How Green Is Your Laundry?

Your mother probably warned you not to leave the house without clean underwear, but are your whites green enough to pass muster with Mother Nature?

These days "clean and green" applies to more than solar power plants -- it's also how we all should do our laundry.

Take our simple quiz and we'll sort you into the right pile.

Comments

[Michael William Mullen]

Your survey assumes that laundry and life styles exist in a vacuum. We use very little in the way of paper towels - we wash some things in hot water such as dish cloths, wash cloths, etc.

I often ride my bike or walk instead of driving and I worl some at an organic farm. In the south in the summer you often need to wash clothes after just one wearing - your survey is over simplified and too judgemental.

We keep out summer thermostat at 78 to 80 degrees and our winter thermostat at 65 degrees daytime and 58-60 at night. We try to buy as much of our food from local sources as possible.

A survey that looks at only one aspect of energy use is ridiculous!

[Asia Altier]

I find it interesting that nowhere in your laundry quiz do you ask about what type of laundry detergent is being used. Using laundry detergent without phosphates reduces water pollution, as well as using a chemical-free or biodegradeable laundry detergent. Also, the container/packaging of the actual detergent/bleach/fabric softener wasn't discussed either. Is the packaging minimal and environmentally friendly? If so, that should count as something. Furthermore, using bleach/fabric softener wasn't included in the quiz either. Chlorine bleach and liguid fabric softener also has negative effects on the water supply. Overall, I thought this quiz was limited, the answer selections weren't varied enough, and the points discussed above should be included. After all, it's not just about energy used, it's also about the by-product pollution that can occur from laundry. One last point: not all dry cleaning places are detrimental to the environment. While it is more expensive, I get my dry cleaning done at a biodegradable, environmentally friendly establishment. Nice try guys.

[sharon]

My dry cleaner is a non chemical/organic dry cleaner, and I can skip the plastic, and also bring back hangars and plastic when I do need it (rain) so you need to add that into your choices and not just bad mouth dry cleaners... it definitely allows me to wear my better clothes much longer, because washing them wears them out much faster ... also drying outside and on inside racks makes clothes much more brittle and wrinkled, then you need to iron (energy)... I never use the iron when I use the dryer...

[sharon]

right, I agree, I just read the post above mine that wasn't there when I wrote mine... and anyone who uses those horrible dryer sheets, pollution city, should get minus 20 points...

[jean rowe lieber]

It's a silly survey-not very useful. For instance-what about combined households. What did you expect to learn from this exercise?

[confused]

this test has too many silly choices where you really have to use the silly choice
i guess they wanted to be amusing

[william leidenthal]

That was certainly one simplistic, ignorant "test", something I might expect from one of those teen girl magazines. There are so many variables in how anyone does their laundry, it's insipid to believe that "the right way" will make you a "Green Consumer". Buying new appliances is not for the millions who live paycheck to paycheck. Air drying your clothes is for those lucky enough to have a house with a yard in the burbs. And sorting your clothes into what dries fast and what dries slow DOES make a difference.

[hohum]

It's also a bit frustrating to be scolded for using hot water when I have a solar water heater so heating the water has no effect on greenhouse gas emissions.

[Diane, Bend Oregon]

The quiz was useful, but didn't offer options we use and doesn't cover heating, cooking or hot water heaters.

Due to weather and neighborhood association restrictions outdoor drying is often not an option. We wash everything we can cold. Put it in the dryer for 10 minutes to de-wrinkle the clothes, etc. then hang them all on hangers to air dry. The exception is sheets. Towels can be hung on towel racks to finish drying and socks can be laid on the washer/dryer to dry over night. We can run 4 water levels and 3 temps in the washer and have multiple controls for dryer loads and temps.

This makes the clothes last 2-3 times longer than if dryer dried and they don't shrink. I hand wash most good clothes including silks, even when dry cleaning is recommended and have not lost anything yet.

