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Not all pilling is the same problem. On a pure wool sweater, the pills that form in the first few weeks of wear gradually fall off on their own as the fibers shed naturally. On a cotton-polyester blend, those same pills are permanent – the synthetic fiber locks them to the surface and nothing dislodges them.
The shirt you bought, not just how you wash it, determines which situation you're in. This guide covers all six causes of pilling in knit shirts and which you can actually control.
This is the one cause that’s already baked in before you even wear the shirt. The fiber content determines if pills form, how fast, and whether or not they stick around.
Here’s what happens with each type:
Going forward: look for 100% natural or 100% synthetic when pilling is a concern. The 50/50 blend gives you the downsides of both.
Pilling patterns on your shirts aren’t random, they map directly to where friction is highest during your day. The usual suspects:
Check where your shirt pills most and you’ll usually find a friction source you hadn’t thought about. Switching a backpack for a handbag on days you wear a shirt you want to preserve is one of the simplest changes you can make.
A standard wash cycle tumbles your clothes against each other for 30 to 60 minutes straight. That sustained rubbing pulls loose fibers to the surface where they tangle into pills. Two things that make it worse:
The machine you use matters less than the cycle you choose.
For a lot of knit shirts, the dryer does more pilling damage than the washer. Two things happen at once:
Air-drying is the cleanest solution. When the dryer is unavoidable, use the lowest heat setting and pull out the shirt while it’s still slightly damp.
Washing a knit shirt alongside denim, towels, sweatshirts, or anything with zippers, buttons, or hook and loop fasteners means the knit spends the entire cycle rubbing against abrasive surfaces. Those rough textures pull fibers from the looser knit weave far more aggressively than smooth fabrics.
Simple rule: knits wash with knits and other smooth-fabric items. Denim and towels get their own load.
Most households use more detergent than needed. The fill lines on detergent caps tend to be generous, and modern concentrated formulas are effective at much lower doses. The result: excess detergent that doesn’t fully rinse out.
Over multiple wash cycles, residue accumulates in the fibers and stiffens them. Stiff fibers snap more easily, which means more loose ends, which means faster pilling.
Good laundry habits are how to stop pilling on knit shirts naturally, no special products required. Run through this checklist on wash day:
Do all five consistently and you’ll see a real difference. Even changing two or three habits cuts the rate of new pilling significantly.
If you use the dryer, throw in two or three wool dryer balls. They keep garments separated in the drum, which reduces the direct contact that causes friction.
Prevention slows down new pills. For those already there, a few tools work, and a few popular options don’t.
A battery powered fabric shaver uses a small rotating blade behind a mesh guard to cut off pills quickly. It covers ground fast, which makes it tempting to rush. Don’t.
A fine-toothed sweater comb lifts pills from the surface without cutting into the fabric base. It takes longer than a shaver, but the risk of damage is close to zero. For cashmere, fine merino, or any knit you’d genuinely miss if something went wrong, this is the right tool.
A fresh disposable razor can shave pills off a thick, sturdy knit in a pinch. The risk of nicking the fabric is real, so use very light pressure and short strokes. Not recommended for anything delicate, expensive, or irreplaceable.
Some knit shirts need more than a careful home wash. Delicate fabrics, blended fibers, and pieces that have already taken a beating respond better to professional cleaning methods that account for what the garment is actually made of.
This July, Red Hanger Cleaners is offering 20% off shorts and knit shirts. If you’re in Davis County and have knits you want to keep looking sharp through the rest of summer, now is a good time to bring them in.
Sign up today to enjoy FREE Pickup and Delivery Service or visit a nearby location with same-day cleaning service when you drop off by 8:30 AM.
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Handling laundry at home can be time-consuming enough. Now imagine that on the scale of a hotel or hospital, with hundreds of linens that need to be spotless every single day. It’s a nonstop cycle that requires focus, coordination, and reliable systems. And as a manager or operator, you can’t afford inefficiencies.
In this post, we share five of the best practices that help busy establishments like yours stay ahead, efficient, and always ready for the next load.
When hundreds of pounds of linens, towels, and uniforms come in daily, having a clear sorting system ensures items are cleaned properly, tracked easily, and delivered on time. The goal is to keep everything flowing efficiently while minimizing mix-ups and rework.
Cotton, polyester, microfiber, and linen all have different wash needs. Separating by fabric type protects delicates and optimizes water temperature. Heavily soiled items, like kitchen aprons or gym towels, should always be washed separately to avoid transferring grime.
