-sufficient handy folks, we diagnosed the issue and ordered a spare part. Five days later, the spare part had still not arrived! Worse still, we had not even received the dispatch notification for it. So George managed to implement a temporary fix to enable me to catch up on all the laundry.

There are only three of us, though our toddler is still in cloth nappies (which was the most pressing reason for getting the washing machine operational again!).

Still, I was incredibly surprised by the MOUNTAIN of laundry that had accumulated in just one week.

This gave me a real pause for thought.

Automatic washing machines are a relatively recent invention. Older generations will remember girls being kept out of school for a day each week to help their mother handwash all the laundry.

But many of us, myself included, take this modern convenience for granted now.

Quite aside from the fact that I do not own a scrubbing board or a mangle, the notion that I might have to tackle all this laundry by hand in addition to my usual daily chores was rather overwhelming.

So, I wondered, how has the automatic washing machine influenced our habits around laundry? And what impact has this had on the environment?

How can you make your laundry routine more eco-friendly?

There are many stages to a modern laundry routine, each with a list of detrimental effects on the environment.

So, to tackle this question fully, let’s break things down to pre-wash, wash and post-wash factors.

Pre-Wash

Once George had the washing machine running again and I had been reassured that I would not have to tackle a week’s worth of laundry by hand, I was able to look at the pile more objectively.

I realised that it could have been a lot worse.

I grew up in a house where the washing machine was constantly running. Six or more loads per day, every day. Every worn item of clothing went straight in the wash. All the towels were washed daily.

Our current laundry routine is radically different.

But before I get into that, have a think about your own ideas around laundry. How many times do you wear your clothes before consigning them to the laundry hamper? Are they actually dirty when you decide that they need to be washed?

On a similar note, how often do you change your bath towels and your bed sheets? Daily, every few days, weekly, monthly?

The point I am trying to make here is that, because running a load in our personal washing machine is now so convenient, we often wash items that do not really need to be washed. And all too frequently, washing machines are being run with less than a full load.

This means that we are running our washing machines more often than is necessary, making the whole process less energy efficient.

I wash our clothes when they need to be washed. Socks and underwear are changed every day, but tops, dresses, skirts, trousers, jumpers etc are usually worn for at least two or three days, until they are visibly dirty or no longer smelling particularly fresh.

As an aside, synthetic clothing sheds fibres with each wash. These end up in waterways and are contributing to the microplastics polluting our oceans. The more frequently items are washed, the more opportunity they have to shed these fibres.

Maybe ask yourself what you would do if you had to wash all your laundry by hand. Would you chose to put the item in the wash pile or make it do another day? Would you wash just a handful of items at a time, or would you wait until you had a full load of laundry?

Wash

It is no secret that washing machines use a lot of water! The exact figures will vary according to the capacity of the machine, whether it is a front or top loader, and the cycle being used. But there is a general consensus that, on average, a front-loader uses approximately 50 litres of water per cycle and a top-loader uses approximately 120-150 litres per cycle. That is a lot of water!

While more modern machines are much more energy efficient than their predecessors, every load uses electricity, which is still most likely to have been generated from fossil fuels. And while the mechanics of washing machines are more efficient, the main determining factor in the amount of energy used per cycle is the temperature setting chosen by the user.

Most detergents now are formulated to be effective on cooler, eco cycles. So why not try the eco programme when you next do a load of laundry? And knock the temperature down to 20⁰C!

Your choice of detergent and fabric softener is also important. Do you buy liquid products in plastic bottles? Or look for powders or other alternatives in cardboard packaging? Do you carry out any research to find out whether your laundry detergent is fully biodegradable? We use smol as it ticks all the eco boxes, though there are several brands with similarly good eco credentials.

Post-Wash

Did you know that tumble driers and irons are incredibly energy intensive and inefficient? The greener alternative would be to hang your washing outside to dry, if the weather allows, or hang it on a drying rack indoors. Avoid ironing unless you need a crisp, ironed shirt for a formal event. I find that minimising the heat stress to my fabrics also makes them last longer!

Be sure to take care of your washing machine in between washes. Clean out the detergent drawer, wipe round all the seals regularly, run it on a self-clean cycle periodically and clean out the filters. If it breaks down, either diagnose and solve the issue yourself or find a reputable tradesperson to fix the problem.

In today’s throwaway society, it can be so tempting to claim against your home insurance or the product warranty and simply get a new machine to replace a malfunctioning one. But it is far greener, and far more satisfying, to repair the one you already have.

Top Tips

1. Only wash items that actually need to be washed. By all means change your socks and underwear out every day, but most other clothing can usually do at least a couple of days. Change your bath towels and bed sheets weekly.
2. Only run your washing machine when you have a full load. Consider handwashing individual items which you need to launder more urgently in the meantime.
3. Choose a cool, eco cycle when using your washing machine.
4. Do your research and choose laundry products with good eco credentials.
5. Allow your clothes to air dry rather than tumble dry.
6. Avoid ironing your clothes where possible.
7. Take care of your washing machine! Clean and maintain it to keep it running well, for as long as possible.

I am now all caught up with the laundry, though the spare part has still not appeared. I am so grateful to have access to this amazing feat of engineering – my washing machine!