Did you know that even laundry detergents that labeled as ‘gentle’ or ‘sensitive’ can contain toxins and noxious chemicals that can have a negative effect on our health and on our environment?

We have been conditioned to believe that our laundry is clean when it smells like ‘Spring Fresh’, ‘Tropical Burst’, ‘Ruby Jasmine’, etc. However, it’s important to know that conventional laundry products contain chemicals that cause contact dermatitis, skin and throat irritation as well as carcinogenicity.

Just the word ‘fragrance’ alone can refer to numerous hazardous substances. Artificial fragrances can cause eye and skin irritations in sensitive individuals. Some laundry detergents that are advertised as ‘fragrance free’ often contain petrochemicals and synthetic fragrances. Companies do not disclose all ingredients on packaging.

Fabric conditioners are also harmful as they are designed in a way that they do not fully rinse out of clothes, which means that chemicals linger on and stay on our skin all day long.

To protect your family’s health make sure that you buy vegetable based laundry products. Or you can make this very simple homemade washing powder that only requires a handful of ingredients and takes about 5 minutes to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 bar of castile soap
• 1 cup of soda crystals
• 1 cup of Borax substitute

Instructions:

Grate the soap on the smallest holes of a cheese grater and put it in a blender. Add the soda crystals and borax substitute and blend until you have a fine powder. You only need to add a couple of tablespoonful of this to clean a load of laundry.

For more green household tips visit www.raisingtoxinfreechildren.com