Laundry and dry cleaning bills can be outrageous. When the budget is stretched to the breaking point these handy tips can save you a bundle in laundry and cleaning costs. Whether home laundry is your bag or you rely on commercial dry cleaning establishment these tips will help slash the budget.
Say goodbye to dry cleaning
That’s right, dry cleaning is completely unnecessary. I’m a former dry cleaning store manager so I know what I am saying here. You can do it better yourself on a budget. The average professional dry cleaning customer spends $600 -$1000. per year in dry cleaning bills. Those who have it in their budget, often spend more.
So, how do we wean ourselves from this drain on our budget? First, wash anything that is washable. Second get yourself a package of that home dry cleaning method used in the dryer. Third, purchase a garment steam cleaner. These work best for clothes that normally require dry cleaning.
Note: Be sure to use the dryer dry cleaning products only when absolutely necessary. Like professional dry cleaning, they do involve toxic chemicals.
Iron dress shirts and linens at home
Here’s another crazy budget breaker. Sending shirts and other items to a professional laundry. The cost of this service at an average of just $10.00 a week is $520.00 per year. Would the budget benefit from cutting this out? Buy yourself an iron, board, and spray starch for the cost of a months worth of professional laundry services.
For best results:
Wash dress shirts in hot soapy water with bleach. Pre-treat collars prior to laundry methods. Iron shirts while still damp, doing details first and shirt body last. Use spray starch if preferred. This laundry budget saver may turn out better results than you think. At the laundry, everyone’s shirts are done in the same machine. This leads to graying. Shirts often lose buttons on the commercial laundry press as well.
Hang it up
Clothes smell fresher and cleaner when hung outside to dry and that clothes dryer is sapping your budget. Slash budget by hundreds in electricity by hanging clothes to dry. Not only that but this budget laundry tip saves the environment by using less resources. If there is no place to hang laundry outside, consider purchasing an inexpensive indoor clothes drying rack.
Make your own laundry soap
Name brand laundry soap costs up to $11.00 a bottle now and the budget brand isn’t far behind. Go here for some recipes to make homemade effective laundry soap on a budget. Another idea is to use baking soda and vinegar as laundry detergent. I have tried this and the clothes come out quite fresh and stain free. I have tried laundry detergents from the dollar store since I am always looking for budget bargains. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend them. These budget laundry soaps seem to be watered down and ineffective.
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