There are numerous ways to reduce your ecological footprint at home. When doing laundry, even small changes can benefit the environment. We will show you how to clean your clothes more sustainably.
1. Use sustainable washing powder
Conventional detergents contain preservatives, fragrances, and surfactants based on petroleum. They are harmful to health and pollute wastewater. A major problem is the controversial microplastic. It is found in the form of liquid plastic in products from well-known brands. Eco-manufacturers avoid these substances.
We recommend the sustainable detergent from bluu. The pre-dosed laundry strips are environmentally friendly. They are free from harmful ingredients. The manufacturer avoids:
- palm oil,
- optical brighteners,
- preservatives,
- phosphates,
- starch,
- bleach as well as
- toxic chemicals.
The product is completely biodegradable. Transporting the recyclable boxes generates 95 percent less CO2 than other detergents. Nevertheless, users do not have to compromise. The detergent leaves clothes fresh and clean-smelling. The unconventional laundry strips are suitable for hand or machine washing at temperatures from 15 to 95 °C. You can use them for dark, white, and colored laundry.
2. Use washing powder instead of liquid detergent
Prefer powder, as liquid detergents contain preservatives that pollute water bodies and sewage treatment plants. Laundry strips without environmentally harmful ingredients are the best way to clean clothes sustainably.
Tip: Adjust the amount of powder to the water hardness and degree of soiling. This way, you use less detergent.
3. Avoid conventional fabric softener
Normal commercial products contain many chemicals, so it is advisable to avoid them. An alternative to conventional fabric softener is a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. This removes limescale and makes clothes soft. The smell disappears during drying. Optionally, a mixture of washing soda or baking soda with 100 milliliters of water is suitable. Pour this directly into the fabric softener compartment of the washing machine. There are also vegan fabric softeners that do not contain animal tallow. They are based on rapeseed or sunflower oil. Eco-fabric softeners contain biodegradable components.
4. Lower the washing temperature
An easy way to reduce your ecological footprint is to wash at lower temperatures. Switching from 40 to 30 °C reduces CO2 emissions per wash cycle by 0.1 kilos for a 5-kilo load.
Modern products unfold their cleaning effect at lower temperature levels. A pre-wash is not necessary. For very dirty items, gall soap or a pre-wash spray helps. There is now a whole range of environmentally friendly variants with high cleaning performance. Avoid the dryer if possible. It is more ecological to use a drying rack and hang clothes in the fresh air.
Tip: If you wash permanently at low temperatures, odors can develop due to deposits in the machine. Therefore, it is advisable to occasionally clean a load at 60 °C.
5. Load the washing machine fully
If you wash rarely, take the opportunity to collect enough clothes for a full machine. This saves energy, water, time, and detergent. When filling, make sure there is a hand's width of space above the pile of laundry. This ensures that water and detergent are well distributed everywhere.
Tip: For synthetic garments, use a “Washing Bag”. This prevents microplastics from entering the wastewater.