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On laundry day, you might discover yourself loading your organic cotton clothing into the washing machine. You're always looking for new ways to increase your green living. But are your laundry habits as eco-friendly as they could be? As you load your reusable tote bags, and set the cycle, you think; do I need hot or even warm water? A good rule of thumb is hot is only for whites that you want disinfected such as underwear and towels. Almost anything else can be warm or even cold. Warmer wash water does not necessarily clean better and in fact can even cause some stains to set. Using warm or cold with the proper detergent is more than adequate for clean laundry, and it saves the energy used to heat the water. Besides choosing cold or warm water for your clothes, you can ensure that you've got a full load of laundry before you wash clothes. When you wash tons of small loads, you waste not just electricity but water and heat. When you don't pack the washer with tons of clothes, you can improve how clean they get especially if they are really muddy or dirty. You don't have to wash these clothes separately. The majority of washers have a load size setting that you can use to adjust how much water is used and how long it'll run for. Make sure you learn about the buttons on your washer so that you save water and money. You're also making eco-friendly choices by going this route. You've surely run a load of laundry only to notice one of your items still seems dirty. Many of us simply run the whole load again. However, this is rarely necessary. A better approach is to remove the suspect item and use some sort of spot remover to clean the soiled area. This takes far less energy than rewashing everything. If you have enough time, you can inspect each item as you load the washing machine. You can then use stain removers on any stains before you wash them. This is the most efficient approach to laundering. Be careful when using detergent. Many detergent makers are going green by making detergent more concentrated. This allows them to sell a larger equivalent quantity in the same size container, saving on plastic containers. Read the bottle and use what is recommended, don't just fill the cap. A capful may be two or three loads of laundry. You know your job isn't done when the washer is; you still need to dry your clothes and you can still be eco-friendly with it. Just like the washer, use the hot cycle cautiously. When you dry your clothes on the hot cycle, clothes can and do shrink, especially if they are made of cotton and/or wool. If you dry clothes on hot, you can turn those organic cotton bags into an organic cotton wallet. It's not uncommon for some fabrics to wrinkle when they are dried on the hot setting. Stay eco-friendly and save energy by drying on the lowest setting possible. Remember reusable bags. If you bring items to the dry cleaner, then take care to bring your own reusable bags. Suit bags work well and can be purchased from just about any department store. Remember, green living permeates every part of your life! Make an effort to go green everywhere.
Article Source: http://www.articletitan.com
Eliza Reeder writes articles that deal with environmental concerns and eco-friendly living. She encourages everyone to help protect our planet's future by doing things like using reusable shopping bags. You can find more eco-friendly living tips on her reusable grocery bags site.
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