In my last post, I shared some basic laundry tips I learned from reading the book Laundry Love, by Patric Richardson. You can read those tips in my blogpost HERE that cover topics like what temperature water to use, choosing a cycle, and how to wash really dirty clothing.
I’m breaking down some of the products and supplies Patric lists in Chapter One of the book. When I was writing out my shopping list for laundry products I had to do a bit of searching to determine exactly which products I should purchase. I’m sharing my research to simplify the task for you!
Best Laundry Products
Soap Flakes | or a high quality, plant based, liquid laundry soap. Laundry soap should be free of petroleum, phosphate, phthalates, and artificial colors. I useLaundry Evangelist soap flakes. You only need one tablespoon of flakes per load and simply toss the flakes on top of your laundry, directly into the drum of your HE washing machine. For other machines use 1-1/2 Tablespoons. These laundry flakes come in a one pound bag and will do 85-90 loads of laundry.
Bleach Alternative | A bottle of 100% sodium percarbonate like Nellies Oxygen Brightener or The Laundress All Purpose Bleach Alternative or this bleach alternative from Walmart. OxyClean can also be used.
Washing Soda | Borax | Baking Soda | Adding any of these to your wash will boost the cleaning power, remove stains, and odors.
Small Laundry Brush | Essential for removing stains! I use this one from The Laundry Evangelist.
Laundry Soap Bar | I use Fels-Naptha with a laundry brush for spot cleaning. You can find Fels-Naptha bar at Walmart, Amazon as well as most grocery stores for under a dollar.
STAIN SOLUTION | This is a concentrated, oil-soap solution. I use The Laundress Stain solution.
VODKA | Yes, you read that correctly! Keep a small spray bottle filled with cheap vodka to eliminate odors from clothing like smoke from the campfire, restaurant smells, even your gym bag. Trust me, it works!
ALUMINUM FOIL | A yard of aluminum foil made into a ball will eliminate static in your dryer.
WOOL BALLS | Add a few drops of essential oil to a couple wool balls and place in dryer to give your laundry a fresh scent. I love adding lavender! You can find wool balls on Amazon.
Bumpy rubber dryer balls | I like the hedge hog ones! Add these to dryer with towels for fluffy towels!
Other items | You can find other items to keep on hand in Patric’s book, Laundry Love.
Laundry Products to Avoid
Any popular detergent that comes in giant, multigallon bottles. These are loaded with petrochemicals which are bad for your clothes, your skin and the environment. Even “baby” and “free clear” laundry detergent has animal-based ingredients, chemicals that are impossible to pronounce (or spell) like sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate and stilbene disulfonic acid triazine derivative!
Popular detergent colorful pods. They’ve got the same bad chemicals, only in concentrated form! There’s enough detergent in one pod to wash 5 loads of clothes! That also means that many of these chemicals aren’t washing away in the water, but staying in your clothes, bedding and towels. They are also linked to allergies and skin rashes.
Fabric Softener + Dryer Sheets – the first time you use fabric softener on a load of clothes you’re coating your textiles with silicone and cutting their absorbency by up to 80%. That means your towels will no longer do what they were made to do — soak up water. When you use dryer sheets or fabric softeners, stains become incredibly hard to remove. Ever have someone recommend placing fabric sheets around your home foundation or in your boat to keep mice out? If mice know to run away from dryer sheets, maybe we should take a cue from them!
Stain Removing Sprays | These are all-in-one options that often don’t work. In the book Patric details three basic types of stains and how to remove all of them. Really!
This post is probably going to rock your laundry world! I know it did mine. While I gave up fabric softener and dryer sheets a long time ago, I was still using those colorful pods. Each time I used one, I didn’t feel quite right about it, but I didn’t know why. Reading the book was eye-opening, especially in light of the chemicals that are hard on fabrics, the environment and our skin! Recently I’ve been reading about making laundry detergent….. I mean, we make homemade meals, desserts, art, etc. Why not try homemade laundry soap?
I also realize this post is overflowing with a great deal of information. I highly recommend getting the Laundry Love book from either your local library or online. Because it is such a wonderful resource, I purchased the book and keep it in my laundry room for stain removal tips and basic laundry tip reminders.
Happy wash day!
