Many people wonder if there is a difference between doing laundry at night or in the morning and if there is a benefit to choosing either option. This article will discuss these options and explain the pros and cons of each.
What time to do laundry shouldn’t be a complicated question, but there are actually several things to consider when scheduling laundry times.
Although doing laundry at any time of the day or night is perfectly acceptable, certain times offer more convenience and can even help you save money.
Laundry at night vs morning: things to consider
- Electricity costs
- Appliance issues
- Drying
- Folding
- Noise
Electricity Costs
Many electric companies charge higher rates during peak hours. If you do your laundry during a peak time, you’ll be paying more to do the same service that might have cost you less at a different time.
In general, peak hours happen between 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM. This means that you can usually do your laundry in the morning, later in the evening, or at night and save on electricity costs.
The exception to this rule happens in colder climates during the winter months.
In most households during the winter, people turn their heaters down just before they go to bed.
Then, when they wake up, they want to heat their homes, so they turn the heat up. This results in a spike in electricity usage, making mornings a peak time.
In this case, it’s better to do your laundry at night.
The same can happen in reverse in warm climates during the summer. People often feel too hot when sleeping, so during the summer, many people crank up their air conditioners.
This also causes a rise in electricity usage and could make the evening hours a peak time. In this case, laundry should be done in the morning.
Your electric company is usually happy to let you know when the peak hours in your area are and when electricity usage costs less.
You can get a report from your company and plan to do your laundry in the morning or at night based on that information.
Appliance Issues
Another thing to consider is how old your appliances are. If something goes wrong with your washer or dryer, you might need to call someone to fix it.
This can be particularly crucial if the washer causes a leak or flood or if there are any potential fire hazards associated with the malfunction of the dryer.
It’s often much easier to get in touch and make an appointment with a repair person in the morning. At night, a repair person might not be available at all. If they are available, they might charge an extra fee to come out after-hours.
Drying
If you use an electric dryer, you can easily pop your freshly washed laundry right from the washer into the dryer, no matter what time of day or night it is.
However, if you use a clothesline for all or part of your laundry, you might want to consider that when you schedule your laundry.
Hanging laundry outside to dry works best when the weather is clear and temperatures are relatively warm.
If you hang your laundry outside at night, it will probably still dry, but it will most likely take more time.
For this reason, you might want to do your laundry in the morning if you plan to hang it outside.
There are also other benefits to hanging your laundry out during the day. Days are generally a bit breezier than nights when the wind tends to die down.
Wind can help to quickly dry your laundry, and it can also leave behind a fresher scent. Sunlight also helps to kill any lingering germs, so it’s a great idea to hang laundry where it will receive sunshine.
Sun can also, however, fade materials. If you’ve just washed dark colors or delicate fabrics, it might be better to hang them out at night so they aren’t bleached by the sun.
Folding
If you do laundry in the morning, your clothes should be clean and dry by the afternoon or evening at the latest. This means you can fold them and have the entire chore done in a single day.
However, if you do laundry at night, you might stay up later waiting for your clothes to dry, depending on what time you started the wash.
Chores can be exhausting, and the last thing most people want to do is fold clothes and put them away late at night. You can leave your clean clothes and fold them in the morning, but clothes wrinkle quickly.
Most clothes that are left unfolded overnight will develop wrinkles and may need to be ironed in the morning.
Noise
If you live in an apartment, condo, or townhome, noise is another thing to consider. Washers and dryers can both be quite loud, especially if you’re doing a load of heavy items such as towels.
Doing laundry too early in the morning or too late at night can wake up your neighbors. You can talk with your neighbors to work out a schedule that’s good for everyone, or you can do laundry a little later in the morning or a little earlier at night.
Can you leave laundry in the washer overnight?
If you’ve decided to do laundry late at night, you might become tired. In this case, many people wonder if it’s acceptable to leave clean laundry in the washer overnight before throwing it in the dryer in the morning.
In general, leaving laundry overnight once in a while won’t cause any issues. Putting it in the dryer in the morning with a dryer sheet will help it smell fresh.
However, if you live in a damp area that’s prone to mildew or if too much time passes, your clean laundry might pick up an undesirable mold smell and may need to be rewashed.
