Comments on: Only Wash Full Loads of Dishes or Clothes (22/365)

By: jim

jim — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:58:55 +0000

@Amanda #15, Yes $1.5 for 1000 gallons is about right for national average. It varies widely. Some places are a lot more expensive. They may or may not charge for sewer services separately. Some places may have a lower water bill and a separate sewer charge and some places may combine them into a larger per gallon charge (figuring your consumed water is about equal to your sewer usage).

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:27:04 +0000

If you follow the photo’s link, it takes you to Trent’s flickr photo stream & then to a credit for Brittany. I think #8 is incorrect that Trent found it online – he’s the one that posted it online.

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:54:14 +0000

deRuiter hit the nail on the head.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:21:40 +0000

@Josh

I am aware of the variances between monitors displaying colors differently, but that’s not the case here. There is quite a difference between the professional photos Trent uses for other posts and ones used for this series.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:52:42 +0000

I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s not seeing the point of washing underwear separately. If you’re worried about germs from your underwear getting transfered to your other clothes in the wash, wouldn’t they do more damage on your other underwear (or on somebody else’s underwear, if you’re washing them all together) than on, say, your shirts? After all, your shirt doesn’t spend the whole day in contact with any bodily orifices.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:12:13 +0000

There seem to be two standard pieces of advice regarding dishwashers: don’t pre-rinse and run full loads. I’m a one-person household. Although I eat most meals at home, I don’t begin to dirty enough dishes in one day to fill the dishwasher. If I wait until it’s full, it only gets run once or twice a week. If pans and dishes aren’t pre-rinsed hardened food residue may not come off in the cycle. So which is better: rinsing dishes and running the dishwasher when full, or not rinsing and running partial dishwasher loads?

By: Raya

Raya — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:15:12 +0000

Why is washing socks and underwear separately such a big issue? I mean how dirty ARE your socks?

Obsessing with cleaning and having everything sterile is not good for you – it makes you more susceptible to infections and germs as you’re “spoiling” your immune system. It has a job and that job is to fight germs. Don’t teach it to be lazy.

By: josh

josh — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:50:23 +0000

@#9 Vanessa – look at the same picture on 10 different computer monitors, and you will get 10 different images. “Washed-out” on one monitor will be “vibrant” on another.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:34:23 +0000

Can that national average be right? I just got our water bill and we get charged $5.99 per 1,000 gallons (live in PA).

By: Vivianne

Vivianne — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:47:29 +0000

#13 AMEN! Loved the Amy Dacyzyn comment. I try to run full loads for environmental reasons, but right now my washing machine is running a half load of sweaters and delicates, on the hand wash cycle. Too big a quantity to hand wash expeditiously, and my heavy cotton sweaters get moldy unless I blot them with towels, and then the towels are linty/nasty and I have to wash them. And if I throw in stuff with the sweaters, the added stuff gets linty and not quite clean enough.
Yes, it’s good to run whole loads of things, but no, it’s not good to kill yourself worrying if for some reason you can’t run a whole load.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:31:24 +0000

#10 AnnJo is correct, a less full dryer dries faster and more effieicently because the air circulates around the clothing.
“… that’s an annual savings of $5.15 from just the water…” Oh goody, and from all this scrimping, going without clean clothes on hand, and saving I can buy a gallon and a fraction of gas after a year or after 20 years, a fancy kitchen pot. Prefer to wash the occasional smaller load of whites or darks so that I’m not standing over the washer in my underwear waiting for clean clothes because there are none in the house. This is all sounding so Oliver Twist lately, that people should live in poverty when they have sufficient money to live comfortably, worrying about the saving of $5. per year as if it mattered. Somehow the Tightwad Gazette made saving sound fun, and you were introduced to the ideas which you were welcome to adopt or treat as a funny. Here it’s all so preachy, so sad sounding. The reason for being thrifty, saving, reusing, recycling, is to live BETTER for less, not to exist as if you were poverty stricken. If you don’t have enough clothing that you need to wash clothes in order to have something to wear, get yourself to some yard sales, upscale consignment shops or whatever and buy a few more clothes. Air drying your clothes will make your clothing last longer as the fabric isn’t beaten up by the dryer, saves electricity (or electric and gas) and it’s cheaper. Also preserves the life of the dryer for when you do need it.

By: T'Pol

T'Pol — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:25:47 +0000

Frugality is a good thing but it should never reach the point of sacrificing health issues. I always underpants and socks separately. I may not have a full load when I wash underwear but peace of mind is more important. Some may argue that the detergent and warm water is supposed to kill the germs and it may very well be true but still I cannot bear the thought of washing towels with underpants. (I have seen people doing it though…)

They recommend cleaning the diswashers (cleaning the filter, wiping the sides(!)etc.) thoroughly at least every month. That does not require the use of expensive “diswasher cleaning” detergents.

By: Dot

Dot — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:55:08 +0000

You mentioned earlier today that your kid had an intestinal illness…Your dishwasher may be the source of the problem.

By: AnnJo

AnnJo — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:47:51 +0000

I’m pretty sure that lighter loads in a dryer are slightly MORE efficient since better air circulation allows clothes to dry more evenly. It doesn’t make sense that a fully loaded dryer is more efficient. The job is to remove whatever water is in the clothes. More clothes, more water, more energy to remove it.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:39:56 +0000

@Kyle, I believe all the photos in this series are taken by the intern. The dirty spots could’ve easily been stamped out with software. I’ve also noticed that most of the photos have needed a bit of color correcting. They always look a bit underexposed, if that’s the correct term.

By: Kyle Brooks

Kyle Brooks — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:35:57 +0000

The dishwasher picture Trent found online.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:19:20 +0000

One other good thing about doing this is that a number of appliances actually work better if they’re full. (But not overloaded)

By: Patty

Patty — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:00:22 +0000

I usually get accused (by the husband) of overfilling the dishwasher and washing machine. Though now with baby, the cloth diapers get their own run. This load looks practically empty but has special care needs.

By: Mister E

Mister E — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:44:53 +0000

That..is a really dirty dishwasher.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:33:30 +0000

Oh my. Please tell me that is not your dishwasher. Please tell me that is something you found online, because that is foul. If it is yours, take some of that time you’ve saved by running full loads and clean it. I’m gagging a little just looking at it…