Give us dirty laundry

Hello,

My name is bwings and I don't roll my clothes around in animal fat.

The Beast helping me with Laundry June '09

Maybe you weren't aware of this, but most fabric softener is made using animal fat from cows, sheep and yes even horses. That ought to capture your eye. I have heard of people eating cow burgers and leg of lamb but at the mention of a horse burger everyone gets angry. I don't pretend to be perfect, it's quite hard to know what is in everything we use. That is, in fact, why I started this blog in the first place.

To make the fabric softener they boil down the animal fat and mix it with ammonium among a few other chemicals and you create a compound to coat your clothing in fat and make them soft to the touch.

I just resolved to not use fabric softeners, I never did anyway but I would continue to avoid them. What they, can one do to soften their clothes if they were not to use fabric softener? From what I have read, aside from more naturally derived softener you can add vinegar to your wash. If you want soft and pretty smelling clothes you can also add some essential oils to the wash to aid in this. If you are seeking a natural fabric softener this blogger created a list of her findings. I have not personally researched those individual softeners so can not confirm how accurate her findings are. In other words, if you are seeking a animal friendly alternative you can use their list as a reference and then look into the product yourself to confirm. 

Aside from animal fat there is also the question of phosphates and EDTA among other chemicals in our detergents and softeners. A quick review, phosphates are a favorite diet for algae. The more Phosphates we add to the environment the more algae that is mass produced and the algae uses up all the oxygen thus killing the fish in the water. EDTA is found in so much! Shampoos, bubble baths, soaps, detergents etc. It bonds with metals increasing the mercury in fish and thus humans that do eat fish. 

Check your ingredient list, question statements like, "natural ingredients" and "Bio-degradable" for their are always lovely loop holes for manufacturers to use. For instance they can claim to be derived from natural ingredients when in fact it's just the water that these natural ingredients soaked in to make the scent. The rest of the cocktail is still EDTA and or phosphate ridden. 

And what about the container? I purchase my soap in large containers and refill my smaller container at home. It's a pain to always carry the big one around and I always manage to lose that little cover so it is not an option. But I ensure that the container I use is recyclable so I know when I am finished with them it won't spend hundreds of thousands of years in a landfill.

Remember that chemicals were used to create that smell you so adore, consider replacing it with essential oils or maybe just putting essential oils on your wrist and neck throughout the day. You don't need to soak your clothes in chemicals to smell pretty.

Lastly, when and where you can, wash your clothes in cold water and hang to dry or tumble dry on low heat. It will consume far less energy and save you money on your bill. If you are going to use cold water you might want to find a green detergent that is geared towards cold water.

That is all for today as I have a basket of laundry to fold.
Your friendly neighborhood hippie mom.