I’ve spoken about Mount Washmore before, and the sheer enormity of it with having a huge family, but I haven’t really spoken about our detergent choices. You see, being a green-preferable family, we have certain detergent needs. While we want them to be all-natural, they have to be able to clean our clothes, too. My middle daughter also has eczema, so we have to make sure what we use is gentle for her. Also, as of late, I’ve been in need for some uber-deodorizing detergents because of soccer, football and momma’s running clothes tend to need a hazmat suit special care when washing. Ahem.
I decided to peruse the aisles at Walmart (our only local “mega” store) to see what they had to offer us. I was in need because a certain somebody (cough, Baby Dude, cough) wiped his chocolatey fingers on my beautiful Egyptian Cotton sheets, but we won’t name names. Ahem.
I use Calgon Water Softener and Borax for extra-brightening. Our water is horrible and that stuff really helps clean clothes naturally. For stains, I like using Oxi-Clean, in all it’s non-bleaching glory. For the extra-smelly clothes (ahem) I use Arm and Hammer Deodorizing detergent. Sometimes, I like using Seventh Generation liquid, too. I also use Mrs Meyer dryer sheets in lavender scent – so delicious!
I don’t often use it all together, nor at full-strength – a little goes a long way, I use each when needed – Calgon (when I find it) goes in every load, because of our hard water. Borax, too. Oxi-Clean only for whites/khakis or stained clothing. Arm and Hammer for ones that need deodorizing or are particularly smelly. Seventh Generation gets used as a back-up.
Unfortunately, at Walmart I didn’t find everything I needed. I was looking particularly for Oxi-clean, Borax and Arm and Hammer in the big boxes, and to see what other natural alternatives they had (ie. Seventh Generation, Mrs. Meyers, etc). They had hardly any all-natural detergents for this big family, let alone the detergents we do like in big enough sizes for us. Disappointing 🙁
What detergents do you use? Do you look for all-natural varieties, or have a preference on what works best for you?
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