My Toxic Free Laundry Routine

Oh, laundry… everybody does it but no one likes to do it. 

Am I right? 

No matter what, there’s no way around doing laundry. Some do it once a week and some do it 3x a week (like me).  

It must be done and it seems like it’s never-ending. Once a load is done we’re onto the next load. 

Here’s the thing though… did you know most laundry detergents have ingredients like natural fragrances, optical brighteners, bleach, and harmful chemicals? 

That means you are washing your clothes in this and then wearing it ALL DAY. 

Gross.

What are some of the toxic chemicals in laundry detergent?

Natural Fragrances – 

Here’s the real kicker,  you would think natural fragrance would mean just that, natural fragrance.

According to US Law, “fragrance and flavor ingredients can be listed simply as “Fragrance” or “Flavor”.” Meaning, they don’t need to label the ingredients in the fragrance. Unfortunately, there are thousands of fragrance ingredients and a lot of them are toxic.

Environmental Working Group (EWG) states that “the average fragrance product tested contained 14 secret chemicals not listed on the label. Among them are chemicals associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety in personal care products.” For example, Diethyl Phthalate is the chemical that interferes with hormone function as well as reproductive damage.

SHOP MY FAVORITE ESSENTIAL OIL ACCESSORIES HERE

EWG also mentions that the ingredients that aren’t listed are chemicals “with troubling hazardous properties or with a propensity to accumulate in human tissues.”  

The last piece of horrifying news… EWG lists “fragrance” as #8 for how toxic it is (10 is highest). 

Optical Brighteners – 

Optical brighteners are something I just learned about through a friend. They are synthetic chemicals that make your clothes appear brighter and cleaner than they actually are.

In order to make the clothes appear brighter, they have to stay on the clothing.  Therefore, this chemical is on your body 24/7 and you are breathing it in all the time. This means optical brighteners are causing your clothes to look cleaner instead of removing the stains.

I’m sorry… isn’t the whole reason we wash our clothes is to make them clean again?

There is not enough research about optical brighteners and how harmful they are to the body. However, I’d rather have cleaner clothes than an illusion that my clothes look clean.

Bleach – 

Oh, the dreaded bleach.

It is harsh, smells horrible and can be quite damaging to your health.

Bleach can hurt your skin, eyes, and if you inhale it, it can damage your lungs. Also, if it is mixed with the wrong ingredients, it can create chloramines which can cause so many health issues. 

No thanks.

Harmful Chemicals – 

Want to know what toxic chemicals to avoid when looking at the laundry detergent label? Check Gone With Mommy’s list of chemicals to avoid… it’s scary.

With that being said, there are ways around these nasty toxins! My favorite way is creating my own laundry detergent. That way I know exactly what goes into my clothing and I won’t have to wonder if I am harming myself and the environment or not.

Let me breakdown how I do that below.

1. I split the laundry detergent three ways into 32oz Pump Bottles. 
2. Add 1-2 caps of Thieves Household Cleaner
3. Then add 25 drops of your essential oil of choice (I used lavender)
4. Lastly, fill the rest of the bottle with distilled water
5. Use 3-4 squirts of laundry detergent per heavy load

*I split the laundry detergent three ways because it is ultra-concentrated and we can get more bang for our buck when we split it up. 

I use Thieves laundry detergent which is made up of plant based ingredients and has no synthetic ingredients or harsh additives. It also contains no sulfates, dyes, petrochemicals, formaldehyde, phosphates, synthetic perfumes, or optical brighteners. 

Now that we have the laundry detergent situation handled, let’s move onto the dryer which is another serious issue we have.  Did you know that there are, 25 volatile organic compounds that come out of the dryer vents? Two of those are carcinogens (as classified by EPA).

Thanks a lot, dryer sheets…

Easy solution? Wool dryer balls! I got mine here.

Wool dryer balls are a great replacement for dryer sheets.

Benefits of Wool Dryer Balls

1. Wool dryer balls cut down on drying time which in turn, helps you save on electricity
2. They are eco-friendly! Bye-bye nasty chemicals.
3. The dryer balls are very durable and work great with heavy loads (such as towels and blankets)
4. You only need to replace them every 1,000 loads or so (when they start looking scraggly) meaning, these dryer balls are a great budget-friendly option!
5. Helps with static and wrinkles

How to Use Dryer Balls in Laundry

1. First off, don’t fill your dryer up too high as the balls need to do their job and require space to do so! 
2. Grab 3 – XL Wool Balls and add 3-5 drops of your favorite essential oil to each one (reapply after each load)
3. That’s it!