I've shared with you here before how I have been on a mission to clean up our home. You can read more about my mission + my approach to ridding our home of toxins here. My slow but steady approach to having a chemical-free home has been working well for us, an area that needed a HUGE overhaul was our laundry routine.
Just to brief you about the house cleaning, before delving into the topic of laundry, a toxin-free house demands each component to be cleaned, be it the floors, patio, windows, carpets, or the garage. The good thing, though, is that professional help is available these days to cater to these requirements, be it for Window Cleaning or power washing, just to name a few. Those in need of it can always get in touch with professional firms in their area to get their homes toxin-free. Moreover, the objective is to get cleaner homes, no matter who does the cleaning!
That said, let's come back to the main topic of today, which is laundry. To be honest, laundry can be filled with some of the yuckiest toxins which are extra concerning because we wash our clothes and then they sit RIGHT on our skin all day. In particular, most run-of-the-mill laundry products are filled with perfumes and dyes which are really concerning because they can mess with your natural hormones as well as contain harmful chemicals.A huge overhaul of your laundry routine can seem daunting, especially if you do not have a washer rental. Hand-washing clothing items could, of course, be one of the most household chores. But do not worry! I have come up with a few hacks that can save you loads of money and also your attires. For instance, ditching just a couple of things can make a HUGE difference. I broke it down into 3 simple steps for you to take.
- Ditch the dryer sheets. Dryer sheets are perhaps the biggest toxic offender in our laundry routine. INSTEAD opt for some Wool Dryer balls, they are used as a natural fabric softener. We use this affordable set, and have loved them SO much. If you want to add a scent to your laundry, I like to mix up some lavender spray and mist my dryer balls before I pop them in. It works really well and is absolutely toxin free.
- Ditch the fabric crystals. We were previously big fans of a certain Unstoppable product.... wink wink. These guys are pretty much just covering your clothing in fake perfumes and dyes. INSTEAD mix up your own fabric softening scent crystals that are 100% toxin free. Do 4 cups epsom salt + 20-40 drops of whichever essential oil you'd like. I like to use lavender best, store in a glass container, then add 1-3 TBS per laundry load.
- Ditch the toxic laundry soap. INSTEAD switch to a "free & clear" laundry detergent or sprays (for more info, check hudstonehome.com). Have you heard of the Think Dirty app? I love it, it rates every day products level's of toxic chemicals 1-10. Most regular laundry detergent scores about a 9 on the scale, simply choosing an option that is "free &clear" lowers it down to about a 3... which is much much better! Of course there are even cleaner detergent options out there, but just switching to another grocery store brand soap makes a HUGE difference. That said, you may also need to check how to care for your cupro fabric or other delicate clothing material as these might require a certain type of detergent to keep it as new as possible.
The changes I listed are not hard to in-act but gets you well on the chemical free path! Whenever I talk about a more natural approach to laundry, I hear SO often... but what about freshness? I think our Society really likes to take a load of laundry out and fill our homes with toxic fake perfumes... I don't know when we decided exactly that that's what it takes to be "fresh & clean." I've been using this method for months and can promise you our clothes are still fresh as well as clean without the gross stuff. With this method, our clothes smell great, are plenty clean and I have SO much more peace of mind knowing I'm not literally clothing my children in chemicals and yucky things.
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