Doing the washing is a necessity, but it can have an impact on our environment. Here is all you need to know about sustainable laundry practices.
In my quest to live a more sustainable life, I have turned my attention to my laundry routine. And I was quite shocked at how much the way I do my washing impacts on our environment.
The good news is, there are many changes you can make to reduce the impact.
And to help you, I will tell you all you need to know about sustainable laundry practices.
Why Conventional Laundry Products Are Bad For The Planet
I want to start my ultimate guide about sustainable laundry practices with a look at conventional laundry products and what their impact on our environment is.
You may have already heard that the laundry detergents and other related products you buy in the supermarket aren’t good for you or our planet. But why is that?
The answer lies in the chemicals that are used. In an attempt to make laundry as easy as possible for us, the manufacturers have resorted to using more and more harsh chemicals.
And while they are great at cleaning our clothes, they are also harmful to our health and the environment.
These are some of the worst offenders that are commonly used as ingredients in laundry products:
- Fragrances and perfumes
- Dyes
- Surfactants
- Optical brighteners
- Chlorine bleach
Most of the chemicals used are also not biodegradable, which means they stay in our environment for a long time. And they are made from petroleum.
We all know that using fossil fuels isn’t sustainable, so any product that contains petrochemicals isn’t eco-friendly.
Another issue with conventional laundry products is their packaging. Most of them come in plastic packaging, some of which isn’t even recyclable.
Given that 90% of plastic is made from fossil fuels, this is not sustainable.
Read our handy guide to find out how toxic laundry detergents are for us and the environment.
I was quite shocked when I found all this out. It spurned me on to find an eco-friendly detergent that works for me.
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What To Look Out For When Buying Eco-Friendly Laundry Products
Now that we know that traditional laundry products are bad for us and the environment, let’s look at what to consider when swapping to earth-friendly laundry products.
This will make it easier to adopt more sustainable laundry practices and reduce your environmental impact.
Ingredients
Given how harmful the ingredients in conventional laundry products are, in an eco-friendly alternative you want the ingredients to be non-toxic.
So look for:
- Products that use essential oils or naturally-derived fragrances or are scent-free
- Products that don’t contain chlorine bleach
- Products that don’t contain optical brighteners
- Products that don’t contain dyes, or if they do, use naturally-derived dyes
- Products that don’t contain plastic, such as microplastics or liquid polymer
- Products that only use naturally-derived or plant-based ingredients (so no petrochemicals)
- Products that only use biodegradable ingredients
It can be difficult to find out what ingredients are in laundry products, because there is no law that says all ingredients have to be listed.
I think that needs to change. After all, we want to know exactly what we use to clean the clothes we wear, right?
But because I don’t have the power to change this, I found a way around it. Companies that use eco-friendly ingredients are keen to tell you.
They will have a complete list of all ingredients on their website, and they will tell you how these ingredients were derived too. Look for such transparency.
Often eco-friendly brands also have certificates which show they use sustainable ingredients, such as the Ecolabel. Under this certification companies aren’t allowed to use toxic chemicals or petrochemicals.
It means doing a bit of research, but it’s worth it when you adopt sustainable laundry practices to get it right.
And if you want to make sure your laundry detergent is 100% free of toxic chemicals, make your own. Read our complete guide about making laundry detergent from conkers.
Plastic-Free Packaging
The next thing to look out for is the packaging used. Most conventional laundry products come in plastic packaging, such as plastic bottles or containers.
I have been trying to get rid of plastic in my home for a while now, and it angers me that all the big companies still use it rather than looking for alternatives.
We have a huge problem with plastic pollution and plastic waste. Plastic stays in our environment for hundreds of years, which causes a lot of issues for our environment.
And while some packaging is recyclable, that doesn’t solve the problem. Because plastic can only be recycled a few times before it has deteriorated too much and needs to be disposed of.
But one of the main issues with plastic is that most of it is made from petroleum, which is not sustainable.
Many eco-friendly companies have found ways to deal with the problem. Either by not using plastic packaging any more or by creating a refill system.
I believe that we have to reduce our dependency on plastic and I try to remove as much plastic as possible from my life.
However, refill systems are a great way to deal with the problem for now. By refilling plastic pouches and containers, we keep them out of landfill.
By reusing them, we can ensure that less plastic needs to be produced.
For now, this is a great sustainable practice, until we have found a way to either make all our plastic from plant-based sources or find an alternative to plastic altogether.
