7 ways to make washing more eco-friendly

AD/AFF/PR Product – I have been gifted Reco laundry sheets in return for a blog post. This post also includes affiliate links. You can read my disclaimer here.

I have been meaning to write this post for ages but I wanted to use these methods & laundry sheets for a good amount of time before sharing my opinion. Having an eco-friendly laundry routine is super important because it’s something that you can easily do. We all do laundry, so why not make it eco-friendly? As well as helping the planet, you will reduce the amount of money spent on water and energy bills!

Switch to a renewable energy company: Octopus Energy*

Wash full loads

By washing only full loads of laundry, it reduces the number of washes you do as well. Only washing when you have a full load of laundry can be a little harder if you live alone or are a student. Sometimes I’ll use more than one mask per day, and although I have 14, I have nearly run out a couple of times! A solution for this is hand washing the items you need quickly. Or buying more, which will reduce costs in the long run.

Wash all your clothes together

One way to make your washing more eco-friendly is not splitting them into light and dark groups. My clothes have never run or mixed together. As there’s only one of me, I don’t have loads of washing so it doesn’t make sense for me to split them. If you are doing a family’s worth, then I totally see the point!

Use a lower temperature/cold water

Lowering the temperature of your laundry wash is probably the simplest way to make your washing more eco-friendly. I switched to 30 degrees, which is my lowest setting, and my laundry came out exactly the same.

Eco-friendly detergent

A common misconception of sustainable alternatives is that they are more expensive. This can sometimes be the case, but other times being eco-friendly can save you money. One option that I really recommend is using Reco Laundry Sheets. They are super easy to use and are extremely affordable too! You can buy a trial pack of 10 sheets which lasts between 5-10 washes, depending on hard and soft water & spillages, for only £1. It’s also non-bio which is great for people like me who have sensitive skin! Plus, they are completely cruelty-free and vegan, along with plastic-free. The picture below shows 2 sheets that you tear in half.

Another option is to use a laundry egg* or soap nuts*, which I’ve heard great things about!

Wear your clothes more than once

This is pretty self-explanatory, but you don’t need to wash your clothes after every use…apart from underwear! The worst washing offenders are fluffy items because they have more microplastics and are shed more easily. Jeans also take a lot of water to wash and absorb a lot of water so take longer to dry. There are guides on the internet for how many wears before washing. However, I normally wear them more often than it suggests!

Related post: 5 fast facts about fast fashion

Air dry your clothes

I totally appreciate that it’s really nice to have your clothes dry, warm and ready to put away, but you can save a lot of money by not using the tumble dryer. I try to only use the dryer when I’m washing sheets or towels as they are a bit annoying to hang in my room. I’m really looking forward to the spring or when it gets a bit warmer so that I can use the washing line in the garden! I used it in September and some of October before it got too rainy and cold to use. Drying clothes in the sunshine is much more cost-efficient.

Put your clothes in a guppy bag in your machine

This is something I heard about recently but haven’t tried yet. A guppy bag* prevents microplastics that are shed from clothes from entering our oceans and rivers. It keeps them in the guppy bag where over time, it will build up and you can remove them.

Do you already do any of these? Which are you going to implement to make your washing more eco-friendly?

Best wishes, Cx