We have an energy efficient gas fireplace that heats most of our hose and individual thermostat controlled heaters we can use If needed. We use night air to cool in the summer and close the windows during the day. A good warm sweater beats a high heat bill.

We water with an control panel set to run at night. Our hot water heater is efficient gas, we don't dry our dishes in the dishwasher and have instant hot water. I have excessively dry skin and limit showers to 2 times a week, we don't have a jacuzzi, an on and on. I agree with others that the survey is too shallow.

[jan]

I think some of the questions are really insane:

for example: there is more than hot or cold wash. how about warm with cold rinse.

No I never sort laundry (I'm a guy) I do everything warm/cold. sorting laundry, what a waste of time.

Lint filter, have not cleaned one in 11 years, because I airdry everything.

If you do a quiz, do it seriously

If it says dry clean don't buy it, saves the environment AND your wallet

I do have a front loading washing machine that saves lots of power and water :-)

[Michelle]

There's one obvious option that you failed to include under the question: "When buying new clothes, do you check what fabric's used and whether it requires dry cleaning?".

I choose to buy only machine washable, but I don't necessarily buy organic cotton or items made from recycled soda bottles. However, most of the clothes I buy are second-hand or used. If we're concerned about the impact of the manufacturing of clothes on the environment then buying used has the smallest impact.

[Joan]

There's a question about new clothes, but what about those of us who rarely buying new clothes and have lived well from thrift stores for years? Also, regarding dry cleaning, I have things that say "dry clean only," mostly from thrift stores. For that price, I don't mind taking a chance and hand washing it. Most things that say "dry clean only," can actually be washed unless they're lined or something. To me, spending $25 a month for drycleaning seems like a lot. I only rarely ever dryclean anything at all. Regarding how often to wash things, it depends on what. And as someone else mentioned, on the season and how much you've been sweating.
I know it's hard to cover everything, but as others said, this, like most others of its type, is quite simplistic and fails to take a lot of factors into account. It has to be taken with a grain of salt depending on people's own circumstances.
One comment, though, to the person who thinks that air drying clothes is "only for people who are lucky enough to have a house and a yard in the burbs," people all over Europe air dry their clothes on racks in city apartments, in climates that aren't necessarily sunnier, and who don't necessarily have a yard. Ironically, I find that things dry very quickly in winter (when it's dry). I have the most problems drying is in the summer if it's very humid, particularly if I'm trying to do forego the air conditioner. Then sometimes I resort to the dryer (or break down and turn on the air conditioner). I also use it occasionally if I get too far behind and/or have company coming or something and just need to catch everything up.

[Ali]

I was a bit miffed that I'm expected to only do full loads of laundry AND wear most of my clothes multiple times--I happen to run out of socks and underwear long before I've sufficiently dirtied the rest of my clothes. What's wrong with sometimes having to do a half-load of necessities and adjusting the water level? (Or am I supposed to just buy more underthings? Is Sierra Club in bed with the Big Sock industry? ;)

[Noah Haverkamp]

I feel the test was helpful. Although it is true that not all points were covered, such as detergent, the test is not meant to be a phd thesis. take it for what it's worth. this is what i got from it: use cold water more; hang-dry more; the laundromat may be more eco-friendly than buying my own machine; keep trying to find an energy-star portable washer (which has been very difficult - there may not be any).

the quiz info is misleading, however, if it is true that dry-cleaning can be "biodegradable, environmentally friendly" and "non chemical/organic." are you sure those "dry-cleaners" are not the "wet-cleaners" mentioned?

[Barbara]

Interesting multiple choice selection. I got 0's on several items because the selection of answers was inadequate. I don't sort my clothes (colored clothes seldom bleed these days) and I don't own a drier. The sun dries my clothes just fine in St. Thomas.

