How much does doing laundry cost

When Benjamin Franklin said nothing in the world is certain except death and taxes , he obviously forgot about laundry. Laundry expert Mary Marlowe Leverette, writing for The Spruce , says the average American family does eight to 10 loads of laundry per week — more than one load every day.

Fortunately, thanks to the automatic washer and dryer, washing all those loads is a lot easier now than it was in the days of the washtub and scrub board. Fortunately, with just a few easy tricks, you can cut the cost of your weekly wash by half or even more. None of them involve hauling your clothes to the nearest river and beating them against a rock. If you use a coin laundromat, what you pay per load is pretty much fixed. You can save some money by cutting the cost of the products you use, like detergent and fabric softener, but your best bet is to do laundry less often.

However, if you wash at home, your choices make a big difference. The type of washer you have, the water temperature, and how you dry your clothes all affect your bottom line. The No. When you wash at home, this single strategy automatically cuts your costs on everything at once — water, electricity, detergent, and heat for drying. It also saves wear and tear on your washer. There are two primary ways to reduce the number of loads you do.

The first is to wash full loads as much as possible. At home, you can save some water and energy when doing a small load by choosing a lower water setting. But at the coin laundry, you pay just as much for a small load as for a large one. To keep your costs down, save your laundry for a week or more and do it all in one large load. The other way to cut the number of loads is to wear your clothes more than once between washings.

According to the American Cleaning Institute , you only need to wash some items, such as T-shirts and underwear, after every use.

You can wear others, such as jeans or dress shirts, several times before laundering. You can use bath towels three to five times before washing, and bedsheets can stay on the bed for up to two weeks. But even if you wash your clothes at home, doing fewer loads is still a money-saver. As a bonus, washing your clothes less often also helps them last longer.

So you can cut your annual budget for new clothes too. Thus, one of the quickest ways to cut your laundry cost is to wash clothes in cold water as often as possible. According to the U. Department of Energy DOE , only oily stains really require hot water to remove them. Consumer Reports also recommends using hot water plus bleach for cloth diapers and the germ-laden sheets and towels of a sick family member. For everything else, warm or cold water does a perfectly adequate job.

According to Consumer Reports, modern detergents are actually better at removing dirt and stains in low temperatures than higher ones. In a comparison test by Good Housekeeping , the top performer was Persil , which costs around a quarter per load.

Some frugal-living bloggers suggest making your own laundry detergent as a way to save money. Homemade detergents usually contain a mix of soap, borax, and washing soda. They even did a better job on mustard stains than a commercial detergent. However, homemade laundry detergents can cause problems for users who have hard water. According to detergent maker Dropps , these products can react with minerals in the water, leaving residue on your clothes. They can also leave buildup on the washing machine itself, leading to mold and mildew growth.

Also, making your own detergent takes time. A quicker way to save on laundry detergent is to look for sales and coupons. You can also frequently find savings on detergent through the Ibotta app. Another way to cut your detergent cost is to use less. The amount you need depends on your detergent type, washer type, and water. If you have standard water, you need about two tablespoons of 2X concentration liquid or one-third to one-half a cup of powder to clean a standard load 12 to 15 pounds.

Plus, some investments can help you save money over the long term. For example, maintained and upgraded equipment cuts down on your water and energy usage. By striking a judicious balance between upgrades and price increases, you can improve your profit margin while attracting and maintaining a robust customer base.

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Average Cost of a Load of Laundry If you are considering raising prices at your laundromat, start by researching the average cost of a load of laundry in your area. There are several reasons why you might choose to risk raising your prices: The average cost of a load of laundry in your area exceeds your current rates. The costs of doing business have increased. For example, perhaps your landlord is raising your rent, utility rates have risen, or you need to replace equipment.

You are remodeling your laundromat to attract higher-end customers. Washing machine kWh has a direct impact on your electricity bills.

Typically, a higher kWh rating results in higher bills. There are ways to reduce your bills despite having a higher kWh washing machine.

According to Energy Star, the average American household uses their washing machine approximately times per year. With this information, we can work out how much it costs in electricity to run a standard washing machine kWh. The US is the 7th cheapest country in our list for running a washing machine. The UK is at the opposite end of the table, being the 8th most expensive country in the list.

Germany, Belgium and Italy top the list of most expensive countries to wash clothes.