Non-Toxic Laundry Products

Katie
Mar 31
6 min read

Updated: Apr 29

This article is all about laundry products, including laundry detergent, fabric softener, stain removers, and dryer sheets. Chemicals in these products can remain in clothes as residues and be released into the air. As many ingredients have been linked to adverse health outcomes, it's best to switch to safer laundry products.

Phthalates are found in many laundry products. These can be in the umbrella-term ingredient "fragrance." "Fragrance" is extremely common in laundry products. Many of the thousands of potential ingredients in "fragrance," hundreds of which can be in a single product, are linked to health harm. Essential oils can also contain harmful chemicals, like limonene, which can cause breathing issues and react with ozone in the air to produce carcinogens. It's best to choose products without any scents, whether it's fragrance or essential oils.

Plastic containers are usually used to hold laundry products, and most dryer sheets are made of plastic. Plastic can leach (release) endocrine-disrupting, carcinogenic, and otherwise harmful plastic additives, as well as microplastics. Heat can also increase leaching. It's better to choose laundry products in non-plastic containers and alternatives to dryer sheets without plastic.

One study examined volatile organic compound (VOC) release from laundry detergent and dryers after towels were washed with detergent and dried with dryer sheets. They found that VOCs were released from the laundry detergent alone, the dryer sheet alone, the dryer after detergent was used to wash the towels, and the dryer after detergent and dryer sheets were used. Another study also found similar VOC release from clothes after fabric softener was used. These VOCs were not listed on ingredient lists. One source of VOCs in laundry products is fragrances, so choosing fragrance-free is better to limit VOC release. As an example, two of the VOCs detected, acetaldehyde and benzene, are carcinogenic. VOCs can also be irritating, trigger asthma, and react to form other harmful substances. Different studies found that VOCs are released from dry cleaning and that they're in the solvents used for dry cleaning. For example, perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) are frequently used dry cleaning solvents. They have been linked to a variety of cancers, among other concerns.

Specific ingredients in laundry products can pose issues as well. Many endocrine disruptors are ingredients in laundry products. One common example is parabens. Nonylphenol ethoxylates (or NPEs) can be found in dryer sheets and detergents. These chemicals and their breakdown products can disrupt hormones, trigger cell death, and damage DNA. Non-ionic surfactants like ethoxylated alcohols, which can be contaminated with DNA-damaging, carcinogenic, skin-irritating, reproductive harm-causing ethylene oxide and carcinogenic, liver-damaging, skin-irritating 1,4-dioxane, are also common. Quaternary ammonium compounds, also used in laundry detergents, have been associated with skin irritation, respiratory and reproductive harm, and allergic reactions. Borax is another common ingredient in laundry detergents. It has been associated with reproductive, developmental, nervous system, cell, genetic, and kidney harm as well as skin and respiratory tract irritation. Additionally, the detergent ingredient sodium laureth sulfate can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane. PFAS can be found in laundry products, including laundry detergent sheets. These chemicals are linked to a range of effects you can read about here. Lastly, dyes and optical brighteners (whiteners) are also often used. These can be irritating. I've discussed some dyes in a previous article here! Specific products can also contain other harmful ingredients.

A study found that respiratory cells were harmed and their gene expression altered (changes in the production of certain genes) when they were exposed to laundry detergent and detergent residues. The changes in the cell epithelial barrier (outer layer) seen have been linked to asthma. A different study demonstrated that the skin barrier is negatively impacted by laundry detergents, even at very low concentrations (mimicking detergent residues on clothes). They found that sodium dodecyl sulfate/sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a major component of laundry detergents, largely led to this effect. It is a skin and respiratory system irritant.

There are several laundry detergents with less harmful ingredients! I recommend the unscented versions of the laundry detergents by Earthley, Meliora, and Package Free. Earthley's ingredients are washing soda (sodium carbonate), citric acid, saponified organic coconut oil, saponified organic extra-virgin olive oil, saponified organic castor oil, water, and bromelain (a pineapple enzyme). Earthley is especially good because their oils are organic, which prevents pesticide contamination. Meliora's ingredients are sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), sodium carbonate (washing soda), and vegetable soap [sodium cocoate, glycerin, organic cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, water]. Finally, Package Free's ingredients are sodium cocoate, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and sodium carbonate (washing soda). Inhaling or consuming any solid laundry detergent can be irritating to the respiratory and digestive systems due to the alkaline (pH over 7) nature of some of the cleaning agents used (including sodium carbonate), so try to avoid it even with safer products.

Wool dryer balls are a great substitute for toxic dryer sheets and fabric softeners. These are reusable wool balls you just pop in the dryer with your laundry! Branch Basics has wool dryer balls made of wool from an organic farm.

Meliora and MamaSuds offer safer stain-remover sticks. Meliora's is made of vegetable soap [sodium cocoate, glycerin, organic cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, water]. MamaSuds' is just saponified olive oil (sodium olivate). You can also try Dr. Bronner's soap, which is organic.

Switching to laundry products with safer ingredients helps reduce exposure to toxins!