Buy Fewer Products
For me, a big part of adopting sustainable laundry practices was to realise that many of the products you can buy aren’t actually necessary.
And they all contain harmful or toxic chemicals. The impact on our environment is even worse when we use more than one product because of the accumulative effect.
More of these nasty chemicals go down our drains and into our waterways.
I used to use laundry sanitisers, fabric softeners and scent boosters alongside my detergent. I thought I needed them all, thanks to all the adverts telling me so.
The first thing I got rid of were the fabric softener and the scent booster. We learn that only lovely smelling laundry is clean. That’s wrong: clean doesn’t smell at all.
And given that conventional fragrances used are very bad for our planet, I can happily live without them. I hang out my washing as much as possible, and the fresh air smell is enough for me.
The fabric softener makes laundry smell nice as well as feel softer. And while I like soft clothes, since stopping to use fabric conditioner, I haven’t really felt much difference to be honest.
I was a bit more reluctant to stop using laundry cleanser as I didn’t want nasty germs and bacteria to stick to our clothes.
But after doing a lot of research I realised that it’s not necessary for normal household laundry. And we have not had any ill effects whatsoever.
I think we are far too scared of bacteria and germs nowadays to the detriment of our environment.
Who To Buy From?
This is a factor that is close to my heart. You can only adopt sustainable laundry practices if you buy from the right people. I firmly believe that anyone who sells eco-friendly products has to run their business sustainably.
This means that they put sustainability at the heart of their policies and strategies. Anything else is just greenwashing.
Look at all these big corporations who have a huge carbon footprint. To cash in on people who want to be more eco-friendly, they create earth-friendly product lines.
But their practices are still harmful to our environment, and they still sell products that aren’t eco-friendly.
So my advice is to check any company very carefully. I always read the “about” section to find out how the business has come about.
Also, make sure that the firm you want to buy from is transparent about their ingredients and supply chain as well as business practices.
In my experience, it’s the smaller companies that are the best at being sustainable. So that’s who I buy from whenever possible.
In our complete guide about swapping to earth-friendly laundry products you can learn more about what to look out for.
Top-Rated Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergents:
| Cleaning Products | Value For Money | Effectiveness | Sustainability | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Excellent | Excellent | Outstanding | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
 | Outstanding | Excellent | Excellent | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
 | Great | Outstanding | Excellent | 4.85/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
Doing Laundry Uses A Lot Of Energy
The products we use to do our laundry are only part of the problem though. Unless you wash your clothes by hand (one of the best sustainable laundry practices), you are using a lot of energy to have clean laundry.
Energy use is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions, which are responsible for global warming and climate change.
This is because most of our energy comes from burning fossil fuels, such as oil or gas. So reducing our energy use will help us live a more sustainable life.
When we look at the appliances we use for our laundry, washing machine, dryer and iron, we have to ask how much energy do they use?
The answer is: quite a bit. A washing machine has to heat up the water to the right temperature for the programme, and then it operates the drum for the duration of the wash cycle.
While on average a wash cycle lasts about 45 minutes, depending on the programme you use, we tend to wash a lot. Some people use their washing machine several times a week, some every day, some more than once a day.
All this adds up. And it’s the same with a dryer. Tumble dyers are known for using a lot of energy. Heating up to dry your clothes is very energy intensive, more so than washing clothes.
Depending on the size of a household and the type of clothes worn, a dryer could be used just as much as the washing machine. But drying clothes tends to take longer than washing them.
The final piece of most laundry routines is the iron. Ironing is seen as a necessity by many, but it does also use a lot of energy. Any appliance that heats up uses a lot of energy.
And some people iron for hours, even if it’s just once a week.
So in total, a conventional laundry routine uses up quite a lot of electricity, contributing heavily to a family’s carbon emissions.
Of course, you also have to take into account the water that your washing machine uses. This is more than you would use if you were to wash your laundry by hand.
And given how precious a resource water is, we all have to try to use less wherever possible.
What A Sustainable Laundry Routine Looks Like
If you want to follow sustainable laundry practices you have to create a sustainable laundry routine. Thankfully, this is easier than it sounds.
We already know what part of doing the laundry causes issues for our environment, so let’s look at how to create a sustainable laundry routine:
- Wash less – consider before you put an item of clothing in the washing basket
- Wash in cold water or at no more than 30°C (86°F)
- Ditch harmful chemicals – switch to eco-friendly laundry detergents and other laundry products
- Don’t use fabric softener
- Air dry your laundry – hang your washing out or on a clothes horse inside rather than using a dryer
- Prevent microplastic pollution – keep microfibres out of our waterways
- Only iron when absolutely necessary
- Don’t use dry cleaners
- Invest in the most energy efficient washing machine you can afford
- Consider swapping your tumble dryer for a heat pump dryer
While it might need getting used a bit, it will help you to reduce your environmental impact.
