Greener Laundry Day!

I have continued to be amazed by these products that we already have in our homes. The top three items that I keep talking about are lemons or lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda. Its unbelievable what these items can do and keeps me wondering why don't we just use these instead of going out and buying more expensive products when they can do the same thing. Here are a few ideas I have ran across while looking into making my laundry room a little greener.

Lemon juice which of course smells good and fresh can whiten clothes when you add a cup to the wash cycle. It also removes stains and can be used as a bleach. All you have to do is pour lemon juice over the stain, rub the area with salt, place your garment in the sun for several hours then wash as you would normally. I'm extremely excited to try it out as a bleach as my daughter seems to end up with stains on her shirt everyday and I have no clue where they come from.

Baking soda of course freshens up the air as most of us already use it in our fridge and now we can add laundry to the list for this amazing product. Add 1/2 cup to a load of laundry as it will help boost your detergent. Certain types of water have minerals that need to be broken down so that your detergent can do a better job which in turn can mean that you won't have to use as much detergent as suggested saving you money! Baking soda is also great for people with sensitive skin.

Vinegar continues to impress me everyday! If you perspire a lot this is something you should keep in a spray bottle in your laundry room! Spray the vinegar on the underarm and collar area of clothing. This cuts through deodorant residue and prevents the yellowing effect you get on the underarms of shirts. Brighten fabrics by adding 1/2 cup in the rinse cycle which can also be used as a fabric softener. Now I don't know how your family is but my husband seems to always put a wet towel in the hamper only for me to find it a day later and it smells nasty! Well, I am so excited about finding that vinegar can help remove the mildew by adding 2 cups of vinegar in hot water to wash cycle. After you have run that then wash as you normally would. Most of us take our washing machine for granted but it does need to be taken care of! To remove soap scum and mineral deposits that can build up in your washer add 1 cup vinegar to hot water and run through the wash cycle. You should do this four times a year.

Now if your just looking into finding ways to save money and not necessarily the greener way these are a few ideas for you to try. The new cold water detergent does actually save you around 30 cents a load. You can switch to generic detergent and adding baking soda as stated above as the baking soda helps enhance the detergents cleaning abilities. You can use an aluminum foil ball to stop static cling in your dryer and can be left in for several loads. I haven't ever been a fan of line drying my clothing but as the economy gets worse the more I'm willing to try it out. You can save around $100/year on your utility bill and your clothes can last longer! The suns rays can help bleach and disinfect which of course can be bad for dark clothes but great for your whites! Your dark clothes can be laid on racks indoors if your worried about the sun bleaching them out which can also double as a humidifier in your home!

I think I am sold on line drying clothing! Especially with childrens clothing where I always find stains on white shirts! I am extremely excited to do laundry right now as crazy as it might seem!


{picture via armhammer.com}