Eco-friendly washing powder

When talking about eco-friendly laundry detergent, many people do not fully understand what we are talking about, and marketers skillfully take advantage of this. Who doesn’t sell similar washing powders these days? Even companies that, in principle, have never dealt with powders are doing this, and there is nothing to say about aggressive advertising of such products. Why is this happening? Is our population really so interested in environmentally friendly powders or is there something else here? Let’s find out together.

About the dangers of powders

It is well known, and this is entirely due to advertisers, that washing powder contains a fairly large number of artificial ingredients. Each of these components has its own task, some allow you to more actively dissolve stains, some return color to things, and some give freshly washed laundry a smell of freshness. At first glance, it seemed good, but scientists quickly found out that these chemical components can accumulate in the human body and cause harm. What are these chemicals?

• Phosphates. These substances can be found in 98% of all powders sold in the territory CIS countries. Phosphates are needed to improve washing efficiency because they soften the water. According to scientists, phosphates can cause severe allergies, and when they get into sources of clean fresh water, they help the growth of algae, which seriously pollute this body of water.
• Surfactant Active substances that fight stains on clothes. It is thanks to the surfactant content that washing powder copes with dirt so well. The problem is that surfactants can cause serious harm to the human body.If they accumulate in the cells of the human body beyond measure, it will disrupt the biochemistry of the entire body and can lead to serious illnesses.
• Whitening ingredients. These substances, found in white powders, settle on clothes like paint, making clothes appear whiter after washing. These components are very persistent, do not wash out and come into contact with human skin, which in turn can cause severe allergies.

In essence, whitening components are paint, only very specific.

• Chloride compounds. Very effectively removes stains from white clothes, providing them with perfect cleanliness. At the same time, chlorine is an extremely harmful substance, poison in the truest sense of the word. Chloride compounds and their derivatives can cause anemia, hypertension, heart and lung diseases of various natures. In high concentrations, chlorine causes general poisoning of the body and increases the risk of cancer tenfold.

Since the above-mentioned components are present in most powders and are harmful to health when we use them, it is logical to assume that we need to look for powders that do not contain these substances. Accordingly, environmentally friendly washing powder is a powder that does not contain chlorine, surfactants, bleaching components and phosphates. The necessary conclusions have been made, all that remains is to look for such powders.

Review of safe tools

In this review, we will list only environmentally friendly powders that are offered on the market today, meticulously studying their composition. Here are several varieties of such washing powders.

Molecola Ecological for Baby. Washing powder intended for washing children's clothes. The manufacturer guarantees its 100% purity and safety. Let's take a look at the composition.This powder has only three components: sodium citrate 5%, less than 30% baby coconut soap, the rest soda. Everything is clear about soda and soap, they are safe, but what is sodium citrate? This substance is nothing more than the sodium salt of citric acid, which is used, including in the food industry. If sodium citrate is even eaten, then it probably won’t cause any harm to the body in washing powder. The price for a 1.2 kg pack is $6.17.

Ecoleiv Universal. Another environmentally friendly powder, but with a more complex composition. There is soap crumbs and natural plant extract - Aloe, but there is also sodium silicate, sodium carbonate and enzymes. What is it, do these substances harm humans? Sodium silicate is nothing more than a food additive E550.

E550 is used in the food industry, for example in the production of bread. In powder it is absolutely harmless.

Sodium carbonate is the name of the well-known soda ash; our grandmothers added it to washtubs to make the laundry whiter. And finally, enzymes - translated from Latin, enzyme is leaven. These are substances that accelerate biological processes; in powder they are absolutely harmless, but not always in the food industry. The cost of a 1250 gram package is $5.30.

Ecover Zero White. An environmentally friendly powder designed for washing white and colored non-shedding laundry. It also contains natural soap, sodium silicate, sodium carbonate, and methyl ether ethoxylate. What kind of “nasty” is this? We will not go into details and give the chemical formula. Let's just say that this substance can be dangerous when taken orally, and even then in fairly large quantities.It is safe in powder.

Powders such as Bio Mio, Pure Water, Ondalind, Nissan Fa Fa Series and others have approximately similar compositions. We will not give descriptions for them, since it is already clear that these powders do not contain anything harmful and this is completely true. But is there still a problem? What is it? And this is what we will discuss in the next paragraph.

What should be in the powder?

There is a rather serious problem with using environmentally friendly powder for everyday washing in a washing machine. As we have learned, almost all environmentally friendly powders contain soap in one ratio or another. Soap crumbs, when used in a washing machine, clog hoses and pipes and over time can cause the “home assistant” to fail.

The following picture emerges. You spend money on expensive eco-friendly powder and ruin your (by the way, expensive) automatic washing machine with your own hands. It would be good if the manufacturer turned out to be conscientious and wrote on the package that the powder is not recommended for use in a washing machine, but, unfortunately, more often than not, he does not do this.

Go ahead. How effective is this powder? We will not sin against the truth if we say that an ordinary mixture of soda ash and soap will wash things no worse than environmentally friendly powder and will also be harmless. Conclusion: why overpay for eco-powder when you can buy its individual components for pennies.

You can buy both soda ash and soap in considerable quantities for $2.

In fact, a truly good and safe powder should contain phosphates, surfactants, and bleaching components, but only in a safe concentration.If the powder does not contain these substances, it will be safe for health, but ineffective. If these substances are present in large quantities, the powder will be effective, but not safe. Conclusion - moderation is good in everything.

It is necessary to develop uniform worldwide standards for the content of harmful chemicals in powders and the above problems will be resolved by themselves. By the way about the best washing powders you can read in the publication of the same name on our website. Luck with searching!

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