Melaleuca Monday- Laundry Detergent

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a great weekend.  I don't know about you, but most weekends I end up playing catch up on laundry!  So I thought it would be appropriate to make today's post about Melaleuca's laundry detergent.

First, if you are new to the blog and haven't heard of Melaleuca, you can click here to read more about it.

Each "Melaleuca Monday" post is meant to EDUCATE not to scare, even though the facts about ingredients found in name brand products can be down right scary sometimes!

As I have mentioned before, we changed over all of our household products to Melaleuca shortly after our baby was born.  We have been living in a "toxin free" home for exactly 1 year now and have been very satisfied with our decision to switch from name brand to Melaleuca.  This includes changing all of our laundry products (detergent, stain remover, softener, color brightener, wrinkle release, and washing machine cleaner) to Melaleuca's EcoSense line.

Shortly after bringing home our first child from the hospital, we discovered that the Dreft Laundry Detergent and ALL Free & Clear we were using, was making our son break out bad!  I was SO upset after finding out about all of the harsh chemicals and toxins found in name brand laundry detergents that we had been using for years...




The following facts about laundry detergents were found here.

1. Surfactants Cause Skin Irritation

If you take a close look at the warning label on your favorite laundry detergent, you’ll notice that it urges you to avoid direct skin contact. Detergents work by removing oils from clothes, and that includes the natural oils produced by your own skin. Among other uses, our natural oils are necessary for protection against microbes.
Surfactants are the main agents that strip away oils, an action that can seriously irritate the skin and aggravate skin issues. [1] Rashes are common when the skin comes in direct contact with detergents, and some sensitive individuals may break out after wearing clothes that have been washed with conventional surfactant-containing detergents. [2] Respiratory problems may also result from regular exposure to these chemicals. [3]

2. Many are Endocrine Disruptors

In today’s world where toxins run wild and the use of man-made chemicals affect practically every area of life, it’s no wonder that we’re witnessing a surge of hormone-related issues plaguing both women and men. Researchers have found that detergents can disrupt endocrine function and interfere with hormone balance. [4]
Many chemicals in common household cleaning products act as xenoestrogens, or synthetic estrogens, which increase the amount of estrogen-like activity in the human body. [5] This can negatively affect fertility in males and increase breast cancer risk in females. [6][7] Hormone imbalance also contributes to an extensive range of problems including heart disease, depression, and mental impairment. [8] [9]

3. They’re Bad for the Environment

After the final rinse, that stuff goes down the drain… into the environment. The effect of laundry detergent on the environment is undeniable, and it’s only within the last few years that we are seeing the toll it’s taking on animal and plant life. Most detergents run into the water supply and have been shown to interfere with aquatic life. This stuff is not natural and many plants and animals cannot process the chemicals contained in these products. Producing and distributing laundry detergent already carries a heavy carbon footprint. Sodium triphosphate and trisodium phosphate can make their way into the water and interfere with sea life development. [10] In fact, phosphates that make their way into the water can increase the growth of toxin-producing algae which can kill plants, fish, dolphins, and other sea creatures. [11]

4. Laundry Pods – A Higher Health Risk for Children

As a result of consumer demand for easy, concentrated forms of laundry detergent, laundry pods have been flooding the market in droves. Convenient? Yes, but they also result in more problems for children than their less-concentrated powder and liquid forms. According to a recent study, children ingest these pods at a higher rate than powdered detergents, and some of the health complaints (digestive distress, breathing difficulties, and lesions) result in ER visits. [12] [13]

5. You Only Need a Little

“Well, these clothes are really dirty, better add extra detergent for good measure.” Have you ever said that? Don’t. If you put too much detergent into the wash, residue will remain on your clothes. This residue is what leads to skin irritation, rashes, endocrine disruption, and possible respiratory distress. [14]

6. Laundry Detergent Allergies are on the Rise

The stronger the detergent, the harsher the ingredients tend to be. This can create problems for people with sensitive skin or chemical sensitivity. Allergies to products containing harsh chemical ingredients are on the rise, and more and more people are turning to gentler, natural alternatives. Eco-friendly companies are slowly making their way into the detergent market, offering health-conscious users with hypoallergenic, chemical-free options. Not only are natural detergents safer in regards to allergies and skin, they may also be safer for the environment.

