My Healthy Environment

I’ve always been susceptible to topical allergies. For years I struggled to find a laundry detergent that wouldn’t give me hives upon contact with my skin. I would switch detergents and believe that I had found a solution until a month or two later when the symptoms would return with intense ferocity. In time it became clear that I would either have to buy new clothes constantly – not an option for obvious financial reasons – for find a new way to do my laundry.

That’s when I discovered an environmentally friendly laundry unit that’s even more effective than traditional washers. The eco-conscious aspect of the machine was appealing, of course, but I was more enthusiastic about its claims of washing clothes without any detergent whatsoever. I was skeptical at first, but the claims proved to be true. I haven’t had to deal with itchy, unsightly hives in more than a year.

Laundry  detergent phosphate has been a hot topic for some time now and natural laundry detergent alternatives are being sought for every day. Many studies have been done and many articles have been written about the topic. The claims that increasingly higher  levels of phosphorus in the rivers and lakes are detrimental to aquatic life certainly may be valid.

Most laundry detergents contained sodium triphosphate which served two purposes. To provide an alkaline solution (pH 9.0 – 10.5) is necessary for effective cleansing and also to tie up calcium and magnesium ions found naturally in water, and to prevent them from interfering with the cleaning role of the detergent.

With the drive to seek out phosphate-free resources for our laundry detergents, synthetic surfactants have been substituted. Also, artificial fragrances which are made from petroleum are also added to give an appealing aroma. These substances are slow to biodegrade in the environment and have been implicated in chronic health problems and allergies and may have toxic effects on fish and mammals.

Because of these effects, we all are most likely using as little detergent as we can possibly get by on. There are some natural laundry detergent products on the market that are very bio-degradeable. Lately, there has been new technology introduced to the market that enables us to wash our laundry without the use of laundry detergent or enabling us to use just a fraction of the amount  we used prior.

This technology hooks up to a washing machine to treat incoming water with silver ions for killing odor-causing bacteria, and the cleaning power of oxygen and bubbling peroxides  to break down and lift away grime, without the need for hot water.

Laundry detergents have been a hot topic for some time,  but now we have natural laundry detergent alternatives.