Should You Worry About Dirty Reusable Bags?
Jun 29, 2010 Budget Environmentalism
There was a report in the news the other day about the bacteria that are found in most reusable shopping bags. It seems that 97% of users never wash their reusable bags, and so coliform bacteria are found in most of them.
Sounds bad, right? You don’t want dangerous bacteria growing on your food. The solution, at least, is simple.
Wash your reusable bags!
That’s it. Problem solved.
If you aren’t certain that your reusable bags will be safe in the dryer, just line dry them. Inside out in the sunlight is probably a good choice.
It’s a small addition to your laundry routine, and worth the trouble to ensure that you don’t get a problematic level of bacteria growing in your bags or contaminating your food.
Once they’re clean, put them back in your car, your purse, by the door or wherever helps you to remember to bring your own bags.
And don’t worry too much about the germs. The presence of bacteria doesn’t mean that there are enough to make you sick. The main time you should think about it is if you carry raw meat or poultry in your bag. Wash it after, and you should be fine.
Tags: laundry, reusable bags
How to Deal with Crunchy Towels and Jeans After Line Drying Laundry
Jun 11, 2010 Eco Friendly Home
Line drying your laundry saves a lot of energy and money. It’s even pretty good exercise as you hang out your clothes, not to mention carrying damp laundry from the washing machine to the backyard.
There’s just one problem. Not everything dries nice, soft and comfortable to use.
Jeans and towels are notorious for this. They usually feel stiff and crunchy when you pull them off the line.
How can you get rid of the crunchies?
Take Them Down Damp
The simplest solution is to let them dry most of the way on the line, but take them down while they’re still a little bit damp and throw them into the dryer. It won’t take long to dry them and you’re still saving energy.
The towels and jeans will feel as though they’d spent the entire time in the dryer. No more nasty crunchy feeling.
Air Fluff
If they’re dry, you can still throw crunchy items into the dryer and just give them a few minute on the No Heat or Air cycle of your dryer. The motion will break up much of the crunchiness.
Add Baking Soda to the Washing Machine
Baking soda works as a water softener, and can help your towels and jeans to dry softer as well if it has been used in the water. They won’t get completely soft this way, but it may decrease the crunchy sensation enough.
You can also add vinegar to the rinse, which should help to soften everything.
Don’t use fabric softener on towels; it’s bad for their ability to absorb water, which is kind of contrary to the whole point of using a towel to dry yourself.
Double Them Up
Many people say that if you fold the towels in half to line dry them or hang two together, they will not be as stiff when they dry. The reason is that they tend to be less stiff if they dry more slowly.
Give Them a Snap
Some swear by this method. Give the towels and jeans a snap before hanging them on the line, maybe another when they’re about halfway dry, if you remember. This helps to limit how crunchy they get.
Get Used to It
Some people actually like their towels a little crunchy. It’s a feeling you can get used to.
Same for jeans. The crunchy feeling decreases as the jeans get older as well, so the problem may not be serious for long.
Give a few solutions a try and see what works for you. Your results may vary due to the weather you’re having, the age of your towels and jeans, and the hardness of your local water.
Tags: clothes, crunchy towels, laundry, line drying
Why Aren’t You Using a Clothesline?
May 4, 2010 Eco Friendly Home
There are many simple things you can do to be more eco friendly. Hanging your clothes out on a clothesline
The Eco Advantages of Using a Clothesline
Buying and using a clothesline to do most of the drying of your laundry makes a lot of sense when it comes to the environment. It’s one of the easiest forms of solar power to use. It’s even fast on hot days. And it keeps you from using gas or electricity to power your clothesdryer.
The environmental advantages go beyond the gas and power bill, however. Line drying also helps most clothes to last longer. Dryers can be pretty hard on clothes; that’s why you get so much lint in the dryer.
The sun doesn’t cause that damage. It’s much kinder to your clothes. This means your clothes will last longer and you won’t need to replace them as often.
The Advantages to You
I know, hanging clothes on a clothesline sounds like a lot of work. It certainly is more work than tossing clothes into the dryer and taking them back out later. But it may not be as bad as you think.
I prefer to use clothespins to hang my laundry, but some other people put damp shirts, dresses, pants and so forth onto hangers to dry on the clothesline. It saves a step. If you’re in an area with a lot of wind it’s not so good an idea to use hangers because the wind can blow them right off the line.
You can still make doing your laundry more efficient with a clothesline. It may take time and effort to get the clothes up, but once they’re dry you can bring the hangers out and the clothes are easy to pop onto the hanger, as they aren’t all tangled up from being in the dryer anymore.
You also quickly save money with a clothesline. How quickly depends on the clothesline you bought, how much laundry you do and how much it costs you to run your dryer for each load. It’s likely to pay off in well under a year for many families.
Hanging out laundry is also pretty good exercise. You’re out in the fresh air and sunshine (might want to wear a hat!) and hanging up heavy, damp laundry. If you aren’t used to it, you will feel the effort.
