Several conservation practices can reduce the amount of water used when washing clothes:
- For washers with variable settings for water volume, select the minimum amount required per load.
- If load size cannot be set, operate the washer with full loads only.
- Use the shortest wash cycle for lightly soiled loads. Normal and permanent press wash cycles use more water.
- Check hoses regularly for leaks.
- Pretreat stains to avoid rewashing.
- When you replace your clothes washer, consider a water-efficient model that uses an average of 27 gallons of water per load. Front-loaders use 20–25 gallons. Older and non-water efficient washing machines can use as much as 56 gallons of water per load.