As I’ve often suspected the most environmentally friendly way to clean your clothes is with soap. Ironically everybody washed clothes with soap prior to World War Two. However during the war there was a shortage of fat but a surplus of oil. As a result, scientists invented petroleum based detergents to wash clothes. It has taken us nearly 60 years to realize what a bad mistake we made during the war promoting the use of detergents to do the laundry. Detergents are really bad for the environment. The nastiest ingredient in many traditional detergents is phosphate. Phosphates cause algae bloom that chokes the life out of lakes and streams. Although most US states have banned detergents with phosphates there are plenty of other chemicals in detergents that poison wildlife, cause allergies in humans and are irritants to people with certain skin conditions.
Therefore, the easiest, cheapest and greenest way to do the laundry is to put soap suds in the machine. It sounds too good to be true. And to some extent it is. Firstly, soap suds only work well with soft water (water without minerals). As many people know from all the scaling on their kettles, the water they use is hard. The minerals in hard water react with soap to create an insoluble film that leaves a soap scum residue that turns clothes gray.
The unwanted graying caused by using soap flakes with hard water can be stopped by adding half a cup of vinegar to the rinse water.
A good all-natural soap for the laundry is the popular Nellie’s Laundry Soda. The marketing of the product is very 1950’s just to remind us about the good old days when housewives used soap not detergent to clean their clothes. Only those good old days were in the 30’s.
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As I am writing this I’m fully aware that many home-makers will just obstinately refuse to believe the answer to going green in the laundry room is to simply use soap and vinegar. And indeed there is a lot more to consider, not the least of it being a lot of chemical terms which I’m trying to avoid for the sake of intelligibility to the average lay person such as myself. I just know that the use of detergents is so ingrained in many people, as is the reliance on a washing machine, that many will dismiss me as a loony. That is fair enough if you want to use detergents then use a more environmentally friendly detergent. And to help you decide on a good eco-friendly detergent I’ve reviewed a few products below.
The wonder product on the market is Maggie’s Nuts. This is a 100% natural product made from the dried fruit of the Chinese soapberry tree. Yes, a soapberry tree. Obviously the Chinese call it something different. The nuts contain saponin, a natural cleanser that has been used for millennia by the Chinese to do their cleaning. Maggie’s Nuts can be used as body soap, shampoo and pesticide as well as for cleaning clothes. You simply put a few nuts in a cotton bag and throw it in with the wash. Maggie’s Nuts are perfect for people with skin allergies and perfect for the environment. However, the product has produced two strongly opposing camps of opinion. There are those who swear by Maggie’s Nuts saying it does a fantastic job with cottons, silks and wools. They say that it leaves everything really soft and fresh. While there are those who claim that clothes washed with Maggie’s Nuts smell weird, a bit like a damp rag. I have tried Maggie’s Nuts and it is amazing that a product with no chemicals whatsoever did clean my clothes. I didn’t notice any funny smell but then I know some people are very particular about the smell of their laundry.
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The second best in terms of eco-friendliness is Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent. It is a non-toxic, biodegradable, hypoallergenic and phosphate free laundry concentrate especially designed for high-efficiency and standard machines. Seventh Generation Laundry Detergents come with a choice of two naturally derived scents: either bergamot or eucalyptus. For those seeking the perfect-smelling-environmentally-friendly detergent this may be the product for you. For those who don’t want any scent on their clothes then Nellie’s Laundry Soda might be the answer if Maggie’s Nuts doesn’t appeal. Several online reviews of environmentally friendly detergents rate Seventh Generation products as the best cleaning and greenest of all those seemingly eco-detergents on the market. I say ‘seemingly’ because US manufacturers are not required by law to say what is in their products.
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The eco-nasty in many bleaches is Chlorine. The eco-friendly alternative is oxygen bleach. For those tough stains that just won’t budge with Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent, Nellie’s Laundry Soda or Maggie’s Nuts an oxygen bleach such as Oxi Clean is the solution. Oxi Clean works with most washable fabrics, all colors and in hard or soft water. The organic stain is broken down by hydrogen peroxide and the by-products degrade into oxygen and water.
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So there you have a brief guide to how to go green in your laundry room. All the products reviewed are much better for the environment than standard detergents. They have all been thoroughly and scientifically reviewed on many websites and none of the products have been tested on animals. Furthermore all the products are hypoallergenic which means they are good for people with sensitive skin or skin allergies.
The final piece of green advice is to use a cold water setting for your wash. Many people have completely switched to cold water washing. Others claim it affects the quality of the wash. Compromise and try lower heat settings if you fall in the later camp. If you are an eco-warrior you will no doubt be washing by hand to save electricity or powering your washing machine from a renewable energy source.
