Ecological laundry solutions part 1

Have you ever read the ingredients of and labels on all the different washing powders and liquids out there? Like REALLY read them, and contemplated their effect on you, your family and the environment? Traces of all these chemicals will enter your skin, and thus your bloodstream through wearing the clothes. All of these chemicals enter our ecosystem through the water pumped out of your washing machine. Not to mention all the plastic packaging that you assemble over a year!

(Our use of plastic packaging deserves a whole post on its own, at some point - but please, start doing some research for yourself if you are not aware yet about the detrimental effects on our entire ecosystem and our own health, and try and eliminate as much plastic from your homes and lives as possible. Replace with glass, stainless steel, reusable packaging, etc. Making your own products will greatly help in reducing your plastic footprint.)

So what are good ecological and make-it-yourself alternatives?

If you don't fancy making your own laundry products, there are some really good ecological alternatives out there which save you TONS of money as well.

Last year I purchased an ECOEGG (http://www.ecoegg.com/product/laundry-egg/).

      

It is a natural detergent without any harsh chemicals, super easy to use, skin-friendly (also for kids and babies) and one ecoegg lasts you a very long time! It's a plastic holder filled with cleaning pellets. I bought my ecoegg that lasts 210 washes for only £9.98 via buywholefoodsonline.co.uk; the one that lasts 720 washes is currently £19.99 on the official website. Just do the math, and see how much money you can save here! You just put it straight into your washing machine, for washes between 15° and 60°, and it really works well. The minus for me is the packaging of the ecoegg and the plastic the actual egg is made out of. But in the long run you still save a lot of packaging compared to other products. And the ecoegg comes with a 10 year guarantee.

More often though, I simply use organic soapnuts or soapberries (Sapindus, or also known as Reetha in India, where they have been used for centuries). A totally natural product, which is very versatile in its use: you can use it for laundry (which is what I use it for mostly) but also as a dishwashing liquid, as a shampoo and body wash, for skincare, etc. etc. AND was used in puratan times to make the patasha (sugar crystals) used in Amrit Sanchaar! (I think soapnuts might deserve a blog post in themselves too at some point...).

You simply put 4-6 soap nuts in a little hemp cloth bag in your washing machine, and use it for around 6 washes. When the berries are used up, their colour will have changed, and you simply take new ones.
Or if you prefer a liquid, you can boil the soapberries and strain the liquid - this is also the way to make your reetha washing up liquid. (Here are some excellent recipes for its use: http://www.crunchybetty.com/the-mother-of-all-soap-nuts-recipe-resources). The liquid does not last very long though (about 2 weeks) and you will need to keep it in your fridge. I personally prefer using the nuts in a simple cloth bag straight into my laundry machine.
The old berries can be composted - no waste whatsoever, no downsides whatsoever, and totally safe for you and for the environment. 1 kg of soapnuts can be used for up to 150 loads of laundry so it's very cheap too. This would be my number one recommendation to sangat.

For tough stains, you can simply add some soda crystals or borax to your washes, or organic bleach (Ecover does a good one - they also have a good stain remover that you can apply on your clothes before putting them into the washing machine).

Finally and if you have a bit more time, you can make your own laundry detergents from scratch. There are many recipes out there, you can google your way around. The typical ingredients are castile soap, baking soda, washing soda, borax and white vinegar. Essential oils can be added for fragrance and their qualities too. Here is just one easy to make recipe: http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/2009/04/natural-homemade-laundry-detergent/ Later this week I hope to post about other ecological make-them-yourself cleaning products, and they all pretty much use the same basic ingredients. Once you invest in these 5 basics, you're pretty much good to go!

Also do regularly clean your washing machine itself to remove any mold and mildew from the gaskets and dispensers. Vinegar can do the trick if you use it regularly. And once a month, let your machine run empty on its warmest cycle with either 1 cup of baking soda or 1 cup of bleach added directly to the wash tub. This will help keep smells out and keep your tub clean.

Vaheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Vaheguru Ji Ki Fateh