Use like half the recommend amount of laundry detergent. Unless your clothes are filthy, it’s plenty, it’ll save you money, and it’s better for the environment.
Add 1/4 cup white vinegar as if it were liquid fabric softener (the food grade stuff, not the house cleaning stuff). This aids the detergent and acts as a mild fabric softener. It rinces completely in the wash and doesn’t leave an odor.
Use dryer balls - 2 ot 3 balls of felted wool about the size of a tennis ball - in place of dryer sheets. They do almost as well at killing static and softening clothes without the chemical residue.
And, finally…
Wash your clothes less often. Generally speaking, unless they’re visibly dirty or smell, they don’t need to be washed. This doesn’t apply to socks or undergarments - those should typically be washed, or at least rinced out, with every wear.
Edit: clarification, with thanks to antimidas who pointed it out!
Just in case someone misreads this, add the vinegar as the softener, so it’s not in the first load that contains the detergent. The detergent is a base, and relies upon that fact to get rid of some of the stains, and vinegar as an acid will neutralize that. Vinegar is meant to be in the rinse cycle when washing laundry, where it can help get rid of any extra detergent by neutralizing it and do any other magic it does.
Also, though I don’t usually encounter them often, do note that vinegar can wash away zinc and silver oxides used for some sterile clothing, and can supposedly damage lyocell.
But overall I second these suggestions. Most times the amounts listed for detergent are far too big, and you can often get by with less.
And, finally…
Edit: clarification, with thanks to antimidas who pointed it out!
Just in case someone misreads this, add the vinegar as the softener, so it’s not in the first load that contains the detergent. The detergent is a base, and relies upon that fact to get rid of some of the stains, and vinegar as an acid will neutralize that. Vinegar is meant to be in the rinse cycle when washing laundry, where it can help get rid of any extra detergent by neutralizing it and do any other magic it does.
Also, though I don’t usually encounter them often, do note that vinegar can wash away zinc and silver oxides used for some sterile clothing, and can supposedly damage lyocell.
But overall I second these suggestions. Most times the amounts listed for detergent are far too big, and you can often get by with less.