going green and healthy:: with my laundry:: part II

The heat wave has moved on and my brain has finally awaked from its heat-induced coma. Man! that heat and humidity just sucked all the life out of me....but storms rumbled through last night bringing sweet relief, better attitudes and a beautiful day.

I've been meaning to get back to the discussion about my pursuit of healthier and greener laundry practices. So finally today I want to share a few more things I've found and I have a giveaway!!

One of the other products I tried from the Gaiam catalog, (which I love) was the Wonder Ball. The Wonder Ball claims that you can eliminate all laundry soap from your wash, which is good for the water supply, good for the environment. And by eliminating laundry soap, you obviously eliminate any chemicals or dyes that might be irritating to your skin. Apparently, there are some petrochemicals and minerals inside the ball that change the surface tension of the water in your machine that make the water "wetter" and allow it to penetrate your clothes fibers and wash more deeply.

Did I lose you on that one? I'm not sure I completely understand it myself.

But here's why I am liking the Wonder Ball: I have to confess that I have not been brave enough to try it sans all detergent. But the other claim it makes is that you can use it with less detergent. So when I ran out of Nellie's Nuggets and had to go back to regular detergent for awhile, I was able to use about one third of the detergent I normally would.  This made everything seem less harsh and perfumey, it was still making my water less chemical-laden and it was saving me money. The wonder ball may seem a bit pricey, but it lasts 3 years or 2000 washes and if you can cut back on the amount of detergent you are using, it would save you money in the long run. So if Nellie's Nuggets or other green laundry detergents are out of your price range or inconvenient to come by, this might be a good option.

The other laundry product that I'm really excited about is for the dryer. When the temperatures start to warm, most of my laundry goes on the clothesline which is the ultimate in saving money, energy and avoiding sticky dryer sheets. But in the winter months (though I've been known to hang out laundry with my mittens on) and for those personal items that I don't like to hang on the laundry line--I am now in love with dryer balls.

Two of these little blue-spiked beauties go in with your laundry and work to separate and soften your laundry. This also allows more air to pass through your clothes and speeds up drying time. Once again, I was skeptical, but I was proven wrong. I definitely noticed a difference in length of time it took my clothes to dry. I would estimate they were drying about 25% faster--which ironically is what it claims to do. The other thing I like about the dryer balls is no more dryer sheets which make my clothes feel sticky and slimy--a difference I did not notice until I stopped using them. But what a difference it was! And I also like the fact that when I put just a few things in my dryer--not exactly "green", I know--the dryer balls help to keep things fluffed and moving around instead of all clumping together in the corner--and those few things are dried so quickly.

The dryer balls are inexpensive. And they will last two years--as long as they don't get lost in the same land where socks disappear to. And thankfully, they are made from non-toxic materials because my teething babe really enjoys chewing on those bumpy spikes. And before your children chuck them across the room to see how high they will bounce--they really don't bounce. Oh, and one more thing--they aren't noticeably noisy--at least not to me. And remember, my washer/dryer is in my kitchen, which is in my living room, which is in my bedroom. And I really don't notice it.

They sound good, don't they? Good! Because the lovely people at Nellie's All-Natural (thank you, jackie!) sent me a set to giveaway!! Yippee!

So leave a comment and let me know you're interested and I will draw a name at the end of the week. But do me a favor...would you mind telling me your secret to stain-removal? Do you have a product you love? Or a technique?--besides not letting the stained clothes sit in the laundry bin for a week. Guilty. I'd love to hear it. And if you don't have a secret, no big deal--I have no special secret either.

But did you see those strawberry stains???

