In the recent past, many states have implemented water restrictions. Laundry is the largest consumer of water in American households, thus the need to ensure it uses as little water as possible. Apart from lowering your utility bills, reducing water usage in your laundry room has many benefits. So, here are three drought-conscious laundry tips to live by.
Conserving water in the laundry room starts with using a water-efficient washing machine. Generally, front-loading washing machines are more efficient than top-loading machines. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a household washing machine uses up to 33 gallons of water per load. However, a water-efficient washing machine only uses 21 gallons.
By upgrading to a water-efficient washing machine, a household can save an incredible 3,600 gallons annually. The design of front-load washing machines ensures a thorough wash but with less water because gravity provides a gentle tumbling action.
Recycling your clothes sounds rather unsavory, but it helps you to conserve water. Most people over-wash their clothes, and in doing so, make them wear out faster besides consuming more water and energy. On average, each American household does 300 loads every year. It shows just how fanatical we are about laundry.
Skipping washes saves water by ensuring you load the washing machine when you need to. Also, think about the number of laundry days you’ll skip by simply recycling your clothes.
Contrary to what many people think, loading fewer clothes into your washing machine doesn’t ensure a thorough wash. It means you’re spending more water to wash fewer clothes. Washing a full load is a water-efficient move since it consolidates what would otherwise be smaller washes. Thus, it's crucial to combine smaller loads into a big load so that you have fewer wash cycles.
Adjusting the water level in the washing machine to fit the size of your load and using the economy cycle also translates into water saving. If you must run a small load, use the machine’s “small load” setting to minimize water use.
There are dozens of water-saving tips, but you don’t need to learn about them if you outsource your laundry to HappyNest. We employ sustainable laundry practices that conserve nature and our planet, so sign up to schedule our pickup and delivery laundry service.