Natural Clean Part 4: Laundry

The last few weeks I have shared how I clean my house naturally.

Part 1 was about my favorite household cleaner.

Part 2 was about my favorite scouring cleaner.

Part 3 was about my favorite germicide.

My husband and I de-toxed our home a few years ago and now use only the above three non-toxic cleaners for the whole house! It's so great to reduce and not worry!

Today I want to talk laundry. This is something we all have to deal with. Some more then others depending on your family size.

I try to do at least one load per day and usually always have more that could be done. I save towels and sheets for the weekends. 

What brand do we use that is safe, natural and effective for my family's laundry needs? Shaklee! No surprise, right? lol. We truly love the Get Clean laundry products. They are safe for my young kids, safe for the environment, concentrated, and work really well! 

Have you ever been around someone who smells like "fresh laundry"? You can just smell their clothes the second the walk in the room? Maybe that someone is you? And maybe you mistake that smell with clean. But did you know that the fresh scent you smell is actually chemicals? Chemicals that can be harmful to you and your family. The real smell of clean actually doesn't have a scent at all!

To be honest, I didn't really think about these things until I became a mom 4 years ago. Babies skin is super sensitive. Their clothing, their bedding, their toys...anything washable can leach these chemicals onto their delicate skin. Babies immune systems are immature. This makes it difficult for them to detoxify, metabolize or get rid of chemicals in their body. It also takes time for children to develop the barrier protecting their brain from chemical exposure.

All of this made me search for a company and products that I trust. Little did I know that what I was looking for was right under my nose my entire life as my mom has been using Shaklee cleaners and supplements for 37 years now! I really never paid attention to their quality until my son was born. Shaklee's cleaners fit our needs perfectly. Here are the laundry products we use and love....

Fresh Laundry Concentrate (powder or liquid)

My family has used both. The liquid is better for HE machines but we don't have one yet. So either works for us just fine. I have super sensitive skin and have contact dermatitis, which means my skin breaks out in an itchy rash or eczema after coming in contact with chemically scented laundry, lotions, etc. After switching to Shaklee's detergents, my skin irritation issues have disappeared. They reappear anytime we are away from home and sleep somewhere that does not use Shaklee's cleaners. Both come in a light fresh scent or fragrance-free. There is a pump that you can get for the liquid which is awesome because it measures it out perfectly for you. You just need 1-2 oz. depending on the size of the load.
I love using the detergents with my son's cloth diapers. We have been using cloth for 2 years now and the diapers still look new! Once in awhile I do a deep cleaning on them with the Nature Bright (listed below) and the germicide Basic G germicide that I talked about in my Part 3 post for deodorizing. Works great!

Cleaning Credentials:

• Biodegradable Surfactants
• Concentrated
• Hypoallergenic
• No phosphates
• No chlorine

I went back into my archives for a good picture of how well the Shaklee detergent works. My son will probably hate me for posting these when he is a teenager. But since he's just 2, I thought I would share.:) Warning: this isn't going to be pretty!

Here is a before picture of a diaper explosion when my son was a baby.

And the after picture. I sprayed it with Basic H2 and then I washed it in the liquid detergent because it also has a stain fighter in it. It worked beautifully! The Nature Bright, which I will talk about next, would also work well in this situation. :)

Nature Bright

Every mother's BFF. This is an awesome and safe alternative to bleach. Chlorine, which is in bleach, can cause damage to eyes, skin and other membranes. The Clean Air Act listed it as a hazardous pollutant in 1990 and it is among the top cause of accidental poisonings among children. 

Nature Bright is a safe alternative to bleach. It whitens whites and brightens colors beautifully. Perfect for diaper explosions, grass stains, and other difficult stains. It outperformed Oxiclean in removing grass stains! Love, love, love this product!!

We recently took this old blanket on a cabin trip and used it outside for a picnic with 5 young children ages 7-1. You can guess that it got pretty messy! It was hard to capture good pictures of this but here is the before picture when we returned from the cabin. There are some BBQ beans stained in the middle area.

And here is the after. I sprayed the stains with Basic H2. I keep this in my laundry room as it also is a great stain remover.  I soaked the blanket with Nature Bright and washed with the Powder Detergent. It looks brand new again. Considering this blanket is probably about 25 years old, that is saying a lot! lol The stains are completely gone and the blanket looks a few shades whiter.

Soft Fabric Concentrate 

I love how this helps to reduce wrinkles and prevent static cling. It is really concentrated and has a light fresh scent.  Because of my skin issues that developed in college, I could no longer use fabric softeners or dryer sheets. Until I tried Shaklee's! Awesome!! This is another one that you can get a pump for to measure perfectly. Love that!

Soft Fabric Dryer Sheets - Fragrance Free

These are so cool - they are veggie based and completely biodegradable. So recycle after you use them! You cannot do this with the leading brand's dryer sheets. I love how they soften clothes while reducing static cling.

So that does it for another cleaning post. I hope the information has been useful to you. I love these cleaners so much that I can't help but share them! Which products would help with your family's laundry issues?

Please be sure to visit me on Facebook soon! 

Thanks for reading:)

Rebecca