For years I have been using Ecover or Fill for washing our clothes, because they are more enviromentally friendly. Did you know that many common brands in the small print on the back say -dangerous to Aquatic life with long term effects-? No me neither but once I learnt this I felt rather guilty buying anything but a natural brand.
So my washing machine was a bit smelly, our clothes were clean but didn't smell great, I was doing hot washes 90 degrees with a cup of soda crystals in the machine and a cup of white vinegar in the dispenser which does a good job of cleaning it naturally btw!
But the smell would come back....so I'm like 'that's it I'm done with natural I am going to get a 'naughty' washing detergent.'...geez is this as 'naughty as I get these days lol.
Anyway whilst perusing the aisles of Sainsbury's I realised that not all of the 'naughty' ones claimed to be a danger to our water supply and upon a closer inspection realised it was all the liquid washing detergents but not the powder ones, also these powder detergents come in a cardboard box, which I hope is far easier to recycle than plastic.
I think 3 boys and smelly me was maybe too much for some eco stuff on a permanent basis, so I bought Persil non-biological and it is so much better, the washing smells great and its great with stains, yeah there some ingredients in Persil that look scary but I feel I have found a balance this time.
It's so 'naughty' that these big firms are allowed to still produce these products, it takes us individuals to be aware and look because this is printed in plain sight on the back, its small but its there and it tells you its bad but people don't look or care because they a) like that one or b) they saw an advert for that one or c) it smells nice, its crazy really if they want to help the earth, stop bleaching the coral reef then stop selling it! Persil is owned by Unilever, they make a lot of the products we use from vitamins to toothpaste, ice cream and tea, they have the money and the power to change things but if we keep buying them, they will keep selling them. Use our power as the consumer to make our opinions heard...vote with your Dollar, or should I say Pound or maybe Bitcoin one day.
Both of these do not have the 'harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects'.
All these do...
Fabric softeners - I still use Ecover or Fill, they smell nice and do a good job. And there not too smelly!