Still, one of Gimme’s goals for 2021 is to be kinder to the environment. For those of you who’ve shopped with us, you probably already notice that we sometimes reuse shipping materials. You may notice that your order arrives in a box that bears the logo of one of our vendors, or it might be packed with shredded white paper from the local community college, or with packing peanuts we’ve accumulated. We encourage you to re-use or recycle all the shipping materials you receive from us, and we hope that even if your box isn’t the most beautiful, it still feels like a luxury to receive it.

We know that there are ways we can do better this year–in our own homes and in the products we offer in our store. Ten of my favorite environmentally friendly products are pictured above, and here’s why I love them:

1) Cora Ball. Every time we do laundry, our clothes shed tiny, unseen microfibers (including plastic), which go down the drains of our washing machines and into our waterways. This brilliant ball is simply tossed in the washing machine to prevent microfiber from breaking off our cloths and collecting our microfibers into fuzz we can see and dispose of in the right way.

2) Bamboo bandages. The adhesive sheet of a standard band-aid is made from a type of plastic, often toxic PVC, none of which breaks down. Patch bandages are made with soft, organic bamboo fiber and gauze. Bamboo is a soft and breathable option for wound coverings that is naturally antimicrobial and the most sustainable option available.

3) Meliora plastic-free cleaning products. We’ve been offering a wide selection of non-toxic cleaning products for years, but we are increasingly looking to bring you brands that cut the plastic and the weight of shipping heavy bottles that are, after-all, mostly water. Meliora does just that. Their all-purpose cleaning tabs are a one-stop solution for cleaning the hard surfaces in your home in the most eco-friendly way possible. Hang on to any plastic spray bottle in your home, and then simply add one tablet to an empty bottle, add warm water, and gently shake until the tablet dissolves. This means no single-use plastic bottles, and no shipping of heavy bottles of cleaner to and from us or wherever else you shop!

4) Stainless steel ice cube tray. Regular plastic ice cube trays are not recyclable, so the next time you need to replace one, go old school! This tray is perfect for freezing small portions of food — chopped herbs, crushed garlic, pesto, baby food, and of course ice cubes. We also love to freeze leftover coffee that we accidentally let go cold for the perfect iced coffee.

5) Stasher bags. I have a drawer full of these, and haven’t bought a plastic baggie in years! These are eco-friendly, environmentally safe, and long-lasting. I use them to pack lunches, store leftovers, pack toiletries when traveling, and more.

6) Straight razor. Around 2 billion plastic razors are disposed of each year, and they all end up in landfills. This eco-friendly straight razor has a bamboo handle and a recyclable metal razor. My husband and my dad each got one for Christmas.

7) Cotton bowl covers. I use these daily to cover leftovers that I don’t want to transfer to a separate container. They are perfect for making bread or covering a salad to bring to a potluck, and I’ve heard they also work wonderfully as as a kombucha cover. The large size fits over a casserole dish. Washing them is super easy, and you’ll seriously never miss plastic cling wrap again.

8) Stainless steel cup. This unbreakable 8-ounce tumbler cup will last forever, and is an excellent alternative to disposable plastic cups for a picnic, a party, camping, or for children in their classrooms.

9) Stainless steel lunch box. These bento-style boxes mean you never have to use Tupperware containers or Ziploc bags again. Unlike many other lunch style boxes, the go2 container seals off each compartment COMPLETELY, making them perfect to send with kids to school.

10) Zip Top snack packs. This style of silicone bags is designed to fit in little hands–the zippers are large enough to be handled by even young children. They come in cute animal shapes, and are another step your family can take to reduce your use of single use plastics in packed lunches.

11) E-cloths. These cloths will get you off of paper towels for good, AND you don’t even need to use cleaner with them. One cloth cleans and has a scrubbing pocket to remove stuck-on residues and the other finishes surfaces to a brilliant streak-free finish–all using just water.

12) Food Huggers. I’ve been in love with this brand since I discovered their avocado savers a few years ago. Silicone Food Huggers do double duty, in my opinion–you don’t use plastic to save your food AND you throw away less food because they really work to keep it fresh. I also use them to seal open cans, jars, and glasses.

Comment below to tell me other ways you’re going more eco-friendly in 2021!

Stay sane,

P.S. A few other small ways to be more kinder to the Earth: swap body washes for bar soaps, try a menstrual cup instead of tampons, wash dishes with solid soap, throw dryer balls in with your laundry to save energy, switch to refillable laundry concentrate, use a toothbrush that has a replaceable head, try cloth diapering–even if only part time, bring your own water bottle/coffee cup, and invest in wooden toys.