In commercial operations around Salt Lake City, barcodes or RFID tags are used to trace every item from wash to delivery. For smaller setups, color-coded tags or washable labels work great to identify departments, customers, or room assignments.
Many hotels and resorts use simple systems: blue for bedding, green for towels, red for uniforms. This makes sorting visual and quick, especially for new staff. A well-labeled bin setup saves hours each week and reduces lost or mixed-up items.
When your sorting system is tight, everything downstream, from washing to folding, runs more predictably. Once your laundry is organized, the next step is investing in the right equipment to handle large loads efficiently.
High-volume laundry requires machinery that can keep up with demand. If you’re washing linens for a resort near the Wasatch Range or uniforms for a business district in Salt Lake City, equipment choice can make or break your turnaround time. The right setup helps you maintain fabric quality, save water, and control costs, all while delivering fresh, spotless results.
Commercial washers can handle hundreds of pounds at once and often include programmable cycles for fabric-specific care. For example, bedding might need a gentler spin, while uniforms benefit from longer, hotter washes.
Regular home detergents won’t cut it when you’re cleaning for hotels or Airbnb properties. Commercial formulas are concentrated, handle stains like oil or mud from mountain biking trails, and leave textiles feeling fresh longer.
Hot water sanitizes but can fade colored fabrics or shrink natural fibers. Smart systems can auto-adjust temperature by load type, ensuring durability while maintaining hygiene, which is especially important in hospitality and healthcare settings.
High-volume laundry requires machinery that can keep up with demand. If you’re washing linens for a resort near the Wasatch Range or uniforms for a business district in Salt Lake City, equipment choice can make or break your turnaround time. The right setup helps you maintain fabric quality, save water, and control costs, all while delivering fresh, spotless results.
Commercial washers can handle hundreds of pounds at once and often include programmable cycles for fabric-specific care. For example, bedding might need a gentler spin, while uniforms benefit from longer, hotter washes.
Regular home detergents won’t cut it when you’re cleaning for hotels or Airbnb properties. Commercial formulas are concentrated, handle stains like oil or mud from mountain biking trails, and leave textiles feeling fresh longer.
Hot water sanitizes but can fade colored fabrics or shrink natural fibers. Smart systems can auto-adjust temperature by load type, ensuring durability while maintaining hygiene, which is especially important in hospitality and healthcare settings.
When handling large volumes of laundry, especially for hospitals, restaurants, or university dorms, cleaning isn’t just about removing stains. It’s about protecting both customers and staff from contamination. Sanitizing practices are essential in any commercial laundry service, where cleanliness and trust go hand in hand.
Use designated bins or carts for soiled versus clean items. Avoid reusing bags unless they’re fully sanitized. Many facilities implement a “clean zone” and a “dirty zone” separation to keep workflows safe.
Hospital and restaurant linens often require specialized detergents with disinfecting agents. These items are washed at higher temperatures and handled with gloves to maintain compliance with health codes.
Proper training reduces accidents and ensures consistent quality. Teach employees to read labels, use gloves and masks when handling heavily soiled items, and check for sharp or foreign objects before washing.
Maintaining sanitary practices doesn’t just protect customers; it protects your reputation. Once your team masters hygiene, it’s time to look at how to schedule and manage all that laundry without falling behind.
In high-volume laundry environments, like resorts near Deer Valley or student housing at Utah State University, workflow management can make or break your business. Without a clear schedule, machines get overloaded, staff get overwhelmed, and turnaround times suffer. The trick is to create a system that flows steadily instead of in chaotic waves.
Assign specific days or time slots for different categories, like bedding on Mondays, towels mid week, and uniforms at week’s end. This keeps your workload predictable and helps avoid machine congestion.
For hotels and motels, mornings are often the busiest. Schedule washing during off-peak hours, like late evenings or early afternoons, to make use of available machine time and staff energy.
A simple checklist helps track which batches are washed, dried, folded, or awaiting delivery. Many laundries use digital dashboards or shared documents so everyone stays updated in real time.
Good scheduling means less stress, faster turnaround, and happier customers. Once your internal workflow is stable, the next decision is when to handle laundry in-house and when to bring in professional support.
Sometimes, running laundry inhouse just isn’t efficient. Maybe your washers can’t keep up, or maybe the busy ski season in Utah’s Wasatch Range has doubled your usual volume. Outsourcing parts of your operation to a Commercial Laundry Service can actually save you money, time, and headaches.
