How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

beejay3 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:24:27 GMT

Lavos, thanks so much for your recipe!

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

chorister — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:05:52 GMT

trying to do my bit for the planet, I have recently started useing "Ecoballs" for my washing and they really work. I haven't used washing powder for a month or so and the clothes are clean and soft. Really our clothes don't often get dirty, they just need refreshing, I am really impressed.

Nan. uk.

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

Ktietje85K — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:39:39 GMT

Soap nuts. Plain and simple. Use those for your laundry (and really, for any other cleaning you need to do) and you will not have chemicals.

Need something abrasive? Baking soda. That cleans just about everything too.

Want it scented? Essential oils. Not ALL scents are bad, just synthetic ones.

While you're at it, get rid of anything in your house that isn't completely natural. Most "organic soaps" still contain bad ingredients, so read labels carefully!! Polysorbate 80, sodium laureth sulfate, etc. are just a couple of ingredients I've found in "natural" personal care products.

Or, skip them and use avocados, lemon juice, coconut oil, unrefined shea butter, etc.

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

new_me — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:56:05 GMT

I have been using my home-made laundry soap for about a month now. I love it! The best thing is the ABSENCE of any lingering stench. Everything is as clean as it ever was. My home-made stuff costs about 7 cents per load. (I have a large capacity front loading machine and I can stuff a HUGE load into it, likely 2.5 times what my old machine could handle. If you have a smaller machine, or can buy the ingredients for less than I did, then it will cost you less.)

My recipe:

1/2 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda)

1/2 cup Borax

1 bar Ivory soap finely grated

I use 3 Tablespoons per large load.

I mix it up and keep it in a container ready to use. It is so simple! My kids like to grate the soap.

One note about Shaklee...I checked out their products and didn't like their 'meal replacement' and 'energy' bars as they were full of soy products. They claimed they were healthy and wonderful, yet I have learned from Dr. Mercola to avoid soy ingredients in these things. So, since I didn't agree with their food claims, I didn't feel I could trust their cleaning product claims either. Besides, I just didn't want to support their ignorance.

I am also looking for a safe dishwashing soap alternative, automatic and sink.

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

acuelalem mama — Sun, 25 May 2008 01:47:47 GMT

It seems that our best defense is education. When my family and I became educated on the dangers of household products we were shocked, worried, and decided that we have to make a change. We started shopping with a wellness store and we were able to get rid of all of our commercial products and switch over to healthier, safer, and more effective items. This changed our life, it brought us peace of mind knowing we were not poisoning our family everytime we bathed and cleaned our house. We also are minimizing our environmental impact as well. The power of switching stores has changed our life for the better.

It was not costly to do this, we didn't spend any new money, all we did was spend our money at a different store and got a safer environment in return. We really belive that there is a true value in doing this and we want to share with everybody what we know and how we did it. Feel free to contact us. You will find our phone number on our website.

www.toxinfreeisthewaytobe.com

www.goinggoinggonegreen.org

www.iworkfromhomeyoucantoo.com

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

warmpup71 — Sat, 24 May 2008 17:10:00 GMT

It would be very nice to NOT have ppl post with their so-called testimonials only to hock their MLM Websites.

Posting your favorite detergent recipe or brand is one thing but misleading the reading just for website traffic and or sales is just plain wrong!

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

Amicus Curiae1 — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:48:56 GMT

hiya all, ok i sussed out optical brighteners and found out water source and other researchers actually use them as the safest way to source a leak in an underground system, and they are the safest tracer they can find to use. they degrade in simple sunlight. so another good value for those who re use grey water.

i was amazed to see safe bleach in 7th gen site. among others ,like ecover.

so i went to see msds for it. sorry, but i dod not think it is safe. either in its in the box form , or after use. it is very reactive with any moisture while in powder form. umm great, its kept in/ near a naturally wet area. laundry. under sink a danger to kids and pets. above ,a little less accessable.

as to vinegar..and bicarb, ok they work, not without effort and they leave their own mess espec the bicarb. men love recommending it. women arent so glib. go type in "acetic acid ,MSDS" to google ,read the report, untested, not having had tests for safety done ,suspect blood disruptor.. and more..ok and thats good old vinegar folks.. like the difference between natural and synthetic vitamins, different source, processing, strength , dilution, purity, different result. change a molecule= a different product.

to see what commercial products Au detergent formulas have salt and phosphorus wise. www.lanfaxlabs.com

independant unfunded info. nice bloke. he killed his garden using salt laden supposedly bio friendly greywater.

i bucket my Melapower direct to pot and soil , in 16 months no fatalities,( except that my dogs! ate a few.). biggest load of NON speak award goes to unilever on their detergent blurb. ditto colgate toothpast for sensitive teeth. and i hate the rip off brigade selling, at best, ok products -with no data to back it. at hugely rude prices. same as the organic food scam. sorry but i garden and i use no chemicals ergo i save heaps. i weed less, why??? the hell would i pay more. or sell for 2+x more than chem crap. (money/greed) not nice, not ethical.

