Eco-Friendly Laundry

Traditional laundry detergents contain many types of polluting ingredients. Polluting ingredients can wreck havoc on both the environment and people's skin. The polluting ingredients can also pollute the environment when they do down the drain after washing. Even after a washing machine's rinse-and-spin cycle, a lot of laundry detergent residue is left in the clothes. Some of the most common polluting ingredients in laundry detergents are:

• NPE (nonylphenoxyethoxylate), a petroleum-derived nonionic surfactant
• chlorine bleach
• LAS (linear alkylbenzenesulfonate), a petroleum-derived anionic surfactant;
• Synthetic fragrances, which can contain toxic substances like phthalates.

Tips to save money and energy and the environment when doing laundry

Always clean out your lent trap after you dry your clothes. When the lent trap is full, it will take your dryer longer to dry your clothes. You can solve the lent trap problem by drying your clothes outside on a clothes line.

Use eco-friendly laundry detergent. Eco-friendly laundry detergent contains non-toxic, biodegradable, plant-derived and non-volatile materials.

Don't tumble dry. Use solar energy and air dry on a line. Your clothes will smell better and look better. Tumble drying can cause your clothes to faded and wrinkled.

Wash clothes in cold water. Using hot water to wash your clothes consumes much more energy than using cold water. Most laundry detergents are designed to clean with cold water. A large percent of energy in the home is wasted on heating water to wash clothes.

Wash full loads. Washing full loads every time you wash will maximize the amount of water and energy used by your washing machine.

Use a front load washing machine. Front load washing machings use use less water and less electricity compared to a top load washing machine. Front loaders also twist less and are more gentle to your clothes.

Read the labels. Carefully read the labels on your clothes. If the label has dry cleaning only, don't put it in the washer.

Wear your clothes more than once before washing them. It's easy to wear pants, shirts, jackets over and over again before using energy to wash and dry them. The more you wash your clothes, the more energy you will use and the more faded they will look.

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