Tandi’s laundry soap is made from local tallow and herbs, and the glass jar is refillable. Because it’s concentrated, a little goes a long way! It is our best selling product for a reason!

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Here are 8 things that are helping me stay semi-sane:

1. Home improvement projects. Since we are rarely leaving the apartment these days, I’ve been inspired to improve the inside! I splurged on these organic sheets, have been filling my home with air-purifying plants, and upgraded a few of our rugs to less toxic versions (current fave). I’ve also been doing some organizing and deep cleaning, room by room, and this activity prompted me to publish an All-Purpose Cleaner Guide.
2. Cooking. You probably know by now that I’m not much of a cook. Mostly, I find it pretty tedious, which is probably why I made New York City my home. Sun Basket takes the pressure off a few times a week, and I’ve also gone back to my old favorite cookbook for delicious, easy, vegetarian meals. If you’re cooking more than usual (and I assume you all are!), our Cookware Guide might be of particular interest right now.
   1. Not cooking! Just yesterday, I started Nutrition for Longevity meal delivery and it is so, so delicious! It’s a unique concept of pre-made breakfast and lunch and then ingredients and recipe for a simple dinner. You can use code GIMME20 for $20 off your trial box or $40 off a subscription. So far, I’m into it!For a true detox, you could also try Sakara’s Healthy Body Project , which is a four-week transformative program that includes Sakara meals, at-home fitness classes from The Sculpt Society, health coaching, and $250 in luxe gifts, including a pair of sneakers from APL. You can choose to start May 4, 11, 18, or 25. Code XOMAIA will get you 20% off this or any other Sakara meal program.
3. Squeezing in fitness. The reality is that it is VERY hard for me to muster the discipline to work out for a full hour at home. To compensate, I’m forcing myself do a session every day, but typically it’s just 20 or 30 minutes. I’m working my way through the free trials of all the online programs you guys have recommended. So far, that’s been Tracy Anderson, Melissa Wood Health, and now Yoga Glo. Next, I’ll do The Class, and then I’ll likely stop the trials and sign up for my favorite. Let me know if I’m missing an amazing one! In terms of equipment, I purchased some basic ankle weights on Amazon, and am still using wine bottles for hand weights. I did a little research on yoga mats, and decided on this brand as the best non-toxic one on the market. I love it, and would highly recommend.
   
4. Giving back. A good way to stop feeling sorry for yourself is by an act of generosity. There are so many vulnerable groups right now, and I’ve been particularly worried about the many women I know who are employed as domestic workers and are ineligible for unemployment benefits. I’ve chosen to donate to this incredible organization, and would love to hear from you about how you’re giving back–if you are fortunate enough to be able to do so.
5. Trying to keep us well. I feel more peace of mind when I’m doing basic things to keep us safe. My husband is an essential worker, so we are not entirely quarantined, and doing lots of hand-washing, wearing masks when we go out for groceries, and trying to remember to take our elderberry syrup (it’s back in stock, you guys!). Here’s a list of natural substances that kill coronavirus.
6. Getting outside. I know many of you have nice big yards, but my fellow apartment dwellers must know my pain! Even moments on our roof, watering our little carrot garden, brighten my mood. We drove about an hour outside of the city earlier in this week for a 3-mile hike and I’m determined to make that a weekly activity.
7. Trying new beauty products or treatments. Wellll, the truth is, I’m not exactly making myself more beautiful during this time. You might argue the opposite, in fact. The new habits I’ve taken on during quarantine include not shaving my armpits (something I’ve always wanted to do–it must be the Vermonter in me!) and giving no-poo another shot. Picking at my face and chewing my cuticles have become my number 1 and number 2 hobbies. One thing I have done is add this raved-about product to my simple skincare routine. I’ve also thought about dying my hair, and started looking into safer options for that. My initial research lead me to conclude that Garnier’s Olia line is perhaps the safest, although still far from truly Good Stuff.

Will you reply to this email and let me know how you’re staying sane through this? I don’t always have time to reply, but I do read every single message!

Stay sane,

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You probably know that in real life (as in, the time before coronavirus, or BC as I’ve been calling it) I’m a huge fan of robust air filters to improve the quality of indoor air. I run two in my home every day, and my dad wrote a popular post about choosing the right filter for your needs.

But, we are no longer living in real life, and lots of you are asking, “do air filters kill coronavirus?” Here’s the deal.

Air Filters & Coronavirus

In addition to their other benefits, HEPA filters can remove bacteria and viruses from the air. Whenever someone in our home is sick, I run our filters with hopes of keeping the rest of us well.

