Chemicals In Your Laundry? We Say, No Way!
Our mission? To help make your home just a little greener, one room at a time. The laundry room can contain some pretty harsh chemicals and eat up a lot of energy. May we suggest some alternatives?
Let Your Washer Do The Work
If your washing machine is more than 10 years old, you’re using about twice as much water per load as you would with a new high-efficiency Energy Star-rated appliance. (The Environmental Protection Agency awards the labels to energy-efficient washers.)
Over the course of an Energy Star washer’s expected 11-year lifespan, it should save you about $550 in utility bills—meaning the new machine will eventually pay for itself.
Wash in Cold Water
About 90 percent of the energy used by a washing machine goes to heat the water, so you’ll save energy and money by washing clothes in cold water. Clothes last longer when they are washed in cold water and their colors are less likely to run. Also make sure your washer is fully loaded (or adjust the water setting if you have a small load).
Just Say No To Dryer Sheets
Most cloth dryer sheets have a plastic substrate that doesn’t biodegrade. You can buy biodegradable dryer sheets, but frankly, you don’t really need them. White vinegar is a natural fabric softener; just add half a cup during the wash cycle. Overdrying clothes causes static, so if your dryer has a “more dry/less dry” option, choose “less dry.” Take advantage of residual heat and finish the load on the “cool down” cycle. Better yet, try line-drying.
Hang It Out
The environmental benefits of line drying your clothes are enormous. Project Laundry List, a New Hampshire-based nonprofit that advocates air-drying, estimates that if every American household used a washing line for 10 months of the year, we’d cut the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere by 12 million metric tons. Plus, line drying will you save at least $25 a month in utility bills, and air-dried clothes hold up better over time.
Although line-dried fabrics can feel a bit stiff and crunchy, there are easy ways to soften them up: Use less detergent, add half a cup of vinegar during the wash cycle, shake out clothes before you pin them up and hang clothes in partial shade.
Don’t have the outdoor space? An indoor drying rack works equally well.
Cut Back on Dry Cleaning
Enter many dry cleaners and the fumes are a giveaway to the toxic chemicals used to launder clothes. Traditionally, the dry-cleaning process uses perchloroethylene (perc, for short), which is a skin, eye, nose and throat irritant that has been linked to several types of cancer and reduced fertility. Not only is perc toxic to humans, it’s also a fast-moving groundwater pollutant.
The most environmentally sound approach is to avoid buying clothes that require dry cleaning. If that’s not an option for you, seek out dry cleaners that rely on liquid carbon dioxide instead of perc, or employ “wet cleaning,” a high-tech process that uses water and mild detergent. Or consider doing the job yourself at home. Most delicate fabrics, such as silk and cashmere, can be safely hand-washed with a mild detergent in cold water or in a machine set to “delicate.”
Whiten Without Bleach
The most toxic laundry chemical is so commonly used that most washing machines have a built-in dispenser for it: chlorine bleach. It irritates skin and eyes, and is fatal if swallowed. So it makes sense to choose bleach that’s chlorine free. Oxygen bleaches, such as Oxy-Boost from Natural Choices Home Safe Products, and bleaches that use hydrogen peroxide—which degrades naturally into oxygen and water—are both good alternatives.
Wash in Cold Water
About 90 percent of the energy used by a washing machine goes to heat the water, so you’ll save energy and money by washing clothes in cold water. Clothes last longer when they are washed in cold water and their colors are less likely to run. Also make sure your washer is fully loaded (or adjust the water setting if you have a small load).
