Natural Cleaning Solutions for the Laundry

When I was growing up, my mother could get out any stain. She often reached into the food cupboard or bathroom cabinet to solve a laundry problem, since natural cleaning solutions were all she had.

Since then, store shelves have become overloaded with stain sticks, sprays, solutions, and stain removers, not to mention a myriad of detergents and fabric softeners.

Laundry day doesn’t have to be full of chemicals and artificial additives. Some of the most effective laundry solutions are the natural ingredients you already have in your home. They’re less costly, better for the environment, and healthier for you and your family, too.

Most commercial laundry soaps contain chemicals and additives that are harmful to the environment in production and when used and released as waste. Residues of chemicals left on your clothes can potentially be absorbed by your skin and released into the air, where they can be breathed in.

Trichloroethylene, found in some stain removers, has been connected to a variety of side effects, from skin rashes to liver damage.

Many dry cleaners use perchloroethylene, a chemical solvent that causes cancer and other health hazards. While the amounts are small, dry-cleaned clothing emits small amounts of perchloroethylene into the air.


To Remove Stains

It’s easy to go chemical-free when removing laundry stains. Many natural household items work better than commercial stain removers.

Baking soda – Make a paste out of baking soda and water and apply it to the stain. Allow to set for about an hour then wash as usual.

Hydrogen peroxide – Mix equal parts of hydrogen peroxide and water and keep in a spray or squeeze bottle. Squirt the solution on blood stains and other laundry problems before laundering.

Vinegar – Distilled white vinegar works well on blood stains, grass stains, and those pesky sweat stains on the underarms of t-shirts. Pour a little bit of vinegar directly onto the stain and allow to set for a few minutes before laundering.

Toothpaste – Using an old toothbrush, rub whitening toothpaste onto a grass stain. Let it set for several hours and then launder.

Soda water – If you can catch a stain right after it happens, get some club soda onto it immediately. If possible, remove the item of clothing and get more soda water on it and then launder.


To Bleach Out a Stain

Lemon juice acts as a natural bleaching agent. Dab a spot of lemon juice on white clothing or linens and set them out in the sun to dry. Don’t use lemon juice on colors.


To Brighten Whites

Lemon juice - Make your white linens bright by adding ¼ cup lemon juice to your warm-water wash cycle.

The sun – After using lemon juice in your wash cycle, hang linens out to dry on a sunny day. The sun will heighten the brightening effect.


To Brighten Colors

Vinegar – Pour a cup of white vinegar into the wash cycle to make your colors bright. Don’t ever mix vinegar with bleach, as the fumes can be dangerous.


To Soften Clothing

If you want a light fabric softener without the residue and odor of dryer sheets, try a natural alternative.

Vinegar – Add 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar to the rinse cycle as a natural fabric softener.

Baking soda – Pour in ¼ cup baking soda to the wash cycle to soften clothing and linens.


To Remove Mold Smell Towels

It’s tough to get mold stains out of towels and swim suits that have been not properly dried. Sometimes it’s not the stain, but the moldy smell that you have to deal with.

Soak the towel in a solution of white vinegar and water for about 30 minutes, then launder in hot water. Make a weaker vinegar solution for a smelly swimsuit (1/2 cup white vinegar to 1 gallon water) and put it in to soak for no more than 1 minute. Rinse in cold water, launder on delicate cycle, and line dry.


To Remove Bad Odors

Clothing kept in a drawer too long can develop a faint but unpleasant smell. Before you resort to scented detergents, try a simpler solution.

Herbs - Keep sachets of dried herbs in your drawers. Dried mint leaves, rosemary, and lavender can be wrapped up in a square of cheesecloth for an easy homemade sachet.

Good Smelling "Stuff" - If you get magazines with perfume inserts, remove them, open them up, and keep them in your drawers for a few days until the smell dissipates. You can also store your scented candles in your clothes drawers.

Air – It doesn’t get any simpler than this. Airing out your closets and drawers on a breezy, clear day can do more to freshen your laundry than anything.


To Cut Back on Dry Cleaning

Try spot cleaning the item, fluffing it up in the dryer on a cool-air cycle, and reshaping it. Many dry-clean-only items don’t need to be cleaned after every wearing.

~Diane Laney Fitzpatrick

Diane Laney Fitzpatrick is a former newspaper reporter and editor who writes about children, parents and families. She enjoys the simple life in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband, two sons and a daughter.

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