This morning I opened my newspaper and saw that over 700 children had been harmed (one fatally) by the latest laundry trend, laundry soap pods. Truthfully, I’d never really paid attention to them, after all I spend most of my time in the organic and non-toxic areas of the grocery store and I make a lot of my own cleaners and even laundry detergent. I’m also too frugal to pay more for colorful little pods that save two seconds in pouring detergent in the washer. After thinking about it, those pods do look like candy. Scary, Scary Scary! After reading about all the health issues caused by those little pods it was even scarier.
So what is the answer? Well I could spend a ton of time telling you all the reasons why you shouldn’t use most laundry detergents and fabric softeners. How the fragrance can be a hormone disrupter that they cause skin sensitivity and allergies and all the other reasons why they are super bad for your family (and the environment) but you don’t need me to step on my soapbox today, I’ll just share what I do…
I use Protective Blend Laundry Detergent and Wool Dryer Balls with a drop of Cleansing Blend on them in place of fabric softener.
Why? I received a bottle of Protective Blend Laundry Detergent in an Essential Oils Convention Kit I bought last year. I decided to try it although truthfully, I wasn’t sure it was up to my family’s needs. We’re outdoorsy, have dogs, kids and live in a city that gets eight feet of rain a year so we are no stranger to mud, mud and more mud. Plus I’m ‘crafty’ so I do fabric dying and use all sorts of adhesives, paints and other items designed to destroy your favorite clothes. So I gave it a shot and was more than pleasantly surprised. The laundry comes out clean and so far with a little help from Lemon oil and Protective Blend Foaming Hand Wash as spot cleaners we’ve managed to avoid ruining any clothes since we started using it. Plus it has had the unexpected result of neutralizing odors… especially my husband’s running gear. Not sure how it works, but after a work-out his clothes don’t remind me of a men’s locker room. I also use wool dryer balls and add a drop of Cleansing Blend, Lemon or Wild Orange Essential Oil to them and toss them in the dryer. They make the load dry faster, no static cling and you don’t have to worry about a wayward laundry sheet stuck to your backside and you can’t get more frugal than that.
But what about convenience and saving time? Yes the pods are faster and you don’t have to worry about wasting detergent and using too much. No worries, Protective Blend laundry detergent uses 1 Tablespoon for HE washers and 2 Tablespoons for the regular washers and here is a tip, after you measure it out, pour the laundry detergent in the washer’s detergent receptacle and mark with an Identa-a-Pen and you don’t have to measure again. [You’ll love the Ident-a-Pen, they write on anything!]
