Wednesday, October 26, 2016

No More Moldy Washing Machines!

If your washing machine is growing mold it can really affect the smell and cleanliness of the clothes coming out of it. Luckily, cleaning your washing machine and getting rid of mold is relatively simple.

Supplies
  • Chlorine bleach
  • Distilled white vinegar
  • Bucket
  • Terry cloth rag
  • Dish gloves
Process

  • Run your machine with the water level set to full and the temperature at its hottest. The machine should be empty for this.
  • Add 4 cups of chlorine bleach as the machine is filling with hot water and run the machine through a long cycle. The bleach will kill any bacteria or mold that could be growing.
  • Run the machine again right after its finished and add 4 cups of distilled white vinegar while the washing machine is filling with water. Vinegar dissolves any detergent residue in the washing machine. This eliminates any traces of the mold, because the mold will stick to and feed on the detergent residue.
  • Pour 2 cups of vinegar into a bucket and soak a terry cloth towel with the vinegar. Put on your dish gloves to protect your hands and scrub the inside of the lid and its surrounding metal with the rag. This will remove any remaining residue.

Now you will have a clean washing machine to make sure that your clothes that come out of it are nice smelling and clean.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

How to cut laundry room energy costs (Part 2)

The average family does 300 leaks of laundry every year. Each load costing about $0.68 or about $204 yearly. Now, there has to be a way to minimize that cost, right? Yes! We have 10 tricks to help save energy in the laundry room!

5. Spin zone
When clothes spin faster in a dryer, they dry faster. If your dryer has the option, pick the fastest spin cycle.

6. Lint
Removing lint after every load helps your clothes dry faster, and thus uses less energy.

7. Warm it up!
If possible, have your laundry room be warm. Having it be cold makes it so the dryer has to work harder.

8. Get gassy
Gas dryers typically cost $0.15-$0.33 less than electric dryers per load.

9. Let nature take its course
If the weather is nice outside and you have the time, consider setting up a clothes line. They dry your clothes for free!

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

How to cut laundry room energy costs (Part 1)

The average family does 300 leaks of laundry every year. Each load costing about $0.68 or about $204 yearly. Now, there has to be a way to minimize that cost, right? Yes! We have 10 tricks to help save energy in the laundry room!

1. Use cold water
Heating up the water while washing your clothes costs a fair amount of energy. By switching to cold water you can save an average of $35/year.

2. Run full loads
If you are running loads of laundry that aren't full, that means that you're doing more loads of laundry. More loads of laundry means more energy bills.

3. Energy efficient washing machines
If you're machines aren't energy efficient, you will be spending more money for more energy. An energy efficient machine will save you about $24 a year.

4. Front loading machines
These washing machines use about 2/3 less water, which means much less water to heat up!