Austin air filters (the ones I use, and the ones we carry in our store) contain true medical grade HEPA that removes 99.97% of all particles larger than 0.3 microns and 95% of all particles larger than 0.1 microns. Scientists say that the size of the new coronavirus is .125 microns, so yes, these filters would capture the virus. Moreover, experts say that the droplets the virus travels in measure at least 1 micron, which is easily captured by a HEPA filter.

Should You Invest in an Air Filter to Kill Coronavirus?

When it comes to coronavirus, you are probably not worried about catching it inside of your own home, so getting an air filter isn’t necessarily the right move for everyone.

If you’re living with a COVID-positive individual then I would definitely have a filter running 24/7, and I would probably do the same if I lived with anyone working in healthcare. Because my husband is going into work, I am running our filters more than normal in case he’s bringing virus in the house on his shoes or clothing.

Other Benefits of an Air Filter

While social distancing and hand-washing are clearly the most important daily practices that will reduce your personal risk of contracting this virus, there are two other considerations that I’ve recently read about that make a case for using an air filter.

1) Indoor air quality is notoriously worse than outdoor, even if you’re using non-toxic cleaning products. Cooking in home is a major source of indoor air pollution, and these days we are cooking more and spending just so freaking much time inside.

2) There is apparently a link between living in areas with poor air quality and experiencing severe COVID-19 symptoms. This is a good reason to make sure our lungs are as healthy as they can be in case we are exposed.

1. Austin / 2. Amaircare / 3. Airpura / 4. IQAir

Which Filter Should You Buy and How Quickly Can You Get One?

If you decide you want to purchase an air filter for coronavirus protection, our contact at Austin Air recommends the HealthMate Plus (the full-sized unit costs $715; there is a junior unit for smaller spaces that goes for $465).

The HEPA technology of this filter removes 95% of all airborne viruses, as well as dust, dander, allergens, airborne chemicals, and VOCs. They also told us they’ve seen a huge increase in demand for this filter, including from hospitals around the country.

If you order here, your filter will ship the next day via FedEx ground.

If buying a filter just isn’t in the budget right now, I encourage you to run the stove fan while you’re cooking, open your windows as much as possible, use only toxin-free cleaning products, and most importantly, wash your hands!

Stay sane,

P.S. My dad recently added an additional air filter next to the printer in our warehouse, after reading this alarming study that shows that laser printers seriously degrade indoor air quality–to the point where some scientists say that working near a constantly-running laser printer could be “as bad for you as smoking.”

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1. Attitude / 2. Aunt Fannie’s / 3. Branch Basics / 4. CleanWell / 5. Eco-Me / 6. Force of Nature / 7. MamaSuds

Natural all-purpose cleaner is the bottle I reach for most often (besides maybe the wine bottle, hehehe).

My kids are charged with cleaning more and more as they get older, and I love to be able to hand them a spray bottle of natural all-purpose cleaner and a cloth and tell them to get to work on everything from spots on the hardwood floors to the top of the stove.

Best Natural All-Purpose Cleaner

My favorite natural all-purpose cleaner is MamaSuds. It smells amazing, cuts the grease on our stove-top, and even has a blend of oils that have been shown to kill viruses.

With my kids as the cleaners, I have to be extra sure there is nothing concerning in the bottle I hand them. They like a generous spray, and so I need to feel okay about them inhaling lots of it, getting it on their hands, and leaving it all over surfaces.

What’s Wrong with Most All-Purpose Cleaners?

Unfortunately, there is good reason to concerned about the toxicity of most household cleaning products. Ranging from phthalates to chlorine, the ingredients in many all-purpose cleaners are linked to everything from hormone disruption to cancer.

Studies show that long-term exposure to spray cleaning produces increases the risk of lung damage as much as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day!

Some of the worst ingredients in most all-purpose cleaners include:

• Neurotoxic preservatives, including ones found in natural all-purpose cleaners, like methylisothiazolinone and benziosothiazolinone.
• Toxic cleaning agents like 2-butoxyethanol, which is found in many multi-purpose and glass cleaners and is linked to kidney and liver damage.
• Synthetic fragrance, which usually includes hormone-disrupting phthalates in the undisclosed ingredients.
• Antibacterial ingredients, which can be totally toxic (such as bleach or triclosan), but which can also be safe. Thyme oil and citric acid, for instance, will kill bacteria and viruses (including coronavirus).

Another issue with cleaning products is the amount of plastic pollution that they create. For that reason, I’m a big fan of refillable options like this one, although I don’t use this kind exclusively.