[f r w]

I found the survey on green laundry some what skewed to the plastic generation. The energy star lable is not all its cracked up to be, in some cases to make the appliance meet the efficience rating, it requires a support appliance to work harder, eg. a dishwasher with a smaller motor and less wattage heating coil, requires a hotter entering water temperature, than the model that takes 110 degree water and raises the temperature as it washes a load.

as far as washing machines go, i have used the wringer model, where there is ONE fill of hot water and soap and six successive loads of wash are washed. wishing to get more automatic, the current model is a maytag with suds saver. again ONE load of hot soapy water is formulated, and used to wash 4 to 6 successive loads of wash, ranging from the whites to the dog blankets. all rinse cycles are cold.

an added note, it takes hot water to kill the dust mites and all the other creepy crawlies that linger in bedding and pillows, during the wash cycle, soap alone will not do this.

you also could have included the catagory of "no, i do not dry clean my clothes." dry cleaners are a magor cause for neighbor hood polution, with the chemicals they use, the handling of the chemicals, and im-proper disposal. yes there are laws, but they still seem to dig up the land behind the dry cleaning stores for proper disposal.

possibly a european system of cleaning would be better supported, the hot water is made right on the spot on demand. the washing machines are small and less wasteful with full loads, and the dryers are ventless, the drying air is recirculated within the unit, with the water vapor removed and discharged to the drain. we still have a ways to go for efficiency.

[f r w]

I found the survey on green laundry some what skewed to the plastic generation. The energy star lable is not all its cracked up to be, in some cases to make the appliance meet the efficience rating, it requires a support appliance to work harder, eg. a dishwasher with a smaller motor and less wattage heating coil, requires a hotter entering water temperature, than the model that takes 110 degree water and raises the temperature as it washes a load.

as far as washing machines go, i have used the wringer model, where there is ONE fill of hot water and soap and six successive loads of wash are washed. wishing to get more automatic, the current model is a maytag with suds saver. again ONE load of hot soapy water is formulated, and used to wash 4 to 6 successive loads of wash, ranging from the whites to the dog blankets. all rinse cycles are cold.

an added note, it takes hot water to kill the dust mites and all the other creepy crawlies that linger in bedding and pillows, during the wash cycle, soap alone will not do this.

you also could have included the catagory of "no, i do not dry clean my clothes." dry cleaners are a magor cause for neighbor hood polution, with the chemicals they use, the handling of the chemicals, and im-proper disposal. yes there are laws, but they still seem to dig up the land behind the dry cleaning stores for proper disposal.

possibly a european system of cleaning would be better supported, the hot water is made right on the spot on demand. the washing machines are small and less wasteful with full loads, and the dryers are ventless, the drying air is recirculated within the unit, with the water vapor removed and discharged to the drain. we still have a ways to go for efficiency.

[Carol]

It appears to me this survey was in fact good! Reading over all the replys posted here is showing me that many people are do things more green and making strong efforts with their personal conditions to contribute. Also picked up some good ideas!

[p j batchelder]

I learned some things I didn't know from the quiz so I decided not to fuss about the 10 points I lost because "not applicable" was not a choice. I even thought about doing it a 2nd time and entering all "wrong" answers to see what else I could learn.
Nobody mentioned that you can lessen the dryness of winter air by drying indoors. If you use a humidifier in winter, you can run it a bit less. I never get colds because I keep the temp at about 68 and dry clothes on railings, racks, doorknobs, hangers...I put a few things into the dryer for a few minutes to shake out the wrinkles, then hang them on hangers. And I buy knit shirts and other clothes that don't need ironing. I got my fill of ironing back in the 50's. For any women out there that still make their own wool skirts - shrink the fabric, then cut it out. You can pop it in the washer.
Finally, I tried to find a "green" dry cleaner (I live north of Boston). California seemed to be the closest. The Sierra Club could do a real service by posting links as store networks expand - or would that jeopardize your non-profit status?