********THE WINNER IS: MARYBETH! Send me an email with your address and I'll pop them in the mail!*****

Comments

[Terri]

I have no special way to remove stains except Spray and Wash. I'm a 53 year old grammy to 8 kids ages 16 - 2 1/2 months. I love reading your blog, have no idea how to start my own blog and it would never be as fun to read as yours. I really enjoy reading about your family. My husband and I raised 4 kids and still live in the 5 bedroom 3 bath house. They are all married and live on their own. The farthest one away is 25 minutes. We live in Washington state and anytime there is something on the news about Mt. Rainier blowing up they always film from our town, next to the Eagles hall, because they say we have a chance of getting out in time but we all figure we won't. The town has grown to a whopping 5,000 people since I moved here in 1975.
I'm not competing for the dryer balls--I'm sure there is someone young with a houseful of kids that could use them. I just wanted to let you know how I enjoy reading your blog.
Terri

[Sarah]

I just use a plain bar of soap (I use Kirk's Castile) and water to treat stains. It does work best and is the least amount of work if you do it immediately but I can usually get a stain out if it hasn't sat for months. Use cold water when treating protein based stains (blood, many foods, etc.). For fruit based stains (berries, wine, tomatoes...) pour boiling water through the fabric. Once cooled, you can treat any residual with that bar of soap.

Also, I'm anal and inspect the clothes coming out of the washer. If I haven't gotten a stain completely, I don't put it in the drier (if I'm using it) and I treat the stain with soap again before the garment air dries. If a stain is truly stubborn, I will resort to soaking in a hydrogen peroxide based bleach. Seventh Generation and Ecover both make a liquid all-color bleach and I like those best but I have been known to use Oxyclean on occasion too.

[lauren]

i just add some stain remover or that tide and go pen thing.

interested in the dryer balls though, as my laundry takes forever to dry at the laundromat.

[melissa]

I use hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle for stains on whites. Comes right out, every time!
It also gets mold out of the grout in my bathroom!

[Jennifer]

I also check everything as it leaves the washer and will retreat any stubborn stains at that point. Thanks for the info on the Wonder Ball and the little dryer balls too. For those of us not lucky enough to win the give away could you set us in the right direction for where we can purchase them ourselves? Thank you.

[Claire]

How cool! I'll have to try those. Our clothes line blew down in a winter storm, but I never really used it anyway. I actually really really hate the smell of line dried clothes. I know. I am crazy and probably th eonly on eon earth who feels that way...

[Claire]

oh and stain removal? I stink at that. Bigtime.

[Dayna]

Hi - I am a stain spray gal myself - but just read today that if you wash an item and then let it hang in the sun stains should fade all on their own. The post I read was using it to combat baby food stains. Im willing to try it!

[amyehodge]

I was on the verge of clicking over to buy these when I read farther to see you were giving some away! Awesome! For stains I pretty much put Stain Stick on everything. I found it in college and got out just about everything and on top of that, I could apply it and then let the clothes sit for a week or two until I got around to washing them, and the stains would still come out. The only thing I can think off hand that it doesn't work that well on is ink. Well, and tea stains, but nothing takes those out!

[Sarah]

i am very interested in the dryer balls. my dryer cycyles seem to take forever no matter what i choose. in the winter it all dries by the wood stove. now, on the line, but sometimes the dryer is necessary.

i use shout for stains. unless i can get to cold water right away. it's all tricky.
love this pic by the way.

[Lisa]

Oxiclean seems to clean my stains out really well. Definitely agree with the "don't dry it in the dryer if it's still stained" idea. I also have a suspicion that a good, efficient washing machine does part of the work, too. We have three young children (oldest just turned 5) and stains are a huge part of life!

So the dryer balls work? I've always wondered about those. Worth a try?

[Kim]

just so you know, every single time i do laundry now, married mom of 3, i think of those nuggets. im a bit of a procrastinator so itll take a few more than a few more times ot get around to ordering them but...

oh so i want these balls. (blush)

my secret laundry tip: i bring them (stained clothes) to my mother who lives 5 miles away and has always been QUEEN of the laundry. her clothes have ALWAYS SMELLED AND FELT SO CLEAN!

[amy]

me me pick me!!! :)

[Karen]

I wish I had a secret to stain removal! With two small children, one who will not wear bibs, I need all the help I can get. My mom swears by Dawn. She uses that stuff for everything. I've found the best thing for me is to get it in the wash ASAP (totally guilty of letting it sit.. and sit... ) I love those dryer balls though!

