Laundry and load-shedding – Seven tips on how to manage it

Laundry on a schedule? Who would have thought? Before load-shedding, the only schedule that laundry needed to fit into was your own. Now, it needs to be done on the electricity’s time.

“Load-shedding has been part of our lives for well over a decade, with the last few months seeing it escalated to a daily occurrence. And, it is because of this, not only do we need to consider our works schedule, our children’s school and extra-mural schedule, all our other responsibilities, but now we need to consider Eskom’s schedule too,” commented Bronwyn Ragavan, brand manager for laundry brand Personal Touch.

Load-shedding is disruptive to our lives, and because it changes from one stage to another without a moment’s notice, planning has become even more of a necessity. It may sound silly, but planning your laundry times will ensure that everyone has the correct clean clothes they need for the week.

When putting together a laundry schedule, Ragavan suggested trying the following tips:

• The first step is to know when your electricity is going to be off, and just to be safe check one stage up. By knowing the times, you can start planning. Apps such as EskomSePush are up-to-date and come in handy when wanting to familiarise yourself with your loadshedding schedule.

• The weather also needs to be checked. This way you can use the warm, summer sun to dry your clothes and not rely on the tumble dryer. This will also reduce your electricity costs.

• Night-time washing may need to become part of your routine, especially if you are not home during the day. It may not be ideal, but at least it is one less thing for you to worry about the next day.

• Prioritise what needs to be washed first – school and work uniforms, socks and underwear etc. – as this will guarantee that you have essential items ready when needed. Some items such as denims don’t need to be washed after every use, so this will reduce your laundry load. Pyjamas can also be worn twice before washing.

• Use a washing powder that you can trust to get out your stains first time to ensure that extra washing doesn’t need to be done.

• Plan on which outfits you may want to wear during the week. By doing this you will ensure that you don’t have to wash and reuse any of your clothes that week.

• Try and choose textured fabrics to wear such as denim and tweed. These fabrics don’t need ironing and therefore can be washed, dried and ready to wear when needed.

Making a schedule for when to wash your clothes used to just be about picking the day, but now it is about picking the day, the time and the optimal weather,” said Ragavan.

“But a laundry schedule can help you save time and help you still look good during load-shedding. Let’s not forget that South Africans will always find a way.”