Laundry day has never been so environmentally-friendly.

One of the sneaky ways you are putting both the environment and your health at risk can be found in none other than the laundry room. Store-bought products are packed with toxic ingredients – some of which are not even noted on the packaging – that irritate the skin and can lead to diseases such as cancer. These five alternatives cover all your laundry needs without much effort, and they take heed to both your skin’s health and your environmental consciousness.

Stain Remover

There are a lot of natural stain removers to choose from, but I prefer hydrogen peroxide for its accessibility and environmental-friendliness as well as for being a panacea of sorts. Hydrogen peroxide has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-mold, and anti-mildew properties, which makes it a wonderful cleaning agent. In addition to cleaning cuts and wounds, it can be used to remove clothing stains. Simply spray the hydrogen peroxide onto the stain, allow it to sit for 10 minutes, and then throw the clothing into the washer. Prior to washing, it may also help to use a toothbrush to scrub the stain while the hydrogen peroxide is sitting.

Detergent

Adapted from My Healthy Green Family, this detergent recipe mimics the effects of Tide, without the toxic, potentially cancerous ingredients. The soap gets rid of impurities and oils, the washing soda both cleanses and softens, the baking soda removes stains and odors, and the salt prevents fading.

Ingredients:

• 1 bar vegetable-based glycerin soap, grated finely
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/4 cup coarse salt

Directions: Grate the bar of soap. It can be scented according to your olfactory preferences, but make sure there are no artificial perfumes. Combine the grated soap with the remaining ingredients and mix until evenly combined. When not using, store in an airtight, glass container. Use in dosages equal to what any regular detergent company recommends.

Softener

Instead of using softener, add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle. Baking soda is a natural softener and isn’t less irritable to your skin as are chemical-ridden store-bought brands.

However, if you have the time to put together a more effective and aromatic softener, in a bowl, combine 1/2 cup baking soda with 1/2 cup water. Stir until the baking soda is dissolved. Next add 2 cups of white vinegar, but slowly, as the mixture will foam and rise slightly. Once it has settled, add about 15 drops of your favorite essential oils. Mix thoroughly and store in a glass container. Use the same amount you would if adding normal softener to the laundry.

Wrinkle Releaser/Dryer Sheets

To prevent wrinkles, take 1 teaspoon of the extended softener recipe and mix it with 1 cup of water in a spray bottle. Spray lightly onto wet clothing, just out of the washer, before putting into the dry cycle or hanging to dry.

Dry-Clean-Only Clothing Deodorizer

To remove the stink from clothes that require dry cleaning only, vodka is a handy tool. Simply spray vodka all around the clothing item and let it hang overnight to dry. Vodka has anti-bacterial properties that get rid of the smell, surprisingly without leaving any vestiges of vodka aroma behind.

Images: Gemtek1, Tim Samoff, Kathie Lapcevik, TPapi, Catzkill, Lordelo

The post 5 Ways to Wash and Freshen Your Clothes Without Chemicals appeared first on EcoSalon.

From baking soda to table salt, get the sparkle without the toxins.

Contrary to what Proctor & Gamble would have you believe, you don’t need a complex chemical compound to get your house “fresh,” “sparkling” or clean. Nor do you need particularly advanced compounds for cleaning toilets or scrubbing away grime. That’s just big companies tapping into old anxieties picked up in chemistry class. As in, “I really don’t get what this teacher is going on about, but that thing exploded so I must be doing something right.”

When it comes to cleaning the space in which you live, love and breathe, Professor SC Johnson doesn’t know his carbon from his footprint. Stock your house with these eleven staples and your home will dazzle with cleanliness instead of the toxic stuff that makes you cough.

1. Olive Oil
Consider it a cure-all. It can be used for polishing wood, getting a zipper unstuck, preventing hairballs (add a teaspoon to your cat’s food), shining stainless steel and brass, polishing shoes, and making your leather (or pleather) sofa look like new.

and,

2. Vinegar
Vinegar is acidic, meaning it will kill mold and mildew. It’s also great for removing stains and curbing rust. Use it on your windows and mirrors, too, as well as toilets.

3. Baking Soda
Because baking soda is alkaline, it works well with acidic messes – like grease, proteins and animal poop. It also removes odor from said pets and other stinks. Add a little water to make a paste and scour your tub with it.

4. Salt
Dissolve salt in white vinegar to make a subtle abrasive for cleaning tiles, glass and sinks. Here’s another tip: if you drop an egg, clean it up with a handful of salt.

5. Castile Soap
Castile soap is vegetable-based and cleans by attaching itself to dirt at the molecular level. That’s way more hardcore than Scrubbing Bubbles®.

6. Lemon Juice
Lemons can be used as a natural disinfectant and alternative to bleach. They will obliterate germs and microbes, and still look all cheery and yellow.

7. Tea Tree Oil
In our household, we relish in cleaning with essential oils, mainly because they smell pretty. Tea Tree Oil has that hyper-minty scent associated with so many commercial cleaning products, though it comes by it’s smell naturally. It’s extracted from the leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia and can be used to remove mildew and mold, as well as eradicating bacteria, germs and microbes.

8. Old newspapers
Mix some warm water with a drop or two of vinegar to wash your windows, then dry with bunched up newspaper to get your windows sparking.

9. Orange Oil
Another essential oil, this one is great for removing gummy grime.

10. Borax
The name bears a cautionary resemblance to Clorax and Lorax, but borax is a naturally occurring evaporate deposit found in seasonal lakes. It’s alkaline, thus effective at killing mold and fungus, and softens water. Try adding it to laundry, or use it to clean countertops, walls, pots and pans. You can even clean fine, hand-painted china with it.

11. Toothpaste
Because a tube of it consists of a mild abrasive, a detergent and an antibacterial agent, toothpaste is a born stain-fighter. Stay away from tartar control or whitening brands for a breadth of reasons, the main one here being that it can inflict damage on surfaces like silver.

Images: Jaymie Koroluk; Alfonso Silóniz; Rakka; Krissen; Max Edmands; Sarah Cady; .angels; just.Luc; SheKnows; Instructables; Stéfan

The post 11 Household Items You Can Use for Cleaning (& Greening) Your Home appeared first on EcoSalon.