[Emily]

After your last laundry post, I switched over the Nellies and just love it! Now I NEED those dryer balls. :-) I just have to share: I took apart the drum and the agitator in my washing machine recently to clean it and I was horrified by the amount of waxy gunk built up in there from liquid detergent and liquid fabric softener. ewww! Anyway.....

As for stain removal, Well you'd think that having 3 boys would make me the stain removal queen but I am still looking for that magic potion. I do use Zout, or Oxyclean or Hydrogen Peroxide. I have also on occasion needed to use pure acetone and once I used hairspray. It's amazing the things my boys can get on themselves!

[Jessica]

I am so interested in those dryer balls! They sound really cool.

My Grandmother taught me to wrap my stained item over a pot and put a rubber band around it or hold it tight. Then using a little bit of boiling water with baking soda and dish soap pour the hot water over your stains and continue to do so until removed. I usually switch my item back and forth over the pots and sometimes do a little finger scrubbing of the spot, too. This works with almost anything. But... I have found that sometimes for a really tough stain, I use OxyClean in the water and that gets everything out!

Goodluck!

[Jess in MA]

Thanks for doing these greener laundry posts! I am slowly, oh so slowly, trying to make good changes to how I do things- especially cleaning and grocery shopping. After my current detergent runs out I'm going to check out your laundry nuggets, they sound excellent!

I have no great secrets to impart about stains. Like other folks I try to remember to check before I use the dryer and re-treat and wash again if something is really stubborn.

[Stefani]

Goodness girl! You are just a wealth of information! I'm going to have to read this three times just to get it all!

Oh, and did you say giveaway??? Count me in!

[Mama Urchin]

I have no tips. I could use some actually.

[Margaret in SC]

Stain removal at my house:

Blood-pour hydrogen peroxide on the stain ASAP /rinse/pour peroxide again/rinse...even if you can't wash right away, the blood usually comes out.

Greasy/oily stains-Dawn dishliquid (I know not green, but better for the environment than throwing away an entire garment.) Just put a dot on the area and rub around with fingers. Alternatively, smoosh corn starch into the greasy area and let sit/vaccuum off or sponge off (you may have to do this a couple of times)

Other stains-I love Stain Devil stain removers-they work! See http://www.carbona.com/

Set in stains- Place garment in hottest water it can take/pour in generous amount of Clorox II color safe bleach and let sit, and sit, and sit....I successfully soaked a bunch of hand me down baby garments (that had been in storage for years) back into usefulness.

Ring around the cuff/collar (caused by sweat) try scrubbing with basic shampoo and scrub brush or use Octagon or Fels Naptha soap-two old time favorites (also useful if you think you've gotten into poison oak or ivy-scrub right away.)

Here's another neat website:
http://www.louisvillecleaning.com/house-cleaning/homemade_cleaners.htm

[Margaret in SC]

PS...I'd love to try the dryer balls.

[Sarah]

I use a product called Oxo-Brite. I get it at Whole Foods and it does an amazing job with stains - coffee, grease, anything really.

I would so love to win your giveaway!

[Rain]

I'm a 'shout' gal myself. I just removed some very berry stains from my daughter's new pink summer dress. I sprayed with shout left it over night washed the next day and NO stains.
Love your blog.
Rain

[Deb]

Ah, well you know cold water sets stains, right? And we love super-strength Spray and Wash, even the only thing green about it is the color of its bottle. We like Melaleuca detergent, but I'd love to try something new. Well, I'd love for hubby to try something new--he washes and dries the laundry.

[Meredith]

I definitely don't have an all natural secret for stain removal (since I tend to reach for the Zout) but I ordered up some of Nellie's nuggets, and I can't wait to try em out. Thanks for the info!

[Melissa H]

Let's see, my stain secret is probably just to not worry if my daughter's clothes are stained. For adult stuff, my only goal is to catch it before the dryer. Sorry, got nothin' :)

[Jennifer]

I'm trying to go more green, and I've very excited to hear about detergent that actually works. My best stain removal secret is for inks stains - spray hairspray on the stain before washing. Works like a charm.

