Keep Your Laundry Safe & Truly Gentle

WVE’s recent report Dirty Secrets revealed secret toxic chemicals hiding out in top brand name laundry detergents and dryer sheets, like the cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane in Tide Free & Gentle®. In addition, liquid fabric softeners can contain toxic chemicals linked to respiratory and skin irritation, as well as reproductive and developmental toxicity. Many of these laundry products are heavily fragranced– designed to impart those synthetic fragrance chemicals straight into your clothes.

We’ve put together some easy tips for you on how to keep toxic chemicals out of your laundry so that it’s truly gentle:

• Add ¼ – ½  cup white vinegar in your rinse cycle as fabric softener

• Throw in wool balls or an old wool sweater to eliminate static and improve dryer efficiency

• Use hydrogen peroxide for whitening instead of chlorine bleach

• When possible, hang your laundry in the sun to dry, it will whiten and freshen too

• Use hydrogen peroxide, corn starch, baking soda, or lemon juice to remove stains

• Laundry detergents should be safe! Tell the makers of Tide to strip 1,4-dioxane out of Tide Free & Gentle!®

Find more non-toxic tips!