Tuesday, February 19, 2008

green laundry


If you are anything like me, I am sure you feel like your laundry is never truly done. In attempts to go green one place I have made some changes is my laundry. Not only do I not really want chemicals on the skin of my family, also, all those chemicals go in our water and our sewer system which is not a good thing either. I have been playing around with finding a natural detergent that I really love. Part of the problem is the one I like the most is not cloth diaper friendly, but that is a whole other post in itself. If you have an earth friendly laundry detergent that you love, please share it with us in our comments section!

There are several small changes you can make in your laundry to help reduce waste:
  • Switch from liquid to powder or concentrate detergent (liquid detergent requires a lot more water in the making)
  • Stop using dryer sheets (there are a lot of chemicals in them, I use dryer balls now)
  • Use your dryer less, the sun works great not only at drying your clothes, but taking stains out, the best natural bleach!
  • Do laundry in one day instead of over a week- by throwing clothes into a hot dryer it takes less time to dry them, so back to back loads actually saves energy.
You can read a lot more about going green with your laundry here.
You can check out a lot of green laundry products here.

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

As usual, thanks! I have been looking into "greener" cleaning products and totally didn't think of laundry detergent. I wanted to ask what you thought of Green Works by Clorox - is it as natural as it claims to be? What about the Seventh Generation products - any thoughts on those?

You are my Green Guru!!

greenkiddo said...

Thanks Paul's Mom!
I love seventh gen products! We use their dish detergent and some of the counter top cleaners and shower cleaners. I am not sure about the greenworks. i just bought some to mop my kitchen floor with. it kind of smells like sprite, so I felt like my floor should be sticky. Plus even if the product is green, since its not a "green" company, I don't know if the production of it is green, kwim?? so the verdict is still out on that one!

Leslie Lovin said...

Hello! I just recently found out that Burt's Bees was bought out by Clorox. That is when Clorox started the Green Works line...in an attempt to become more green. I am the first to admit that I am sceptical...it would be nice to see some research on the products. But, hopefully they truly are green & heathly for our families!
As for laundry, we have just started using Charlie's (because of the cloth diapers)...but am interested in trying Allen's Naturally, too. Anyone have a preference??

greenkiddo said...

llovin,

Thanks for that info! We love our burts bee's products! I have tried charlie's on my dipes and I know lots of people love it, but I didn't feel like they were getting clean enough.... I have not tried Allen's yet, haven't found a place to get it except online....

kelly said...

Do you know anything about the Method brand from Target?? I am using some of their cleaning/laundry products. So far I like them. Dryer sheets are like wet wipes. I live in a very small town so it's hard for me to have access to some of these products. I love your site. I'm a TN friend of Amber Harris'. Thanks for sharing!!!

Unknown said...

Great stuff Steph! I just linked up all my blogs to you. We've started selling the ECOS line at Ace store we own. I'm trying hard to make our store the green store in Yakima, WA. I'm doing great so far!

greenkiddo said...

Kelly,

I love the Method products i have tried so far. I have been using the flushable bathroom wipes on my counters and really like them.I need to look into the dryer sheets. I am glad amber sent you my way! :)

Melissa-Thanks for the comments! That is so cool about your store!