My Eco-Friendly Laundry Routine Has Actually Saved Me So Much Money

Sophie Hirsh

Tue, June 3, 2025 at 2:03 PM UTC

My Eco-Friendly Laundry Routine Has Actually Saved Me So Much Money originally appeared on Dengarden .

Between toxic laundry detergents , wasteful dryer sheets, and inefficient laundry machines, doing laundry can account for a good chunk of the average person's environmental footprint. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to make your laundry routine more eco-friendly.

In fact, since I started going zero-waste back in 2017, I've perfected my environmentally-friendly laundry regimen . Not only is my routine far less wasteful than it once was, but it has also saved me money. Read on for seven ways I've revamped my laundry routine to be more sustainable!

1. I Wash My Clothes With Laundry Detergent Sheets

I've tried many eco-friendly laundry detergents, and in my opinion, detergent sheets are the superior form. Laundry detergent sheets look like small, thick pieces of paper, but they're made of concentrated laundry detergent. To use them, just throw one in the machine — and for smaller loads, you can rip these sheets into smaller pieces. They're also travel-friendly.

The brands Seventh Generation , ECOS , and Tru Earth make some of my favorite laundry detergent sheets. All three options are high-efficiency, biodegradable, vegan, cruelty-free, and sold in plastic-free packaging.

2. I Run All Loads With "Tap Cold" Water

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, heating water is responsible for 18 percent of energy use in the average American home. One easy way to use less energy is to wash all your clothes in cold water — specifically, "tap cold" water.

Using the "tap cold" setting takes cold water directly from the tap, whereas selecting "cold" actually prompts the machine to heat the water to around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, per Maytag. I typically run all my loads with "tap cold" water, and I never have issues getting my clothes clean. Try doing the same, and see if your electric bill goes down.

3. I Only Run Full Loads of Laundry

Small loads of laundry use nearly the same amount of energy as large loads, so you can make your laundry routine more efficient by only running full loads. And by full loads, I mean fill the drum about three-quarters of the way with clothing. You never want to overfill your washer, as this can damage the machine.

4. I Don't Use Fabric Softener

I no longer buy fabric softener. Instead, for any clothing or towels that need softening, I add in a dash of either white vinegar or baking soda to the washing machine, as both of these are natural fabric softeners. However, you should never use those two ingredients together , as they will cancel each other out.

5. I Air-Dry All My Clothing on a Large Drying Rack

Dryers use a lot of energy — especially for a machine that does a task that the literal air can manage.

So a few years ago, I snagged this expandable drying rack (secondhand from my local Buy Nothing Facebook group!), which has allowed me to use the dryer much less. This rack has enough rods to fit an entire load of clothing, it's wide enough to hang wet sheets, and it takes up minimal storage space .

6. When Using the Dryer, I Only Dry Part Way

As mentioned above, I rarely use my dryer — the only exception is for towels, which can be very rough when air-dried. That said, I only use the dryer to dry towels about 75 percent of the way; at that point, I hang them back up in the bathroom, where they finish air-drying.

7. I Made DIY Dryer Balls Out of Socks

Single-use dryer sheets are extremely wasteful. If you do three loads of laundry a week, that's about 150 dryer sheets tossed in the garbage each year. Seven years later, that's over 1,000 dryer sheets you've sent to the landfill.

The sustainable solution here is to invest in a set of reusable dryer balls, which can help reduce static and drying time. Dryer balls are commonly made from wool; however, the greenwashed wool industry is cruel to animals and destructive to the environment . While there are a few vegan dryer balls out there, I opted to save money and make my own by upcycling old socks into DIY dryer balls — check out a tutorial here .

My Eco-Friendly Laundry Routine Has Actually Saved Me So Much Money first appeared on Dengarden on Jun 3, 2025

This story was originally reported by Dengarden on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.