#2 Greening the laundry room

Going green in the laundry room is not only good for the environment, but it WILL save you money.  Here are some simple things you can do to lessen your impact when it comes to laundry.

1.  Wash with cold water whenever you can.  Most energy used in hot wash cycle is strictly to heat the water.  Limit your hot water usage to linens and undies and you'll be lessening your impact.

2. Don't wash your clothes after each time you wear them.  Tight fitting shirts and undies should be washed each time, however your jeans can be worn up to 4-5 times before you toss them in your dirty clothes basket.  If you live in a colder climate, you might be able to push it more.  Real Simple Magazine had a very interesting article over the summer called When to wash it.  It's an easy read, and it will put your mind at ease (I'm not totally nuts...I swear).

3. Use green laundry detergents, or better yet, make your own.  Conventional laundry detergents contain phosphates that encourage algal bloom, and damage marine life.  Look for labels that say phosphate free, plant-based, or biodegradable. One of my favorite companies out there right now is Sun and Earth.  I have tried all of their stuff, and recently had a giveaway.  If you're adventurous you can try one of the many laundry detergent recipes here.

4. Hang your clothes out to dry.  For a while I had a load a day method. I'd wash, and hang that load out to dry.  Rinse and repeat the next day.  It was so very nice.  Laundry never got overwhelming.  Now I'm in an apartment, and I can't hang my clothes to dry like I used to.  I hang some, and utilize hangers in the bathroom on the shower rod.  Where there's a will there's a way, and nothing beats the smell of outdoor dried clothes.  Even in the winter!

5.  If you must use the dryer, maximize it's usage.  Clean out the lint traps after each use, and ditch the dryer sheets.  Conventional dryer sheets often have chemicals in them such as toluene and styrene which are carcinogens.  Correction: Toluene is a carcinogen.  For more information on the harmful effects of styrene, read here. For more thoughts on dryer sheets read here.

6. Skip the dry cleaner.  Conventional dry cleaners use a chemical called perchloroethylene, or perc for short. Not only is this chemical bad for the environment, but it's bad for us too.  It's been linked to increased risks of bladder, esophageal, and cervical cancer. Also eye, nose, throat and skin irritation and even reduced fertility. Omg!




Sources:
1. Top Green Laundry Tips

Green Household cleaners

When the kids and I arrived at the apartment about two weeks ago, I had to go out and purchase some new cleaners.  Hubs took me to the closest Target and I got J.R. Watkin's brand cleaners along with some white vinegar.  I have used the all purpose cleaner before, and I love it.  It smells wonderful, and it's perfect for cleaning up my wood table after meal times. I had hoped the rest of their line would be just as good, but I'm afraid it isn't so.

The toilet cleaner is fine, and if vinegar and baking soda won't do the trick for you, try this.  After I'm finished with this bottle, odds are I'm going back to vinegar and baking soda.  What I'm really disappointed with his the dish soap.  It doesn't go far at all, it hardly makes bubbles, and in two weeks time, you can see how much I've used.  I have a dishwasher too, so this is just for the odd dishes that either need soaking or are not dishwasher safe.  This is by far the worst plant based dish soap I've tried.

So what's your favorite green cleaning product?

Cleaning Silver with Baking Soda and Foil

Still purging here, and cleaning up stuff that we haven't used in a long time.  This beautiful silver serving dish was one given to us 8 years ago when we got married.  It's been in storage for probably the five years we've been at this house.  Polishing a large plate like this can seem a scary task, but it actually wasn't so bad with the Baking Soda and Foil technique.  You can see here, the plate started off in a pretty dingy state.

I brought needed supplies to our bathroom, since the bathtub is the only large enough container I had to soak it in. I recommend lining your bathtub with a towel or something so you don't scratch it. I used hot water and let the plate soak for about 10 minutes, flipping it over now and then. I wasn't satisfied with the results initially, so I got a dark towel, and started rubbing the plate. I added more baking soda while rubbing to help get the tarnish off, and it did rub onto the towel, so either use a rag, or a dark towel you won't see it on.

In the end, I have a shiny silver platter that was cleaned with only baking soda, not some crazy harmful chemical. What a difference. Now I need to decide if I should sell it, or keep it.

Clean Home, Fresh Start -- The Computer Desk!

This may not seem like a big project, but really, to do it right, it was huge. My computer area had been a sneaky little hideaway spot for all the crap in the house. There was trash, three days worth of coffee cups, picture frames, the list seriously goes on. I don't think I've neatened up this space in a year. I'm pathetic, I know.


Hubby was kind enough to take the kids to the park, and play play play while I tackled this mess. In hindsight, I should have started at the top. But I started in the middle instead collecting trash/recyclables. When that was all cleaned up a disgusting layer of dust was left. So, I dusted, then I worked my way down to the bottom. Removed the box of pictures in frames, and paper shredder. I had to vacuum in there, because...wow, nasty.




Long story short, two and a half hours later I have a fully cleaned, dust and clutter free computer nook that is no longer embarrassing or a asthmatic's worst nightmare. It was quite the workout, having to go up and down the stairs numerous times to put things where they belonged. The printer that was on the middle shelf has now entered the yard sale pile, we lost the power source to it 5 years ago when we moved in. Told you I was pathetic.

For more clean home stuff, check out the Happy Housewife's Clean Home, Fresh Start challenge.