The Disadvantages
It’s not all wonderful with a clothesline. You probably don’t want to let your jeans and towels dry completely on a clothesline – they end up kind of crunchy. But you can let them dry most of the way and then finish the job off in the dryer. They’ll come out feeling great and you will still have used your dryer less.
If you have a Homeowner’s Association to deal with, you’re likely to be facing rules against clotheslines. There are groups trying to change that, but it’s slow going. If you’re discreet about it and don’t get a huge setup that can be seen over your fence you can probably still get away with using a clothesline.
Clotheslines are also more challenging in apartments and condos. You likely just don’t have a great space to install one. However there are many good clothes drying racks you can buy and put in a space that gets plenty of sunshine and where you can open the window for fresh air.
They’re of course quite subject to weather. You’re not going to get much benefit from a clothesline on a rainy day. But even on cloudy days clothes will often dry reasonably quickly, depending on the moisture in the air that day. And when the sun goes down, the laundry’s not going to dry fast at all.
Overall, I find the advantages of using a clothesline
Tags: clothesline, laundry
Dry Your Laundry Using Less Energy – Green Step By Step
Mar 4, 2010 Green Step By Step
Laundry can use huge amounts of energy, especially when you use a dryer. But there are steps you can take to be more efficient.
A good, old fashioned clothesline is my favorite option. They can be very affordable, but not easily used in all situations. They’re more challenging in apartments and when you have to deal with a homeowner’s association, of course. Although even in those cases you can set up a drying rack indoors.
Then there’s rainy or otherwise cold or damp weather that can make clotheslines just not work.
That’s when using your dryer efficiently comes in. Don’t let that sucker cool off! If your dryer is like mine you will need to get the clothes before the dryer stops, as it cools them down for you… and coincidentally itself.
Get the next load in while the dryer is still hot, and it won’t have to reheat so much. You’ll also get those wonderfully warm clothes to hold for just a moment.
Tags: clothesline, drying clothes, laundry, use less energy
Are Cloth Diapers Too Much Extra Work?
Feb 2, 2010 Eco Friendly Parenting
Cloth diapers have become pretty popular in recent years There are tons of styles to choose from and many parents rave about them. But many fear that they’re a lot of work. Are they really worth all the trouble, the extra laundry, rinsing in the toilet? And what about leaks? And stinks?
I’ve been using cloth diapers on my daughter for about a year now and I can tell you that for me these things are really not a problem. It’s just not as bad as you might think.
For starters, the extra laundry really isn’t that much. Yes, you’ll be doing a load every 2-3 days. One load of cloth diapers. They’ll need an extra rinse cycle to be sure the detergent gets out, but they only use 1/4 the amount of detergent a regular load uses. The diapers should smell clean after washing.
You can dry cloth diapers outside in the sun (I strongly recommend this if at all possible) or in the dryer. The sun does some nice natural bleaching as well as saves energy, making it a generally good deal. Hanging the diapers out is certainly some extra effort compared to just throwing them in the dryer, but if you have the time it’s really not so bad. I find they stay freshest this way.
If you put them in the dryer, dry them on hot for most brands. You can check with your particular brand to be sure of care instructions.
But what about solid wastes? Aren’t they a pain?
Strictly speaking, even with disposable diapers you’re supposed to put the solids in the toilet. I think most packages even say that, although I don’t know that many parents obey that part, and that’s why this seems like such a big deal with cloth diapers.
For the most part solids shake out pretty well, especially as baby gets older. For wastes that are on the runny side of solid I like a diaper sprayer
And leaks?
On the whole, I’ve had less trouble with leaks with cloth diapers with this baby than I did with disposable diapers and my two older kids. We use bumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers
I would also say we’ve had very few blowout poops, which is something to be dreaded. It can just be an individual baby thing, but she’s had some impressive outputs at times, so I don’t think it’s that.
If leaks start to be a problem it’s time to strip the diaper to be sure that you don’t just have a buildup problem.
So do cloth diapers stink?
They can, sometimes. But that generally means that your washing routine isn’t quite right. Maybe you use too much detergent. Maybe they need to be stripped, which is a special wash of cloth diapers using original Dawn dish detergent
Some parents also use tea tree oil to help with stinks. Bio-Kleen Bac-Out
I know, this is sounding like a lot of effort. It’s really not that bad. Baby care in general is a lot of effort. At least with modern cloth diapers you aren’t fussing with pins and such. Some brands go on the baby in ways that are very similar to how disposables go on. It’s simple.
Just think of all the advantages. Over time cloth diapers tend to be cheaper than disposables. They’re less wasteful. You can even use them for more than one baby. Many babies get less diaper rash with cloth, and you can’t forget to note how many cute styles there are in cloth diapers.
And best of all, many cloth diapered babies potty train younger! The slight inconvenience of laundry is much offset by the potential to be fussing with diapers in general for less time in my opinion.
Tags: baby, cloth diapers, laundry, stink