Not only did I no longer want our skin to be exposed to these harsh chemicals and toxins but I did NOT want to take the chance of our child accidentally ingesting them!  I'm sure you have all heard stories on the news of numerous kids getting a hold of a laundry pod, putting it in their mouth, and ending up in the hospital because of the chemicals they ingested.  Why would we keep something like this laying around our homes if it isn't necessary!?!  Here is a story that was on the Today Show about a little girl that this happened to.  So sad and scary! (Warning, the picture of her laying in her ICU hospital bed is heart breaking!)

After reading all of this, it was very clear to me what changes I needed to make to protect my family and our health.

These are some of the Melaleuca products we use to do laundry in our house...
We use the Scent Free MelaPower detergent (great for our baby's eczema!) and the Pre-Spot stain remover for our laundry.
(I plan to do a future post on the stain removers, fabric softeners, fabric fresheners, and wrinkle releaser)
***Melaleuca detergents are 6x more concentrated than the average detergent.  This means that we use 6x less the amount of detergent to do the same amount of laundry as before when we were using name brand (Tide, Gain, etc.)  1-48 oz jug of Melapower can do 96 loads for $17.49.  It would take 3 jugs of the 2x concentrated Ultra Tide to do the same amount of laundry and cost $26.37!!!!!!!  So we are saving about $8 every time we buy a jug of Melaleuca laundry detergent and I don't even have to leave my house to get it!  PLUS its MUCH safer for our clothes and our health!

Melapower detergent comes in 4 different scents...
 (available for HE & regular appliances in all scents)
Garden Lavender 

Mountain Fresh
Scent Free

Island Breeze (my favorite!!!)
I'm not going to lie, at first when we made the switch, I was concerned that because we were choosing to use something less "harsh" and more organic, there was a chance it wasn't going to work as well.  But I have been pleasantly surprised!  Take a look at this "head-to-head" study that Melaleuca did comparing how well Melapower, Tide, Method, and Green Works detergents removed soils from clothing....
Image found on the Melaleuca journal.   Click here for full article 

We also use Melabrite with Oxi to brighten our clothes and it works great...   


The following information came from Melaleuca's website..

 Some leading “color-safe” bleaches fade and wear out your clothes. Not MelaBrite. Even after 25 days of soaking in pure MelaBrite 6x, a wool sock is still as brilliant as ever. Clorox® 2 faded and deteriorated the sock. Chlorine bleach dissolved the sock completely!   Bleach is a popular way to brighten clothes and keep odors at bay. In fact, almost 250 million gallons of chlorine bleach are sold in the U.S. every year. But chlorine bleach takes its toll in your home and on your clothes. It eats away at fabric, wearing it out fast. And Poison Control Centers receive more calls about chlorine bleach than about any other household cleaning product. With no chlorine bleach, MelaBrite 6x is safer for your home and won’t wear out your clothes.
Using MelaBrite to brighten your clothes can actually save you money instead of using Clorox 2.  It’s simple—with ultra-concentrated MelaBrite 6x, you pay less per load. ½ fl. oz. of MelaBrite 6x is all you need for each load, and that’s 6-times less than the amount of Clorox® 2 you’d have to pour in. Each bottle of MelaBrite 6x does more loads than an equivalent-sized bottle of Clorox® 2. You can save up to $46 for the same number of loads of laundry, all while keeping your clothes looking like new.
Honestly, had I never told my husband I was switching our detergent, he would have never noticed except for the scent!  Melaleuca works just as well if not better than the other name brands we were using, except the difference is it is 100% better for our clothes and our health!  Our baby's skin has cleared up and I don't have to worry about him breathing in harsh chemicals at night from his pajamas or crib sheet because they were both washed with Melaleuca!  Also, buy using Melaleuca laundry detergent, I am buying American made products and saving money at the same time!  That's a win all around!  

If you would like more information on Melaleuca or have any questions, email me at lemonstolovelys@gmail.com

Remember, when life hands you lemons, turn them into something lovely!
-Marci 



Labels: , , , , , , ,