What chemicals may be lurking in laundry detergent?

1. The Truth About
Dirty Laundry

2. Get Good Grades
Choose laundry products with “A” or “B” ratings from the
Environmental Working Group (EWG). As you may have
deduced, an “A” is a very good rating. It means the product
is safe for you and the environment. Meanwhile, a an “F”
grade means the product is highly toxic and the company
isn’t telling you exactly what it’s made of. Shady.
You can easily find brands that have an “A” rating at your
local grocery store. Try out Ecover, Seventh Generation and
Green Shield brand detergents.

3. Judge by the Cover
Look out for the Design for the Environment logo. The DfE program assigns
this logo to products that pass their screening process. It means that the
product poses less of a health and environmental risk and all ingredients
used are certified as safe.

4. “Green” Is Not Always Good
Advertising fools a lot of us. Just because a
detergent sounds nontoxic does not mean it is.
Terms like “green” and “naturally derived” are
sometimes used to spin the appearance of
those “F” grade products.

5. If You Need that Fresh Laundry Smell
Not all natural-sounding fragrances are necessarily safe. Manufacturers may
combine naturally occurring fragrances with man-made fragrances to create
“lavender” or “citrus” scents. When in doubt, check the EWG Guide to
Healthy Cleaning database to make sure you’re safe.

6. Just Keep it Real
Believe it or not, there was soft laundry before fabric softeners and
fragranced dryer sheets. Since these products have particularly high
concentrations of chemicals, try out some of these non-toxic ways to soften
clothes, remove stains, and reduce static:
• Add a ½ cup of white distilled vinegar to the rinse cycle
• Use wool dryer balls to reduce static and wrinkles. The way they work is the
balls pull moisture out of your clothes in the dryer as they bounce around. They
also soften, separate and fluff, so the more dryer balls you have in a load, the
shorter the drying time will be!
• Hang your clothes out to dry when the weather cooperates to save energy,
avoid static and get warm clothes.