Go Clean and Green in the Laundry

Last Updated on Friday, 04 September 2009 11:11 Written by GHV Editorial Friday, 04 September 2009 11:09

If there is one culprit in the household that sucks up an enormous amount of energy and has the potential to be a blight on the environment, it's the laundry room.

Apart from an electrical furnace, a clothes dryer is one of the biggest electrical draws in the home, using an average of 4,500 watts of electricity. Washing machine energy use differs depending upon whether it's a front-loading or top-loading unit, but this appliance still uses a considerable amount of energy.

According to estimates, an average person does one load of laundry per week, weighing in at roughly 15 pounds. Considering the average family contains four to five people, that's around five loads of laundry a week, depending upon the season of the year and how many sets of clothes are worn per day (active families may change more frequently). Therefore, it's easy to see how doing laundry can impact the environment -- and how making some simple green changes can do much to help the planet, especially when multiplied by all of the households out there.

• Switch to cold water loads:It is estimated that 95 percent of the energy used by washing machines goes toward heating the water if you choose "hot" wash cycles. Washing your clothes in hot water instead of cold water for a year uses more electricity than leaving the refrigerator door open 24 hours a day for a year. There is no evidence that hot water cleans any better than cold water, especially when there are many detergents available today designed specifically for coldwater use. So skip hot water, which can shrink or discolor clothes anyway. Be green and save some green, too.
• Avoid harsh chemicals: Laundry detergents are full of ingredients designed to scour clothing. While many break down readily in the environment, they may have lasting effects on aquatic life. Some ingredients in laundry detergents, such as colorants, may actually cause cancer or other ill effects in humans. Today there are a number of laundry detergents that are comprised of safer ingredients for people and the environment. For very lightly soiled clothing, or items that just need refreshing, you may be able to go without detergent for the load.
• Toss out dryer sheets and liquid fabric softeners:These products, meant to soften clothes, are typically full of chemicals that are not great for the environment or people. For example, ingredients include alpha-terpineol, benzyl acetate, camphor, benzyl alcohol, limonene, ethyl acetate, pentane, and chloroform. Some of these components have been known to impair respiratory function, cause headaches, cause skin disorders, and contribute to cancer. A better idea is to use baking soda or vinegar in the wash to naturally soften clothes (just don't use vinegar at the same time as bleach because mixing may cause toxic fumes). Some synthetics are naturally soft, negating the need for softeners anyway.

Other ideas include:

• rumor has it tossing a ball of aluminum foil into the dryer with clothes cuts down on static cling
• don't dry clothes all the way; leave them a little damp to reduce static
• don't mix synthetics with cotton clothes to reduce static

* Do larger loads: It is economical and better to wash a large load of laundry than to do several small loads where the machine is underfilled. However, when drying clothes, the reverse may be true. Attempting to dry too many clothes at the same time may result in more energy use from re-running the dryer over and over.

A review of six green laundry detergents

By Sarah van Schagen

Biokleen Free & Clear Laundry Liquid
64 fl. oz./1 oz. per load/64 loads/3X concentrated
$9.99
Eco-claims: Fragrance free; clear of dyes and brighteners; environmentally friendly with no negative effects on rivers, streams, plants, or wildlife; kind to those with chemical sensitivities and allergies; no artificial fragrance, colors, or preservatives; rapidly biodegrades and ozone safe; no animal testing and no animal ingredients; contains no phosphate, chlorine, ammonia, petroleum solvents, alcohol, butyl, glycol ether, SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) or SLES (sodium laureth sulfate), EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), DEA (diethanolamine; no SARA Title III, CA 65, or EPA priority pollutants; no material listed by the ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists) as hazardous.
Ingredients: Surfactants and conditioners from coconut and/or corn, grapefruit seed and pulp extract, linear sulfonate, filtered water.
Stain instructions: Pre-treat stains by applying directly to stain, gently rub in and launder as directed.
Actual smell: Soapy, like a bottle of bubbles, but not overpowering.

This bottle is the least exciting looking of all of them, but it has some hefty eco-cred. The laundry list of chemicals it doesn't contain makes me wonder about what all is in the other detergents I tested. Still, this is a performance review, and with that in mind, I have to comment on the claim that this one "removes the toughest dirt, grease, stains, and odors." It just didn't happen. Most of the dirt is gone from the back of the shirt and the ketchup and vinaigrette are hardly visible, but the blueberries and red wine did this one in.

Interestingly, this one says it's "designed to quickly remove ground-in dirt and stains" -- a claim I'd have to question, seeing as how the dirt that I ground in is still very much visible and the blueberry stain still looks good enough to eat. The ketchup and vinaigrette stains are mostly faded, though, so perhaps this one works better on grease.