[JAN WILEN]

Hot water is absolutely essential for killing icoli which is often on underwear (and nightgown, pj's if one doesn't wear underwear underneath these garmets). Some people sleep nude and then it can get on sheets. It can also get on towels and washcloths.Such garmets also must be dried 45 minutes to kill the icoli. Everything else can be washed in cold water.

[Betsy]

Has the person who created the survey ever actually done laundry? Or tried any of the suggestions? If they had, they would realize some of their choices don't make sense.

If you dry clothes on a clothesline, you never need to check the lint trap, but the survey doesn't think of that. If you use a clothesline, you don't need to sort the clothes before drying, but that is not an option.

This survey is cute, and it is interesting to see the different things people do, but it would be nice to find a way to include people, and get more people do try these things, instead of alienating people with silly comments. A good place to start might be to make sure you're offering real choices.

[Rita]

What's wrong with dryer sheets? I have no place to hang laundry and if I don't use the sheets, I have to iron (a real energy user) I'm open ,to any helpful hints.

[Stanley Harrison]

None of your questions are relevent to how to minimize the load on our planet.
My washer is 50 years old Sears. Run full, once in 1 to 2 weeks. Clothes plenty dirty. 1/4 cup detergent. Warm solar-heated water.

Drier???????? Clothes rack outside, or near the woodstove.
Separate laundry??? Why?
Silly questions!!!!

[Barbara Chatman]

...and this is why I have been a member for thirty years?
I am desperate for real and true information about how to be more green in all my household actions. Thanks for the non-information!!
I did learn some things from the other comments.

[Sunandsage]

I found this amusing at best. If the intent was to get us thinking I suppose it did the trick. Since the correct answer was often not one of the options, I didn't score very high. 39 I believe. Alot of my tricks I learned from living on the road delivering vehicles. Spending all afternoon at the laundramat was not usually a good option. I use the warm/cold setting on everything - never hot. I don't sort anything. I rarely use the dryer for anything other then bedsheets since I only have one set. I buy clothing based on durability and how quickly it dries. In spite of the problems with nylon and polyester, my experience with clothes made of these materials is that they tend to outlast cotton clothes many times over (unless they're bought at some place like Walmart). In a pinch, alot of my clothing can be hand washed and wrung out into a towel and hung up on a hanger before my shower and worn dry (only slightly damp) after I'm done with my shower. Stuff that has to be dry cleaned is avoided.

[lopeti]

"Do you use cold instead of hot water to wash your clothes?" Well, I use a warm water wash with a cold water rinse. Does that banish me to enviro hell?

"Do you sort your laundry into different types of loads?" No, I can wash everything together because I refuse to buy white clothing. I should get bonus points for that. :)

[Ellen Gall]

The weirdly focused answers to the questions were hard to choose from. I left three to last because none of the answers applied to me. Of course, I went back and chose the answer I though would be closest to my "correct" -- those were my lowest points.
About the "energy efficient machines" -- I just purchased a "new to me" home 6 months ago with a back yard where I can grow my own vegetables plus some other amenities that I enjoy, but I don't know if they are energy efficient or not -- but I am. I'm elderly and can not support a high electric bill -- that alone keeps me energy efficient.
About sorting: my clothes are sorted by towels, personal wear and bed linens, quilts, etc.. I wash every other week -- once a week when I have visitors. I wash in large loads (large by machine definition) if I have to combine to do so -- in cold water. Occasionally, I wash some "hand-wash" items in the "hand-wash" cycle on the small load setting.
I use plant-based liquid soap and borax -- no clorox or phosphates -- I should get a few points for that.

[Jane]

I wash "dry clean only" clothes in my washer all the time. I use the gentle cycle and a natural detergent. I agree with the others who said this quiz was silly. It was slanted in a couple directions and totally ignored other "green" possibilities!

[Noel-Anne]

Why have questions about dryers for people who don't ever use them? Among other things. The quiz was a cute, frustrating and uninformative way to waste time.

