Here is the thing with green cleaning and green laundry products..... If you really want to make sure your laundry is safe and non toxic the best thing is to do it yourself. No hidden chemicals, no chemicals that in 5 years will be found to be toxic to worry about.

Even if you prefer to buy your laundry detergent (full disclosure: I do!), you can still reduce your exposure to chemicals by using home made alternatives for stain removers, pretreatments and /or fabric softeners.

Most people would never ever consider making their own detergent or cleaning products.... But what if it’s really easy? What if you only need a handful of products ... Most of which you already have in your kitchen?

For those of you who want to try it out here are a couple of (easy!) recipes:

White Vinegar

• Collars and cuffs: you can clean collars and cuffs by rubbing a think paste of baking soda and vinegar onto stains before washing in the usual way.

• Colors: colors getting dull? Brighten dulling colors by soaking them in 1 gallon warm water and 1 cup vinegar. Follow with a clear water rinse

• Fabric softener and static cling reducer: use vinegar like you would liquid fabric softener.... Pour the same amount into your wash!

• Underarm marks: soak those nasty perspiration marks with vinegar before washing the usual way. To remove the solid residue left by deodorants soak the area in white vinegar until saturated, then wash as usual. Do this often , as it will not work on old set stains!

• New clothes : it’s no secret that some new clothes have been treated in chemicals for diverse purposes. It is always good to wash new clothes before wearing, but if you or your child has extra sensitive skin soak new clothes in 1 gallon of water with 1cup of vinegar. Rinse then wash as usual.

• Stain remover : grass, coffee, tea, fruit , berry and even ink stains can be eliminated by soaking in full strength vinegar and then laundering as usual.
  

Baking Soda

Laundry stains are not always limited to grass and dirt with kids... It can get much uglier than that! For blood and vomit, baking soda is your secret weapon

• Removing vomit: soak clothes in a bucket of cold water wit h 2 cups baking sofa. Let stand overnight before washing as usual.

• Removing bloodstains

• Soak clothes in a bucket of cold water with one cup vinegar and one cup baking soda.

• Fabric Softener: If your washer allows for this, add a 1/2 cup of baking soda to the water in your washing machine before adding your clothes. Let it dissolve prior to adding your clothes, the baking soda with naturally make your clothes soft.