Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Thursday, February 26, 2009


With the cost of water, soap, and power ... I've been cutting back on washing as many loads of laundry each week. I used to wash about 12 loads a week. Now I'm down to seven. How'd I do it? First, I really had to get after a grown adult child about using one or two clean towels a day. Now she gets one per week. Next, I have been 'pre-drying' damp towels by simply hanging them in the laundry room ... then tossing into the hamper until I have a full load. Washing just one or two loads most days makes the work less demanding on the weekend. To further cut back on electricity, I partially dry everything for 10 minutes in the dryer and hang them to finish drying. Hubby and a friend are helping to install some clothes lines in the laundry room. Plus with the purchase of a rolling laundry rack, it makes it much easier to dry clothes this way in the winter.

6 comments:

Deb said...

Wait until you see how much you're going to save in electricity. Since having our woodstove, I've threatened to dry more things on drying racks and clothes lines - but unfortunately, I am unable to haul laundry up and down the steps to where the wood stove is located. My friend Dawna dries her laundry with the help of her woodstove and has already noticed a savings in her electric bill.

...and I love the reference to "sprawlmart" in the previous post! I've never heard it called "sprawlmart!"

Felisol said...

Dear Mrs. Mac,
I actually had a dryer stand like the one on the picture, made of wood back in the seventies.
Worked like a dream.
Last year I worked hardly to save on electricity until I found that our el. plant just raised the subscription money to compensate that green customers tried to save on their el consumption.
That made me all cynical. We can job to save the world all on our own; we'll never save money anyhow.
What's in it for me?
There should be some gain.
Moneywise too, I think.
I wash clothes for two adults and am paying about the same as a family of five. That's not fair.

Well, living green is of course always right.
About thirty years ago, there was a huge ado about detergents.
My mother's best friend, sweet and God fearing, Magnhild, said, "But Inga, no Christian will use more detergent than necessary, will they?"
That's perhaps the right way of doing things.
Because it's right, not because me having a minor profit.
I've better turn some lights off at once in the empty rooms.

From Felisol

Maggie Ann said...

I wish I could get my adult son to cut back on towels...the good thing is that his job requires him to travel quite a lot, so he's gone most of the week. What you are doing makes a lot of sense. Wouldn't it be great if you could figure out just how much $ you are saving....but then figuring it out would be quite a pain.

Maggie Ann said...

Good Morning Mrs.Mac, No we didn't get any of the wickedness of the weather last week, except our temps dipped into the bitter cold range..something like 8 degrees at night or was that 6? Brrr. I enjoy hearing about your plants/greenhouse. Your greenhouse SO impressed me...grin. I'm planning on checking Lowe's to see if they sell anything like it. Or, I can make my own perhaps. I'm thinking...just put a tiered plant stand on the patio and wrap clear plastic around it and duct tape the edges together. Won't that be a thing of beauty? lol. On the home front here, my nasturtiums are sturdily up with their first set of leaves....and the cherry tomatoes are looking good. The petunias are up but so fragile...a breath of wind could break them. I wondor if they'll make it. I also have Marigolds and Bachelor Buttons up. Oh, what fun. I planted pepper seeds this morning. Are you still knitting? I'm thinking of getting mine going again. I did some spinning this morning. Have to confess I need to go back to bed...I was up talking to son till almost 2 a.m. and woke up early this morning (thats unusual for me) and stayed up...now my eyes are suffering. Have a nice day...hope you are getting the sunshine and 60 degrees that we are. I felt giddy just typing that...grin.

donna said...

we use this lots in the wintertime....I get ansy waiting for the temps to get above 40 degress so I can haul it all to the outside clotheslines....I just love the smell of clothes dried outside....

blessings
donna

Margie said...

that is SWEET!! I think I am going to put out some clotheslines for the summer!