My Favourite Laundry Tips

Don't fear!   This is not going to be one of my long odious posts rambling on about laundry.   It is merely a few tips I have learned along the way that has improved my washing work.

1. Don't put washing up in prolonged rainy weather on a line that will be exposed to the damp air.  Even if the line is under shelter, the damp air still makes the clothes dry slowly and they get that rotting smell ever so slightly. 
2. When hanging jeans on the washing line,  hang them by the waistband.  First, close the zipper and buttons and hang them with the waist taut.  Then smooth out the wrinkles in the fabric.  This will help the jeans dry fairly wrinkle free.  If they dry with crazy kinks in the fabric it can be a horrid thing trying to flatten them out again, even with an iron.
3. When taking washing off the line, I fold it as it goes into the basket AND I take things off in an order that will make putting them away easier.  That is - All my pants/skirts go into one drawer so I take all of them off the line, folding as I put them in the basket.  Then all my t-shirts and other drawer shirts...   This means when I get them inside it's not an extra task to sort and fold, also, less wrinkles are going into them by being stuffed in a basket haphazardly. 
4. If you have plastic pegs - take them off the line as you take the clothes off.  They will last a *much* longer time than if they are left out exposed to the elements. 
5. I separate my washing in odd ways - towels, tea-towels and dishcloths in one load,  whites together, dark clothes in another load and then any light or dark coloured delicates in a last load.  Sometimes I also collect pink/purple/red clothes in a load for itself because they are so much more liable to run colour.  (That's a pink/purple/reds wash on the line in the photo above).   This works for me because I have a small load washing machine and I only do a 'reds load' irregularly.

Notes to my washing -  I don't have a dryer, everything is dried on a line.  I don't wash during the week, only on weekends.  If the weather is unkind one weekend washing is sometimes fortnightly.  (You can imagine the problems I had during our long wet before the floods!).  I don't iron all of my washing in one hit the way I've seen some do.  I iron as I need it on a given day.  I don't use hot water in my washing machine and I use powder detergent, thrown in with whites but swished around and diluted slightly in water first before adding to dark colours or reds.

That's it.  They're not very special tips but they make my life easier by saving time and effort - especially tip #3!

Do you have any particular things you do with your washing that makes the process easier?