Here’s when it’s time to call in the professionals and how to make the most of those partnerships.
If your team spends more time troubleshooting machines than folding clean linens, it’s time to rethink. Large-scale facilities can process higher loads faster and with more consistent results.
During busy seasons, local providers can pick up, wash, and deliver your extra loads. Look for those offering Pickup and Delivery Service, transparent pricing, and responsive customer support.
Items like banquet linens, spa robes, or chef uniforms require specific care. Outsourcing frees up your team to focus on customer service and core operations instead of laundry bottlenecks.
Professional laundry partners often use mobile apps for tracking, email alerts for delivery schedules, and flexible payment systems, making collaboration seamless. By combining inhouse efficiency with external support, your laundry operations can scale up smoothly during peak business periods without sacrificing quality or service.
When your business depends on crisp linens, spotless uniforms, and quick turnarounds, partnering with a reliable laundry team makes all the difference. That’s exactly what Red Hanger Cleaners has been providing for decades – professional laundry solutions built around the needs of Utah’s busiest establishments.
Founded in 1961, Red Hanger Cleaners started as one small neighborhood cleaner and has grown into Utah’s largest and most trusted dry cleaning and laundry service. Locally owned and community driven, we take pride in delivering quality, convenience, and care through every step of our services.
From our experienced commercial laundry staff to our friendly delivery drivers, we make sure every item that comes through our doors is handled with the highest level of attention.
If your business needs a dependable Commercial Laundry Service Provider in Salt Lake City, let Red Hanger Cleaners lighten the load. Call (801) 405-3312 or email customercare@redhanger.com today to schedule your first FREE Pickup and Delivery Service.
If you hit the gym regularly, enjoy outdoor workouts, or power through high-intensity training sessions, you know how quickly your shirts and other gym clothes get sweaty, smelly, and downright unpleasant. This will always be the case for activewear since these performance fabrics are designed to wick away sweat. But in doing so, they also trap bacteria, body oils, and odor—which means they need regular washing to stay fresh.
The tricky part, though, is that tossing your gym gear into the washing machine too often can wear out the fabric, while washing too little can lead to lingering smells and even skin irritation. So, how do you strike the right balance? The answer depends on how much you sweat, the type of workouts, and the fabrics in your gym clothes.
That’s exactly what this guide is here to help with. Read on to find out all the details!
If you do high-intensity workouts like HIIT, CrossFit, cycling, or hot yoga, you know one thing for sure—you’re going to sweat. A lot. By the end of your session, your gym clothes are likely drenched, sticky, and holding on to bacteria that can lead to unpleasant odors (and even skin irritation). Unlike casual workouts where you might get away with re-wearing clothes once, high-intensity activewear needs to be washed after every use—no exceptions.
If your routine consists of moderate-intensity exercises like jogging, Pilates, cycling, or strength training at a steady pace, you might not sweat as heavily as you would during high-intensity workouts. This means your gym clothes can handle one extra wear before needing a wash, depending on how much you sweat and the type of fabric you wear.
However, don’t push it too far—even if you’re not completely soaked, bacteria and odor start building up after just one or two wears. Finding the right balance keeps your workout gear fresh without unnecessary washing that wears down the fabric too soon.
We’ve all had those days when our workout barely breaks a sweat—maybe it’s a leisurely yoga session, a mild stretching routine, or a peaceful stroll through the neighborhood. You move your body and stay active, but you don’t drench your clothes.
So, how often should you wash gear from these low-impact workouts? If you’re not generating a ton of sweat or odor, washing every two to three wears is usually enough to keep your activewear looking and smelling fresh.
Working out at home offers the ultimate convenience—no commute, no crowded gym, and the flexibility to squeeze in a quick session whenever you have time. Whether you do light yoga, resistance band exercises, bodyweight movements, or just a short routine on the treadmill, these workouts often generate far less sweat than intense gym sessions.
But even if you barely break a sweat, your activewear still collects body oils and skin cells every time you wear it. That’s why it’s generally best to wash your home workout clothes after about three wears, assuming they remain odor free and don’t feel grimy.
There’s something about fresh air, open spaces, and the thrill of exploration that draws many of us outdoors. Whether it’s hiking up rugged trails, running trails through scenic parks, mountain biking on winding paths, or even kayaking in calm lakes, these adventures come with unpredictable elements—changing weather, dirt, mud, and varying levels of sweat.
