Not Really:
I don't want to drag this off too much, but I recommend you read Richard White's Book "Smoke-Screens: The Truth About Tobacco." There are over 200 references in that book, many of which I visited myself (Including FORCES or FOREST). There are several other publications that analyse the data from the last 100 years or so in the way this book does, although I haven't had time to deal those publications myself.
Personally, I can tell you that I too believed that smoking was a deadly habit. This book changed my opinions, as it showed me how facts have been distorted and taken out of context to fit the opinions of researchers. The involvement of the drug industry and 5% effective smoking-cessation products has not helped this case. The other worrying facts are those of what the Government will target once they are "done with" smoking. Right now, Smokers are demonised in society (Wrongly so, since they produce billions more in the tax revenue than they "cost" society - and since smoking is an inelastic good, increasing the price deters very little from smoking in the first place), but after smoking the government will head after Alcohol, Fast Food and so on. It wasn't just laundry/dishwashing detergents and our appliances that are being nannied and controlled by those who "know better."
No, I won't advocate something that is potentially bad for you (Yes, I admitted it. All the evidence in the world for either side cannot be conclusively proven) - nor will I partake in such an activity, although I understand the reasons of others for smoking - which isn't necessarily based off addiction (Smoking causes a release of Dopamine, making you feel good. People get "addicted" to feeling good... You can't blame them for that).
As for the Petro-Chemicals in detergents, I don't really think that adding oils would be in anyone's interests in the laundry detergents. When you add your finger into detergent and feel that residue, that is the water softening agents in the detergents, plus the surfactants. A similar feeling is present in mechanically-softened water supplies. Washing your hands makes your hands feel "slippery," a feeling that isn't easy to remove (and is non present in regular, hard or non-softened water). This is a reaction between the Sodium Chloride present in the water you are using and the Sodium Stearate (I think) in many manufactured detergent-like soaps.
The argument based off oil in detergent is somewhat unfounded, as even home-made soaps made for hundreds of years contained animal fats, and people still had properly-rinsed, clean bodies (and they lived a pretty long time too, considering Surgical Practice). Our hair also contains oils that one does not need or want to wash away, since this keeps our hair alive and not fraying/splitting/breaking/fall-out(ing), the same with our skin, except this helps protect us against the Sun's harmful rays, provided we don't wash the oils off so frequently they cannot buildup and do their job.
I also have to bite at your "stiff clothes" claim - this seems to result from the higher spin speeds in washers compacting the fibres of items in the wash, as any item dried or aired in a tumble-dryer will not have this stiff feeling, as the fibres have been returned to their natural, un-compressed state.
My largest gripe is the suggestion that laundry detergents create the scum buildup inside washing machines. That is incorrect. What you are referring to is perhaps fabric softeners and oils from the clothes (Body oils or not) that are not being suspended correctly in the wash water to be flushed away. Like I said previously, they will go wherever is 'easiest,' which more often than not ends up being on the outer-drum of your washer - especially in conditions where one uses only cold-water to wash their clothes.
That is a claim that has been proven many times over before here: In cases where not enough water or water that is too cold is used (The problem is both - , your machine will buildup garbage unless you purposefully run a "Clean Washer" cycle). This issue is being compounded by "Eco-Warriors" insisting that Cold-Water washing poses no harm to them, their washers or anyone else... Well it does, especially if you ruin so many washers from this.
I don't want to drag this off too much, but I recommend you read Richard White's Book "Smoke-Screens: The Truth About Tobacco." There are over 200 references in that book, many of which I visited myself (Including FORCES or FOREST). There are several other publications that analyse the data from the last 100 years or so in the way this book does, although I haven't had time to deal those publications myself.
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www.forces.org
Personally, I can tell you that I too believed that smoking was a deadly habit. This book changed my opinions, as it showed me how facts have been distorted and taken out of context to fit the opinions of researchers. The involvement of the drug industry and 5% effective smoking-cessation products has not helped this case. The other worrying facts are those of what the Government will target once they are "done with" smoking. Right now, Smokers are demonised in society (Wrongly so, since they produce billions more in the tax revenue than they "cost" society - and since smoking is an inelastic good, increasing the price deters very little from smoking in the first place), but after smoking the government will head after Alcohol, Fast Food and so on. It wasn't just laundry/dishwashing detergents and our appliances that are being nannied and controlled by those who "know better."
No, I won't advocate something that is potentially bad for you (Yes, I admitted it. All the evidence in the world for either side cannot be conclusively proven) - nor will I partake in such an activity, although I understand the reasons of others for smoking - which isn't necessarily based off addiction (Smoking causes a release of Dopamine, making you feel good. People get "addicted" to feeling good... You can't blame them for that).
As for the Petro-Chemicals in detergents, I don't really think that adding oils would be in anyone's interests in the laundry detergents. When you add your finger into detergent and feel that residue, that is the water softening agents in the detergents, plus the surfactants. A similar feeling is present in mechanically-softened water supplies. Washing your hands makes your hands feel "slippery," a feeling that isn't easy to remove (and is non present in regular, hard or non-softened water). This is a reaction between the Sodium Chloride present in the water you are using and the Sodium Stearate (I think) in many manufactured detergent-like soaps.
The argument based off oil in detergent is somewhat unfounded, as even home-made soaps made for hundreds of years contained animal fats, and people still had properly-rinsed, clean bodies (and they lived a pretty long time too, considering Surgical Practice). Our hair also contains oils that one does not need or want to wash away, since this keeps our hair alive and not fraying/splitting/breaking/fall-out(ing), the same with our skin, except this helps protect us against the Sun's harmful rays, provided we don't wash the oils off so frequently they cannot buildup and do their job.
I also have to bite at your "stiff clothes" claim - this seems to result from the higher spin speeds in washers compacting the fibres of items in the wash, as any item dried or aired in a tumble-dryer will not have this stiff feeling, as the fibres have been returned to their natural, un-compressed state.
My largest gripe is the suggestion that laundry detergents create the scum buildup inside washing machines. That is incorrect. What you are referring to is perhaps fabric softeners and oils from the clothes (Body oils or not) that are not being suspended correctly in the wash water to be flushed away. Like I said previously, they will go wherever is 'easiest,' which more often than not ends up being on the outer-drum of your washer - especially in conditions where one uses only cold-water to wash their clothes.
That is a claim that has been proven many times over before here: In cases where not enough water or water that is too cold is used (The problem is both - , your machine will buildup garbage unless you purposefully run a "Clean Washer" cycle). This issue is being compounded by "Eco-Warriors" insisting that Cold-Water washing poses no harm to them, their washers or anyone else... Well it does, especially if you ruin so many washers from this.