DAY 2: LAUNDRY
I’ve trialed the lot when it comes to washing powder; throwback to the days of Fairy and Ariel giving me crispy whites and super soft towels and then with the realisation of those particular things probably actually causing harm then moving on to soap nuts and an eco egg to no avail. I so wanted these options to work for me, but with a newborn at the time, they just weren’t cutting it and left my clothes coming out of the washing machine no different to what I had put them in. I then moved onto Ecover for a season, and while I think it is a better option than many, it still didn’t sit quite right with me (there is a post from Ethical Unicorn I mentioned yesterday which explains a little more why I try not to buy these anymore) and neither did SMOL a subscription service we received through our door, which coincided with a bad outbreak of eczema on Heppy’s skin and made me look even more closely into what was written on the back of bottles.
It’s been a slow process of finding what works for us, and if i’m honest I think all these things are impacted as to whether you are in a hard water or soft water area, and for many, skin type too- I know soap nuts and eco eggs do work for a lot of people. A lot about laundry has been shifting expectations. It took me a while to get used to not have the freshest smelling clothes or what I deemed to be ‘fresh’ smelling. They don’t smell bad I was just so used to the smell of perfume but now I don’t enjoy it.
I would LOVE to know if any of you make your own washing powder? I’d love to move in that direction but for now, here’s the goss on what we use for our laundry.
WASHING POWDER
Mangle and Wringer- Pure Laundry Powder
I found these guys about 6 months ago and absolutely love their story. The products they sell are based upon traditional recipes from a lady they knew called Bette. They write on their website: ‘When modern chemical companies convinced us that mass-produced detergents would clean our homes, and our clothes, better, quicker and cheaper, recipes such as Bette’s were forgotten. But as we know, and as Bette was clear to point out, the cheap new products on the market were made from chemicals and through them there was a rise in asthma, eczema and allergies ever since as well as devastating effects on the environment.’ Vanessa, the owner of Mangle and Wringer was inspired to set up Mangle & Wringer to recreate them. They only sell a few products on their website- I am only to try a few but I love how everything comes in paper or glass, and you can choose which size you would like the washing powder to come in ranging from 375g to 10kg! - DREAM.
There is NO scent to the powder- and it’s made with just 100% coconut oil soap, natural minerals and water softeners.
Other options we use for clothes if we have ran out of laundry powder are castille soap, you can add 1/2 a cup to a load of laundry, and biod washing powder which is available for refill at some of the bulk stores near us or in paper bags online!
FABRIC CONDITIONER
I used to absolutely love dousing the fabric conditioner into the drawer of my washing machine and then snuggling into the soft scented sheets as they came out but then I started to learn what was in the fabric conditioner, and then became so aware of what was on Heppy’s skin and ours, I decided to ditch it all together. Not only is it unnecessary but fabric conditioner makes clothes more flammable. Ontop of that a major ingredient in fabric softener is Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs or “quats”) which are used to help combat static but can cause skin and respiratory irritation increasing the risk of asthma, and these compounds don’t biodegrade in water meaning they are harmful to sea life. Nuts?! If you do want added softness with towels and clothes you can add a quarter of a cup of white vinegar to a wash or rinse cycle, and sometimes when washing bed sheets or towels I add a few drops of essential oils such as Lavender or Citrus Fresh if I do want to give them a natural scent.
STAINS
There are a few things we use for stain remover:
Sunshine- this is more effective when clothes are wet rather than dry, and better laid down so they have full exposure to the sun. This is our go to and I was surprised how many poop stains it removed from Heppy’s clothes when she was a baby. Also fun fact the clothes can ‘bleach’ in the moonlight as well as the sunlight!
Stain remover stick: You can use this on laundry or carpets/sofas that have stains: Moisten fabric and apply wet bar directly to stain to create suds on both sides of the fabric, wash as directed.
Oxygen Bleach- Depending on the stain, I either soak the whole garment of clothing in an oxygen bleach solution overnight- this is usually 1 or 2 tbsp’s added to a sink full or washing up tub full of water, or I add a tablespoon of oxygen bleach directly to the wash cycle. (You can read other uses for oxygen bleach on yesterday and tomorrow’s post)
Lemon oil : When it’s to hand this is great to drop some oil on a tough stain then pop it straight into the washing machine. I usually only do this on white clothes so it doesn’t discolour others.
We air dry our laundry in the summer, and in the colder months we use a heated airer which we were gifted a few years ago and has changed our life and saved A LOT of electricity.
That’s all for today! Do you guys have any laundry recommends? Let me know if you’ve ever tried making your own detergent?
If you missed yesterday’s post on our non-toxic kitchen, you can find it here. See you tomorrow where I’l be focusing on the bathroom for day three.
—-
ps. Please note that most of the links to amazon are amazon affiliate links where at no additional cost to you I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. I recommend these products because they are helpful and useful not in order to get you to spend money unless you feel you need them or they will help you on your journey!
pps. ‘Non-toxic’ is a claim in itself without regulation. When I use it, I am referring to products that don’t include ingredients linked to toxic responses (like hormone disruption, cancer, etc.) in humans.