Is homemade laundry soap even safe?
September 23, 2016
Is homemade laundry soap actually healthier?
It amazes me the work people put into making their own laundry soap, mostly for health reasons or to save money. Many of the recipes I found on the internet call for soaps that contain toxic ingredients.
(Remember to stay clear of ingredients that use CAPITAL LETTERS and ones with numbers after them. You never go picking for apples #5.)
Fels Naptha
FELS NAPTHA soap is one of those toxic soaps used in a great deal of the recipes online. There are so many harmful toxic ingredients in it like PEG and strong perfumes. PEG is one of the top 10 (although the list is growing) most toxic ingredients in personal care products and cleaning products. Plus, perfumes can affect the respiratory system and contain hormone disruptors. All the synthetic ingredients are meant to coat the fibers of your fabric which give you a false sense of cleanliness because they smell eternally "clean" and they can ruin the effectiveness of cloth diapers
Here are the ingredients of FELS NAPTHA: Soap (sodium tallowate*, sodium cocoate* (or) sodium palmate kernelate*, and sodium palmate*), water, talc, coconut acid*, palm acid*, tallow acid*, PEG-6 methyl ether, glycerin, sorbitol, sodium chloride, pentasodium pentetate and/or tetrasodium etidronate, titanium dioxide, fragrance, Acid Orange (CI 20170), Acid yellow 73 (ci43350).
Dove or Ivory
If you are a "purist" and IVORY or DOVE Soap is your thing, you may want to reconsider as the ingredients aren't that safe either. Honestly, we are a product of marketing ploys that have lulled us into believing the commercials of pure white cream being poured into luxurious bars of nourishing soap are actually healthy. CRUNCHY BETTY blogger posts about ingredients of soaps. You should read what she has to say here
Cost vs. Value
When considering the price of store-bought laundry soap, you will need to calculate the cost per load. If you just look at the cost of the product you can be swayed to buy the cheap toxic stuff even when it isn't a better value.
Many require you to use 1/4 cup (2 oz.) or more of detergent per load. It might seem like the container is cheap but if you calculate how much you need to use per load, it can be expensive. If using safe ingredients, making your own healthy laundry soap is a great way to keep your family healthy and save some dollars.
How does laundry soap affect the skin?
Most laundry soaps are meant to coat the fibers of your fabric. Since these products contain toxic ingredients, the toxins are also coating your fabric, constantly coming in contact with your skin. Think about how many hours (or minutes) your skin is NOT in contact with clothing or bed sheets.
If you suffer from irritated skin, take a look at your laundry soap to see what is in it. You may have to call the company and see what their soap contains. Many I have called on will not even tell me what their ingredients are since they are not legally obligated to. Honest.
If they won't tell you what is in it, then I would steer clear of it. In this day and age, if you have truly healthy products, you are going to shout it loud and proud. If you are hiding something, you are hiding something.
Don't want to make your own?
I don't blame you.
I have gotten SO many questions about laundry soap over the years.
Until now, I have not been able to whole-heartedly share one that works perfectly. I'm so excited to tell you that Molly's Suds is the BEST I have found. Ever.
Here's the real story. I test out LOTS of products. Lots. I'm always in search of products that are safe, that I want to have in my own home. Over the years of testing, my husband's t-shirt [the kind that really should be retired] bore the brunt of the testing. Although laundry products I tested were natural, they didn't really clean well long term and residue built up on some clothes. Do you know what I'm talking about? They feel kinda plastic-y.
Anyways, after using Molly's Suds All Sport, I mindlessly grabbed it to fold and thought "Whoa!" It was perfectly soft. The residue was gone. I knew this was a different product.
All that and they are a family-run company with a big heart and a cool story.
I've searched. And Searched. And Searched to find a laundry soap that has safe ingredients AND works. This one is it and it has a great name ;)
As far as I can tell, these ingredients are really good, too. It was founded by a woman with a touching story about what lead her to create a toxic-free laundry soap.
I was actually AMAZED by this product. It got out grimy things stuck in clothes that other "natural" and actually natural products didn't do. And I have looked for a long time.
The SPORT laundry wash was the first one I tried and LOVED. I used this for the first few weeks to get the gunk out of my clothes so we could start the regular version below on a level playing field. Now, I still use it for all the sport clothes a family with 5 sons and a husband go through ;)
It was a tad more money but SOOOOO worth it.
There isn't much of a scent to it which I actually like because all scents that last are synthetic and not good for you anyways.
So enjoy this one and let me know what you think.
This is the little sister to the SPORT version. I use this daily for cleaning my family's clothes. Stop making your own. This is worth it.
Get it. You won't be disappointed.
I'm famous for not getting whites white. My mom is famous for ALWAYS having whites white. Sometimes my kids will give stuff to her to get white. I cannot bring myself to purchase bleach. Thus, our whites are kinda dingy.
This product is allowing a little gleam of redemption on the whites a bit, although most of our whites are too un-white to make a difference. But for the new whites, it seems to work well.
Get it. Try it for yourself.
I don't buy clothes that must be dry cleaned. Hardly ever (except for a fancy dress). But I love to wear nice wool or cashmere sweaters. If you wash it right, there aren't many sweaters that I have found CANNOT be washed in my machine.
This is a lovely sweater wash for those pieces. How does it compare to other washes I've used? Not a whole lot different but I like that they use safe ingredients. That is a win for me.
I have this but I'm waiting for swim season. We just got a pool so I bought this to see how it works on our swim stuff.
We actually have a chemical-free pool (not even salt) but I'm still going to use it on our swim stuff.
Stay tuned to how it works. I'm pretty sure it will work well since all the other products do.
We interviewed Monica, Molly's Suds Founder. Her story and products are compelling. You will want to know about them.
You can do that here.
Happy Cleaning
Let us know what you think about Molly's Suds!