Just say NO - to fabric softener

Using fabric softener was never a question to me. It's something my mom always used growing up and of course it made our laundry smell "fresh". Which is totally necessary. I am embarrassed to admit this, but my lightbulb moment was during a shopping trip to my favorite store of all time - Lululemon. I know, judge away. But they really do have the best workouts clothes. Worth the money? That's your decision. But I was shopping with a gift card so I really didn't care.

As I was paying, the girl working there told me to not use fabric softener on the clothes as it would "clog" the pores therefore ruining the non-stink and breath-ability feature. Hmmm, ok. I took her word for it and kept my workout clothes separate from the rest of the laundry. The next lightbulb went off when I was making our bed with freshly laundered sheets and realized they felt kind of waxy. That's not normal, right?

Come to find out, that is NOT normal. So what is fabric softener anyway? It's a combination of chemicals that coat textiles with a thin layer of lubrication. This makes clothes feel softer and wards off static. Think about that though, each time you wash your clothes you add another layer of "lubrication" to them. Over time, this ruins the textiles, causing them to repel moisture and wear out faster. Isn't the purpose of a bath towel to absorb moisture? Yep, thought so. If ruining your clothes isn't enough, here's a list of chemicals commonly found in fabric softener:

~ Alpha Terpineol: Causes Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders, meaning problems relating to the brain and spine such as Alzheimer's disease, ADD, dementia, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, seizures, strokes, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

~ Camphor: On the EPA's hazardous waste list. It is easily absorbed through body tissue, causing irritation of eyes, nose and throat. Camphor can also cause dizziness, confusion, nausea, twitching muscles and convulsions.

~ Chloroform: Inhaling its vapors may cause loss of consciousness, nausea, headache, vomiting, and/or dizziness, drowsiness. It may aggravate disorders of the heart, kidneys or liver. Its effects worsen when subjected to heat. Known to cause cancer.

~ Benzl Acetate: This substances has been linked to pancreatic cancer. Its vapors can be irritating to eyes and respiratory passages and it can also be absorbed through the skin.

~ Ethanol: on the EPA's hazardous waste list, can cause central nervous system disorders

~ Ethyl Acetate: This substance, which is on the EPA's Hazardous Waste list, can be irritating to the eyes and respiratory tract. It may also cause severe headaches and loss of consciousness, as well as damage to the liver and kidneys.

~ Limonene: a known carcinogen that irritates eyes and skin

~ Linalool: A narcotic known to cause respiratory problems and CNS disorders. In animal testing, exposure to linalool has resulted in death.

~ Phthalates: Used in scented products to help the scent last longer, phthlates have been linked to breast cancer and reproductive system problems.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034617_fabric_softeners_toxic_chemicals_laundry.html#ixzz2OhagTrY4

Scary, huh? And if you're using the liquid version, your dumping that into our water supply system. Yikes!

This is all fine and dandy, but I still want my clothes to feel soft. Spoiled much? So what can we use to make sure our towels aren't a giant piece of sandpaper? My preferred choice is Distilled White Vinegar. The acid in white distilled vinegar is too mild to harm fabrics, yet strong enough to dissolve the alkalies in soaps and detergents. Besides removing soap, vinegar prevents yellowing, acts as a fabric softener and static cling reducer, and attacks mold and mildew. You'll also notice no "fading" in darker colors - that's truly just leftover soap making it look dull. I put the vinegar in the same dispenser as I would the fabric softener. And don't worry about the smell - I PROMISE that you will not smell it on your clothes. I have added a few drops of lavender essential oil just to brighten my day, but you honestly can't smell it once the clothes are dry.

I will have more posts on the awesomeness of white vinegar later, but do yourself a favor and go buy a big jug. It will only set you back a couple bucks. Then you can rest easy on your fresh non-chemical coated sheets!

Look - Mr. Clean even loves white vinegar.

How much are you spending on laundry detergent?

Since becoming a SAHM, I've looked at our everyday expenses to see where we can save some green. One area that I felt was overpriced was our laundry detergent. Even though we were buying it from Costco, I felt like I could still improve here.

After joining the time-suck we call pinterest, I kept seeing posts about homemade laundry detergent. My first thought was that it would not work for us because we have an HE washer. Well, after some researching I found that the only difference between HE detergent and the regular is that HE is low-sudsing (sp?). I also made other excuses - it would be labor intensive, dirty up my kitchen and probably wouldn't make my clothes smell as good. Plus, who really makes their own detergent? That's crazy.

