Learning to walk before I run

Alchemilla

@edinburgher what are the main ingredients in the goop?

Just to complicate things there is also the affect on the waterways to consider. Your soda and vinegar will just make a buffer solution that won't cause problems.

edinburgher

@Alchemilla - 

Contains among other ingredients: Less than 5% Nonionic Surfactants, Perfume, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene.

£6.54 interest paid by H@lifax savings account, £3.27 each OPed, paid off smaller CC and paid into ISA (the extra £3.27 for debt repayment was taken from budget shuffling)

Suffolk_lass

The nonionic Surfactants are soap scum removers. The engineer we had the one-time we had one (before I started fixing it myself with the tube people) said that if you do a regular top temperature wash of your white cotton (towels?) it does the same as the chemical stuff. I do it once a fortnight. I won't say how old my WM is or it will hear me.

Perfumes are to cover the bad smells. Cinnamal is cinnamon perfume. Limonene is orange oil smell with some made through a petrochem' process.

Most vinegar is made from fermented apples or grapes. Only industrial vinegars have hydrocarbon industrial alcohol added.

Vinegar, lemons and bicarbonate of soda are my go-to cleaning products and washing soda is natural but as you say, comes in silly bags when it could come in paper sack-bags like flour. 

greenbee

Citric acid made on an industrial scale is fermented molasses. I tend to buy in a 5kg bucket which gets reused. Sometimes I find somewhere I can refill, sometimes I find it in paper sacks. I use it for making elderflower cordial as well... so get the food grade stuff and use that for descaling and keep the vinegar (in 5l plastic, but refillable if I can get there) to replace fabric softener. I've also found it more effective for descaling but then my water is so hard I'm surprised it's liquid... 

themadvix

Greenbee your water sounds like ours!

Citric acid, vinegar and washing soda are all available at my local refill shop, thereby saving any packaging. Agree that a hot wash really helps with the smells. I’m afraid one unenvironmentally friendly thing I do is wash at 40. 30 doesn’t get things clean for me, especially with gentler eco-friendly washing products (soap nuts don’t activate unless at 40, among others). 

edinburgher

Another 40 degree-er here - my compromise is only using the 59 minute "daily" cycle aside from once a month cottons wash at higher heat for towels. Use a Bio D liquid detergent that comes by the gallon

Baileys_Babe

Mist of laundry is at 40°, underwear, bedding and towels at 60° and woollens and delicates in a cold wash. Delicates and woollens we use Ecover delicate liquid, everything else Ecover Zero powder, each load has a tablespoon of detergent plus a tablespoon of soda crystals.

The powder is bought in a 7.5kg sack, the liquid in 5 litre jug/bottle, the soda crystals I have only found in 1kg plastic packets. I haven't found a refill shop local to me, but if there was one we would use it.

Karmacat

I think I'm taking notes from the thread!  Must remember, Ed's thread starting at 25 January  

Suffolk_lass

Sorry ed - it looks as though you have a bunch of eco-obsessives following your thread  but 

greenbee

Suffolk_lass said:

Sorry ed - it looks as though you have a bunch of eco-obsessives following your thread  but 

Eco LAUNDRY obsessives, just to make it really classy