Preventing Wrinkly Clothes the Frugal Way

There are numerous reasons why clothes become wrinkly:
– They are left in the washer too long
– They are left in the dryer too long
– They are piled in a laundry basket to fold later
– They are folded in a haphazard way
– The item is made of a material that is known for wrinkling (think linen)

This super easy laundry tip to help prevent wrinkling takes just a few seconds and minimal effort.

Whether you own a top-loader or a front-loader, clothes naturally end up twisted and tangled together in the last spin of the washer.

Untangle Clothes Before Putting in the Dryer

To even have a chance of eliminating wrinkles, you must untangle the clothes before putting them in the dryer.

The sheets I washed this week are a good example:

This picture was taken as soon as I opened the washer door.  So you can see that the sheets are mostly in a twisted ball.

If I picked up this whole load of sheets and put them straight into the dryer, two problems would arise:

1) The sheets wouldn’t dry well at all and I’d possibly even have to run the dryer cycle twice.  $0.60 per hour in the dryer = around $1.00 or so to dry this one load of sheets

2) When they finally did dry, they would be completely wrinkly.

Clothes Need Room to Tumble

Clothes and other linens need room to tumble freely in the dryer.

If they are twisted when put in the dryer, less surface area is exposed to the heat, which means it takes longer for them to dry.  And it is well-known that the dryer is one of the most costly items to run in a home.

Less drying time = a lower power bill.

So when putting them in the dryer, they should look like this:

Nice and fluffy!

Untangle Clothes to Save You Money

It’s also prudent to try to prevent wrinkles from a financial standpoint.

My dryer has the Steam Dry option (which is by far one of my favorite features!), so it’s easy just to have the clothes dry another 15 minutes and the dryer steam out the wrinkles.  I admittedly use this feature all of the time – but it does cost money in terms of our power bill.

Preventing wrinkles in the first place also prevents one from using any of the ‘Wrinkle Releaser’ spray-on products.  They are definitely not cheap!

So when moving clothes from the washer to the dryer, make sure to un-wad them and gently shake them out.

You want your clothes or linens to look nice and fluffy in the dryer before you push Start.

This step adds maybe 30 seconds to the time it takes to switch loads.  But this 30 seconds can save you money and prevent wrinkles.  It’s worth it!