5 Laundry Habits as a Minimalist
I hate housework, there’s one exception – laundry. Over the years, I’ve created a laundry routine that saves me both time and money.
I’ve adopted minimalist laundry habits for years. This minimalist laundry system not only worked well for me but has also proven to be effective, making my life so much easier.
If you find laundry to be a chore that you dislike or feel overwhelmed by, try using a simpler way to do it.
Today, I’ll be sharing five minimalist laundry tips with you, and I hope you find them helpful.
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My Minimalist Laundry Routine
1. Use Less Detergent
I found out that there is no difference when I use less laundry detergent. Our clothes still come out clean and fresh. I only use half of the amount that the detergent bottle recommended.
2. No Dryer Sheets
Dryer sheets are never necessary for our laundry. I don’t like the chemicals in the dryer sheets and I don’t even use them to remove static cling from our clothes.
There are some other natural ways to remove static such as using wool dryer balls or throwing white vinegar in the rinse cycle. For me, I just don’t use any of them.
3. Do a Load of Laundry Every Day
A laundry schedule all depends on your lifestyle and work environment. If you are like me, I work out 2 times a day and my daughter attends Taekwondo class after school on weekdays, our smelly clothes need to be washed. Also, my husband’s work clothes need to be washed after each wearing.
Don’t get me wrong. Some clothes like pants can be worn a few times before washing. We wash jeans every 5 wears. At-home clothes like pajamas I usually wear 3 nights before washing.
I like to throw a load of laundry in the washer at night every single day. I only spend a little time each day doing the task of keeping my home clean and tidy. I talked about this life-changing habit before and doing a load daily saves me so much time.
Related Minimalist Cleaning post:
My Minimalist Cleaning Schedule
4. Use Cold Water
I wash all our clothes on a cold cycle. Yes, all the clothes and everything! It gets the job done.
If there is any washcloth that is greasy, I’ll roughly hand wash in dish soap first and rinse it, then put it in the washer. That’s less than a minute of work. Washing clothes in cold water conserve energy and save money.
Always pretreat stains as soon as possible before washing. The best way to remove blood stains is by using cold water. Hot water can make the blood stain set in.
5. Sort by Fabric Type
I don’t sort laundry by color most of the time. Only when I buy a new red or black one, I’ll sort it into the dark colors clothing and do the wash. Then, no more sorting next time.
The way I really care about is sorting laundry by fabric type. Something like a down jacket, fleece jacket, sweater, pantyhose, swimwear, or anything I think is delicate and needs a shorter wash cycle, will all be in one load of laundry. I use the delicate cycle to get the job done and then hang them to dry.
When the label says wash by hand, 99% of the time I don’t wash by hand. I just put it in the delicate laundry bag and wash it with other clothes on a delicate cycle.
More articles about simplifying life:
Simple Ways to Declutter and Organize Your Purse
25 Easy Ways to Simplify and Organize Your Life
100 Easy Things to Get Rid of Right Now
Final Thoughts on My Minimalist Laundry Routine
I don’t keep a basket of clean laundry. I only keep one hamper for dirty laundry in the bathroom.
Once the clothes are all done in the dryer, I transfer them to the bed in my bedroom. (Laundry room is on the same floor as my bedroom) I fold them on my bed and put them away immediately.
My easy laundry routine works well for me and this simplified routine can help me save time and money. Simplify your laundry routine and it’ll improve your life.
Wow! These are really shifts in thinking for our family. Not sorting clothes by color would drive my husband bonkers! And the same with only using cold water… I will have to do a few experiments before I could institute these as policies. I totally agree with you, the wash comes out fine with less detergent. I cut back years ago and no one noticed. 👍🏽 Thanks for sharing!
Hi Vox! Maybe you can try using cold water first. I learned and adopted this habit from my mom. Clothes and towels always come out clean. 🙂
I know as a minimalist, the idea is to reduce the clutter. We generally do a load of laundry a day. We have a “he” washer, and we wash everything on the quick wash. It uses less water and gets the job done in half the time. We sort our clothes by color. I bought a nice laundry “basket” from target that has 4 individual hanging hampers. We have 1 for whites, 1 for darks, 1 for colors, and 1 for pinks/reds. It is so convenient to sort as we take it off. Plus, we can instantly see when we have enough dirty clothes for a load. Our laundry room is on the main floor same as our girls room. I bought 4 laundry baskets from dollar tree and placed on a shelf in the laundry room for our girls to sort the same way. It might seem a bit crazy to think we have 8 laundry baskets, but laundry is truly not a burden like it was when we only had 1.
You’re very organized. It’s good that you’ve found a system that works for you!