Posts Tagged ‘soap’

Greener cleaner update

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Karen Pugh writes:

I whipped up a batch of your home-made liquid laundry soap awhile ago, and it doesn’t work very well!! It didn’t gel, it doesn’t suds up very much, and my husband isn’t very impressed with his un-white whites! Have you had any of these problems?

Queen of Green, Lindsay Coulter, responds:

The foundation recipe is:

  • 50% soap (called soap flakes, soap granules or you can grate bar soap)
  • 25% Borax
  • 25% washing soda

Boil a pot of water on the stove and add soap flakes (1 cup). Boil them until they’re diluted. Add this soap mixture to about a 7 L pail with ½ cup washing soda and ½ cup Borax. Add 20 drops of an essential oil. The mixture will partially gelatinize once cooled. This makes a huge batch so you may want to cut the whole thing in half.

Purpose of ingredients:

  • Borax- kills germs and whitens
  • Washing Soda- cuts grease and softens water
  • Soap Flakes (granules or bar soap)- forces out dirt

Common problems:

  • Adding soap dry to pail of water (you need to dilute it in the boiling water first).
  • Not boiling it enough. You don’t want to see any granules.
  • Your water hardness may have something to do with it. If you have hard water add more washing soda.

Whites not white enough?

  • Make sure you wash like colors together.
  • I add ½ cup of baking soda to my white loads and wash in warm
  • Buy oxygen bleach or eco-bleach (which is really hydrogen peroxide)

As for suds, you won’t see much because this mixture is devoid of chemicals. Conventional stuff has chemicals that make the suds so you and I think it’s getting clean. Kind of like sodium lauryl sulfate in your shampoo and toothpaste. The new laundry soaps for HE machines have less suds actually because it’s not necessary.

Hope that helps!

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Posted in Consumer Issues, Green cleaning, Lindsay | 6 Comments »

Dryer balls safer than dryer sheets?

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Jacqueline writes:

What do you know about dryer balls? I am interested – and found two online – but am worried about putting plastic in the dryer. Someone actually said it is PVC. What is worse? The balls or the bounce sheets?

Lindsay responds:

The problem with fabric softeners, like dryer sheets, is: they coat fabrics with a thin layer of chemicals to neutralize static cling. The risks are that people have allergic reactions, rashes and it’s a constant, low-grade exposure to neurotoxic and carcinogenic compounds.

They also increase the flammability of clothing – never use on kids PJ’s! The chemicals in them are also rarely biodegradable and harmful to our ecosystems (released via all of our dryer vents). Anyway, this means it’s noble and smart that you’re not going to use them anymore!

First of all, people use dryer sheets for two reasons that I’m aware of: 1) static cling, and 2) scent. You can tackle each in different ways.

Static troubleshooting:

•    Wash and dry like fabrics together (e.g. never mix synthetics with cotton).

•    Don’t use your dryer. Save energy. Dry your clothes outside (sun and fresh air are the best bleach and natural disinfectant, not to mention they smell great), or set up a dry rack inside (assist with indoor humidity).

•    White vinegar in the rinse cycle will help. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup per load into your rinse cycle only (not wash cycle). This will soften fabrics. Vinegar is fine for jeans, towels and other heavy fabrics. Not recommended for fine fabrics or linen.

•    Vegetable Glycerin. Make a mixture of 1 c vegetable glycerin (found in health food stores) to 1-gallon water. You’ll need 1/2 c of this concoction to each load of clothes; again, add to the rinse cycle.

Scent troubleshooting:

•    You can make the laundry soap in our recipe list which has essential oils. They’re added to disinfect and remove grease but can leave a very mild scent, like lavender or sweet orange.

•    If you add vinegar to your rinse cycle, you can scent via essential oils (1/2 tsp per gallon of vinegar).

•    Fragrance in dryer sheets is often made of petroleum-based ingredients. They cause a lot of people to have allergic reactions and skin irritation.

•    To a damp rag, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil and throw into your dryer.

•    Avoid perfume or fragrance.

I haven’t looked at the ingredients in the plastic dryer balls and am not even sure if they disclose them. Of course, the advantage of these is that you can reuse them instead of throw-away dryer sheets. Maybe you want to look for the cloth reusable dryer sheets? You can get them at Home Depot, Home Hardware, or Save-On. Otherwise, I had some luck with Shaklee dryer sheets (order on-line) or EcoClean brand. If the plastic balls are PVC (plastic #3), that is one of the worst ones. I’d avoid them and only consider using them if they were made of safer plastics like #2, 4 or 5 (stay alive!).

If you don’t want to make your own and would rather by pre-made products look for the following on a label: biodegradable, plant-based ingredients, nontoxic, and natural sources of fragrance (e.g., essential oils). Best of luck!

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Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Green Parenting, Green cleaning, Human Health, Lindsay | 5 Comments »

To wash or not to wash?