[Peter Petroski]

Agree that the quiz is cute and light weight. Something to have fun with and not be upset by.
A good starting point.
NOW, let's follow it up with more advanced versions so we can all learn from each other's approaches.

[FAE]

The amount and quality of laundry detergent is crucial! I use a coffee scoop (1/8 cup) of Seventh Generation per front-loader full load. A box lasts a long time. It has no phosphates, no unnecessary bleach, no insoluble polyacrylate (PAC) water softeners for the municipality to have to separate and landfill. It is biosourced, soap, not detergent, and biodegradable. When absolutely essential I add a little scoop of OxyClean, a non-chlorine bleach. I teach Green Chemistry, so I know what goes into conventional laundry detergent. P&G gets you to buy more by telling you to use enough for a load of greasy mechanics overalls every time!

[pms]

i teach research methods. by the first question i knew that nothing meaningful could ever come from this survey design and so didn't waste more time. however, as one respondant suggests, lots of good ideas by good folks have been presented. if SC wants to redeem itself, why not collate all these great ideas and post them on your next e-letter.

i will add one i didn't notice: we live in the mountains, snow and wood stoves. we dry our clothes inside instead of using a humidifyer.

clearly the intern who wrote this meant well and was just having fun... and the answer choices were fun. But, obviously your readership is a bit more sophisticated... so, do what you can to match it.

[Caelidh]

This quiz was very flippantly constructed and many of the answers were redundant.

How can one take the issue seriously or have a more accurate reflection of our lifestyle habits.

For instance. I ALWAYS only use cold water. It is EXTREMELY RARE that i would use warm or hot water.

Only once in a blue moon have I ever taken my clothes to a dry cleaner.. so essentially my dry cleaning bill is 0.. (because your answer assumes I actually take any clothes regularly to a dry cleaner... ... if I do.. it is my wool coat and that is MAYBE 1 time every few YEARS!)

Try and construct more accurate quizzes in the future.

Thanks

[Keren]

Fun, but... We don't own a dryer because we can air dry year-round in San Francisco - in the basement or outside. Also, the only things I dry clean are sleeping bags and heavy coats. About every two years! My mother taught me how to wash everything, even silk & wool, and that wasn't the only thing she taught me, I promise.
Just remembered, my husband had his new hemp jacket drycleaned - and it's the only suit he owns. Some i... spilled gravy on it at our son's wedding. The trousers survived.

[Jodi Jessen]

Please make a REAL questionnaire. Most of the questions in this quiz were useless. What about those of us who use WARM water? What if we NEVER do dry cleaning? What if we have an older washer, but don't rent? I count on your e-newsletter to give good ideas and stimulate creative thinking of what I can do to be more green, and weigh changes and their worth. This quiz was of equal quality to those found in mags devoted to celebrities.

[Andreas Wittenstein]

What a stupid questionnaire. Hardly a single question offers an appropriate answer. 1. Why should I throw out my perfectly good energy-start-qualified ten-year-old washer and buy a "spanking new" model? 2. I only wash my clothes when they're dirty, not by the calendar. 4. I never wash hot, but what about occasional warm loads? 5. I use a clothesline, not an energy-guzzling dryer. 6. I never dry-clean anything. 7. I don't buy clothes that need special handling, so I never sort my laundry. 8. Silk is tough and holds dye much better than cotton, so I throw my silks in the washer. 9. I don't use a dryer. 10. I don't use a dryer.

[Dennis Drake]

I do not use detergent ! Beat that ! I use our Miracle Laundy Balls and Organic stain remover . Lifetime use and cost me $35. I own the Greenest COmpany in the World and proud of it !

[Terri Felton]

This truly was a pointless, biased, and ignorant survey. I expected more intelligence from the Sierra Club. Really, what results are you expecting to gain from this?

