Eco-friendly Laundry
Eco-friendly Laundry Products
Conventional detergents contain a mixture of chemicals, the most significant of these for the environment being petroleum-derived surfactants, bleaches, colorants, phosphate additives, etc. When the water used in washing laundry is released back into the environment, water and soil is contaminated. For example, surfactants are toxic to aquatic organisms and are highly persistent in the environment.
Bleaches are inherently toxic and also have toxic byproducts as they biodegrade. One type of bleach, sodium hypochlorite, forms hazardous gases and chlorinated organic byproducts. Certain colorants are believed to be associated with adverse health effects in humans, as well as being toxic to aquatic organisms. Phosphate additives create algal blooms that consume the oxygen in bodies of water, killing both marine animals and plants.
Eco-friendly laundry products, such as eco laundry balls, are toxin free, gentle on clothes, and produces grey water.
Maintaining Organic Clothing
Organic clothing is easy to maintain because it has not been damaged by chemical processing. For example, organic cotton is thicker and longer lasting than conventional cotton because the fibres have not been broken down by being subjected to bleach or toxic dyes.
All Ettitude’s organic cotton clothing can be machine washed and dried. No drying is required for their organic clothing, saving not only the environment but time and money. Their organic knit wear should be hand washed in cold water and line dried – which uses less electricity of course. When choosing a laundry detergent it is recommended a non-chlorine bleach earth-friendlier product, decreasing your exposure and your children’s exposure to chemicals.
Organic textiles are also naturally softer so there is no need for fabric softeners- saving you time and money. For example, bamboo fibre is naturally ultra soft and highly absorbent. Its odor resistance and soil releasing properties means it stays fresher for longer and does not require to be treated with bleach.
Ettitude’s organic baby and children’s clothing is also pre-shrunk to ensure a perfect fit- which means no shrinking or buckling after you wash them.
Tags: detergents, Eco-friendly Laundry Products, laundry balls, organic clothes washing
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Eco-friendly Laundry Products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.