Dirty clothes that is...and the plethora of products on the market to clean those dirty clothes.
Oh the wonderful smell of a fresh load of laundry straight out of the dryer. The fantastic scent of Downy flooding your senses...makes me want to do a face-plant right into that clothes and do some deep yoga breathing. Not. That was how I used to feel...until I found out why those clothes smelled so delicious. The majority of conventional laundry products are loaded with chemicals that can harm you and the environment. Harm as in cause respiratory issues, cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, rashes and skin irritation, liver and kidney damage, lung damage...enough? I am sure I can come up with a few more reasons you may want to avoid doing face plants, let alone just using these jugs full of toxins.
The laundry product industry is not required to list ALL the ingredients on their labels which makes it VERY difficult to identify the good from the bad. It is so frustrating! We talked about "fragrance" in the Health & Beauty Series but if you missed it, fragrance is a sneaky way to hide hundreds of ingredients. Mother Earth Living put together a nifty little chart of "Laundry Chemicals to Avoid", and for a quick refresher on the EWG's rating system, click here.
Let's take a quick peek at a few of the most popular laundry products:
PRE-TREATMENT: SHOUT
DETERGENT: DREFT BABY
PRE-TREATMENT: OXI CLEAN
DETERGENT: THE HONEST CO.
DETERGENT: TIDE
DETERGENT: GAIN
FABRIC SOFTENER: DOWNY
FABRIC SOFTENER: SNUGGLE
As you folks know by now, I am super conscious about what is in the products I use and safety is key BUT if it is safe and doesn't work, what is the point? I have tried several products on my "safe laundry" journey, several of which did not work for our family. Well guess what? I FINALLY found a system that works for my family AND is rated an A from EWG...I want to do a back flip I am so excited but I will refrain and just go wash another load of laundry. The current regimen I am using:
PRE-TREATMENT: Bac-Out
With lil' G feeding himself, clothes can get pretty nasty around here. Bac-Out to the rescue!
Where to Buy: Amazon.com
Source: EWG.org
DETERGENT: Molly's Suds
LOVING this stuff, and the price is one of the more reasonable for safe detergent.
Where to Buy: Amazon.com
Source: EWG.org
FABRIC SOFTENER: Wool Dryer Balls with Essential Oils
I started using wool dryer balls ages ago and love them. You can snag a 3-pack here: amazon.com. Lately I have been using Now Eucalyptus & Lemon Oil but you can choose whatever scent you like. I utilize all three wool balls and put 4 drops on each ball for each load.
And that is a wrap. With this routine you can rest assured you are not sitting around all day in clothes soaked in chemicals. And an added bonus...you will still smell good. =)