Tag: EcoEgg

Laundry, Revisited

With the start of school, we are all still adjusting to the new schedule and routine change. Like most teachers….I’ve been exhausted.

That exhaustion just seems to compound itself…..I’ve been getting home late, skipping a run, and going to bed as early as I can.

Then last week, I got a sore throat and a nice head cold – started losing my voice – and I started going to bed even earlier…

(ya, gotta love the reintroduction of about a million little kid germs into your life…)

So even though I’ve been having ideas for blog posts on an almost daily basis….the blog’s been one of the furthest things from my mind.

Besides the slight guilt about not maintaining it.

But let’s get into the main topic of today – it’s Laundry, Revisited.

See, in the past month or so – we’ve finally gotten to our last bottle of laundry detergent.

Ok…that picture doesn’t accurately represent that it’s our last bottle of detergent, but I’m not really sure how to show that. But it is! Trust me!

Not only is the beginning of the school year exhausting (at least for this teacher), but the added stress had led to doing some online retail therapy. I’ve actually been window shopping necklaces on Etsy – but then I’m like “eh, I don’t need one and shouldn’t spend the money on it…”

And then I go and buy something of the zero waste variety, because that’s “useful”.

Yes….I am well aware of the irony and irrational-ness of my thoughts.

Even though I would really have liked to have gotten an oxidizer so I would never have to buy laundry detergent again, we’ve had the common homeowner excitement of having necessary, expensive repairs happen in groups of 3 recently, so I didn’t feel it was the best time for that kind of splurge.

So I went with the EcoEgg.

They used to have a lavender scented one which I could no longer find since when I first looked at them last winter, so I went with the Spring Blossom.

When I first opened the box, the smell was a little overwhelming but a few loads in, there’s no noticeable smell.

Granted, my sore throat – possibly transitioning to a sinus infection right now – and head cold has made me stuffed up so perhaps it is still overwhelming and we’re all walking around smelling like this completely artificial bouquet of flowers.

The EcoEgg is small – it fits in my hand – and the ease of just tossing it into the laundry basin is pretty sweet.

It’s full of these little detergent pellets – one bag of these dark gray…tourmaline? pellets that never get replaced and then filled the rest of the way with the white detergent pods. Those get replaced as they disintegrate and then you can continue to buy replacement pellets.

I believe those plastic bags are recyclable with the flimsy plastic recycling at grocery stores (but I’m not 100% on that…).

So far, it’s been great. I mean, it’s not like my clothes are literally sparkling when I pull them out, but I haven’t noticed a difference in the look or feel of my clothes. Which is awesome. And I’m hoping that this $35 EcoEgg will literally last for 3-4 years and the 720 loads it says it will (not that I will track all those loads…I mean, I love data as much as the next special education teacher, but that’s just…..yeah….)

Additionally, I cut out fabric softener years ago and we’ve never really been a fabric sheet kind of family.

In the fall, my mom and I like to go to several big craft shows and we recently went to the Yankee Peddler festival with all of our sisters (well, minus one of her sisters who we really missed).

That’s not the point. I’ve been wondering about using some of my wool fabric scraps and trying to make my own dryer balls.

Well we were at the Yankee Peddler and we came to one of my favorite tents with all of these cute, little ladies all spinning wool in their period costumes. Last year, I chatted with them for a long time and ended up buying my own wool roving to felt my own soap (which I did and it was a really cool experience!) and I enjoyed their conversation so much.

So this year, I bought some more roving from them (blue this time, last year I bought white and green) and I saw that they had dryer balls for sale. I was planning on making my own, but I thought of my exhaustion levels and my lack of time and the fact that I would really love to support the cute little ladies who spin wool together and have fun with it and will talk at length with strangers and tell them how to felt their own soap and dye wool…..so it didn’t take me long to decide to buy 3:

We have an interesting situation with our dryer. Our dryer vent is open and close to the ground…..and we believe earlier in the spring/summer…..we maybe had a chipmunk crawl into the dryer vent….and….die.

And we know this because there was a funk and my husband took apart the vent and found some bones….

Yep….apparently that’s a thing.

Even with cleaning it out, there’s still a lingering funk.

I’ve been putting drops of lavender essential oil on each of my wool dryer balls before tossing them in, which helps a little with the funk, and I’ve noticed the clothes are a little less static-ey. But after going so long without using dryer sheets or fabric softener, I don’t know if I’ve noticed a difference.

The last thing that I want to transition is finding a zero waste stain remover. I still have a bottle of Shout spray that I’ve been using and I previously made a recipe on Pinterest using blue dawn dish soap to help with stains, but I’d like a bar of stain removing soap that is already available and I can use it in the moment.

