Reduce Lint Trips

Lifetips.com had this little gem for saving a few moments every time you do laundry:

Keep an empty tissue box on or near your clothes dryer to put the lint in each time you empty the lint screen. Also, put used dryer sheets in the tissue box. When the box gets full, dispose of it — instead of carrying a handful of lint from each dryer load to the garbage can.

Remember, little things can sometimes add up to a lot. Before you know it, you may have time to enjoy that extra cup of coffee!

Baking Soda for the Laundry?

Had to give this one a try. It turned out much better than Oxy-Clean and at a quarter of the price. Thanks Lifetips.com!

Add about 1/8 cup of baking soda (instead of dry bleach) in the wash cycle of your laundry. Clothes will be brighter and smell cleaner (as a result, you can reduce the amount of detergent you use and save money)!

Remove the Scent of Smoke from Clothes

Have you ever gone over to the house of a smoker for a visit? Even if they haven’t been smoking during the visit, you’ll notice a smoke smell on your clothing when you return home. Lifetips.com has a suggestion for getting that smoke smell out:

File with an emery board instead of cutting if the nail isn’t very long, or if it’s more sharp than long.

Use a nail clipper designed for babies. The regular ones are harder to manage (and actually do look big enough to take off a baby’s finger).

Saving Money And Energy On Laundry

In these tough economic times, every penny you can save is a penny earned. Laundry can be a huge drain on your bank account so follow these tips to conserve funds and energy. Unless your laundry is absolutely filthy and covered in stains, wash it in cold water. Also, most of the time the short cycle is enough to refresh your clothing. Use half the amount of detergent you normally would. As for drying the laundry, you can always do it the old-fashioned way and dry it on the line. If you don’t have the time or desire to whip out the clothes pins and hope for good weather, here’s a modified version of line-drying. Neatly hang heavier fabrics like denim that usually take longer in the dryer on a hanger. Make sure all surfaces are exposed so mildew doesn’t form on the clothing. Also sweaters can be laid neatly on a clean towel to dry. Don’t leave the sweater on the towel for more than a few hours or you’ll have the aforementioned mildew problem to contend with. The dryer usually runs longer than necessary so set it for thirty minutes then check the contents for dryness. Add ten more minutes if clothing is still damp. Dryer sheets are nice to add a lovely scent to clothing, but are unnecessary. If you feel you need them, buy generic and use one sheet for multiple loads. Try to space out the days between doing laundry or consider establishing a weekly laundry day to save time, money, and energy!

Saving Time On Laundry

Many Moms complain about laundry being their least favorite chore. What makes doing laundry so annoying is not how much of it there is to do but how often it needs to be done. Stop doing laundry every day. Instead, wear as much of your wardrobe as possible and when you’ve run out of something to wear, have a laundry day. Make sure you put it all away on the same day you wash it or you’ll end up with mountains of clean laundry in every corner of your house. Another time-saving tip? Keep each family member’s dirty clothes separated in bins in or near the laundry room. That way you don’t have to sort it when you take it out of the dryer. Do each person’s load separately and voila, you can transport it to their room while it’s still toasty and warm. One more tip is to not fold the laundry. What?!? Yes, that’s right, don’t fold the laundry. De-wrinkle the clothes you want to wear on a given day by throwing them in the dryer with a wet washcloth for about ten minutes. Put everyone’s in at the beginning of the day to be more efficient and you’ll all have smooth threads!

Laundry Tip

This was a great idea posted over at Lifetips.com:

When you fold your sheets, fold the sheets and the pillow cases in one bundle, with the flat sheet covering them all. Keep your whole set together this way!

I think I’ll go reorganize my closet right now. (Not to mention I also have to figure out the queen size vrs. the full sized sets!)

Ring Around the Collar

When doing the laundry most of my attention is spent on food stains, grass stains and dirt on the knees. I often overlook that pesky little thing called “Ring Around the Collar.” Thankfully the folks over at lifetips.com have a tip for me:

Dirty neck rings around collars can be removed by putting shampoo on them. Rub the shampoo in like you were washing your hair. This works because shampoo is specifically made to remove body oils.