Safe Ingredients in Natural All-Purpose Cleaners

Natural all-purpose cleaners, even those with antibacterial properties, can be totally safe. Here are some of the ingredients you’ll see on the labels:

• White vinegar.
• Thyme oil.
• A blend of various essential oils. Look for cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary oils for antibacterial and antiviral properties.
• A surfactant or soap, of which castille soap is the safest.
• A coconut-derived detergent, such a sodium laurel sulfate (I’ll call products with SLS Good Stuff rather than Best Stuff only because of the potential for skin irritation).

The Best Stuff

The Good Stuff

The Okay Stuff

The Bad Stuff

The Sneaky Stuff

The post Safe All-Purpose Cleaner Guide appeared first on Gimme the Good Stuff.

Do I need to remind you that I’m not a doctor or any kind of medical professional? What follows is just my interpretation of what I’ve read about how to kill this terrifying virus. Definitely check with someone with some kind of real qualifications before following any of my tips;).

Please note that this list is for killing the virus on hard surfaces (for my use that means doorknobs, plastic packaging that food comes in, railings in the common areas of our building, etc.).

Also important: all of these take ten minutes on surfaces to work; the exception is ethanol (alcohol), which kills the virus in 5 minutes.

I’ll also label each as Good Stuff or Best Stuff based on potential toxicity of each ingredient.

Ethanol, otherwise known as alcohol, is what’s in Purell (which is Bad Stuff because of other gross ingredients, like fragrance) but these two are Good Stuff: All Good Organic Peppermint Hand Sanitizer Spray and Aura Cacia Natural Hand Sanitizer.

Thymol (thyme oil) is found in Cleanwell and Seventh Generation antibacterial products, both of which seem to be sold out absolutely everywhere.

Hypochlorous acid is the main ingredient in Lumion skincare (which I’m also using to clean my hands). Code GIMMETHEGOODSTUFF will give you 15% off on their site.

Citric acid is found in Comet (Bad Stuff because of other ingredients) and Method Antibacterial Cleaner (not quite Good Stuff, but Okay Stuff).

Sodium chloride is the active ingredient in Force of Nature. Receive $20 off Starter Kits, plus free shipping with code: FALLINLOVE20 or receive 30% off Bundles, plus free shipping with code FALLINLOVE30  

Hydrogen peroxide is also hard to get right now. You want a 3% concentration. (This might be a stretch, but we aren’t sold out of this mouthwash, which contains 1.5% hydrogen peroxide, which is more than these healthcare wipes. So, don’t judge me when you find me wiping down my doorknob with mouthwash.)

Sodium hypochlorite is more commonly known as bleach, and you’ll find it in most (toxic!) Clorox products.

Quaternary ammonium is the active ingredient in Lysol products.

Can Essential Oils Kill Coronavirus?

I can’t find any studies showing that essential oils definitely kill coronaviruses, but this study shows that certain oils are effective in killing H1N1 flu viruses as well as the herpes simplex virus (plus a variety of bacteria and fungi).

The blend tested contained cinnamon, wild carrot, eucalyptus, and rosemary oils (worth noting: this blend also was effective against antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria).

Other studies have confirmed the antibacterial properties of eucalyptus oil as well as of cinnamon oil, and this all-purpose cleaner contains both . This sanitizing spray contains rosemary and eucalyptus.

Stay sane and healthy,

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The post 8 Things That Kill Coronavirus appeared first on Gimme the Good Stuff.

Written by Suzanne, AKA “Nana”

This post is for all of the conscious grandparents out there – the ones trying to navigate this world of natural living so that a non-toxic lifestyle can be passed down to future generations!

Of course, parenting has changed over the decades and will continue to evolve. What we thought was safe and healthy for our children may be very different from what our own children think is best for their kids.

Perhaps you, like me, are a 1970s hippie who has been making organic smoothies for half a century. Or maybe your child is the one who has introduced you to a more holistic lifestyle. Maybe your daughter freaked out when you gave your granddaughter a plastic toy or your son quietly returned the non-organic crib sheets you sent his new baby.

Either way, we can help you!

Gimme the Good Stuff is a multi-generational company, and as a grandmother myself, I can imagine how sudden demands to be more “conscious” could seem overwhelming.

If you have any inclination to learn more from a fellow grandparent and “wow!” your children by being the hippest grandma on the block, here are some ideas.

Top 10 Natural Grandparenting Tips

1. Create a non-toxic sleep environment in your home.

Children spend so much time in their beds–even when visiting their grandparents–and non-toxic bedding, especially crib or twin-sized mattress, ensures that they won’t be exposed to a range of scary toxins. Learn more in our mattress guide.