So far, the prices seem to range from like $20 to $6 for zero waste stain removers, but my search has just begun. If anyone happens to know of a good one – I’m all ears.

It feels good that a zero waste laundry routine is feeling within reach. Slow transitions, but good transitions. 🙂

Next goal transition – become accustomed to being back at work so I’m not exhausted by 6 PM each night.

Wash, Dry, Fold – Repeat

Once upon a time, I made my own laundry detergent. It was when we were living in Washington State and I was super proud of it. I continued making it when we first moved into our house in Ohio, but when we got a new washer and dryer, I was too afraid to use it because, “Hello – brand new washer and dryer!”

Here I am super pregnant with our new washer and dryer in 2015. Oh, and for the record, my basement has SO MUCH more junk now. What is it with kids bringing more junk into the house even when they can’t carry it themselves?

I still have some of my homemade laundry soap from 2015. It’s in that giant mason jar on my laundry shelf (see below). It’s a pretty simple recipe to make, and it is very zero waste. As in, there’s no plastic whatsoever involved in making it.

But like I said, I got nervous to use it in my new washer and dryer, which is ironic because I cloth diaper(ed) my children so we got brand new appliances and I literally washed poop filled diapers in them almost right away. Most people wouldn’t do that. My nerves got the best of me though, so enter All Free & Clear laundry detergent – stage right.

I actually have SO MUCH of my All Free & Clear detergent left. I am a sucker for those Target sales, “Buy 5 of these today and get a $5 gift card”. Well, HOT DOG! Of course I’m going to buy 8 of them to get a $5 gift card – I am that gullible consumer who thinks they will ALWAYS want to use this one specific detergent.

Sigh. The universe is playing a massive, cosmic joke on me this year.

Ok, the sale is never to buy 5 laundry detergents, usually just 2 and here is my stockpile in my basement (along with the paper towels that I have banished to the basement – oh, and there’s a corner of my 2nd bread machine!):

It’s going to be a long while before I need to get zero waste laundry detergent. It’s true. But I’ve been reading up on it and recently found what I think will be my zero waste (or minimal waste) laundry detergent.

First of all, IF I had unlimited funds, I would try the O3 Pure Professional Laundry Washer. It’s $300 and from what I’ve read, it blasts oxygen into your washing machine and cleans all your clothes without any detergent at all. And it only uses cold water.

It sounds so cool! I had a friend say that their aunt and uncle use it (…I think that’s how it went…), but I’m finding myself wanting some firsthand review from someone I know before I purchase it. Which is ironic, because I feel like anyone who is reading this blog is reading it for my firsthand reviews of zero waste stuff.

It’s definitely being mulled around in my mind. A LOT. And who knows, I may save up my Amazon rewards points to purchase it later. I wouldn’t put it past me.

However, recently I was listening to the radio and I heard them talking about this product – the Eco Egg. Now, it looks like it’s made of plastic, and the little detergent balls inside come in a plastic bag but I did notice the recycle symbol on them, so I’m assuming I can recycle those with my plastic bags.

This is one of those times where I’m still debating, is a little reusable plastic OK, for the sake of saving larger amounts of plastic? #firstworldproblems Eh…I dunno if there’s a solid answer. In this case, I’m leaning towards this little plastic egg is probably totally worth it.

But…regardless of that plastic….it’s cutting out harsh detergents (better for water), the plastic bags can be recycled and it’s a smaller amount of plastic than a large container of detergent, and I believe you can purchase refills for it. There’s probably other benefits to it that I just don’t know too.

It’s $35 and lasts 720 loads, which they say for a family of 4, could last 3-4 years. It sounds like such a good deal…and it seems to have good reviews on Amazon too. Here’s a review video if you’re interested:

I’m thinking this will be the laundry detergent I try. I am planning to wait until I use up at least one of those All Free & Clear containers I have in my basement, so it’ll be later in the Spring.

Unless I get stressed and do some retail therapy. That could happen too. Zero waste items have replaced my previous shopping of junk on Amazon.

And if you’re wondering, here’s the recipe I used for the homemade laundry detergent (as far as I remember, it was a decent detergent, but I haven’t used it in about 6 years):

1 grated bar of Dr. Bronner’s soap (I used lavender); 1 Cup Baking Soda; 1 Cup Washing Soda; 1 Cup Borax; and I added in lavender Essential Oils.

I would just use my cheese grater to grate the Dr. Bronner’s soap on the finest side possible, mix it all together, and put in a scoop for my laundry.

Wash, Dry, Fold – Repeat.