Because these conditions can shift drastically from one outing to the next, the best practice for washing your outdoor activewear is to base it on how dirty, sweaty, or exposed to the elements your gear gets.
Don’t burden yourself with piles of sweaty gym clothes after every workout. Whether you crush a HIIT session, hit the weights, or run trails in Salt Lake City, your activewear deserves a deep, professional clean that eliminates odor, sweat, and bacteria—without the hassle of doing it yourself.
At Red Hanger Cleaners, we offer a professional dry cleaning service and specialized laundry care for fitness enthusiasts across Salt Lake City and beyond—so you can focus on your next workout, not the laundry pile. We know how important it is for our customers to have clean, comfortable clothing, and we’re here to make that happen with top-tier garment care in Utah.
Have questions or need to schedule a pickup? Contact us today by phone at 801-355-6935 or send us an inquiry through our email customercare@redhanger.com.
Sorting clothes feels like an added burden to an already time consuming laundry routine, nonetheless, it has to be done. By simply taking a few extra minutes, you can spare yourself from some major laundry headaches down the line – color bleeding, shrinkage, or worse, fabric damage.
In this blog post, we guide you through the essentials of when to wash laundry items separately and how to do it correctly. You'll never know the difference proper sorting can make until you see your clothes come out looking and feeling as good as new.
It might be tempting to toss all your laundry into one big load and call it a day, but that shortcut can lead to some serious consequences. That new red shirt you just bought could bleed onto your white linens or your delicate silk blouse might get snagged in a load of heavy jeans.
Below are the risks worth paying attention to if you want to keep your clothing items impeccably clean and damage free:
Dark and brightly colored items, especially new clothes, can transfer dye onto lighter fabrics, leaving you with stained and discolored garments. This is particularly problematic with reds, blues, and blacks, which are notorious for bleeding. Once a lighter item is stained, it is nearly impossible to restore it to its original color.
Washing clothes all together can lead to unnecessary wear and tear (since different fabrics require different care). For example, washing rough fabrics like denim or towels with delicate items like lace or silk can cause snags, tears, and even holes. Fabrics with embellishments or buttons are especially at risk, as the agitation in a mixed load can cause them to catch on other items and get damaged.
Heavy items like jeans and towels can stretch out lighter fabrics during the wash, leading to misshapen clothing. Knits and delicate fabrics are particularly vulnerable to this kind of distortion. Over time, repeated exposure to rougher, heavier items can cause your clothes to lose their original shape and fit, making them look worn out long before their time.
Not all fabrics require the same amount of water, detergent, or washing time to get clean. And so, mixing different types of laundry in one load can result in some items not being thoroughly cleaned. For instance, heavily soiled towels might need more detergent and a longer wash cycle, while a delicate blouse could be damaged by the same treatment.
Different fabrics react to heat and water differently. Washing a delicate fabric such as wool or silk with a heavy fabric like denim can cause the delicate item to shrink or stretch out of shape. This is especially true when items are washed in hot water or dried at high temperatures, leading to clothes that no longer fit properly.
Towels, bedding, and other heavy fabrics tend to shed lint, which can cling to other items in the wash. Dark clothing is particularly prone to picking up lint, which can leave them looking dull and dirty even after they’ve been cleaned. This is another reason separating your laundry is crucial, especially when washing items like towels, blankets, or anything made from fleece.
White clothing should always be washed separately from colored items. This is because colors, especially dark and bright colors, can bleed in the wash, leading to dingy, discolored whites.
What to do instead: To keep your whites looking crisp and bright, always wash them separately in hot water with a detergent designed to prevent graying.
Delicate items such as lingerie, silk blouses, and lace garments require special care. These fabrics are easily damaged by rougher, heavier items like jeans or towels.
What to do instead: To protect your delicates, wash them separately on a gentle cycle, preferably in a mesh laundry bag. This extra step prevents snags, tears, and stretching, keeping your delicate items in pristine condition.
Heavy fabrics, such as denim and towels, should be washed separately from lighter fabrics like T-shirts or dress shirts. The rough texture and weight of heavier items can cause abrasion, which may wear down or damage lighter fabrics over time.
What to do instead: When washing heavy fabrics, use a regular or heavy duty cycle with cold or warm water. For added protection, turn jeans inside out before washing to help preserve their color and reduce wear on the fabric. For lighter fabrics, opt for a separate, gentler wash cycle with cold or warm water. To further protect these items, consider using hypoallergenic detergent and a fabric softener to reduce friction during the wash.
