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About this tool
Hand-wash versus machine-load calorie estimates for laundry day, priced stage by stage with compendium MET values.
This calculator prices each part of a laundry day at its own published MET value and converts it to calories with the formula kcal/min = MET x 3.5 x kg / 200. Hand washing and hanging wash are listed at 4.0 METs, folding and loading a machine at 2.0, ironing at 1.8 and carrying a basket upstairs at 7.5, so a machine-only routine and a hand-wash routine give very different totals. It is aimed at anyone auditing household movement, and it projects a single laundry day out to a week, month and year.
Open Laundry Calorie Burn Calculator on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Enter the values you already know.
Fine-tune the options to match your scenario.
Read the result and use it in your planning or reporting.
Sorting, hand washing, hanging, folding, ironing, changing linen and stair carries each carry their own MET value.
Set hand washing to zero and the machine stages to real minutes to see the gap immediately.
Multiplies a single laundry day by your actual number of laundry days rather than assuming a fixed schedule.
A typical machine-based laundry day of about 50 minutes burns roughly 180 kcal for a 70 kg adult, of which about 124 kcal is above resting metabolism. The figure rises quickly if you hand wash, because hand washing and hanging wash are 4.0 METs against 2.0 METs for folding and loading.
Yes, roughly double per minute and far more in total because it takes longer. Hand washing is 4.0 METs, about 4.9 kcal a minute at 70 kg, while loading a machine and folding is 2.0 METs or about 2.5 kcal a minute.
Not really — ironing is listed at 1.8 METs, below the 3.0 MET threshold for moderate-intensity activity, so it is classed as light activity. It burns about 2.2 kcal a minute for a 70 kg adult, similar to standing and washing dishes.
Because stair climbing with a load raises your whole body mass plus the basket against gravity. The compendium rates carrying a load upstairs at 7.5 METs, more than triple hanging wash, which is why a few minutes of stair trips can rival twenty minutes of folding.
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