Detox Your Home - Part 2 — CONSERVANCY HORNBY ISLAND

Spring Greetings, Everyone! Part 2 of our Detox your Home campaign offers green solutions for dealing with your never-ending laundry pile! Part 1 shared information about some of the dangers of toxic laundry products. Thankfully there are healthy alternatives available as follows:

1) LAUNDRY SOAP

a) An earth-friendly recipe - Begin with 7 litres of hot water in a pail. Add 1 cup baking soda and 1/3 cup coarse salt to dissolve. Add 1 cup of liquid castile soap & stir. Use 1/2 cup per load of laundry.

b) Eco Max liquid laundry soap- an excellent Canadian product with Ecologo certification. It comes in an unscented, hypoallergenic option safe for sensitive individuals, baby clothes and the environment. It also comes in a lavender essential oil-scented version (both available at the Co-op).

c) Kudos to the "Local Refillery" in Courtenay, which sells very pure liquid laundry and castile soaps in bulk (as well as bulk nut butters, honey, dry goods etc.) Refilleries seem to be cropping up everywhere as a positive step in eliminating wasteful packaging.

d) For the very purest alternative, try using no laundry soap at all. Many people report good success using just plain water.

An interesting side note about liquid castile soap is it is a vegetable-based soap made from olive oil and gets it's name from the Castile region of Spain, renowned for its olive oil. "Island Essentials" castile soap is made locally in Langford, B.C. (& available in two sizes at the Co-op). Other brands of castile soap may contain palm kernel oil, the production of which causes widespread destruction of rainforest habitat.

2) LAUNDRY BLEACH

The use of chlorine bleach for whiter whites and brighter colours has high health and environmental risks (see Part 1). The good news is that there are safe alternatives:

a) Hydrogen peroxide bleach breaks into oxygen and water in the environment.

b) The best disinfectant in the world is sunshine, so instead of pouring bleach over your cutting board or adding bleach to your laundry, try putting them out in the sun for an hour. Your clothes will have the fresh sweet smell of nature. Or better yet, to save on your hydro bill & contribute to global cooling, ditch your dryer sometimes and hang your clothes outside or inside on a good old-fashioned clothesline or drying rack.

3) FABRIC SOFTENER

Many fabric softeners and dryer sheets contain fragrances and other chemicals that can be neurotoxic and hormone disrupters. Some natural alternatives are:

a) To soften your wash water and laundry, simply pour one cup of white vinegar in during your rinse cycle (not the wash cycle).

b) OR Add ½ cup coarse salt to your wash cycle. Optionally, you can pre-mix 4 to 5 cups salt and 2 tsp. of essential oil, either lavender, peppermint, lemon or lemongrass, and keep it in a container for easy scooping.

c) Using three 2 oz. wool dryer balls will shrink dryer time by 30 to 50% by absorbing moisture and rotating clothes while decreasing wrinkles & static cling. Note that they are best used for natural fibres like cotton, linen, hemp and bamboo, not acrylic or polyester blends (available at Local Refillery). You can also add essential oils to them for a nice laundry scent. *Apparently, tennis balls cut down on dryer time as well!

4) STAIN REMOVERS

Commercial spot removers often contain toxic solvents such as petroleum naphtha or chlorinated hydrocarbons harmful to the ozone layer and human health. Some alternative stain solutions are as follows:

a) BLOOD: Pour hydrogen peroxide on the stain and rinse in lukewarm water.

OR Immediately pour salt or club soda on the stain and soak in cold water.

OR For more stubborn stains, mix cornstarch with talcum powder, or cornmeal. Add water to create a paste. Apply, let dry and brush away.

b) CHEWING GUM: Rub with ice until it becomes so hard that the gum will flake off.

c) COFFEE OR CHOCOLATE: Soak in cold water, rub with soap and a mild borax solution, rinse, then wash in very hot water.

OR Mix egg yolk with lukewarm water and rub on the stain.

For stains on coffee cups or pots, rub with moist salt or baking soda, or a mixture of salt and vinegar.

d) FRUIT OR WINE: Immediately wet the stain and pour on salt or club soda, Iet sit for awhile, then soak in water or milk before washing OR If you don't catch the stain immediately, pour boiling water or as hot water as the fabric will stand over it, then soak in hot water.

e) INK: Ballpoint: Sponge with rubbing alcohol, rub with soap, rinse and wash OR soak in milk.

Felt-tip: Rub with soap, rinse and wash.

f) LIPSTICK: Rub with cold cream or shortening to dissolve the color, then rinse with solution of soap and washing soda in warm water to remove the grease. Wash in hot soapy water.

g) MILDEW: Pour soap and salt on the spots, rinse and dry in sunlight.

OR Spray with vinegar or lemon juice and place in sunlight. Keep spots moist and repeat as often as necessary.

OR Soak in equal parts white vinegar and salt, rinse and dry in sunlight.

h) OILS OR GREASE: For cottons, pour boiling or very hot water through the fabric, then rub it with dry baking soda. For other materials, blot with a towel, dampen the stain with water and rub with liquid soap (preferably citrus-based) and baking soda. Wash in water as hot as possible, using extra soap.

OR Rub white chalk into the stain before washing.

i) PERSPIRATION: Rub the stain with equal parts white vinegar and water, then rinse.

j) RUST: Saturate with sour milk, buttermilk or lemon juice, then rub with salt. Place in sunlight until dry, then wash.

k) SCORCHES: Gently boil the scorched article in 250 ml soap and two litres of milk.

OR Rub with grated onion, and wash.

l) SOILED DIAPERS: Pre-soak in 45 ml baking soda dissolved in warm water in a tub or washing machine.

*One last hydro bill-saving tip is to use cold water for laundry because 90% of the energy used by washing is to heat the water. (You can also take the pressure off the grid by doing laundry at bedtime.)

Once again, we'd like to thank the Georgia Strait Alliance Organization for providing much of the information in this article and wish you all Happy Laundering!

Kristin Sonstebo

*Information from the David Suzuki Foundation website.