If you had to rate your household chores, where would you put laundry? For me, it’s definitely in the top five chores I hate.
It’s the relentlessness of it. With some chores, like tidying bedrooms or cleaning ovens, you feel at least like if you do a really good job of it, you won’t have to do it again for a little while – the effort is proportional to the reward. Other things, like dusting, you can choose to ignore completely should you so wish and nothing awful happens – the children can still leave the house looking clean and no one dies or anything.
Laundry though. Laundry is just there. All of the time.
You can’t just think to yourself ‘let’s give ourselves a break from the laundry this month’, or ‘I’m going to have a massive laundry day this week and then I won’t have to do any for a fortnight’, because it just keeps coming regardless.
(Depressed enough yet?)
Fear not.
The lovely natural cleaning gang at Ecover has been in touch with some helpful hints and I’ve also asked my Twitter chums and scoured Instagram for super cool laundry hacks, to help lighten the laundry load. Ecover’s Non-Bio Concentrated Laundry Liquid tackles tough stains, even at 30 degrees, so is bound to remove the most stubborn of marks and is gentle on sensitive skin. If you’re still not convinced, how about outsourcing your laundry to a company like J & G Laundromat? Then you barely have to think about it!
Do you have any good laundry tips? Have a read through these and please do add your own! If you’d like to share them with Ecover on social media, don’t forget to use the hashtag #LightentheLoad.
First up, tips 1 – 8 are from Ecover…
9 – Always fasten your duvet covers
@mummyblogger Always fasten duvet covers before you wash… otherwise everything else ends up INSIDE it and you have to fish it all out!
— Alison Perry (@alisonperryblog) February 9, 2016
10 – Remove stains with the power of the sun
@mummyblogger oh, any chance you get, hang stained children’s clothes in the sun. The sun lessens the stain as they dry. Don’t know how! — The Bristol Parent (@EleanorWi) February 9, 2016
11 – Label kids’ drawers to help them keep clothes organised
It’s our job to teach these little people how to do all the big people stuff. That can be really overwhelming, but pictures like these, “I know where it goes” stickers on dresser drawers can help with the laundry department. Whew! There are other laundry hacks we think you should check out by searching, “laundry hacks” on howdoesshe.com #howdoesshe #laundryhacks #teachingkids A photo posted by HowDoesShe – Blog (@howdoesshe) on
12 – Pay a child to do it for you!
@mummyblogger if your kids are old enough to do it, ask them to do it with incentive. My 6 six year old will happily do it for a pound lol
— Lila Gribben (@mrsgrib) February 10, 2016
13 – Pair socks before they go in the wash
@mummyblogger I pair sock before I put them in, that saves a little time and less go missing! — The Ana Mum Diary (@AmandaCotting) February 9, 2016
14 – Use white board markers to remind people of things that aren’t allowed in the washer or dryer
What a brilliant idea! Dry erase markers to remind us not to put specific items in the dryer. #laundry #lifehacks #laundryhacks #shrinkage #freshandclean A photo posted by Melissa Ghane (@mghane) on
15 – Take precautions when it comes to pets
@mummyblogger if you have pets, put all their bedding inside an old duvet cover before you wash it. Stops the hair staying in the machine. — The Bristol Parent (@EleanorWi) February 9, 2016
16 – Invest in a divided laundry basket
@mummyblogger get a divided laundry basket to separate whites, darks and delicates as they go in. *life changing* — Louise using spoons (@lou31) February 9, 2016
17 – Use conditioner to un-shrink clothes
#diyhouseholdtips #onabudget #laundrytips #tipsandtricks #tipoftheday #dirtywashing #unshrink #unshrinkclothes #diytips #diyhacks #laundryhacks A photo posted by Suzie (@diyhouseholdtips) on
18 – Save space with a ceiling rack
@mummyblogger Invest in a ceiling hanging rack (Lofti is good) – cheap, eco friendly, space saving indoor drying! — Roost Team (@Roostblog) February 9, 2016
19 – Get to know your water
@mummyblogger If you live in a hard water area, consider using a magnoball and don’t skimp on the detergent. — Adele Jarrett-Kerr (@AdeleJK) February 9, 2016
20 – Put your jeans in the freezer instead of the washing machine to get rid of smells
21 – Save time on ironing
@mummyblogger Dont tumble to bone dry. Leave a little damp and pop on a hanger – No creases to iron out! — Lucinda Barton (@ljbarton) February 9, 2016
22 – A more radical solution…
@mummyblogger Wear less clothes? — The Office junior (@sdaheritage) February 9, 2016
23 – Use lemon juice to treat sweat stains
Totally applies to summertime Pitts. Just sayin- this is a highly useful hack right now. 😅🍋 A photo posted by College Hax (@collegelifehax) on
Ecover’s Non-Bio Concentrated Laundry Liquid is on limited special offer across Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose this week. Pick up a bottle to make your laundry load faster, smarter and more environmentally friendly.
