airing the dirty laundry

After my first post on how I replaced all of the 20+ toxic household cleaners with just THREE Get Clean products seen here , I had some of you ask about Shaklee's laundry products. So here is my promised post to those of you who asked.

When I started researching laundry products, I was surprised to learn about the different chemicals that many laundry detergent manufacturers use. These chemicals can be the reason your laundry smells nice, but they can also be something that can harm your health. This can be especially true for children, who have extra sensitive skin. I had never thought about that before. According to the EPA, chemicals in laundry products could be a cause of asthma and other skin irritations and allergies. You can read about that in this EPA article. I had also learned that because these chemicals are absorbed into the skin through your clothing and bedsheets, a chemist may be able to determine what type of laundry soap you use simply by testing your urine! gross, I know but something to think about.

Like the Basic H2 , Scour Off, and Basic G that I talked about in my first post, all of Shaklee's laundry products are non-toxic, safe for your entire family and work really well. I have some before and after pictures below showing you just how well they really do work. WARNING: some of the pictures are graphic examples of how having a very small baby can severely soil clothing, towels and other garments. These pictures are not for the weak at heart:)





Here is a picture of my 5 month old's outfit after a bad diaper explosion recently:
(I told you it wasn't going to be pretty!)

And here is the after picture, after I washed it with Fresh Laundry Concentrate .
I did add a scoop of Nature Bright to the washer. And that's it! It came out perfectly clean. Nature Bright is a great alternative to bleach. It isn't harsh and I love how it whitens and brightens my laundry so well.

Nature Bright was shown to remove grass stains 60% better then OxyClean!!

Here's another example of more baby diaper explosions. This time, I soaked both the outfit and the towel in Nature Bright first and then washed the items with Fresh Laundry Concentrate

Before (obviously!):
And after the soaking and washing:
And here is the towel before picture. This one I had waited a few days to wash. I had put a little Basic H2 on the stain first and rubbed it in before soaking and washing.
And after:
I was really happy with how well it worked.

In addition to the products mentioned above, Shaklee also has a wonderful powder laundry detergent that we also use seen here. (note: if you have a HE washer, then the liquid concentrate works best) One 5.5 box of the powder will wash 88 loads of laundry! You can see how this can save you money as well by looking at the cost comparison info here. Just use one oz. for a regular load of laundry. Both the liquid and the powder come with a fragrance free option as well as a slightly scented option.

I have really sensitive skin that gets itchy when I am around other types of detergents (for example, when we travel and stay in hotels). I didn't always have this problem. It started in 2001 while I was in grad school, after I used an inexpensive off brand of laundry soap. Once I had exposed my skin, I developed an allergy known as contact dermatitis, which flairs up whenever I am exposed to soaps, lotions, etc that have dyes, chemicals and perfumes in them. I don't have that issue with the Get Clean line of detergents however. I can even use the Soft Fabric Concentrate as well as the Dryer Sheets with no problem. The dryer sheets are veggie based and biodegradable, so you can just throw them in your recycle bin when you are done. And they can double as duster/sweeper sheets, like ones that you may use on a swiffer duster. I love that! In an article in Natural News, many household cleaners/laundry products and their toxicity is discussed. The article talks about how dryer sheets can leave chemicals on your clothes that are absorbed into your skin, which could be cancer causing. You can check out the article here.

Wow! That was a lot of info but I hope it was useful info to you. I hope you have a good and healthy week! Thanks for reading!

Rebecca