Blue Dog’s Blog

For the past month, I’ve been using a Mrs. Pegg’s handy line to dry my clothes. It easily holds a large load of laundry and I’ve found that most things dry within 2 hours. The few that don’t (towels, very heavy blankets) are dry within 8. The added bonus is that I no longer have to worry about ironing. If you don’t take your clothes out of the dryer immediately, you know what a pain it is to deal with wrinkles. Now I no longer have any! Plus my clothes will last longer as a result of not using a dryer (what do you think makes the lint?).For those of you who aren’t quite ready to take that plunge, Care2 has Twelve Laundry Tips for Maximum Energy Savings that you may find useful for cutting down electric/gas costs and saving CO2 pounds. For those of you who’d like to take the plunge or at least look into it, here are two other links to get you started.

• Terrapass Energy Tip #4
• Project Laundry List

This isn’t something you have to wait for good weather to do. I live in a wet part of the US and I put my Mrs. Pegg’s handy line up in my living room or bathroom when I dry my clothes. For those of you who need to use a humidifier during dry times of the year, the moisture from the clothes drying in the house may eliminate the need. And during the summer, the cool moisture may help lower the overall temp in the house. For those of you working, hang your clothes before you go to bed at night to wake-up to wrinkle-free, dry clothes or hand them before you go to work to come home to the same. It’s a way to help the environment and your pocket book with little effort.

Vinegar

Looking for an environmentally friendly way of softening your clothes? Try adding 1/2-1 cup of white distilled vinegar to your rinse cycle. No joke! It does a great job of not only softening your clothes but also breaking down laundry detergent. Once vinegar dries that “vinegary” smell is gone too so you needn’t worry about smelling like a salad all day. This is also a great way for folks with sensitivities to detergents to keep their clothes nice and soft.Looking for other ways to use vinegar in the laundry or around the house? Check out The Vinegar Institute’s Uses & Tips.