Come to find out, homemade laundry detergent is naturally lower sudsing, due to no extra chemicals that make it suds more. Side note - I feel like an idiot for typing the words "suds" and "sudsing". Are those real words? If so, am I spelling them right? Oh well, I can't think of another way to write it so lets move on. So there goes one of my reasons to not try homemade laundry detergent. I STILL didn't go for it though. All that research did make me more aware on our next trip to Costco. I couldn't believe how expensive laundry detergent was - even the Costco brand! Think of all the other goodies I could buy with that money at my beloved Costco! So that pushed me over the edge, it was time to try my hand at homemade laundry detergent.

There are only 3 ingredients - washing soda, borax and soap. ONLY 3 INGREDIENTS! I don't know about you, but when I see less ingredients (especially in our food) I think healthier. Take a look at the label on your store-bought laundry detergent. I'd bet you a million trillion bucks there are more than three ingredients (if yours has 3 or less I'm sorry - the bet is off - mostly because I don't think "million trillion" is a valid quantity of money).

So I set out to buy the goods. I immediately ran into a problem, I could not find washing soda anywhere. OK - that's it, I give up. This wasn't meant for me. Homemade laundry detergent is for the birds. That bought me another couple months of my store bought Tide. Then, while wasting away on pinterest one day, here comes another post about homemade laundry soap. AHHHHH OK Lord, I get it, I saw the sign (who can name the band that sings that song?) Back on the wagon I go. More internet surfing led me to believe that you can actually turn baking soda into washing soda by baking it until it turns dull (baking soda has a glittery snowy appearance - which I did not know until comparing the two). I did this for the first couple of batches but then finally found washing soda and use that now. Makes me feel better, as before I wasn't really sure that I had magically baked my baking soda into washing soda. I found this number (1-800-524-1328) to Church and Dwight - makers of Arm and Hammer products- and just asked them where washing soda was sold in my area. It was at the one place I hadn't looked - Kroger. So there you go, if you can't find it, call and they will help you. Why hello there lightbulb.

So, now that I had all my ingredients I was ready to go. I shredded one bar of the laundry soap (I've used both Zote and Fels-Naptha and prefer Zote because you get a 14.5 oz bar for the same price as FN 5.5 oz bar) into my food processor. Then using the blade attachment I poured in three cups each of washing soda and borax (use only one cup each if you're using the smaller FN bar). After a few pulses everything was combined and I was done. Wait, what? It was really that quick and easy? I poured it into a glass jar I bought from hobby lobby for $1 and cleaned the food processor - which is never the easiest task but for heavens sake, I was only cleaning off soap - and I was done. I'd say the whole process took me 15 minutes. There goes another excuse ;)

Another side note - you can do a liquid version but you won't find a recipe for it here. I made this powder version first and it was so easy. I don't see a reason to dirty a pan just to melt it all thus creating more clean-up.

I only use one tablespoon per load, maybe a heaping tablespoon on our extra smelly sweaty workout clothes that have been sitting for a few days. We're gross, I know. This stuff lasts forever, to be more exact I get around 150 loads. Here's the price breakdown:

- one bar of Zote soap (14.5 oz) cost me $ .97
- the entire box of borax cost me $3.38 and it will yield 9 cups.
- the entire box of washing soda cost me $3.24 and it will yield 7 cups.
TOTAL for one batch of laundry soap that yields 150 loads is $3.47. That's $ .02 cents per load!!!!!

We were buying the jug of Tide from Costco which costs us $20 and yielded 110 loads (who knows if I really got that much out of it though as I'm sure I used too much). That's .18 cents per load. Even the Kirkland brand cost $14.59 for a jug that yields 120 loads, coming out to .12 cents per load. I know it's only cents, but hey it all adds up. PLUS, you know exactly what is going into your laundry, which is in constant contact with your body. There are no other chemicals or scents, making it perfect for those with sensitive skin or to use for our sweet babies. Another bonus is that you are not having to trash that large plastic  container each time you buy more. I'm sure we all (ahem) recycle (cough), but it's one less thing for me to worry about. Overall, making my own soap gives me peace of mind, knowing that I'm doing all I can to make our home just a little bit greener - both for the environment and our wallets. And I'm happy to give up 15 minutes of my day for that!

Please give this a try and let me know how you like it. Thanks for visiting!

ONLY 3 INGREDIENTS!

After shredding the soap and adding Borax & Washing Soda

After a few pulses in the food processor

A little more than 1/2 a gallon of laundry soap for $3.47!

About Me

I am a wife to one, mother to two and lover of Jesus Christ. Since becoming a mom I have really become challenged to make this life & world better for my kids. I want to look outside the box, not conforming to this world and instill being "different" in my girls. By different I mean that you can tell they walk to the beat of their own drum. I want the fruit of the spirit to spill out of our front door and into everyone we come in contact with each day. Romans 12 tells us to use our gifts to better this world, to love each other sincerely and to cling to what is good. I strive to remember this every day. 

Thank you for stopping by.