Make Laundry Day Your Favourite Day Of The Week

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As parents, or people with busy lives, laundry often feels like the bane of our existence. It’s a never ending chore, and it can take a whole day to catch up, if you’ve been lax on your laundry duties.

Have you considered using a laundry service? Or going to a coin laundry to do a lot of loads at once? (I’ve never tried a service, but I do know the benefit of multiple loads at one time.)

Check out the laundry tips below to help you make the most of your laundry day.

Jess

Make Laundry Day Your Favourite Day Of The Week

It’s hard to imagine that anyone could ever look forward to doing their own laundry, let alone anyone else’s.

The thought of sorting through dirty clothes isn’t the most glamorous of duties.

However, like most things in life, everything gets better when you see the glass half full. Changing your perspective on even the most mundane tasks will make doing them more interesting.

Whether you’re at home or using coin laundry in Kingston, here are a few different laundry hacks you can try that teeter on the verge of being science experiments. Just imagine: laundry day is here again, and despite the monotony of the whole process, you’re actually looking forward to doing something different.

If you’re not blown away or anxious to try a few of these tips, they’re at least guaranteed to save you time and money.

Throw a ball of foil into the dryer

Crumple up a sheet foil and use it during your drying cycle. The ball of foil should be about the size of a squash ball. This eliminates static electricity as well as the need for dryer sheets.

One ball of foil should last as long as six months before you need to replace it. If you’re not completely shocked by this laundry hack, try this next one on for size.

Use coffee or tea as a natural dye

It may sound counterintuitive to put an item that stains into your wash but it’s a fact that coffee and tea act as a natural dye to revive black clothes that have faded. Brew two cups (500 ml) and pour it into your load of laundry.

Make sure you’re using this method for black clothing ONLY. This particular home remedy is great for bringing black back. Keep in mind it will also ruin any other colours of clothing you wash with this concoction.

Use conditioner to unshrink your clothes

Have you ever started folding your clothes, only to find out that one of your cotton shirts had snuck into the dryer by mistake? If you’re not into belly tops or short, short sleeves, that would normally mean saying good-bye to a shirt you own.

Give shrunken clothes a second life by soaking them in warm water and hair conditioner. This softens the fibres so you can stretch the garment back to its original size. For best results hang to dry and iron.

Iron your clothes with ice cubes

There’s nothing more annoying than wearing wrinkly clothes. You can get your clothes wrinkle-free by tossing a few ice cubes in the dryer.

Turn the dryer to the highest setting. The ice creates steam and voila! Your clothes come out pressed and ready to wear.

Use vinegar to soften, deodorize and brighten your day

Distilled white vinegar can be used for a variety of situations that ordinary detergent just can’t solve.

Are you familiar with an unpleasant scent that lingers on jeans (or any article of clothing) despite washing repeatedly? 

To eliminate lingering odours, use half a cup of white distilled vinegar as a replacement for your detergent. This will disinfect and kill and bacteria along with any unpleasant smells.

You can also use vinegar as a natural fabric softener. If you like soft fluffy sheets use a half-cup the next time you want to freshen up your bed linens.

You will also be pleased to know that soaking your whites in vinegar will help make them whiter, and brighten dull fading whites.

Use a towel to dry clothes faster

Are you tight on time after doing last-minute laundry? Throwing a clean towel in the dryer with your wet clothes will help absorb the moisture much faster and reduce the time it takes to dry your clothes. 

When you’re down to the wire, this could be the life-saving tip that helps you get your day back on track.

Use salt to preserve your colours

Repeated washing of your clothes will eventually make colours fade.To keep your clothes bright and vibrant use salt to preserve the colour. 

The chloride found in salt protects the colours from running and fading. You might want to use this trick when washing clothes for the first time, to prevent colours from bleeding.

Make some time for yourself

Make it a point to do something you enjoy while you wait for your cycles to finish. It may not be a laundry hack but it’s one trick that will change the way you think of doing laundry. 

Whether you’re at home or at a local coin laundry, read your favourite book, listen to music, learn a new language on Duolingo-whatever floats your boat. This could help make laundry day your favourite day of the week.

Paula Loh is the owner of Surfs Up! Coin Laundry & Dry Cleaning located on 277 Bath Rd. Kingston, ON. She is one of the few owners that are proud to have volunteered for the renewable energy program Kingston offers and operates a fully solar-powered facility. Visit Surf’s Up! on Facebook