Laundries

Washing machine

1. Buy a washing machine that offers a variety of water temperature settings,
2. A front-loading washing machine uses less water and costs less to operate even though the purchase price may be higher than a top loader,
3. Use warm and cold water setting as much as possible in order to cut down on energy needed to heat the water,
4. Take advantage of special features on your washer that can save money. For example, soak cycles remove stubborn stains in one wash cycle,
5. The automatic washing machine uses the same amount of electricity for a full load as it consumes for a single item. Save dirty clothes until a full load has accumulated,
6. Never overload your automatic washing machine. Overloading will reduce the cleaning action and increase the wear on the items being washed,
7. Varying the size of garments in a full load improves the cleaning action by allowing proper free circulation.

Tumble dryer

1. Clean the lint filter on the dryer after each operation to maintain full airflow and to maximize the drying efficiency. When drying wooly or items that produces a lot of fluff it may even be wise to clean the filter during each operation,
2. Dryers equipped with an electronic humidity control (may be a bit more expensive when first purchased) are the most efficient because they automatically shut off the drying cycle when the clothes are dry. Other models are equipped with electric timers that, allow you to select the length of the drying cycle. Here it is important not to overestimate the length of the drying cycle,
3. A permanent press cycle with a "cool-down" period saves energy and dries efficiently,
4. Compact dryers are economical provided that you only have small amounts of clothes to dry. Never overload a tumble dryer but avoid under-loading as well,
5. Use correct temperature settings to minimize the amount of electricity consumed,
6. Over-dried clothes feel harsh and waste energy. Experiment to find the right setting. Remember that some natural materials such as cotton and wool should retain some moisture to avoid wrinkling,
7. Clothes should never be placed in the tumble dryer dripping with water. They should have as much moisture removed beforehand and they should never be folded before being placed in the dryer,
8. Dry clothes in consecutive loads where possible. The dryer will be warm already and will save on initial energy consumption,
9. On sunny days take advantage of good weather and dry your clothes outside.

Iron

1. An iron consumes as much energy as ten 100-watt light bulbs. Several steps can be taken to increase ironing efficiency,
2. Iron low temperature fabrics first to reduce warm up time,
3. Iron large batches of clothing at one time to avoid wasting energy reheating the iron several times,
4. Switch your iron off before you are finished and complete the ironing on stored energy,
5. Prevent scorching and wasting energy by not over heating the iron,
6. Use only distilled water in steam irons,
7. Be sure to turn your iron off if you are interrupted whilst ironing,
8. Use the permanent press feature on your washer and dryer if it is available,
9. By removing clothing promptly from the dryer and folding them carefully, many items will require no ironing, or just a quick press.