Green and Clean

In my life quest to live more healthy and green, I kept coming across more and more stories about making your own laundry soap.  It's one of the hundreds of conveniences that I've come to depend on, rarely questioning it's toxicity, purity, or purpose.  Have you ever heard how "technically" we don't need soap at all and simply water and the agitation of a washing machine is as effective at removing dirt as using detergent?  Josh read that awhile back in an article and it really stuck with me.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think laundry soap is killing the whole human race or anything, and I won't be washing my clothes in just water either....I'm simply in a stage of life where I've become acutely aware of all the unneccessary chemicals and toxins and carcinogens that flood our life.  

Here is another example ; I found a "recipe" online for microwave popcorn using plain kernels and a brown lunch sac.  It never occurred to me that I could create the same effect as store-bought microwave popcorn - but without all the chemicals.  Why not?  I've become lazy and complacent!  I am part of the masses that have trained ourselves to go, grab, hurry to the checkout (...before children melt down or hubby gets home from work) eat chemicals and hormones and processed food, rub toxins on body and repeat.  It's frustrating to me that I've let myself come to the point that I don't question things like I should. 

It just doesn't make sense to me anymore.  I've never liked all the processed foods we eat and chemicals we put on ourselves everyday and I think it's contributed to some of my anxiety issues.  (It's like a leaf from a twig on a branch anchored to the trunk supported by a massive system of roots on the tree of my anxiety issues.  But that's a whole other blog post.)  It's contributed both by literally creating anxiety from messing with my body's natural hormones and processes, and by feeding my anxiety because I find myself obsessing over the chemicals I bath my family in and fake foods I fill their bellies with.   For me I've had to really decide to make the time to actually think about what I bring into my home.  Most of the time, I feel completely overwhelmed thinking about how to become more green and clean with all the information overload on the internet, and frankly - change is hard man.  Habits are hard to break! Plus, now I have to actually think (aw crap!) and the real kicker, take action.  But I know that small changes can make such a difference over time, so I'm starting small.

So I searched, and read, and research ingredients, and scribbled notes, and compared and contrasted several homemade laundry soap recipes.  I've made this one twice now, the second batch being a double batch, and I have no complaints so far.  This one is a powder and there are also recipes for a gel (my SIL makes and has used the gel kind for ages) but the gel is more complicated to make and store and remember, I'm starting small! Baby steps!  An added bonus, the kids think it's fun to make our own laundry soap.  

There are many soaps that work for this purpose but for the first couple of batches I choose Fels-Naptha.  It's an old-school household soap for stain removal that smells great! However I started reading more about what it is made up of.  It's all not cut and dry because (as one of the main reasons for my quest to get off store-bought soaps and lotions, etc in the first place) they are not even required by the government to list all the ingredients.  But it's very clear that naptha (and listed ingredient stoddard solvent) is petroleum based, so I decided to try a more natural option this last time I made some.  Perhaps in a perfect world I would have checked that first...but these are baby steps here!

This time I tried a good ol' basic castile soap.  I understand exactly what the ingredients are in castile soap without having to find their definitions and there is no question about it being made with any kind of petroleum by-products like naptha. "The simple nature of the soap means a lesser environmental impact due to reduced waste stream during manufacture and also faster biodegradability." (source)  Kirk's Castile bar soap ingredients are coconut soap, water, vegetable glycerin, coconut oil, and natural fragrance.  Now we're on to something! I'm kinda loving castile soap and it makes me really sad that there is so much faith placed on other products that are so toxic - and most people don't even know.  All the things I've been reading about soap in the past couple of months make my head spin.  We're only a couple of weeks into the castile batch but so far it's cleaning and performing wonderfully.  I'll keep you posted!  

Aside from trying the two different soaps, I also tried different ratios with my last batch.  It seems like the ratios can be switched up based on your water hardness, clothes dinginess, etc.  I think I'm trying yet another recipe that I found on the Kirk's Castile website next time.  Here are the basic ingredients in homemade laundry soap:
-Super Washing Soda - detergent enhancer, freshener, and all-natural!
-Borax - detergent enhancer, natural whitener, odor remover (there is controversy out there among the nit-pickers over the safety of borax, but based on my own research I'm leaning toward the side that says it's better than petroleum based products and it is not toxic in the quantities used for cleaning purposes, but I'm still reading on it)
-Grated soap flakes (Ivory, Fels-Naptha, Castille, etc.)
And that is it! How happy does this make me?! Happier than a hippie in a field of wildflowers!  You can also add baking soda for odors and freshness, vinegar for stain fighting and softening (to the rinse cycle),  or essential oils for all-natural fragrance.

This adventure of laundry soap (let alone food or personal care products) has been eye opening and kinda fun.  It's very gratifying to know I'm taking charge of my family's well-being.  I'll have to share my findings and the changes we've made with bath soap, shampoo and conditioner soon too.  Have you ever been on one of the sites that rate your toiletries and cosmetics based on toxicity?? Scary stuff, sister.  Check out http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ or www.goodguide.com if you want to see how your favorite cosmetics are rated.  That can be your homework for our next gathering of Urban Hippies in Training!