Laundry Soap Redefined | Q+A with Molly's Suds Founder

A few years ago I set out on a quest to find out whether or not homemade laundry detergent is actually a healthier option (read about it here)? AND, if it is healthier, can it be done more cost effectively too? Because with 5 boys, there is no shortage of laundry to be done and I am not in the business of laboring over a recipe if it’s not toxin-free and saving some dollars!

What I found at the time wasn’t very encouraging, I felt like even the “cleanest” of homemade detergents came with FELS NAPTHA in it (sorry to break the bad news), which by the way is on the list of top 10 most toxic ingredients in beauty products. It was a daunting realization and it wasn’t until recently I could wholeheartedly recommend a laundry soap that is a perfect fit.

Today’s blog is a feature on the founder, Monica, of a company that came around in a very unexpected way, Molly’s Suds.

As a fan and user of their products, a lover of the name (haha), and most importantly an admirer of their story, I encourage you to grab a cup of coffee or tea, kick back and read on to discover how this incredible woman and mother has launched into toxin-free living and invites us along too.

Monica, walk us through the journey you went through to get to where you are today with Molly’s Suds. Who or what has inspired you to do what you’re doing?

Our daughter Molly was born in 2005 but she never took a breath. As a pediatric nurse and mother to three other healthy children, this was not just a tragedy, it was a shock. We knew Molly was serving our mighty God, but the nurse in me yearned to know what could have caused her stillbirth. I began to read everything I could about stillbirths and uncovered a disturbing fact that would change our lives.

In the United States alone 80,000 chemicals were approved for use by the TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) and yet only 200 of the toxins were tested for human safety. Each year the list of chemicals change. Furthermore, a report by the US Department of Health and Human Services proves that mothers pass chemicals to their babies via pregnancy and breast milk. Newborn baby cord blood and amniotic fluid had multiple non-natural toxins detected in it! Traces of nearly 300 of the chemicals were from toxins in food, personal care, environmental and household products. I knew right then, we had a responsibility to teach others about these toxins, and to make a difference.

And you have certainly gone on to teach others and make a difference with Molly’s Suds, tell us about your wonderful products -- what makes them different? How will they change our readers day-to-day life?

Ingredient integrity is my sole passion and our mission as a company is to provide products that are both safe for people and the planet. We know our ingredient suppliers and the testing that has been done to assure human safety. Ingredients have to be free from carcinogenic additives, irritants, AND they must be derived from natural sources. Many times companies use naturally derived ingredients but they do not take into consideration the studies done to prove human safety, their toxic load on the body, if they are a known skin irritant, or if there are by-products and/ or contaminants commonly found in the ingredients. Nitrosamines and 1,4 dioxane are two commonly found contaminants in “natural” ingredients. Neither are listed on the ingredient list and neither are safe for humans.

We want customers to know that we take the extra step to assure that our ingredients are safe and they will not be irritating to the skin or persist in the fibers of their family’s laundry. The household cleaning industry is so loosely regulated and most consumers are not aware of that.

What is still your biggest challenge when it comes to toxin-free living?

If I’m answering this personally, I do not have any challenges. Whatever I bring into my household in and around my family, I do the research and know that the ingredients are safe and will not pose a risk for my family. I spent two years after the loss of our daughter Molly researching, digging, learning about chemicals. I have worked closely with the manufacturers of chemicals and chemists to truly understand their burden, safety, use, and function.

But, I think the biggest challenge to toxin free living is when customers believe what they read and see from marketing campaigns and entertaining commercials or ads or a smell-a-vision laundry scene and they do not do the research on their own. It is still believed that the more something foams or bubbles or has a certain fragrance it equals clean. We hope to shed some light on this and the importance of safe ingredients and what to stay away from.

Molly’s Suds goes even beyond the purest ingredients and cleanest products, your mission also includes a commitment, “ to be good stewards of the Earth and give back to our community and those in need” how do you do that? Can you share some fun examples.  

We are partners to The Laundry Project here locally in the Tampa Bay area. They provide free laundry to those in need, so we help twice a year by volunteering our time as the community comes to wash their laundry and we also provide the detergent and we pay for the washes at that location.

We also work with our local women’s shelter to provide detergent, it is typically not donated like clothing, food, and toiletries are.

Some of our products are packaged locally at a company that employs mentally and physically disabled. They are an amazing group of people that have the opportunity to use their skills and talents to help other companies!

We also opened a Zero Waste facility in our Molly’s Suds Warehouse called the Refillery St. Pete. This is a fabulous store where the community can come, bring a container and fill it with our laundry and household products as well as other brands safe products like hand soap, body scrubs, toothpaste, baby wipes solution, shampoo, conditioner and so much more! It is for refilling your current containers or even a pasta sauce jar to help reduce your waste and need to purchase a new container of something every time you run out. Our landfills are filling up and this helps our local community to do their part! We also sell items to help reduce waste like unpaper towels, cloth napkins, Bee's Wrap and glass or stainless straws.

We can’t refill for customers that we ship to, but it is our way of doing what we can when we can. All of us have the power to create change. We feel it should start at home and in your own communities.

Is there anything else our people should know about Molly’s Suds?

We are a small but mighty team of people that not only love the mission of our brand, they all really love our customers, our products, and they all get so excited about awesome reviews, customers that share their stories, local love, and our (too much sometimes) fun atmosphere! I love coming to the office every day because we are making a difference and because I love my work family!

Okay, and one last question. What is a piece of encouragement or golden nugget you want to leave for our audience?

When you started your journey to a healthier you, it may have started with looking at your food. The way it made you feel, avoiding certain categories like dairy, soy or gluten, and slowly you started feeling better. This journey should involve your entire environment. Our skin is the largest organ and it is designed to both block us from harmful intruders as well as to absorb. While absorbing in Vitamin D from the sun is wonderful, our skin also absorbs in chemicals from our bath and body products as well as our laundry and cleaning products. When we sweat and create heat, our pores open inviting in whatever is in contact with our skin. Educate yourself on harmful ingredients and make a list on your phone of chemicals to avoid. Check labels. Be diligent. It is up to us to protect ourselves.

Oh, and for the love… do not believe everything you read or marketing gimmicks. Do your own research.

As you can see there’s nothing not to love about Monica’s story or Molly’s Suds mission to bring toxin-free living to your laundry (and cleaning). This isn’t a sales pitch, this is a product I love and USE in my own home with my own family. Try it out and let me know your thoughts!

P.s. Keep an eye out for my next blog outlining my favorites from Molly’s Suds, and in the meantime try out some of your own using the promo code Bloom25  before June 30 to earn 25% off your goodies!