Ecological Alternatives

[zanussi_lover]

Doe anybody use Ecological Alternatives when they do their laundry or dishwashing

I'm using tesco naturally biological tablets on my whites, with white vinegar for the final rinse, I've noticed that the vinegar makes the whites brighter, i rescued a dingy grey towel, soaked it in some hot water with some vinegar and i was amazed at how much detergent residue was left in.

I love the clean fresh smell i get, its completely natural and just smells clean, and combined with the breeze and the summer sunshine, the clothes smell wonderful.

Also started to use white vinegar in the dishwasher rinse aid compartment, glasses come up very shiney

anybody use Ecover, I've tried the liquid and its a great detergent for darks and delicate clothing.

 

[paulc]

I have used Earth Friendly Products Ecos laundry liquid, it di a good job but something in it iritated the hell out of my skin. I used Simply Active by Aquados for a while too and quite liked it. It rinse away very easily.

I have often wondered about using white vinegar in the last rinse but was always a bit worried I'd smell like a chip shop!!

I have tried ecover powder and liquid. The powder wasn't great, the liquid was ok but I didn't like the smell. Haven't tried Tesco's or Asdas own eco range.

http://www.ecos.com/ecosliquid.html

 

[paulc]

The link to Simply Active.

http://www.simplywashing.com/laundry/simply_active/

 

[zanussi_lover]

White Vinegar

You only need half a cup of distilled clear vinegar in the final rinse, you get a very faint smell of vinegar on your clothes, but once they are dry they just smell clean.

Its good at brightening up whites, as the vinegar breaks down any soaps, thats in the detergent.

clothes are soft, not lenor soft, but soft and towels don't lose their absorbancy.

 

[paulc]

Well

I think I am going to give the vinegar thing a whirl!

I have recently become a convert to soda crystals for general cleaning and love them!

 

[zanussi_lover]

Soap Nuts

I want to try and give soap nuts a whirl, they look quite good and gentle to clothing.

 

[paulc]

soap nuts

My sister tried them and they are pretty rubbish, plus those eco-ball things, they dont shift any kind of stain at all.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Most of the eco-friendly stuff is not as powerful as coventional detergents. Then there is the cost to factor in - namely paying substantially more for fewer tablets/millilitres/grammes.

I could see the point, if the detergents were strong enough, but in my experience, most of the eco-stuff is as weak as water. "Weak as water!" as Mrs Slocombe used to say.

I tried Tesco 'Naturally' laundry powder, it worked fine. But their dishwasher tablets over-foamed on a greasy load!

Ecover dishwasher tablets worked for a short period of time, until the dishwasher started to smell quite vile. Switching to Finish cured that problem very rapidly.

I tried Lidl's 'Formil' powder to try to reduce my expenditure. The powder cleaned well enough, but left a whole lot of white specks on clothes. You can't use it for short programmes or cooler washes, it only fully dissolves at hotter temperatures. Waste of time.

You're better sticking to the P&G and Lever detergents - anything else is a compromise.

 

[paulc]

I would say out of the eco stuff I have tried "Simply Active" is the best and works well on cooler quick washes and at £2.99 for 15 washes isn't too expensive.

 

[rolls_rapide]

"Simply Active"

Only the Co-Op sells that in my area, and they charge an arm and a leg for anything they sell.

 

[paulc]

GROTMID

you mean.....lol, I avoid that place like the plauge!!! Where in Scotland are you?

 

[rolls_rapide]

Where in Scotland are you?

East of Scotland, near Dundee.

 

[paulc]

Not that far from me then Rolls, maybe me you and Mark should arrange a Scottish "wash in".....that would be fun!!

Just finished a load of Towels with vinegar in the last rinse....they smell a bit vinegary but hopefully that will go when they are dry.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Indeed it would, but I really don't know if I'll have the time, as I am off to Uni next month. I shall wait and see though - I can't spend all my time studying!

 

[foraloysius]

IMHO half a cup of vinegar in the last rinse is a bit too much. A bit less works very well too, your laundry doesn't have to smell like vinegar at all.

I'm going to try the vinegar in the rinse aid dispenser of the dishwasher.

As for eco friendly detergent, my repair guy told me not to use any of the liquid eco friendly detergents, it gives too often problems with mold. And if you use it it's best not to put it in the detergent compartment but in the drum (for instance with in a detergent ball) and make sure you don't wait too long with a maintenance wash afterwards.

