Our skin absorbs anything we expose it to, including the clothes we wear or the towels we dry ourselves with and even the bedding we sleep in! Did you know manufacturers don’t have to label all of their ingredients, even on their websites? Many ingredients in your everyday laundry powder and laundry conditioner are actually toxic for your skin.
If the product has a ‘harmful’ or ‘hazard’ label on it do you think it’s something you should continue exposing your skin to? I haven’t come across a study that confirms the outcome of exposure to cleaning products over a long period of time so as there are no studies, they can officially be classed as ‘safe’ when they really aren’t.
I’ve been using Dr Bronner’s Castile Soap in place of my laundry powder and I’ve been using distilled white/distilled clear malt vinegar in place of my laundry conditioner. I know many of you will know the benefits of cleaning your washer with distilled vinegar but it also provides the same benefits to your clothes including saying goodbye to crusty towels when hung on the line! Vinegar softens all of your clothes chemically free and eliminates all odor instead of your washing absorbing all the synthetic fragrances that are in your average laundry conditioner. This also means no clogging up of your washer drawer and having to scrub or soak it regularly. It does have a slight hint of vinegar when you take your washing out of the washer but once your washing is dry you can’t smell it at all. I personally wash my bedding and towels at 60 degrees and I wash everything else at 40 degrees.
Castile soap is all natural organic ingredients, toxic free, unscented and suitable for babies! It has a number of purposes and has no harsh chemicals or synthetic fragrances.
The only two things I would not recommend using castile soap for is washing your pots as it leaves water marks and shampooing your hair as it takes a few rinses to get out with the ingredients containing natural organic oils.
I know it’s quite pricey and you may not want to take the risk but it does have many uses. The vinegar only cost me 50p from Sainsbury’s which is less than a loaf of bread so if you give it a try, even just once I can guarantee you will be impressed.