Organic Housekeeping Chapter 5

I'll be honest, this book is a little lengthy and has a whole lot of information, it kinda reminds me of a text book sometimes. At the same time, I am so excited to get my house free of these chemicals, and go more organic, while saving money and hopefully helping my husbands allergies and asthma! So, the Laundry chapter, was way long and a lot to handle. And to be honest I skimmed through the different types of fabric and how to wash each because if it can't go with all the rest, I'd rather not own it. If we're making things more complicated, and adding more steps than I'm not used to, I'm out. I read tags of clothing when it's new, and dry clean only if I must, or hand wash if I think the color will spread, but everything else gets washed pretty much the same. But here goes her suggestions.

The best washing machine: ASKO, uses less water and less energy. Use an extra spin cycle and less dryer time, dryers eat energy. Get a dryer with a moisture sensor, so it stops when the clothes are dry. Go further than looking for energy star, compare the amount of water used and energy needed. Make sure to empty the lint in your dryer every time you use it and get sheet metal exhaust pipes that you clean once a year. It will save you from dryer fires. Warm/cold cycle uses less energy.

Sort laundry by color: (1) white and light pastels (2) black, blue (3) red, pink, orange and purple
Sort delicates from tough fabrics
Sort (1) filthy clothes (2) nasty work clothes (3) kitchen laundry (4) cleaning rags (5) fuzzy items


"If it ain't dirty, don't wash it."


Only true laundry soap left on the market is Fels Naptha. Detergents have a lot of harmful additives. Alkphenol ethoxylates, phosphates, sodium hypochlorite, fragrances and perfumes, chlorine, fabric brighteners, petroleum products and dyes. For allergy prone people and babies use unscented. Useful website- www.greenmercantile.com. For liquid detergent: Restore Laundry detergent or Shaklee's Liquid-L laundry concentrate. For powder: Earth Friendly ECOS powder, Natural Choices Oxyprime or Country Save. 


The life of a Snow Whites shirt should go as follows: Snow White dress shirt to functionally white office shirt to off-white work shirt to gardening shirt to paint shirt to rag to the compost bucket or trash. First for whites with stains try color reducers like RIT Color Remover or RIT white wash. If the alternative is trash for colored clothes try color remover. For cooking grease also try color remover. Use cold water wash for the wash cycle except for greasy clothes and rags.


Protein based stains (food, mud, vomit, blood) soak in cold water and dish detergent or liquid laundry detergent. For sweat stains soak in a bucket of warm water and a cup of vinegar or soak in hydrogen peroxide for a half hour. For oil based stains (food grease, machine oil) use a paste of powder detergent and water and rub. For cooking oil use dish detergent. Veggie pigment (red wine, beer, fruit, ketchup, coffee) wash in hot water with detergent. Table linens: stretch over a bowl and pour boiling water through it. 


Dry cleaning: www.hangersdrycleaning.com or www.greenearthcleaning.com for find a place near you. Liquid carbon dioxide is the preferred method and runner up is silicone based solvent. 

The best type of clothes to buy are plant fibers, cotton, linen, ramie, rayon or acetate. 
Cloth diapers: 3 or 4 dozen. Soak the diapers in a pail of water and vinegar with a lid as soon a you remove them from the baby (obviously rinse or scrape out solids first). When the bucket is full: 1st spin cycle to remove access water. 2nd heavy clothes setting and hot water, detergent and vinegar in the rinse cycle. Hang dry plastic part and cotton fryer setting for the cloth. 


Baby clothes: stains- soak in cold water and detergent. Rub milk stains with baking soda and water.


And if that's not enough, you'll have to read the book yourself. There is more, I just didn't find the rest very relevant to my cleaning habits.