Sponsored post.
Socks on a washing line image credit – Lisa S./shutterstock
Well this is one for the bookmarks! Such a great list. I’ve vastly decreased my threshold for things needing washed lately in anticipation of new baby wash loads. If it smells OK and can be wiped clean in a few minutes it does not go in the wash! Great post x
Author
Glad you found it useful Mel – there are some good tips there aren’t there? I know what you mean about being a bit choosier with what you wash. It drives me mad when my daughter puts things in for a wash that aren’t really ‘dirty’ – just because she has worn them for a few hours!
This tips are all amazing!! I’m not a fan or laundry, I can handle the washing and drying but the putting away is the part I hate! x
Jeans in the freezer! Who knew?! Brilliant tips & thanks for including mine.
Fab hacks! Especially buttoning the duvet cover. Our washing machine has just packed in so not feeling the washing love X
Love these suggestions. I hate the whole mis-matched sock thing which winds me up for some reason especially as my husband just doesn’t get it. My solution is to ball them up into pairs before they go into the laundry basket and then undo them when you put them into wash. I am a bit anal about matching socks!
Wow there are some fantastic hacks here – I have to admit I am not the best when it comes to laundry – I tend to just chuck everything in at once despite the colour and wash on 40. I love the idea of paying your child to do it for some pocket money :)
Laura x
Some good tips – glad to note Ecover is on sale this week, as I need some more! We seem to do a load every day…
I’m intrigued by Ecover’s own tip re machine maintenance. Where do you put the bottle of vinegar? Empty in the detergent drawer I assume?
Author
I guess so… *pictures someone reading it and putting complete bottle of vinegar, including glass bottle, into drum*
I’m learning so much from these tips! I don’t think I’ve got two pairs of socks that match x
Thanks for the tips. I am useless with laundry so some of these tips like, pair socks before washing them may just help me.
I love the simple idea of putting the pictures on the drawers! My daughter is pretty good but does randomly decide to add her PJ bottoms in with her socks once in a while so this would really help! I’m on the hunt for some cute cut outs now :)
Author
Perhaps to get her to really buy in to it she could drawer the pictures herself?
Great hints and tips but I would add it’s a good idea to put the washer through a cycle empty after cleaning with the white vinegar otherwise first load can have a vague whiff of vinegar about it.
Author
You know, I worried about that Sue, but I couldn’t even smell it in the drum afterwards. I didn’t do another rinse and nothing smelt bad.
Lots of really useful tips here. With summer coming up, I definitely need to remember to try out using lemon juice on sweat stains. I also had no idea black coffee could help with restoring the darkness in jeans! Thanks for sharing.
Awesome list! I especially like the ‘labeling the drawers’ one. And I absolutely love the picture!
Thanks for sharing. I am gonna try some of these.
Hey, I love my clothes I am careful what I’m doing with them with their color. I have clothes that are from 2 years ago but they still look like i just bought them! Your tips for laundry are helpful for me. Thanks!
Some great tips there. After spending my day working in the cleaning Bristol business, the last thing I want to come home to is piles of laundry. Thanks for posting. Really enjoyed reading
These laundry hacks are a fantastic compilation for anyone looking to streamline their laundry routine. The use of natural solutions like lemon juice for sweat stains and sunlight for removing marks is a sustainable approach that aligns well with our research on eco-friendly cleaning practices. The tip about using a divided laundry basket is simple yet effective in saving time when sorting clothes. These suggestions are beneficial for both the environment and busy households.