Newly purchased clothing often contains excess dye that hasn’t been washed out yet. This dye can bleed onto other garments during the first few washes, especially if the clothing is brightly colored or dark.
What to do instead: Always wash new clothes separately for the first few cycles. Afterward, they can usually be mixed in with similar colors.
Some clothing comes with specific care instructions that require separate washing. For example, items labeled as "hand wash only" or "dry clean only" should not be thrown in with your regular laundry in the washing machine. Ignoring these labels can lead to serious damage, including shrinking, color loss, or fabric deterioration.
What to do instead: Follow the care label instructions precisely—hand washing or dry cleaning these items could be more appropriate. If you're unsure, it's best to take them to a professional cleaner to ensure they are properly cared for.
With a few simple steps, you can protect your clothes from damage, keep your colors vibrant, and make your laundry routine more efficient. Let’s break it down so you can start sorting like a pro.
The first step in sorting laundry is to divide your clothes by color. Group your items into whites, lights, and darks. Whites should include anything that’s all white or mostly white, lights consist of pastels and light shades, and darks are your black, navy, and deep colored items. This prevents color bleeding and keeps your whites from getting dingy.
Next, sort your laundry by fabric type. Heavier fabrics such as denim, towels, and sweatshirts should be washed separately from lighter fabrics like T-shirts, blouses, and dress shirts. Washing together heavy and light fabrics can lead to fabric damage, stretching, or inadequate cleaning. Keep together similar fabrics to ensure each load is cleaned properly.
Before you toss anything into the washing machine, check the care labels on your clothes. Items labeled as "hand wash only" or "dry clean only" should be set aside and handled according to the instructions on the label. For garments that require delicate care, consider using a gentle cycle or placing them in a mesh laundry bag.
If you spot any stains, now’s the time to treat them. Pretreating stains before washing helps prevent the stain from setting in and becoming permanent. Use a stain remover or a bit of detergent directly on the stain, and let it sit for a few minutes before washing. This extra step ensures your clothes come out of the wash looking their best.
Another smart way to sort your laundry is by soil level. Heavily soiled items, such as gym clothes or muddy jeans, should be washed separately from lightly soiled clothes, like office wear. This allows you to adjust the wash cycle and detergent amount based on how dirty the clothes are, ensuring a more effective clean.
Finally, sort your laundry based on the recommended washing temperature. Delicate fabrics and dark colors often require cold water, while whites and heavily soiled items may need warm or hot water. Following the correct temperature settings helps preserve fabric quality and color vibrancy.[
If sorting through piles of laundry isn't how you want to spend your time, Red Hanger Cleaners is here to help. Our professional wash and fold laundry service in Salt Lake City, Utah, takes care of everything for you - from sorting to washing to drying, and even folding!
Simply drop off your laundry and we’ll take it from there. Or better yet, take advantage of our convenient FREE pickup and delivery service. Our customers love how easy it is to schedule a pickup through their Red Hanger Cleaners account or by sending us an email. So no more wasted time sorting – just fresh, clean laundry delivered right to your door anywhere you are in Salt Lake County and the neighboring counties.
Doing laundry for an entire family can be a full-time job for any one person. The only way to survive the deluge of dirty clothes in a busy house is to delegate the massive chore out to each member of the household. Furthermore, as children go from toddler to kid, parents can teach them to pitch in and share the laundry load. If you’re wondering how to organize laundry in the house to maximize help, here are three helpful laundry organization tips to help get the ball rolling.
Most grocery stores sell plastic milk-crate baskets. And, some of our laundry organization tips including buying as many of these crates as you have children. If you can find crates of various colors, assign each child a color of basket to make it easier to keep track of whose is who.
From here, make each child responsible for their basket. They load dirty clothes in the basket. And, when it’s full, have them bring the clothes to the laundry room. Depending on the age, the kids can learn to run the load in the washing machine. Also, switch it to the dryer. Or, you can move the clothes through the cycle yourself. Kids can fold the clothes and then each child fills his or her own crate with clean duds.
For the family on the run, and the house laid out just right, there’s a shortcut to doing family laundry. Instead of providing an individual laundry basket for each child, have them gather up all their dirty clothes each day. And, just drop them straight into the washing machine. Overall, when the load is full, run it, dry it, fold it, rinse, lather and repeat!