Method Free + Clear Laundry Detergent
32 fl. oz./1 oz. per load/32 loads/3X concentrated
$9.99
Eco-claims: Contains no perfumes or dyes; phosphate-free; biodegradable; never tested on animals.
Ingredients: Anionic and non-ionic surfactants, enzymes, buffering agents, stabilizer, stain penetrant, brightener, and foam control agents.
Stain instructions: If heavily soiled, add an extra 1/2 oz. of detergent.
Actual smell: Like baby powder and rubber, or the inside of a latex balloon.

The Method-washed shirt still has about half its dirt, maybe all of its red wine, and visible amounts of the ketchup, vinaigrette, and blueberries -- though the blueberries are more faded than some detergents left them. This one does come in one of the more stylish bottles, though, which I applaud -- but performance is key.

Mountain Green Skin Sensitive Free & Clear All Natural Ultra Laundry Detergent
32 fl. oz./1 oz. per load/32 loads/3X concentrated
$11.99
Eco-claims: No harsh perfumes, alcohol, dyes, chlorine bleach, petroleum-based ingredients, enzymes, optical brighteners, SLS, or parabens; neutral pH; cruelty-free; readily biodegradable, nontoxic, 100 percent phosphate and phosphorus free; safe for septic systems and for gray-water use.
Ingredients: Purified mountain water, vegetable-based cleaning agents (derived from coconut/palm oil), mild preservatives (food grade).
Stain instructions: Apply directly onto stained area, rub gently, and soak before normal wash.
Actual smell: Like a lemon pie, a slight sugary lemon scent.

All of the stains on this tester are still visible, though a bit fainter. The vinaigrette seems to have given it the most trouble, while the red wine is the most faded. If you can look past the stain-fighting abilities of this one, it does have an impressive list of eco-claims and the scent was by far the sweetest.

Planet Ultra Liquid Laundry Detergent
50 fl. oz./4 oz per load/12.5 loads
$6.49
Eco-claims: Certified biodegradable, no added dyes or fragrances, not tested on animals, 100 percent phosphate free, hypoallergenic.
Ingredients: Coconut oil based cleaners, salt, washing soda, ethoxylated alcohol (an alternative to NPE).
Stain instructions: If heavily soiled, add an extra 1 oz. of detergent.
Actual smell: Almost odorless, very slight vinegar scent

I recommend eating your balsamic vinaigrette verrry carefully if you'll be using this detergent to clean your soiled shirt. This oily stain stands out the most among the faded blueberries, ketchup, and, to a lesser degree, red wine. Half the dirt remains as well.

Seventh Generation Free & Clear Natural Laundry Detergent
32 fl. oz./1.6 oz. per load/20 loads/2X ultra concentrated
$6.99
Eco-claims: No optical brighteners, no dyes or fragrance, no phosphates; safe for septic and gray-water systems; no animal derived ingredients; all ingredients disclosed.
Ingredients: A low-foaming blend of naturally derived cleaning agents (coconut-derived surfactants, glycerin), natural water softeners, alkalinity builders, anti-redeposition agents (sodium citrate, borax), non-animal derived enzymes to remove protein and starch stains and protect fabrics, plant derived anti-foaming agents (glycerol monooleate, oleic acid), cleaning enhancer (calcium chloride), preservative (less than 0.05 percent), water.
Stain instructions: Sort and pretreat (pour directly on stained fabric and rub gently; allow to soak before washing); use a full cap for heavily soiled loads.
Actual smell: Like Play-Doh.

Of all the detergents, this is the only one that claims to disclose all of its ingredients and appears to do so -- even if that means listing chemicals we can't pronounce. It also does a great job of explaining what that all means. In terms of the stains, the dirt is only visible upon close examination and the ketchup is gone. The remaining vinaigrette, blueberries, and red wine are pretty well faded -- this detergent was the best at removing most of all of the stains.

All Small & Mighty Free & Clear
32 fl. oz./1 oz. per load/32 loads/3X concentrated
$7.45
Eco-claims: Free of perfume and clear of dyes, No. 1 recommended by dermatologists and allergists, safe for septic tanks, does not contain phosphorus, surfactants are biodegradable.
Ingredients: Cleaning agents (anionic and non-ionic surfactants), buffering agent, stabilizer, and brightening agent.
Stain instructions: Rub a small amount directly into the stain before washing.
Actual smell: Virtually odorless, faint scent of clay

I added this detergent into the mix after all the rest of my trials came back with stains. I wanted to make sure my experiment wasn't just taking the eco-brands to the cleaners. This one still couldn't make a clean sweep of it, though. The dirt and ketchup are gone, and the red wine is mostly faded, but the vinaigrette and the blueberries are still causing trouble.

The bottom line: It's a wash -- none of the detergents fully removed all of the stains, but they all produced otherwise-clean clothes. And though all claimed to be free of perfumes, each had a singular scent. For maximum eco-claim and stain removal with the lowest price and least-perfumy scent, we suggest Seventh Generation Free & Clear.

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