When I first started to adopt these sustainable laundry practices, I struggled with some of them. Like the first one: washing less.
I was used to wearing most clothes once and then throwing them in the washing basket. It just felt wrong to wear them again.
But what I do now is refreshing them and put them back in the wardrobe. I use baking soda (also called bicarbonate of soda) to do this. Just put a couple of tablespoons in a spray bottle and add water.
Shake it and spray it on your clothes. Let dry for about 20 minutes, then brush off any bits of bicarbonate of soda. This helps to get rid of any smells that might have attached themselves to my clothes.
This trick has helped me immensely, because I now feel happy not to wash every piece of clothing after every wear.
Another thing I had to get used to is to spot clean, rather than just washing any item that got stains.
It takes a bit more effort, but it’s worth it for a more sustainable life. If a garment that is still ok to wear apart from a stain, I just use a paste made from baking soda and water and rub it on the stain.
Leave for around 20 minutes, then rinse under cold water and the stain is gone. Sometimes you have to rub a bit, if the stain is tougher.
Now all you have to do is let it dry, and it’s ready to be worn again. This is one of the best sustainable laundry practices I have discovered, because it also makes my clothes last longer.
If you want to adopt these eco-friendly laundry practices, read our complete guide about creating a sustainable laundry routine.
Does Washing In Cold Water Really Work?
Another thing I wasn’t sure about was washing in cold water. I know that this will save a lot of energy, so is really something that I should do.
I did a lot of research and found out that clothes get cleaned in cold water just as well as in hot water. So I decided to just give it a go and stop worrying.
The result is that I now wash our clothes in cold water and towels, bedsheets and the cat’s beds and blankets at 30°C (86°F).
Everything still gets clean, and any odours also get removed, so reducing the temperature didn’t affect the results at all.
However, there is one thing you need to look out for: what detergent are you using?
Not all detergents will work in low temperatures. Washing powder is one of them, because it doesn’t dissolve easily in cold water or at lower temperatures.
Liquid detergents, on the other hand, work much better. Most eco-friendly laundry detergents are designed to work at low temperatures, but not all will work in cold water.
The EcoEgg laundry egg for example needs at least 15°C (59°F) to work. But that’s fine, because that is still low enough to be sustainable.
But what about bacteria and germs? We all have been told that only very hot water will get rid of them. I did a lot of research into this topic and found that there is a lot of contradictory information out there.
You have the people who sell laundry disinfectants telling you that it is absolutely necessary to keep your family healthy, whether you wash in cold or hot water. They are obviously biased because they want to make money.
There isn’t actually much scientific evidence out there. But what I found suggests that for domestic laundry in normal circumstances there is no need to worry, according to scientists at the University of Arizona.
Even washing clothes in cold or warm water does get rid of most bacteria and viruses. There is only a need to wash in hot water if someone in the household has a stomach bug that causes diarrhoea and vomiting.
In that case, it is advisable to wash their clothing, towels and bedsheets at 60°C (140°F).
This has made me feel much better about washing at lower temperatures. I hope it will help you too, so you can adopt sustainable laundry practices such as this with peace of mind.
Top-Rated Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergents That Work At Lower Temperatures:
| Cleaning Products | Value For Money | Effectiveness | Sustainability | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | Excellent | Outstanding | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Outstanding | Excellent | Excellent | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Great | Outstanding | Excellent | 4.85/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
Do Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergents Work?
When I started to look at sustainable laundry practices, one thing that concerned me was the effectiveness of eco-friendly laundry detergents.
Like many other people, I grew up believing that only harsh chemicals are able to get my washing properly clean.
The good news is, that’s not true. They clean your clothes just as well as conventional detergents.
However, there are some compromises to make:
- Whites won’t look as white – this is because eco-friendly products don’t use optical brighteners
- Tougher stains need pre-treating – the ingredients used are milder, so sometimes very stubborn stains won’t disappear completely unless you pre-treat them
- Less strong smells – while many eco-friendly still use fragrances, these are either essential oils or naturally-derived, which means they won’t be as strong or hang around for as long
In my opinion, these aren’t huge compromises. We have already established that clean doesn’t smell, so a weaker scent isn’t a problem.