This approach might not fly with laundry perfectionists. Furthermore, there’s no way to really separate out colors. And, every type of fabric gets washed together. For those who like to wash whites with whites, bright colors with bright colors etc, the washing machine catch-all solution might not be to their tastes. However, for other families with less refined laundry tastes, the washing machine hamper method is an easy trick to keeping ahead of the dirty clothes avalanche.
It seems like every family has a pain-point in the laundry cycle. For some, it’s hard to remember to gather up dirty clothes. Although, for others, switching out a load can be easy to forget. For many though, laundry makes its way from washing machine to dryer. And then into what can be dubbed “Clean Clothes Mountain”.
If your laundry bottle-neck comes at the clean clothes stage, consider putting all the kids clothes in their respective piles. Afterwards, let them dump them in their drawers. Most knit fabrics don’t wrinkle easily. Also, if the clothes aren’t stuffed in the drawer by the bushel, they clean clothes will look just fine for wearing.
Again, these laundry organization tips may stun the more laundry-conscious households. But for many with busy schedules and an influx of clothes to clean, the no-fold approach is a quick and easy way to keep drawers full.
The camping season is winding down in Utah, and snow will soon make most popular sites inaccessible until next spring. For many of us, Summer camping in Utah is a yearly highlight, and those cool evenings in the Uintas can be well-nigh restorative. As much as we love camping, the unpacking and post- camping laundry afterwards can be a bit of a downer. Whether it's putting your food storage equipment from Survival Cooking away for next year or disassembling the tent, it can be a bit of an anti-climax. Unpacking and doing laundry after a long trip can erase some of those peaceful mountain vibes we bring home with us. Maybe I'll have to look at empire outdoors reviews about tactical knives, dreaming about the peaceful scenery till next time we good. Here are a few things we suggest if you’re looking to ease up your post-camping laundry stress.
Unpacking is made so much easier if the initial packing is done thoughtfully. Pack clothes that are easy to wash and are versatile, cutting down on the amount of articles needed to wash upon return. Be economical in your packing, and don’t throw in five t-shirts when two will suffice. Even if you don’t end up wearing all the clothes you pack, there’s a good chance anything in your bag will get smokey from the campfire or dirty being around other, dirtier clothing. Take what you need, use what you take.
Remember that camping is a great time to take a break from the normal daily routines. While wearing the same shirt and pants for two days in a row at home might be socially unacceptable (or maybe not, we don’t want to pry into your personal life…) wearing the same outfit for long stretches is somewhat of a camping luxury, all the while cutting down on the amount of clothes you need to pack and then launder at home.
As you pack for your camping trip, throw in a separate bag where you can store clothes as they become dirty. The bag can be something as simple as a plastic grocery bag. Storing dirty clothes in a separate bag serves two purposes; on the one hand, it keep smelly dirty clothes away from clean clothes, cutting down on what you might need to wash at home, and on the other hand, it simplifies the unpacking process upon return.
Many stores sell small, cloth or nylon laundry bags intended just for camping use. These bags allow dirty clothes to breath a bit while still keeping them apart from other clothes and gear in the bag. Find one that’s compact and washable for easy storage and care. If nothing else, a pillowcase can make a fine laundry bag in a pinch if you forget to pack an official dirty clothes storage solution. And if you’re really into economical packing, a pillowcase full of dirty clothes can double as a pillow up in the woods. Because nothing builds character more than resting your head on an uneven bag of smokey, dirt-covered clothes while sleeping on rocks. Man, don’t we love camping?
Most camping trips are fun but exhausting. The process of breaking camp and cleaning up at the end of a trip can suck all the energy out of us. But before tossing off the hiking boots and sitting down for a break, grab the back of dirty clothes and put them immediately in the wash. Dirty camping clothes that sit around in a bag can deteriorate quickly, especially if they’re wet or muddy. If everything is in one spot, it should only take a few minutes to grab the dirty laundry bag and start a load or two. Then you can let modern machinery do most of the work while you put your feet up and take a breather.
Many people are also turning to laundry services to help ease the stress of post-camping laundry. It can be as easy as setting out your dusty camp clothes and letting a delivery service grab them for you. Having a laundry delivery service take care of your camping clothes saves time and stress, leaving your head in the mountains for just a little bit more. My friend told me that he learned even more about camping from fantastic websites similar to offgridspot.com. There are so many ways to reduce the amount of boring time and increase the fun before and during camping!