[Ben]

Let's put this in perspective. The survey may be weak and stupid, but probably produces good numbers over a large sample size. So let's take the average perfect user (100 points) and the average antihero (0 points) and measure the difference in environmental damage caused by those two Platonic survey-takers. Now put that in a natural unit of environmental destructiveness: gallons (ideally liters, but this is America...) of gasoline per year. How many gallons of difference is there between these users?

[Louis Johnson]

I have to agree the questionnaire is stupid. No appropriate questions or answers. We have a front loading washer. We gave away our dryer. We no longer buy white clothing we don't wash our clothing after every wash, and we buy at the Salvation Army or used clothing every chance we get. No where does the questionnaire let me contribute these ideas. It's really an important issue, and SierraClub treats it like a fun game!! GROW UP

[a]

Cold water just doesn't cut it folks.

Not even with soap nuts--let's ditch the commercial detergents.

With soap nuts, you can even skip the rinse---if you have a machine that allows you to change your settings manually. Not always possible on the new machines.

And who exactly is going to pay for these new machines? And disposal of old ones?

[Michelle]

I didn't like the choices in this survey. For instance, my washer isn't brand new (wouldn't it be wasteful to keep buying new appliances?) but I know it is Energy Star. Also, I wash full loads whenever possible, but sometimes there are those really yucky things you don't want to put in with something else, so I couldn't answer "always." I do choose the water level according to load, so I don't waste water. I also sort lights and darks, but almost always use cold, but I got low points for separating laundry. How often do I wash my clothes? No good choices for that, either. It depends! I think I should have scored higher, I've always tried to be environmentally conscience when I wash. We use natural detergent and softener and our dryer IS brand new.

[Kyle]

If anyone found this survey really useful, they must have just crawled out of a cave. (Do they get 100 points for that?)

[Sally]

It was a stupid test which proved nothing. None of the answers fit for several of the questions. Very poorly designed and not cute.

[Nicole]

This is a really silly quiz. The response categories are drawn in absurd ways. If you don't own a washing machine, you lose points. If you never use hot water, you don't get any points. If you live in an apartment, where do you hang up your sheets to dry?! If you wash your clothes when they are visibly dirty, you need to change this behavior?! Finally, the questionnaire doesn't ask how much detergent you use. I stopped using environmentally-friendly detergent because it was obvious it wasn't getting the clothes clean at all. However, filling the cap on the Tide halfway is usually enough. I don't mind scrubbing my bathroom extra hard, but I can't control the washing machine.

[mickey]

You do not have many possible, and to me, obvious choices. For example, unless I am doing a bi-yearly white load, I don't sort my laundry for washing at all - so I always have a full load.
In the city many of us don't have the space to air dry our clothes.
My washer is older than any of your choices and I cannot afford a new one.
I do one load most weeks - not a choice given.
The dry cleaning question - how about we buy whatever we want and figure out how to clean it ourselves. I spend about $25 a year at the dry cleaners and buy whatever works for my work days - where I need to wear suits. You assume that if it says dry clean, we mindlessly dry clean.

[Karin]

I have to agree that the survey made you think, but wasn't very effective in providing the options that apply to many people. For example, the full load question: my machine is a front loader that adjusts the water level. And even though the machine is 5 years old, it is still way more efficient than top loaders. With a front loader, you use the clothesline a lot more and the dryer a lot less because it wrings out more water.

[Evelyn]

I also find it odd you do not ask what type of laundry soap is used. I have been looking for a more economical soap as I use that exclussively for the animals washables. No chemicals for them and I would like to do that for the rest and it is kind of pricey for me right now. Also want to add that in the medical field uniforms MUST be washed after every use and also with HOT water to kill germs that may have contaminated the clothes. Since most of my wash is uniforms I need to wash in hot water. I don't dry clean anything. I don't really like have to justify this either :)

[julie]

I am so sick of these quizzes about how 'green' my life is. There are way too many variables to accurately determine how green I am.

[Carl Dalton]

Hang your laundry out the window and look like a third world nation.