Advice
6 Reasons I Cleaned Up My Laundry Routine
Learn why this research-mad mom went on a mission to clean up her laundry routine and the solution she fell in love with.
I’m a crunchy millennial mom proudly living in The Middle of Nowhere, Montana, where my kids get to run through pine forests and the nearest doctor is an hour away, and I care about what my family uses.
When I started raising a family in particular, I started noticing parallels between a lot of common health problems and the products in my cabinets. When I started reading labels and Googling, it became abundantly obvious — what we were washing our laundry in contained exactly the chemicals responsible for what we were feeling.
From there, this research-mad mom went on a mission to clean up our laundry routine (and the cabinet under the sink, while I was at it). Here’s what drove me to the edge, and the solution that I finally fell in love with.
#1 — I Was Getting Migraines
Migraines are the freaking worst. Loss of vision, blinding pain, and a solid 48 hours in which I’m pretty much useless to my family and my work. As mommy hormones entered the picture, I finally pinpointed it down to one unsuspecting culprit: artificial fragrances.
These things. Are. EVERYWHERE.
- Skincare products
- Shampoo
- Cleaning products
- Laundry detergents
I realized I was literally wearing something every day that had a chemical in it that could trigger a migraine — detergents and fabric softeners. My laundry routine was literally giving me a headache.
#2 — I Was Showing Signs of Hormonal Imbalance
In addition to the migraines, which are definitely hormone related, I was noticing some odd symptoms that always seemed to tie back to one thing – my hormones were out of whack.
I realized that the chemicals in my detergent were not only being absorbed through my skin round the clock but also directly linked to endocrine system disruption.
The endocrine system creates and distributes hormones that are responsible for a massive amount of critical bodily functions — a faulty endocrine system is a recipe for disaster. Here’s what you can thank yours for taking care of:
- Milk production
- Growth and production of muscle and bone tissues
- Thyroid balance
- Metabolism
- Blood chemistry
- Sex hormone production
- EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS
In short, your endocrine system is worth protecting. Ditch the chemical detergents.
#3 — My Son Was Breaking Out
When I gave birth to my first tiny human, I did what most first-time moms do — I took Googling to a whole new level. When my son started getting red patches when he was around my heavily fragranced relatives, I realized those fragrances were particularly harmful to babies.
His skin would break out with an angry red patch where he had been exposed directly to something, like my grandmother’s downy scented clothes, or the freshly cleaned carpet.
Forget the laundry routine – I went on a vendetta to seek out every product in our home that contained these chemical additives and artificial fragrances and vanquish them, once and for all.
#4 — Breast Cancer Runs in My Family
Further research revealed that chemicals that disrupted the endocrine system and your body’s natural hormone production were linked heavily to cancer — namely, breast cancer.
With two close relatives diagnosed with breast cancer in my family, I decided it wasn’t worth the risk.
#5 — I Live In a Beautiful Place (That I Want to Protect)
Beyond the health concerns (which were definitely piling up), all of this research made me realize one thing – the chemicals we put in our washing machine wind up back in the environment at some point.
Even if they’re going into a septic tank or a water treatment plant, the chemicals we use on our laundry are typically not biodegradable, and very hard to remove. Often, they reenter the water table, where they can have a heavy impact on marine life.
#6 — I Wanted To Reduce My Plastic Waste
Without any form of plastic recycling nearby, those plastic jugs of laundry detergent were really starting to add up, and there were only so many other uses I had for them. I knew I needed to find a liquid detergent option that DIDN’T produce a plastic jug every time I ran out.
Meet My Clean Green Laundry Routine
You guys — SO much research, SO many products, SO much trial and error went down before I nailed this routine top to bottom.
And now, it’s all yours.
Here’s the most eco-friendly, hypoallergenic laundry routine ever that tackles everything — from stains to cloth diapers.
My Laundry Detergent: MyGreenFills
MyGreenFills is a laundry product company that specializes in three things:
- Natural laundry detergent and products
- Reducing waste
- Having the most convenient system EVER
This laundry detergent subscription service was love at first lather. Their laundry products are 100% biodegradable, delivered right to my door every month (because I will always forget detergent), and the best part?
They come in REFILLABLE containers. Here’s how it works:
- You sign up for the subscription that makes the most sense for your house. They have everything – detergent, stain removers, fabric softeners, scented, unscented.
- They send you the containers and your little packets to fill them up with.
- Each month, you get your refills, add them to your containers as you run out, rinse and repeat.
So easy, so eco-friendly, and 100% natural. Their detergent gets my laundry clean, keeps toxic gick away from my babies’ skin, and I only produce a little paper waste each month in the process — no plastic jugs to throw away.
It’s amazing, and you NEED to try it.
Try MyGreenFills for FREE — Just Pay Shipping!
My Go-To Stain Removers
MyGreenFills makes an AWESOME enzymatic natural stain remover that I use on clothes in the winter months (which is like eight months out of the year here in Montana).
Just work this magic powder (in its cool little refillable jar) with a little water into your stain, let it sit, then wash.
POOF — stains are GONE.
Learn More Here
That said, in the summer months, the sun is my best friend for stain removal. UV rays are natural sterilizers, so if you have a warm sunny day and some funky laundry, put it out on the line wet, and those stains will disappear in no time.
The Best Natural Fabric Softeners
Okay, so I use MyGreenFills’ unscented laundry detergent on pretty much everything. That said, sometimes I miss smelling like flowers, which is when I set aside my own clothes and add in a dose of MyGreenFills’ delicious fabric softener.
It’s scented with essential oils, nothing artificial, so my family doesn’t break out. I also don’t get migraines from it because it’s not overpowering at all.
Get MyGreenFills’ Natural Fabric Softener
For cloth diapers of course, you’re not supposed to use fabric softener. To beat the static and get them dry faster, I swear by their Dryer Angels. Just throw three to five into a load in your dryer, and they’ll keep the laundry from lumping together, while also reducing static cling.
They actually make them in a village in Jamaica that employs deaf women that needed refuge.
Use MyGreenFills for Your Natural, Eco-Friendly Laundry Routine
Nothing makes you crazier than trying to keep your kids safe, the house clean, and still have a conscience about the environment — it’s one heck of a thing to balance.
MyGreenFills is the ONLY company I’ve ever found who’s focusing not just on healthier and safer laundry products, but on reducing waste and their impact on the environment as well. Their customer service is so amazing too — they’ve made it ridiculously easy to be eco-friendly, and their stuff actually works.
Save yourself the research I had to do — MyGreenFills is the PERFECT eco-friendly laundry detergent subscription.
Sign Up for MyGreenFills Here
If you like this article about health & laundry routines, check out Dr. Masely’s article about laundry detergents and gut health!