How long does it take to wash a load of laundry? Dry it? Fold it? Put it away? For a single person living alone, the task of laundry-doing probably doesn’t take up every free minute, but it might be more time than you think, or that you want to calculate. Let’s break it down and figure out just how much time you spend washing and caring for your clothing, based on a laundry schedule of two loads per week.
The process of laundry doesn’t start at the washing machine. When a piece of clothing needs washing, it has to make its way to the hamper first. Gathering dirty clothes doesn’t take up that much time, but let’s factor in the time spent on towels and sheets as well. Getting everything ready to go in one spot should take an individual about 15 minutes per load. Since we’re factoring on an average person washing two loads of laundry per week, so prep time would be 30 minutes total.
How dirty are your clothes? The running time on a standard Kenmore washing machine (for example) is 40 minutes, but if the soil level is above average, it can take over an how to wash a load. If you’re one of the organized types who can combine washing time with prep time, you’ll be able to cut that time down a bit. Transferring the clothes to the dryer and starting the load adds another 5 minutes, and, depending on where you live and how the humidity is in your area, it should only take about 40 minutes to dry a load in the machine. That’s a total for 85 minutes from wash to dry. Calculating for two loads, that’s 170 minutes per week.
Ready, set, go! See how fast it takes you to fold a shirt and put it away. For an average load of laundry, let’s guess it takes about 20 minutes to fold and put away clothes. This time can differ based on load size and how many loads are done at a time. If you’re a fast folder, or if you prefer to just shove your unfolded clothing in your drawers, you might only need 10 to 15 minutes for this step. For two loads, let’s estimate that the folding and put-away time is 1 hour total per week.
Let’s add up the time per week it takes to complete each step.
Based on these estimates, the average person spends about 260 minutes per week on laundry, or roughly four hours. If that seems like a lot of time dedicated to keeping our duds free of dirt, there are a few simple ways to cut down on washing time. Energy efficient washers and dryers can do their work in less time, cutting down on wait time. And keeping your clothing sorted into lights or darks with an organized hamper system will shave off minutes spent separating out colors.
For some, the burden of laundry can be overwhelming. Anticipate streaming and organizing the process can make it less daunting, and, for those that absolutely do not have four hours a week to dedicate to cleaning their clothes, options like Red Hanger’s wash n fold laundry service are an efficient way to cut that time to nearly zero.
I'm sure most of us could think of a thing or two, in between commuting to work, paying our bills, making dinner, cleaning out the cat litter box, shoveling the walk and filing that TPM report, that we would do with an extra 45 minutes in our lives. And while many of the things we do in life are necessary, cleaning your own clothes might not have to be.
According to author John Kauffman, learning a new skill doesn't take the traditionally cited 10,000 hours. Instead, he argues, it only takes about 20. Kauffman, author for the book The Personal MBA, purports that a person can become versed in a new skill in about 45 minutes a day, if practiced for about a month (roughly 20 hours).
Gasp! What else takes 45 minutes a day? That's right, laundry does. So why are you still washing your own clothes? Think about the mountains you could move with just 3/4s of an hour added back in to your day!
For most adults, self improvement happens in the cracks of our lives. But what if you could give yourself back a moment to master something new every day, in the time it takes to fold a batch of underwear? What skills could be learned in 45 minutes a day? Why, you could learn to:
Ok, so you probably don't need much convincing that laundry is inevitable. Everyone needs clean clothes. You can't wear the same underwear to work four days in a row.. So what options might one have to help with cutting down on laundry time?
The way I see it, you have two options. Get an Amazon subscription for a new set of clothes everyday (expensive and terrible for the environment) or, if you're local to Salt Lake City, Red Hanger Cleaners offers a laundry wash and fold subscription service, a very viable alternative to the drudgery of weekly laundry time. Red Hanger's delivery service allows subscribers to leave their soiled duds out on their doorsteps, and in a few days, clean, folded clothes appear like magic.
If you're looking to buy back a little more time in your week to finally learn to play that piccolo or write that rock opera, a laundry subscription service might be the thing for you. According to the experts, it only takes 45 minutes a day to learn a new skill. In lieu of giving up your lunch break or waking up early, try cutting out the time spent shoveling your clothes through the laundry cycle. It might just be the perfect way to teach yourself deep-sea oyster diving. And with 12 months in the year, you've got 12 new skills coming your way. Or you could keep on developing your skills at doing laundry...but there are only so many ways you can learn to fold a t-shirt.
