Washing clothes is a daily act that we all have to do, sometimes more often than we would like. How many clothes a week do we usually wash? If we add the laundry that is done annually in the families of an ordinary block of flats, we would realize how much this activity can harm the environment, so it would be very positive to know a series of tips to start wash clothes in the most ecological way -and economical- possible. Pay attention, because below in Green Ecologist we reveal how to do it.
Detergent, of vital importance
To start doing our laundry 'green', we have to start looking at detergent, undoubtedly one of the most polluting factors. Many of detergents that we have always used and that are on the supermarket shelves use chemical factors that are as harmful to the environment as, in the long run, for our clothes. There are many natural alternatives that will make your garments look like new, they will be kept longer and we can wash them with the awareness that we are minimizing our environmental footprint.
One option is the Castile soap made with recycled olive oil. It may seem strange, but you should know that soap has the ability to wash due to its oil content. The oil is capable of sticking to the fat of the fabrics or of the dishes and extracting it, that is what makes, after rinsing, our clothes are clean. Castile soap can be combined with percarbonate, a natural substance that will come in handy to restore the white that they have lost with use, so this option will help you when you make white washing machines. The soap will have to be grated with a grated (we do it in a single afternoon and we save it) and the laundry will be very clean with only two tablespoons of these soap shavings.
Other similar soaps, which also provide a natural scent, are lizard or Marseille soaps. If you don't want to always use ham shavings, just grate a single tablet with a grater and dilute it in six liters of warm water, shaking afterwards. In two days it will be dissolved and for the price of a single tablet we will have obtained no less than six liters of very efficient and totally natural liquid detergent.
If, until now, you have always washed your clothes with chemical detergents and you want to sign up for ecological laundry, we recommend that you wash the washing machine well inside and through the filters and compartments where you normally pour detergent and fabric softener. In addition, you will be ridding it of lime and prolonging its useful life.
Washing nuts, a great complement
We recommend purchasing washing nuts to complement your ecological wash, in addition to the detergent already explained and the homemade fabric softener that we are going to detail below. What are these nuts? They are a magnificent natural detergent made from fruits that fall from trees in India and Nepal. In these places, clothes are usually washed with these nuts and they will help us too and they will give us a more intense and more severe cleaning with difficult stains.
Vinegar-based fabric softener
Clothes can still be as soft and fluffy as normal fabric softeners with just a little bit of Apple vinager and some of essential oils. The vinegar has a very high power to soften the garments and the oils (of the smell that we like the most, cinnamon, strawberry, lavender, almond, mint or lemon) will camouflage the strong smell of vinegar. Simply, we will have to choose oils of a transparent or light color to avoid that the clothes can stain.
The proportion is as follows: 250 millimeters of vinegar and about 15-20 drops of aromatic oils according to your taste, in addition, you can change them to try different smells in your meals! You will see how not only are they softer, but that with this homemade mix the colors are enhanced. And, of course, your washing machine will suffer considerably less than with chemicals.
For stubborn stains: sodium precarbonate
We have mentioned it before, but we want to remind you that this product is especially good for difficult stains, such as coffee, blood, wine, etc., that soap and nuts may not be able to completely remove. It also has a powerful whitening effect, so we recommend using them in the washes of light or white clothes.
It is known as solid hydrogen peroxide and is perfect for bleaching, cleaning and disinfecting. If the stain is very powerful, we can soak the garment in a basin with a little precarbonate, with diluted bicarbonate and a lemon wedge, also with the same apple cider vinegar and then wash it in the washing machine.
30 degrees is enough
Although there may be exceptions, normally wash clothes at 30 degrees it is enough to properly disinfect, wash and remove odors. 90 degree loads are very harmful to the environment and high temperatures damage and wrinkle your clothes. Incorporating everything that we have detailed previously, 30 degrees will eliminate bad odors and remove stains. Remember to soak your clothes if the stains are very difficult with the natural products mentioned above.
Some tips to wash clothes in an ecological way
Also, remember that to be more ecological, we must try put less laundry. Many times it is still possible to wear that sweater or coat that we have only worn once.
When we have to do the laundry, we will full loads and we will not put the washing machine, to avoid the great expense of water and electricity that it entails, with only some clothes. If we have something urgent to wash, we can do it with hot water in a basin by hand, also using our natural detergents.
Taking care of clothes is essential. Its correct laying and storage is also it, because this way the garments will last us much longer and we will not have to go through the store as often. It is preferable not to use bleach and we must remember that dryers not only damage clothes, but also involve an excessive expenditure of energy in the long term, therefore, it is better not to use tumble dryers.
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