Doing the washing is never fun at any time, but it always seems much worse in winter.
Last year, the wettest months in the U.K were December and January. And as for the sun during this time – we only “enjoy” 8 hours a day. That’s less than most people work! This makes getting your clothes washed and dried a real hassle.
To help, here are 8 tips for getting your laundry done quickly and easily in winter.
1. Put Clothes Through A High Spin
Modern washing machines are pretty efficient, but even the best leave around 45% of the water behind after spinning. If you have an older washer, this could be as much as 60%.
Putting your clothes through another high-speed spin cycle will remove even more water, which significantly reduces your drying time.
2. Peg-Up Inside
At this time of year, we want to spend as little time as possible outside. As a result, pegging clothes on a line becomes more a speed challenge than anything else.
Attaching clothes pegs before you brave the winter chill will not only save time, it will also help everything be neat and orderly on the line.
3. Use Coat Hangers
Another great tip is hanging coat hangers on the line, and then pegging your clothes onto them; visit the website here for more.
When (and not “if”) it rain, this makes it much easier to dash outside and grab armfuls of hangers. You’ll also find it creates more space on the line, too.
4. Wipe Your Line Down
Regularly wiping your line down with a rag helps prevents those annoying back marks getting on your freshly-cleaned clothes. And lots of swearing!
5. Wear Gloves
Frozen fingers, noses and earlobes are bad enough without having to get an armful of dripping washing on the line ASAP!
Wearing light gloves will stop your fingers freezing and help get the job done quicker.
6. Don’t Overload Radiators
If like many of us you’re drying clothes on radiators, it’s important not to overload them.
Overloading will cause your boiler to work a lot harder and significantly increase your heating bills.
7. Check Your Tumble Dryer Lint
As I’m sure many people are aware, quite a few houses have burned down due to tumble driers catching fire.
Checking and cleaning out tumble dryer lint reduces this risk and will also help your dryer work better.
8. Clean Your Washing Machine!
According to manufacturers, washing machines should be cleaned every month. During the busy festive season, some chores like this get overlooked. They shouldn’t!
I saw this article recently which quoted a U.K study where 100 washing machines were swabbed for bacteria. It found that 10% of them had traces of E.coli!
So if you don’t want lots of germs and nasties celebrating Christmas in your washing machine, give it a good clean this month!