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

Karen Pugh from Brantford, Ontario writes:

Every time I pack yet another school lunch bag (ugh!), I debate the merits of the "litterless lunch" vs. filling up my dishwasher with yet another pile of plastic re-usable containers. While I understand the need to reduce garbage, I can’t imagine that using more energy to heat the dishwasher water and using all that soap is any better for our environment. I know I could handwash those dishes, but in reality, "it ain’t gonna happen." Any thoughts?

Green Room host Gail writes:

Actually, there is some evidence that a dishwasher is more energy efficient than hand washing, especially if you have a dishwasher that’s energy-efficient.

The three R’s of eco-friendliness fall into a kind of hierarchy. It’s best to Reduce as much as possible first. So, you are correct in choosing a "litterless lunch" because it will keep stuff out of the landfills. And Reusing is more important than Recycling, because recycling uses energy and it’s always better to do the best you can to reuse things (such as your food containers) rather than purchasing new things, even when they can be recycled.

Whatever you practice in preparing school lunches, the kids that are eating them are becoming encultured to it - they’ll do what you did when they make there own lunches or (in future) make lunches for others. Thanks for helping to protect nature!

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Posted in Food, conservation, energy, recycling | 2 Comments »

Hand Wash Soap

Monday, June 9th, 2008

A must have here at the David Suzuki Foundation office is a simple hand wash soap.

What’s in it;

  • 1/4 cup liquid castile soap: not tested on animals, fair trade, and organic. It’s made with saponified organic oils of coconut, olive, hemp and jojoba coconut, hemp and therefore vegetarian! Water softening and cleansing powers. Doesn’t cut dirt but dissolves it. The mildest soap you’ll find. It comes with essential oils of peppermint, almond, eucalyptus, tea tree and unscented.
  • 3/4 cup distilled water : used to dilute the soap concentrate.
  • 1 t sesame oil or grapeseed oil: Helps damaged and stressed tissues, and controls skin moisturization. A light and thin oil it contains more linoleic acid than many other carrier oils. Need 1 teaspoon.
  • 10 drops of an essential oil (optional). Sometimes I add these because of their anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral or skin repair properties (some support immune function too).

Mix everything together and viola!

What’s NOT in it;

  • Triclosan: found in antibacterial soap products. It’s a broad-spectrum killer so it kills good bacterial too. It’s a chemical pollutant that bioaccumulates in wildlife (acutely toxic to aquatic life) and humans. When mixed with chlorine (like many home cleaners) it forms carcinogenic compounds…and one could go on…
  • Parabens: a preservative linked with chronic and acute health hazards.
  • Phthalates (Fragrance): a plasticizer and often disguised as fragrance. They also fix fragrance so that the stink stays longer. Linked with bioaccumulation in wildlife and humans, cancer, developmental and reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption, birth defects, and more.
  • Sodium Lauryl (or Laureth) Sulfate: makes the suds and it’s a skin irritant. Still debate whether or not it causes cancer.
  • DEA: Another foaming agent, but it’s a severe skin irritant and can have adverse effects on the blood, kidney and liver.

Go for it and make a batch for your home or office. Enjoy, Lindsay

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Posted in Consumer Issues, Human Health, Lindsay | 2 Comments »

On “Greener Cleaner”

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Comments on the April 2008 Newsletter: Greener Cleaner

“Castile soap is not seafarer’s soap. Seafarer’s soap is made predominantly from coconut oil, which will lather in salt water. Castile is made from predominantly olive oil…. people should be using pure soap, not detergent, and should choose all-vegetable soap. A soap labelled "castile", if not 100% olive oil, may contain saponified animal fats… avoid… "sodium tallowate" or "sodium lardate", as these ingredients (are) derived from animals (and) may be found in any soap, even those labelled "castile". Most commercial bar soaps are made from tallow or lard, and it’s important to read the labels. To be honest, I prefer hand-made soap with these ingredients to many all-vegetable formulations, but this is personal preference. We could have a whole other discussion on the sustainability of palm plantations versus the use of beef or pork by-products!”

– Cathy M (Soap maker), Burnaby BC –

We stand corrected and have made the changes to the archived version of that newsletter. Thanks Cathy! Ed .

“I have personally never used fabric softeners (hate the unnatural "scents") but decided to invest in (those)… soft, spiky blue plastic balls…that you toss into the dryer with your laundry… They work by tumbling around in the dryer to lift and separate the laundry, allowing hot air to flow more efficiently… I have noticed that the clothes dried considerably faster on the setting I normally use… (and) the biggest benefit is the energy savings… you would save more money if you typically use fabric softener and dryer sheets, not to mention eliminating their chemicals from your laundry… the balls clunk a bit as they toss around so you might not want to turn the dryer on just before you go to bed.”

– Odie Geiger, Vancouver, BC –

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Posted in Consumer Issues, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, Lindsay, Newsletter response | 4 Comments »