This story has been updated. It originally published on Aug. 29, 2024.
Laundry can be quite the energy hog, but it’s not exactly a chore you can skip if you, well, plan to be around other people. Cleaning and drying duds accounts for about 5% of the average home’s electricity use, according to the Energy Information Administration.
But that total’s really only part of the picture: It doesn’t account for the energy used to heat up water for the wash cycle, which represents the vast majority of a washer’s consumption and ranks as the fourth-highest power drain in a home. Meanwhile, dryers account for about 4.3% of a home’s draw all on their own, crowning them as one of the power-hungriest appliances in any household.
Luckily, it’s pretty easy to make your wash-day routine gentler on the planet—and your pocketbook. Here are the best ways to keep clean without creating a massive power drain.
8 ways to make your laundry routine more efficient
You don’t need to buy a new machine to make your laundry routine less of an energy hog. There are several ways you can fine-tune how you use your existing appliances to slash how much energy maintaining your wardrobe uses up.
Wash in cold water
Around 90% of the power a washing machine sips goes into heating up water, according to Energy Star. One 2022 study in the E.U. found that running a load on hot uses twice as much energy as a load at warm—and lowering the water temperature from warm to cool can cut electricity usage by 30%.1 Switching from warm to cold water can save 3.2 kilowatt hours per load, according to the American Cleaning Institute. Calculated over a full year of washes (between 300 and 390 on average)3, that’s about what it takes to run your fridge for 10 months.
And don’t worry about your stuff staying stanky if it’s not spinning in hot H2O: Most modern detergents are effective in cold water, and most clothes don’t need to be washed at high temperatures to get clean. In fact, hot water can harm natural fabrics like wool, linen, cotton, and silk. Wools tend to shrink in hot water, while most-any fabric will lose color and fade. What’s more, hot water can set certain stains, like those from blood and sweat, into textiles. Cold-washing also reduces the amount of microfibers released during laundry.
Skip the prewash, but keep the spin
The wash cycle you choose also has an effect on your energy consumption. A washing machine consumes anywhere from 300 to 1500 watts an hour, so the quicker your laundry gets done, the less energy you’ve spent. This means in most cases you can skip pre-washes and extra rinses. Barring excessive mud or dirt, they really aren’t necessary for day-to-day outfits.
Additional spin cycles, on the other hand, can be useful in cutting the electricity draw of your full wash-and-dry routine. Extra spins consume less energy than other machine cycles, and they can also help you save power during energy-hungry drying, because clothes will be way less damp post-wash, according to an analysis published in the International Journal of Applied Engineering Research.2 One important caveat, though: This trick helps more on front-loading washers than top-loading ones.
Run full, even loads in the washer
This should go without saying, but it takes the same amount of energy to wash a full load as a half-full one in most machines. At the same time, underloading your washer can lead to a handful of potential problems like an imbalance in the drum, which can make for less clean duds. It’s also important to wash like with like—meaning, for instance, you shouldn’t put delicate clothes in with heavy towels.
Air-dry what you can
Air-drying cuts out the power drain of machine drying altogether, a task that accounts for about 4.3% of a home’s electricity consumption. If you go from running a 3,000-watt dryer six days a week to only three days a week, that’d end up saving you around 468 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, which is equivalent to around 195 kilos of greenhouse emissions.
Remember, that’s per household; scale that digit up to even 10% of the nation’s 122 million homes, and it’s the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking more than a half-million cars off the road. Not to mention, leaving the dryer out of the equation is good for most textiles, which means our clothes and linens will last longer.
Of course, there are some things better left off the line. For instance, down jackets, comforters, and pillows, usually require flowing air in order to fully dry, which a tumble dryer is much more effective at. Knits like sweaters should not be hung on clotheslines as they can stretch and lose their shape. Instead, lay them on flat surfaces to air dry. If you are air drying any delicate items, make sure to use coat hangers.
Don’t overfill the dryer
Don’t use a large washer load as a license to pack the dryer to the brim. Pushing your dryer past its limit can leave some clothes moist and others way too exposed to heat. Properly dried clothes require air circulation—something that is nearly impossible in a crowded machine. Drying huge loads decreases the amount of warm air that reaches the innermost clothes, which means damp duds in the middle and overheated ones at the exterior.
Don’t be stingy, though, this is a Goldilocks situation: Loads that are too small can also be at the risk of overheating and overdrying. Yes, opting for energy efficient settings (think things like auto dry) help, but it won’t cancel out a poorly loaded machine.
Toss in some dryer balls
For the things you do put in the dryer, a set of dryer balls—typically made from wool, plastic, or rubber—can speed things up significantly. The hard orbs create air gaps between clothes as they bang around, which helps air circulate better to dry fabrics more quickly. Estimates vary, and there’s no peer-reviewed science to back this up, but some tests indicate that this can cut dry time by 14% or more.
Don’t overdry
Many dryers have an auto-dry setting that will automatically stop the machine once onboard moisture sensors pick up that duds are dry. This most-often winds up being much more efficient than timed drying cycles, which can involve a bit of guesswork. If your machine has these sensors, find and wipe them down on occasion to ensure they maintain a clear read on clothes.
Bonus: The best time to do laundry
The best time to wash clothes is during off-peak hours. That won’t make your routine more efficient, but it will cut back on the potential for planet-warming greenhouse emissions—and your bill. Prices for electricity spike at times of high demand, increasing the likelihood that peaker plants, which most-often burn fossil fuels, will be needed. Usually, the lowest costs for electricity are during the off-peak hours between 11pm and 7am.
Remember that laundry machines also generate heat, so during toasty summer days, be sure to run loads early in the morning when temperatures are the lowest. In the winter, take advantage of the extra heat to get a warm and cozy night of sleep.
How to maintain your machines
The health of your washing machine and your dryer are essential to keeping your duds clean and your appliances running smoothly. To keep your washing machine clean, run a monthly cycle with 2 cups of vinegar and half a cup of baking soda to clear out any dirt clogged in the pipes. Make sure to also wash your washer’s filter every three months by physically removing any dirt or hair.
For dryers, it’s important to clean the lint trap after every use so you can improve the airflow. It’s also a good to use the hose attachment on your vacuum to clear out any buildup below the lint trap on occasion. And, if your dryer has an outside vent, make sure to clean it and check for any clogs about every six months—or at least once a year.
How to choose more efficient laundry machines
If you want to make an investment with a completely new setup, odds are you’ll recoup the costs over time through energy savings, says Alison Knasin, lab manager at Indiana University’s Energy Justice Lab. Generally, Energy Star–certified washers and dryers are much more efficient than standard models, because they go beyond the required federal efficiency standards. Certified washers and dryers use about 20% less energy and about 30% less water than regular machines.
On a washer front, a front loading machine can be up to 50% more energy- and water-efficient than a top loader. Another feature to look for is a machine that is labeled high-efficiency (HE), which can let you wash bigger loads with less water and energy. For dryers, look out for heat pump tumble dryers, especially those certified by Energy Star, as they use almost 30% less energy than conventional systems. Other features you should keep an eye out for include ventless systems––which reuse warm air and use less energy––and machines with moisture sensors that will shut off when the clothes are dry.
Additional reporting by Corinne Iozzio
- Laundry: How Washing Machine Programs Affect Electricity Consumption, GINETEX, Sep. 2022 ↩︎
- Energy and Water Consumption Analysis of Washing Process in a Fully Automatic Washing Machine, International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, Jan. 2015 ↩︎