environmentally friendly laundry soap


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Old 06-16-08, 08:08 PM
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environmentally friendly laundry soap

Anyone know how to tell which laundry soaps are truly environmently friendly/safe. I want more than just phosphate free.
 
  #2  
Old 06-16-08, 09:23 PM
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So you're looking for a green laundry detergent. You are probably too young to remember your mother, grandmother, or aunts cooking up lye soap in the front yard. And, I am not old enough to remember anyone in my family that boiled their laundry in a kettle in the front yard. But, I recall making lye soap when I was a kid.

I recall the days before liquid dish detergent and Tide was used to wash everything, including dishes. A jug of bleach was always on standby. Vinegar was used for many cleaning purposes, as well as fabric softener. Then we got the cleaning manufacturers on the scene that started pushing a product for every possible household cleaning issue. They are laughing all the way to the bank while we try to balance the household budget.

My latest laughter has been over all the new fangled gadgets for cleaning toilets. We didn't clean toilets when I was a kid. We kept a bag of lime in the outhouse and an old dipper for sprinkling lime down the hole. Folks don't realize that if they simply swished their toilet on a frequent basis that they can get by with no chemical cleaners. If mineral deposits and stains are a problem, then vinegar comes to the rescue.

Boiling wash was the key back in the day and still in Europe. Our US hot water heaters do not provide hot enough water to do boiling wash. So laundry soap manufacturers turned to chemicals to get laundry clean.

Laundry can get clean in just about any detergent. I have even washed a load or two with a few squirts of Dawn when nothing else was on hand and after dark because I don't drive after dark because I can't see the lines on the road. Dawn, by the way, works well as a pre-treatment on grease and oil stains.

One advantage that boiling wash offered in addition to heat was the soaking. No one presoaks any more, despite the more sophisticated washers having a presoak cycle.

Everyone is in a hurry. Many do not take the time to sort clothing by color or fabric type. We get posts here about how to resolve dye bleed problems, pilling, wrinkling, odors, and more laundry issues.

To my misfortune, I currently live in a rental. The condos here have a laundryroom at the end of the parking lot. I went there at 6 p.m. A gal, from whom I learned later when I returned had just returned from the beach, and occupied 4 out of the 5 washers. There was another gal there when I first went who had enough laundry stuffed in and oversized basket to the equivalent of three loads. Every machine has a sign that says, "Do not overload."

I cheerfully walked in and said, "Oops, looks like they've all been taken. The gal with the tall, overstuffed basket said, "Yea, the gal outside in the black pickup has 4 washers tied up." I assumed that that gal would fill one washer and wait for the others to open up that belonged to the gal in the black pickup to be moved to dryers, moving loads into washers as washers opened up. Assuming this would take some time, I returned to the laundryroom after 9:30, hoping to find the laundryroom to myself.

I did find the laundryroom to myself and the gal in the black pickup was still waiting on her dryers, but only the tall laundry basket was present in front of a dryer. I put my jeans and mountain socks in a washer and went back in 30 min. to change to a dryer. The tall laundry basket was still present. The girl in the black pickup was of course gone.

All washers and dryers were open except the one dominated by the gal with the tall laundry basket. Just out of curiosity, I peeked into the dryer where the tall laundry basket sat. Lo and behold, that gal had washed and dried at least 3 baskets of laundry together in one washer and then placed in a dryer. All colors! The laundryroom floor was flooded from overstuffing the washer.

It costs 4 quarters to wash or dry here, which is cheap compared to the community laundrymats that charge $2.50/load. She put in the 4 quarters in the dryer and disappeared. Her overstuffed dryer of laundry was still soaking wet. She was no where in site.

This gal will be one who posts on one of the forums I frequent to ask why her laundry does not come clean or why her detergent does not get out stains or has odors. And, probably most importantly she will ask how to deal with a dye bleed problem.

The point being is that many laundry problems can be prevented. Most laundry products have instructions on labels on how to do laundry and deal with stains.

Another problem is that no one takes the time to understand the different types of stains and the required pretreatments for each. And, not realizing with the proper pretreatment, allowing the treatment to do its job, and then presoaking, that most permanent laundry stains can be avoided. Once a stain is heated in the dryer, it tends to become permanently set.

Phosphate detergents are efficient laundry detergents, but they are not the answer to most stain problems. You still need to know your stains and how to deal with them whether you go phosphate or nonphospate. Nonphospate detergents may be more environmentally friendly, less efficient for those who have to deal with overly soiled laundry, but neither phosphate or nonphosphate address stains.

Phosphate vs nonphosphate has been media-ized. Not to promote a debate, laundry issues are dependent upon type of soil, stains, proper sorting, pretreating, soaking, and water temperature. And being aware of these issues and the effects of how one does laundry upon the success of laundry. In other words, you need to know what your are doing. It's not rocket science, but you need to know what you are doing.

And, folks spend money they do not need to spend because advertisers tell consumers they need fabric softeners and/or dryer sheets that coat fibers, reduce absorption rate, and can cause discoloration and staining. The media has everyone so focused on odor that they have folks burning scented candles, buying plug in products in outlets, air fresheners that temporarily mask odors, etc.

There is no better smell than clean laundry, scent free. Of course, air dried laundry on the clothesline, where ozone can play its role in freshening is best. But, who has a clothesline any more. They are restricted in many neighborhoods. Gone are the days where we hung clothes outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air. Gone are the days when we hung our clothes outdoors in freezing and snowing weather and finally ventured forth after a couple days to swat the laundry with a broom to break the ice and bring it indoors to air dry on a rope strung through the upstairs hall or in front of the fireplace. Laundry was never so soft after breaking the ice and air drying indoors.

Fabric softeners? A cup of white vinegar added to the rinse cycle will remove detergent residues, soften, freshen, deodorize, and resolve lint issues. But, everyone is too busy to stand over the kettle and watch the wash and notice when the rinse cycle kicks in. It's so easy and lazy to add the softener in the softener receptor or toss a dryer sheet in. They even have fabric softener balls these days.

Then, there are the folks who complain about the mystery bleach stains. Many detergents contain oxygenating bleaches. If you do not put the detergent in first and allow to dissolve, then it will clump and cause bleach spots. Oxygenating bleaches are just weaker family members of the oxygenating bleach family of which chlorine bleach dominates.

So, if you "want more than just phosphate free," what are you looking for? There are no magic laundry products. Biz and Wisk offer phosphate free detergents. Both are enzyme detergents and can be used as pre-spotters for organic stains and used for presoaking and laundry. I'm sure there are other products that may do the same, but those two float to the top of the suds in my brain. With more specifics re: what you want, then more info can be forthcoming from readers. Even though Biz and Wisk are great for soaking enzyme stains, these do not address grease/oil stains. And, soaking does not mean moments, hours, depending on stain type it can take days soaking in the old dish pan or mop bucket. Hand agitation is helpful.

Once we know more about what you are looking for in a laundry detergent and more about your knowledge of laundry detergents, more info will follow.
 
  #3  
Old 06-24-08, 11:52 PM
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hello ,
you have really given very good information about the green laundry soap. this is very informative article . but my quesstion is the same which green 55 has asked what about the safty .
 
 

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