Non Toxic Laundry Room Swaps For Every Budget

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Did you know your laundry room has one of the highest chemical loads of any room in your house? It’s true!

We use products filled with fragrance, artificial dyes, sodium borate and more!

If these words sound artificial to you, don’t worry! We’re going to hop into the nitty gritty of what the most harmful chemicals are and how to read them on labels.

Ingredients

We’re going to start off with the ingredients that make your favorite laundry must-haves toxic.

  • Fragrance : also labeled as “parfum”, this is an undisclosed mix of scent chemicals that can be umbrella termed under this one phrase. Can cause : allergies, dermatitis, respiratory distress and potential reproductive harm

  • Colors : also seen as specific colors - specifically RED. Prohibited in cosmetics because of being a known carcinogen in animal testing. But is allowed in our foods and household items.

  • Sodium Borate : also known as borax, boric acid. Has been linked to harm of reproductive system. Again, found unsafe for use in cosmetics but openly used in household products.

  • SLS : also known as sodium laureth; linked to skin irritation and commonly contaminated with more harmful ingredients through cross contamination.

  • PEGs : also seen as PPGs, not toxic on its own but the process of creating the chemical creates toxins that are contaminated with heavy metal ions and other toxic substances. These substances can be carcinogens and can have side effects when combined with other ingredients.

These are the most commonly seen toxins in conventional products. There are many more, listed under many different names. Be sure to do your research, read your labels and when in doubt check ewg.org to look into a particular ingredient!

What to use instead

Here’s the deal, you’re going to go through a few products before you find something you absolutely love. Below I’ll be giving you a guide of some of the safest products on the market, where to get them and what their price point is.

Making the switch doesn’t have to be complicated. I’m here to simplify it for you!

Laundry Detergent

If you’re wanting to buy directly from a store, Target has Seventh Generation Ultra Power Plus Pods. They’re $13.99 at our local store. Seventh Generation does have unsafe products, so be sure to stick to the pods!

If you’re wanting to buy from Amazon

Fabric Softener

If you’re wanting to buy directly from a store, Target has Seventh Generation Fabric Softener Sheets. Again, the liquid has some sketchy ingredients so stick to the sheets if you can!

If you’re wanting to buy from Amazon

Dryer Sheets

Dryer sheets overall are not the best, this is a prime opportunity for companies to add chemicals and fragrance to a product.

I like to get my wool dryer balls, add a few drops of essential oils and throw those in the dryer with my clothes. If the static becomes an issue, try adding a clothespin or two to your dryer balls.

If you’re wanting to buy directly from a store, Target has Seventh Generation Dryer Sheets.

If you’re wanting to buy from Amazon

  • Clean People Dryer Sheets; $14.95 for 160 loads (these are only rated a B on EWG)

  • Wool Dryer balls and essential oils are the safest, as mentioned above

Ready to learn more? Good, because I’m ready to teach! Snag my e-book and start switching over every product in your home, one by one. I’m going over this exact process and simplifying everything to eliminate the overwhelm and help you reduce the toxin load on your family.

If you’ve made it this far, you can get my e-book for 10% off using code LAUNDRY at checkout.