[Nichola]

I have no special way to remove stains, infact i'm really crap at it! I just let the kids wear the stained clothes as they are for play. What a bad Mum i am!
I've heard stories that those wonder balls aren't really all that good but i've not tried them out for myself. I make my own laundry gloop and it seems to do us just fine and is inexpensive to make.
I do have a dryer and try not to use it often but in the colder weather when the clothes on the line will just not get dry then i will stick them in there to finish them off. I'm about to make some lavender laundry bags that i can throw in with the clothes to give them a little scent. I find that our clothes can sometimes have a slightly ugh smell since we don't use any fragrance in our gloop. If i don't win the dryer balls (which i won't because i never win) then i may purchase some anyway :)

[Adriana]

Hi Molly,

Thank you so much for your tips on laundry. I've been trying for a long while to find a better alternative to detergents, even though we fork out for the no-dye, no-perfume, healthy earth variety.

I'm very intrigued about this Wonder Ball. I'll have to convince the husband but I'm definitely willing to have a go.

Thanks again for the info.

[Mary Beth]

I swear by Oxo-Brite now. I do a separate soak in a bucket with hot water and the Oxo-Brite. It's not harsh on your fabric, is safe for the environment, and works great. And yes, enter me in the drawing. Thanks!

[Stacey]

I'm a big believer in the warm water dish soap and fingernails. Actually it can be baking soda and fingernails (and water) too. Mainly it's the fingernails and something slippery.

[Clare]

I have a great trick-its a book called 'SPOTLESS' written by two Australian women,Shannon Lush and Jennifer Fleming.They can get anything out of anything even if it has been sitting there for months! I highly recommend it.Even peanut butter plays a part : ))

[Amy]

stain removal isn't my forte.

[melissa]

i use baking soda, a toothbrush and crossed fingers. if i get desperate, i use a bit of dish soap and let it soak. i also like trader joes version of oxy clean.

i'm into the nellie nuggets. thanks for the links!

[Athena]

I have a 6 year old boy and I have used a large size bottle of Shout every two weeks for the last 5 years! However, I have recently found that soaking the clothes in the washer with the normal amount of detergent and some OxiClean usually takes out food and grass and mud without having to use the Shout and in cold water. So...basically I fill the washer with cold water, the detergent, and OxiClean say on Monday evening and we add the whites or lights or darks (whichever is the next to be washed) as we use them or take them off; then when the washer is full I run it through it's cycle. Of course that slows up getting the laundry done and you would have three times as much as I do, so the other thing I do is fill up the washer with the clothes detergent OxiClean and water at night before bed, let it agitate briefly, then let it soak overnight and finish the run in the morning. Actually I was trying to save on heating the water and tried to figure out a way to get things clean in cold water. Granted I have to check them as I pull them out of the washer and use the Shout then if there are still spots so they won't set in when they're dried, but really they are mostly clean except for some weird craft paints they use at school. Hope that helps. I have some Nellie's ordered, thanks.

[Jen]

Evidently making your own detergent isn't very hard--I've been reading recipes online though I haven't yet found all the ingredients. Typically recipes call for a bar of Fels Naptha, some washing soda, and borax. I'm not sure how green these things are individually--I haven't dug around yet--but I think I might try it sometime. What's nice is that greener detergents seem to be coming out all the time, so I no longer have to shell out for pricey 7th generation stuff. Right now I use Ecover fabric softener, but I read someplace white vinegar will work just as well. Perhaps I'll try that sometime, as well :)

[Jessica]

Totally inspired by you greener laundry-- I am running out of everything at the moment and thinking of switching over and trying some of your suggestions... I use Zout and good old stain stick. I sometimes have to wash twice but as long as I remember not to dry I am usually ok....

[Gina]

I like Oxy Clean spray for stain removal, but I doubt it's all that green...yikes. Also, I too am guilty of leaving the stains in the dirty clothes too long. On a different note, and completely unrelated. I checked out the Cynthia Rylant book that you have posted in your 'girls' reads' (Let's Go Home) It is so sweet. I think I must have it to own. When the librarian handed it to me, she said, "you know she grew up here, don't you?" (in the same little town as the library) I did not know, but I do now. Who would have thunk it? Now we are on a quest to read more of her sweet stories. So, thanks for sharing!

