Dare you stop using washing powder?

dandy-candy

While on one of my "saving the planet" benders a few years back I ditched washing powder in favour of those wash ball things. It seemed fine for the 1st week, then I noticed the kids school shirts weren't very white - but pfft! saving the planet is worth grey cuffs!, then it got to the point where you would put on "clean" clothes and within 30 mins of them warming up you would be smelling of stale sweat.... at this point the experiment crashed and burned i'm afraid!!

phizzimum

on the recent TV prog Victorian Farm, they made the point that Victorians would treat stains before washing but then not use detergent in the wash - just allowing the hot water and friction to do the rest.

it did make me think about using less washing powder. I also thought about the detergent residue left in the pipes. So since then I've been using powder on every other wash - usually using it for the towels or teatowels.

no-one in the family's made any rude comments yet!

Bitsy_Beans

TrulyMadly wrote: »

Evening all,

I have gradually been reducing the amount of washing powder that I use each wash. From 2 tablets at my dizzy height I am down to half a tablet each wash. I am very tempted to stop using it altogether as I have a theory!

Surely it's the water temperature and the friction of the clothes moving around in the machine that does most of the cleaning.
Is someone going to write back and tell me that they've never used washing powder for the last eight years.....

If so, are your clothes still clean?

After trying the cheapie brands and using less I have come to the conclusion that I do NEED washing powder. My H wears white shirts for work and the collars just weren't getting clean.

pamfin

I've been using soapnuts in my washing for a few weeks now. The clothes come out fantastically soft without fabric conditioner and, although when they first come out of the machine they smell a bit weird, by the time they are dry they smell fresh and clean. I sometimes add a bit of lavender oil or lemon oil if i remember. I either put the soapnuts in a sock or sometimes boil them up and make a washing liquid (they don't release the saponin at under 40 degrees so making a liquid enables me to use them in a cooler wash)

Definately worth a try.

exup

the one thing I was wondering about with some washing machine adverts.. I always iunderstood that the soap was basically to remove oil / grease and it was the heat that killed microorganisms..

with something like persil (?) gel suggesting going down to just 15 degrees C. maybe the clothes will be cleaned from dirt - but what about all the little microorg - critters that have got into the clothes anyway

geordie_joe

exup wrote: »

but what about all the little microorg - critters that have got into the clothes anyway

What about them?

Whatever they are they have been there for thousands of years before we started heating water to wash clothes.

Just because someone has said you should use hot water to kill microorganisms it doesn't mean you have to, nor does it mean anything bad will happen if you don't.

exup

geordie_joe wrote: »

What about them?

Whatever they are they have been there for thousands of years before we started heating water to wash clothes.

Just because someone has said you should use hot water to kill microorganisms it doesn't mean you have to, nor does it mean anything bad will happen if you don't.

one purpose to wash clothes / food utensils / working surfaces is to prevent the build up of mircoorganisms. whether they are present in sweat or other bodily fluids on the clothes or from food or whereever..

If we send laundry to be washed at work (ambulance service) especially one that might be blood stained - we dont want to get it back still with possible contaminants on it.

rosieben

phizzimum wrote: »

on the recent TV prog Victorian Farm, they made the point that Victorians would treat stains before washing but then not use detergent in the wash - just allowing the hot water and friction to do the rest.

it did make me think about using less washing powder. I also thought about the detergent residue left in the pipes. So since then I've been using powder on every other wash - usually using it for the towels or teatowels.

no-one in the family's made any rude comments yet!

I posted this in the earlier thread. Ruth says in the 'Victorian Farm' book that she hasn't used washing powder in her own wash for over 3 years. I never actually got around to trying this, but I like the idea of washing powder every other wash. I think we've all become scared of natural micro-organisms and bacteria, most of which aren't harmful. Scare-mongering marketing and ads have us all reaching for the chemical cocktails!

exup

Im not easily swayed by scaremongering by the media.. but I also know what some of the patients we carry have had . TB, lice, ticks, hepititus, HIV, scabies, C-difficule - the list goes on
some of which arent really affected by the soap / detergent and need either heat or a disinfectant to wipe them out

geordie_joe

exup wrote: »

Im not easily swayed by scaremongering by the media.. but I also know what some of the patients we carry have had . TB, lice, ticks, hepititus, HIV, scabies, C-difficule - the list goes on
some of which arent really affected by the soap / detergent and need either heat or a disinfectant to wipe them out

But nobody has suggested that the ambulance service stop washing it's uniforms

In fact nobdy said they were going to stop washing anything, clothes, body, hair dishes or backside!