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

DizzyIzzy1 — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 01:12:03 GMT

I've been reacting really really badly the last few years to detergents and cleaning products - I started a job in a bar about 6 months ago and the first night I spent 5 hours wiping tables. I developed a headache, and 2 days later all the skin on my hands - only the front, not the back where it hadn't been in contact with the cloth - flaked off. I asked my boss if I could either wear gloves while using it or if he would please find a new detergent because clearly it was very noxious. He told me I couldn't wear the gloves as it 'looked bad for customers' and that it was just normal washing up liquid, implying I was making it up. I refused to wipe any tables after that, and not surprisingly didn't have the job long. ***.

On that note, anyone know a *cheapish* natural range in the UK? I find what's in Holland and Barrett a bit rubbish, a lot of it is full of chemicals. They sell drinks full of aspartame, I think that says it all for them.

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

Hot Soup — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 15:42:58 GMT

I mix 1/2 cup grated tea tree oil soap, 1/4 cup borax and 1/4 cup washing soda to make my own laundry soap. One tablespoon seems to be enough for a full load, and I add a Downy ball filled to the line with white vinegar for the rinse cycle. My clothes come out smelling like nothing which is fine with me. It's really cheap too!

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

IntegrityWinsLLC — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 05:01:52 GMT

These are the best products. For 3 years I had a skin condition until I began using these products. Laundy, Hand Soap, Glass Cleaners, All Purpose Cleaners, plus many, many more. ultraincomebuilder.com/integrity.uib

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

bluepoppyshell — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:46:25 GMT

I have been using seventh generation ldy soap and love it. Ecover is great too. Thanks for all the great insight people, its very informative to read everyone's comments on different products.

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

franr1234 — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:24:00 GMT

We have found that only Melaleuca products really work both in laundry system as well as for cleaning compounds.. Their system is a one stop shopping that saves our family a great deal of money each month and is very easy to use.

The other things out there like Shaklee and "natural products " in the grocery and health food stores do not work as well and are much more expensive.

safergreen@aol.com

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

integrity76 — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 03:14:40 GMT

I use a product called laundry Pure. It's a Space Certified Technology that hooks up to your washer and you don't ever use hot water or detergent, it's wonderful. It uses Oxygen,Peroxides and adds silver nano-technology to wash water killing 99.9999% of bacteria. I love this product, and it doesn't fade your darks and keeps whites whiter. My daughter has very sensitive skin and I tried this product and it wonderful, here's a web site to find out more info. www.laundrypure.com/SandraC and the password is guest. I hope this was helpful.

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

annapaloma — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 08:00:48 GMT

I have read about the magnetic laundry system, but after reading the testimonials on this page, I will now buy it.

I have recently made my own laundry soaps, dish soaps, bath bars and liquid body soaps, and am very happy with them. You have to experiment a bit to get your formulas balanced for your water, but that doesn't take long. I admit, I am very satisfied with soap products. Clothes clean well, and come out naturally soft. Does a wonderful job on dishes too. Why did we switch to all these detergent (and other awful chems) products? Even our bath

and body soaps are noxious. I remember when we used soap in the laundry, and the clothes and I did quite fine. I am surprised how easy it was to convert back to soap. The last few years it has been near impossible to find soap products in the stores. Fels Naptha bar soap can be found, and used as a soap base for cleaning formulas, but as Dr. Mercola's article states, napthalene is not the best thing to be using. I made my own hard and liquid soaps from scratch. The conversion back to soap was simple and fun. Go to About.com, and you will get a load of very useful info, and links to books and video downloads that are fab.

P.S. Your laundry soap costs are 1 to 2 cents per load!

re: How Toxic is Your Average Laundry Detergent?

belegost — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:12:29 GMT

i too am very sensitive to chemicals, and frangrances. in the last 5 years i have had to adjust my whole life around this increasing problem. for a loong time even alot of "natural' toothpastes would cause me to gag. my wife misses her fragrances sometimes, but she has noticed that lately even she has become less tolerant of loud smells, and fragrances. Seventh Generation (free and clear) has worked good for our laundry, and we recently switched our dish soap to "Meyers" brand, the geranium scent is quite mild, and not fake smelling like alot of others, so it doesnt bother me...i can hardly go down the cleaners aisle in the market(just like some of the other readers have mentioned). im glad to see im not alone in my non-tolerance of these chemicals.

btw..im not the mad-dinger..lol..i only give good dings, and save the bad ones for rude peeps../cheer

in the words of the gone but not forgotten bartles and james- "Thank you for your support"