[Sarah]

I just ordered some cloth diapers from Kelly's Closet and she recommends Charlie's. I'll let you know after I try it.
By the way, I've been meaning to e-mail. Do you use cloth diapers? Which ones?

[Stephanie M]

When i read your first post about your detergent I started checking out the website that carries them. I was this close to ordering an indoor clothes line and some reusable dryer sheets. Then I saw those dryer balls. I was concerned about the dryer balls though and the static factor. Does it get rid of the static?

[aimee]

My only laundry trick is to use dish washing soap on greasy/oily stains, takes them right out and occasionally works on acidy stains like berries and tomatoes though less sucessfully.

[Nicole]

hydrogen peroxide and sunshine has worked wonders on most of our stains!

[Kristy]

I know it's not very green, but I use Shout Ultra Gel for stains...it works so well I've been dragging my feet about figuring out how to remove stains more naturally. I don't think I've ever had a stain it couldn't remove, even ones that I let sit around for a day or two.

[kirsten]

thanks for the reviews! i was wondering about the dryer balls. i was thinking about making my own detergent, but the recipes i saw said they needed hot water to really dissolve. i like using cold water, so i found a brand of 'green' detergent (at costco) that is concentrated, biodegradable, etc. The smell is more subtle (and lavender) and it's actually a local brand, so i'm happy with that, now - you barely need any of it for each load.

[paula gibbs]

I'm afraid that I don't have any good laundry secrets other than that I'm going to try oxygen bleach in the future instead of chlorine (Martha Stewart really pushes it...so why not give it a try?). I'd love a clothesline but know that I'm looking at laundromats for the foreseeable future, so anything that gets the job done faster and more efficiently is really exciting in my book!

(P.S. Please keep going with the laundry posts -- I am really interested! I also know people who make their own laundry detergent and have told me that it's cheap + green, but I don't know what the ingredients are.)

[kyrie]

we use charlie's soap for everything- laundry, stain remover, greasy hands, bathrooms- really everything. it works a treat, i can tell you, and super-green.

(oh, and i also check everything coming out of the washer- unless hubby gets to it first! ha.)

[Laura]

Molly, I've been wanting to get a set of the dryer balls for ages! I'd love to win your give-away!

For stains, I SWEAR by Grandma's Secret Spot Remover. It works SO WELL! I just happened upon it at a local store, but I found the website for you. I'm AMAZED by what all it'll get out!

http://www.grandmassecretspotremover.com/

[Laurence]

Following your recent post, I tried the Nuggets for the first time yesterday! I'm really pleased about them. Haven't noticed a real difference yet but I am just happy that it is so much healthier!
Regarding stains. I usually deal with it straight away. I use stain spray and let it sit for a while. Wash it with a bit of soap, rinse and dry. Finally it will go in the washing machine when I do a load. Btw, I no longer use the scented sheets in the dryer.. not good at all for textiles.

[Deirdre]

It is 90% about timing, isn't it?
Also, not putting it in the dryer until the stain is out. A soak for fruit and tomato stains. I can't give up my Stain Stick (and I do believe the stick works better than the spray, but maybe that's just me). I also have a bottle of color-safe bleach that I've had for at least 5 yrs. I use it on the rare persistent stain.

Can you tell I think about laundry a bit too much? Reason #24 I love blogs---who else would want to talk laundry? But it is a big part of my life with 3 boys.

Lastly, I really want the dryer balls. Have been trying to convince my husband to give up the dryer sheets with all their chemicals for years (he grew up with them and notices a difference w/o), and these might do the trick.

I have to add you might not want your child to put them in his mouth. While 100x better than dryer sheets for the environment in my opinion, the balls are still made of PCV plastic:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/nellie_dryer_balls.php

[Molly]

I love your posts about going greener with the laundry! I've wandered n over to Gaiam an plan to invest in some changes around here! xo