 

[sudsmaster]

In my Neptune front loader, I use about 2 ounces of distilled vinegar. There is a very faint aroma of vinegar on the finished load, but sometimes none at all. And by the time they are dry, you can't tell.

I also use diluted vinegar in a spray bottle to wash my hands at work. The CNC mill I use has a water based coolant that leaves a very slippery residue on one's hands, and it can take forever trying to rinse it off on a break. I've found that a few sprays from the vinegar bottle cuts the slipperyness immediately, and then I can either wipe my hands dry with a shop towel or go to the washroom and lather up with soap (which also takes a while to rinse off, but not nearly as long as when there is coolant on hands).

Vinegar also is good if one is gardening and manually controlling snails and slugs. It cuts the slime immediately making it easy to wash off.

And of course it's an old standby- along with newsprint - for cleaning windows.

 

[sudsmaster]

Ecos

I tried Ecos liquid detergent years ago and found that it suds way too much for the front loader, and I didn't particularly like the aroma it left on things. I only used it on bath towels, so I can't comment on its cleaning ability, but I suspect that would be found wanting as well.

I've had better results with bath towels using Safeway Select fragrance/dye free liquid HE detergent, or Costco's HE "environmentally friendly" liquid, although that also has a (natural) fragrance. Fortunately I don't find the latter to be as offensive as the Ecos perfume.

 

[rolls_rapide]

The thing is...

...is it environmentally friendly to use Eco detergents and low temperature/cold washes if you then have to run more maintenance boil washes?

I would imagine that it would make more sense to use a decent powder detergent in the first place and run sensible washes (hot for whites, warm for colours, etc). The fact that there is a periodic hot wash (with powder) should negate the need for boil maintenance washes.

 

[zanussi_lover]

thing is

you don't need to do a boil maintenence wash

a 50 or 60 degree wash with a cup of white vinegar is more than sufficient for cleaning out the wash tub

the machine wont go mouldy if you leave the door open, that gets rid of bad smells.

I use 30 for everything - darks and light colours and lightly soiled whites

and 60 for sheets towels and dirty whites

 

[dirtybuck]

Is there something else besides vinegar that can be used? I really, really REALLY hate the smell of it. How about using lemon juice instead?

 

[sudsmaster]

Lemon juice could work, although it might have some solids/sugars in it. You could also try citric acid, which is the main ingredient in lemons and limes. It's probably available at a pharmacy or chemist shop. Even dilute hydrochloric acid would work, but it could be tricky handling it and not overdosing. All you want is to neutralize any residual alkalinity and possibly also break any residual soap/soda away from the fibers.

 

[ronhic]

I've been spouting the use of white vinegar as a rinse aid for years. Reduce to a 1/4 cup and it will still work fine and you shouldn't have any residue 'fish shop' smell...

 

[zanussi_lover]

Vinegar as rinse aid

I filled my rinse aid dispenser until the light goes out, then i set it to number 3, I get no residue and no smell at all.

with chip shops they use the brown malt vinegar which has a stronger smell.

As for a fabric softener, I would only use this on towels and sheets, as i find on some clothes feel a little bit too stiff for my liking so i may invest in some ecover conditioner.

 

[launderess]

Eco Detergents

Tend to be soap based and according to my research not always the best thing for one's washing machine.

Le Chat detergent sold in France has an "Eco" line now, and supposedly it cleans quite well and smells divine. IIRC, it contains "plant based surfactants".

 

[toggleswitch2]

Just be careful not to use any vinegar if your machine has porcelain tubs/baskets (i.e. older top-load washers, older dishwashers), the vinegar will "eat" the finish.

 

[favorit]

Lost thread found again ! ;-) Vinegar : pros and versa

I know it's ok to rinse cotton and linen
I know it's bad to rinse wool
What about syntetycs and other fabrics ?

 

[gmmcnair]

Eco Alternatives

I use vinegar in my rinse agent dispenser and have never had any problems. All the dishes come out film free with my chlorine free DW detergent.

I usually shred up a bar of soap into a gallon of water for the laundry and heat it until it melts. If they're really dirty, I add some borax for whites, washing soda for colors and a capful of the soap glob. I use about 1/4 cup vinegar in the final rinse to help release any scum or residue. Been doing that for over three years now, and the whites are still white, the colors are bright and everything is clean and fresh smelling.