Non Toxic Laundry Tips

Ever hear that joke that your epidermis is showing?

My kids love to say that to unsuspecting people and watch the horror spread on their faces when they try to figure out what an epidermis is.

And in case you don’t know, your epidermis is your skin. Our skin is the largest organ of our body, of fact it takes up about 15% of your body weight. Our skin is amazing, it protects us from infection, regulates our body temperature, protects us from harmful sun rays, keeps us from dehydration and more. Our skin also does one more thing, it absorbs.

Our skin readily absorbs chemicals and other substances deeper into our body– through our skin layers, into muscles and fat, and ultimately into our bloodstream.

With this scary information I knew I needed to make a big change to how our growing families laundry was being washed and dried.

Conventional laundry soaps often contain toxic chemicals with a large amountof negative effects. In 2011, researchers from the University of Washington found that dryer vents can emit over 25 volatile organic compounds when scented laundry soap and dryer sheets are used, including seven that are classified as hazardous air pollutants.

That’s a lot of chemicals to come in contact with – not only can you come in contact with these toxic chemicals by wearing your clothing that’s been laundered with them, you’re probably breathing them into your lungs when they become airborne while you’re doing your laundry. Some of the worst offenders when it comes to laundry chemicals includes:

  • Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)/sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)
  • 1,4-dioxane
  • NPE (nonylphenol ethoxylate)
  • Phosphates

According to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews, research studies on laundry detergent chemicals like SLS have shown an association with everything from minor to major health issues, like skin and eye irritation, organ toxicity, developmental or reproductive toxicity, possible mutations, cancer, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, and biochemical or cellular changes.

Here are other ingredients to avoid:

  • Artificial fragrance
  • Optical brighteners ( may be listed as OB-1, OB, ER, or KSN)
  • Chlorine
  • Petroleum distillates
  • Quaternium 15
  • Ethyl acetate

All of these chemicals and ingredients absorb so fast in our skin. Artificial fragrance is a known label on the list of ingredients that actually is a not just one thing, there are about 5,000 different fragrance molecules in rotation in our products and they don’t need to disclose any ofthem. It’s a little loop hole that companies can use to hide the chemicals they are using and make their consumers feel good that there is simple ingredients used in their products. The onlyway to avoid using these products is to check and double check that their is no fragrance or perfume (parfum) on the labels.

So now what should you use for washing your laundry? As a mama to 6 kids we do our fair share of laundry. I bet it’s 8-10 loads I do on laundry Monday’s and an extra 2 loads for towelsand diapers on Thursday’s.

Our family has been using Soap Nuts (aka soap berries) for about 9 years now. They are an amazing little natural berry.

This berry-like fruit grows on the Sapindus Mukorossi tree, native to India and the Himalayas. The berries produce a soap called saponin, which operates as a natural surfactant. The soap nut shell absorbs water and releases the saponins which circulate in the wash water, freeing dirt, grime, and oils from clothing. 

Soap nuts can also be used to clean dishes, as a shampoo to wash your hair, or for surface cleaning. They’re 100 percent natural and biodegradable and don’t contain any pesticides, as insects are naturally repelled by saponin so there is no need to use them in cultivation. They are completely safe for septic systems, gentle for use on sensitive skin, including baby clothes, and are also antimicrobial.

We use about 6-10 nuts in a small muslin bag. Just wash your laundry on any water setting andthrow this little bag in. You can use till they have pretty much disintegrated and then throw anycrumbles leftover in the compost. So easy and effective. They give off a slightly sweet smellwhich I don’t notice but my family does. They keep towels and sheets so soft as well.

Once our laundry is safely and effectively clean and placed into the dryer, we add our homemade natural wool dryer balls to help reduce static and to shorten the dryer time. They bouncearound in the dryer helping to keep clothes from being tangled and if you apply a few drops of your favourite essential oil then they distribute that scent safely into your laundry. Plus there’s something about the way a dryer smells that is comforting to me. Our wool dryer balls make me so happy knowing our sheep's wool is being used to help reduce the drying time, eliminating odours and keeping our bodies safe with no toxic chemicals. 

Last year I read a study that showed laundry being washed with different soaps, sodas,vinegar, detergents and even just plain water and then tested for how clean they come. The results were amazing they the simple washing sodas were the most effective. They had a focus group in to help determine which was the cleanestlaundry and found that people associate certain smells to having clean laundryand not actually how clean their clothes came. We’ve become tricked into thinkingthose heavily perfumed detergents are the only things that can wash our clothes, yet they are doing more harm than good. Simple clean formulas and vinegar are more effective at keeping our laundry safe and clean for our bodies.

Now to figure out a way to effectively get all that laundry folded and put away right away.

 

*previously published on my website: Growing in Grace https://greenwaldfamilychronicles.wordpress.com 07 Sept. 2019