How ‘green’ is your laundry?

*Updated 2021

Doing laundry can have harmful effects on our environment.  Harsh chemicals and fragrances pollute and remove oxygen from our water supplies, harm plants and promote the growth of algae.  Heating water and drying the clothes wastes energy.  And, laundry consumes an average of 40 gallons of water per load.

We have found earth-friendly products to replace the strong, harsh chemicals and fragrances of our usual laundry detergents, stain removers and softeners.  These products come highly recommended and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.  We find using environmentally safe products gives us the same high quality results as our old products.

Greener ways to do laundry:

• Wash clothes in cold water – prevents shrinking and gets the clothes as clean as hot water does.
• Air-dry wet laundry – nothing smells better than laundry dried in the sun.
• Wash a full load of laundry.
• Choose natural laundry products; detergent, fabric softener and stain removers.
• Use white vinegar as a fabric softener.  Add 1⁄4 cup to your wash at the start of the rinse cycle.  Your clothes won’t smell like vinegar.
• Try rubbing alcohol as a stain remover.  Fill a spray bottle with 50% water and 50% rubbing alcohol.  Spray on stains and blot for a few seconds.  It works on most fabrics except silk or linen.
• Pour boiling water over fruit stains.
• Use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets, which leave a film.  Dryer balls do the work naturally rather than chemically.

Dryer balls

Earth Friendly Laundry Products:

The Laundress makes eco-friendly specialty detergents and fabric care products.  All are nontoxic and biodegradable.

Their crème de la crème is Le Labo Rose 31 Signature Detergent. $45 a bottle.

The Laundress Denim Wash is great. $20 for 16 oz.

My personal favorite is the The Laundress Denim Wash.  $6.50.

Method Laundry Detergent is plant-based, using 95% natural and renewable ingredients.  It is biodegradable and nontoxic.  Their ultra-concentrated new laundry detergent is concentrated 8 times so that 4 pumps is enough detergent for a medium load.  No more lugging home those enormous boxes or jugs of detergent.  It is environmentally friendly because it uses less plastic in packaging.

$8.00 for a 25 load size, $15 for a 50 load size.

Optical brighteners and bleach are a fast way to ruin your linens.  Eco-friendly detergents are the kindest to delicate fabrics.  Le Blanc Linen Wash has no toxic phosphates and skin-irritating caustics.  It removes stains from linen and cotton in cold water.

For 20 years this Burlington, VT company has been dedicated to being socially responsible.  Seventh Generation makes a complete line of non-toxic household products.  The laundry products that are highly recommended are the chlorine-free bleach and the Natural 2X Concentrated Laundry Liquid.  The Natural Powdered Laundry is also good.

$12.34 for 40 oz. (33 loads).

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day products provide a safe alternative to conventional laundry products.  Their packaging is recyclable and the products are biodegradable.

The laundry detergent comes in five scents and scent-free.  There is also a fabric softener and dryer sheets.

64 oz. is $15.99.

Caldrea’s earth-friendly laundry products keep clothing and linens fresh and fragrant. The laundry detergent comes in seven fragrances.  64 oz. for $22.00.

Try Caldrea’s fabric softener, delicate wash or linen spray.

Dropps laundry capsules (packaged in a pouch, not a plastic jug) dissolve in cold water, saving energy.  Super-concentrated, phosphate-free, biodegradable, toss n’ go packs that conserve water, plastic and energy.  Blue have a fresh scent, the clear are dye and scent-free.

$16.75 for an 80 load pouch.

Forever New Fabric Care Wash protects clothing from wear and tear and is environmentally friendly. $19 for 32 oz.

Do you know that fresh sheets can actually improve sleep? It’s worth some research – who can’t use a better night’s sleep?

Sleeping Well and Improving Your Health