Pre-treating stains can easily be done with a baking soda paste. And the whiteness of white fabrics? Well, is it really worth killing fish for slightly whiter bedsheets? I don’t think so.
Read more about this topic in our guide about the effectiveness of eco-friendly laundry detergents.
Is It Better To Buy Liquid Or Powder Detergents?
If you want to adopt more sustainable laundry practices, switching to eco-friendly detergent is key. But which one is better for the planet, powder or liquid detergent?
Both have their pros and cons, but generally speaking powder detergents tend to be more environmentally friendly because:
- Powder is concentrated, which means there is no water, which makes it more sustainable to transport
- To produce powder detergent, less energy is needed than to produce liquid detergent
- Surfactants used in powder tend to break down easier, which means they are slightly better for our planet
- Powder detergents have a much longer shelf life due to the lack of water, which prevents waste
- Often powder detergents are packaged in cardboard boxes, which are more eco-friendly
However, powder doesn’t dissolve as well in cooler temperatures, which isn’t ideal if you have a sustainable laundry routine.
If not dissolved properly, the detergent isn’t fully effective, and it can leave a residue.
You can find out about this topic in more detail in our guide that answers the question of which is better for the planet, powder or liquid detergent.
In my opinion, it’s not worth worrying about powder or liquid; it’s more important to ensure that whichever detergent you use, it doesn’t contain any toxic petrochemicals.
What About Laundry Pods?
Another option are laundry pods. These are super practical, because they are already the right dose. So you just have to throw one into your washing drum.
In terms of ingredients, they are no better than conventional liquid or powder detergents, as they use the same chemicals.
So unless the laundry pods contain eco-friendly ingredients, they are no better than powder or liquid detergents.
Another issue is the film that encases the detergent. Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) is the substance it’s made from. It’s a plastic film, but with a special ability: it dissolves in water.
Being water-soluble makes PVA biodegradable. However, the research studies conducted about it have had conflicting results.
One side says PVA is biodegradable and therefore a zero-waste, sustainable product. The other side says that it isn’t biodegradable.
From what I understand, PVA is biodegradable in the right conditions, which means the right microorganisms have to be present.
These are present in water treatment facilities through which our waste water passes. But the water doesn’t spend long enough in these facilities for the PVA to biodegrade completely.
PVA isn’t toxic, but if it doesn’t break down fully, it could still cause harm. There isn’t actually any decisive study that deals with the impact of PVA monomer in waterways.
It’s up to everyone to decide if they want to use products containing PVA. I think that laundry pods that don’t contain nasty chemicals have a lot going for them.
They are convenient, the detergent in them is concentrated, and they are already dosed, so you can’t use too much. In an ideal world we wouldn’t use PVA, but if you want convenience, go for it.
And hopefully, soon there will be a plastic-free alternative.
If you want to know more about this topic, read our guide about laundry pods.
Are Soap Nuts Any Good?
If you are looking for a laundry detergent that is completely natural and plastic-free, then soap nuts could be the answer.
They aren’t actually nuts, but the dried husks of the berry of the Chinese Soapberry tree. They have been used for centuries, because they contain a natural surfactant called saponin.
Soap nuts are relatively cheap and easy to use. All you need to do is put a few in a cotton or muslin bag (or a sock) and place it on top of your laundry in the washing machine.
Wash as normal, take out nuts and dry them. You can use them for several washes. Once you are done with them, they can be composted in your garden compost heap.
Saponin is a mild surfactant, so really tough stains you have to pre-treat. The soap nuts also don’t contain any fragrances, so your washing will not smell.
But that’s ok, because clean doesn’t smell. You can always add a few drops of essential oils to the bag, so your clothes have a nice scent.
Sounds perfect, right? There is only one problem: these soap nuts only grow in East Asia. This means they have to come a long way.
That’s far from ideal, because shipping goods from the other side of the world produces a lot of carbon emissions. And that’s what we try to avoid by adopting a sustainable laundry routine.
As in many things in life, there is a balance to be struck here. And a decision to be made by everyone individually. If you want to have more information before deciding, read our full guide about soap nuts.
Now that you know all you need to know about sustainable laundry practices, you can make informed decisions and take another step towards a more sustainable life.
Top-Rated Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergents:
| Cleaning Products | Value For Money | Effectiveness | Sustainability | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | Excellent | Outstanding | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Outstanding | Excellent | Excellent | 4.90/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Great | Outstanding | Excellent | 4.85/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
