5 Ways To Make Your Household Laundry More Eco-Friendly
BAKING SODA
I remember my Mum using bread soda (baking soda or bicarbonate of soda) in the washing cycle when I was growing up. It’s absolutely brilliant – it removes odor, whitens clothes and also softens fabrics. I just add ½ cup of soda to a full washing load, and use half the amount of washing detergent you would normally use.
SWITCH TO PLANT-BASED DETERGENT
I have always been so wary of laundry detergents, all those harsh chemicals, no thank you! Plant-based detergents really don’t cost that much more and they are free of chemicals and microbeads that can irritate your skin, damage textiles, and pollute our waters. For everyday use, I love Ecover, Muliers, and TruEarth
USE YOUR WASHER TO THE MAX!
And by that I mean fill her up to the max before every wash. Washers use the same amount of energy regardless of the size of the load, I swear I only learned this last week, why hasn’t somebody told me his before?!
AIR DRY YOUR CLOTHES
I know it feels like I shouldn’t even be writing this, but I sometimes get so lazy and just go for the dryer. So, I have set myself up with a couple of drying racks, I use the outdoors when I know no one will be popping around and indoors if its raining. And for things that need a tumble to be softened like towels, just pop them in the dryer once they are nearly airdried.
DRYER BALLS
I have only just discovered these! The are little wool dryer balls help to absorb moisture from our clothes, which means I can put the dryer on a lower heat setting, and they can significantly cut down on overall drying time. As an added bonus, they also help soften clothes and reduce wrinkles – YAY!