2. Wear your grandchild.

Carrying babies is so much better for their developing brains than putting them in chairs and strollers. It provides other health benefits for both the baby and parent (or grandparent!), while also limiting baby’s exposure to outside toxins. I remember singing and reciting poems to my first grandchild when I “wore” him around the neighborhood in this carrier.

3. Invest in a water filter for your home.

There are so many nasty chemicals in most tap water, and a robust water filter protects your grandchildren from chlorine, trace pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals.

4. Opt for natural laundry products.

If you make the switch to natural laundry soap and dryer balls and sheets, your kids will be thrilled to do a load of laundry when they are at your house. (Wait, maybe you don’t want that?!).

5. Buy your grandkids organic clothing.

Skip polyester and other synthetic materials, and instead choose all natural fibers–preferably organic–when buying clothing or swaddles for your grandchildren.

6. Don’t wear perfume around your grandchildren.

Unfortunately, perfume is full of phthalates. I can always tell when a scented caregiver has snuggled a baby because the scent will linger on their little fuzzy heads! Instead, opt for alternative fragrances like all-natural lotions, balms, essential oils, and soaps.

7. Avoid plastic toys.

Most plastic toys contain an assortment of toxins like chlorine and PVC, which can be harmful when babies invariably use all toys as chew toys! (Not to mention the environmental impact of mass-producing all those plastic toys!) Instead, consider gifting your grandkids higher-quality, non-toxic toys. Check out our Non-Toxic Toy Guide for suggestions.

8. Upgrade bathtime.

Treat yourself and your family by investing in conscious bath and body products. Our Safe Product Guides provide tons of product options for bubble baths, shampoos, soaps, and bath toys to provide quality bath and body care, as well as some peace of mind knowing bathtime is chemical free.

9. Make Screen-Time Safer

For your children and grandchildren using tablets, iPads, smartphones, and other screen technology, investing in screen protectors that shield radiation will offer a drastic decrease in the amount of EMFs (electromagnetic radiation fields) they are exposed to.

10. Make Mealtime Healthy.

Your kids will undoubtedly applaud you if you offer their children veggie-heavy snacks and healthy desserts, ideally using organic ingredients. Garner bonus points by sending home leftovers in plastic-free food storage containers.

Are You a Natural Grandparent?

Okay, grandmas, I want to hear from you! What other steps have you taken to be a conscious grandparent?

And parents–what other things do you WISH your parents would do to give you peace of mind about your children’s health when they are with their grandparents?

Please share below!

To your health,

P.S. Let’s not forget that studies show that simply being in each others’ company is healthful for both grandparents and grandchildren.

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Written by Maia, President

This January, instead of making the usual resolutions that we’ve given up on by the end of the month, we decided to break it up by dividing some big goals into manageable chunks.

Each month, we invite you to overhaul one aspect of your life to reduce toxins, improve health, and increase your peace of mind. Our promise is that these changes will be easy to implement, helping you avoid resolution overwhelm. 

(If you’re just joining us, here is January’s mini resolution on upgrading junk foods, February’s with a medicine cabinet detox, and March’s on improving indoor air quality.)

By April, resolutions feel like a distant memory, don’t they? But stick with us, because this month we are taking on a SUPER important one: non-toxic cleaning products. For one thing, April is, in theory, when many of us take on spring cleaning projects. For another, there has been a recent flurry of news articles about how regular exposure to conventional cleaning products is as bad for you as smoking a pack a day. I believe it!

With all the greenwashing and Sneaky Stuff out there, how can you be sure you are using truly non-toxic cleaning products?

5 Ways to Find Effective Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

1. You don’t have to make your own cleaning products.

   Of course, you can totally make your own non-toxic cleaning products–and there are tons of online resources that tell you how. I have finally, at nearly 40 years old, accepted that I am not a DIYer, in pretty much any aspect of my life (see: that time I tried to become a no-pooer.)

   So, I’m still buying cleaning products and probably always will. The good news that is you can totally buy non-toxic cleaning products that are just as safe as what you can make at home.

   

2. Avoid the most toxic ingredients.
   

   Rather than trying to memorize every single problematic ingredient out there, which gets overwhelming REALLY quickly (see: sodium lauryl sulfate vs. sodium laureth sulfate), focus on the ones that are often found in “natural” cleaning products.

   Here are the three most common dangerous ingredients:
   1) Fragrance, which can contain hundreds of undisclosed chemicals.
   2) Methylisothiasolinone, a preservative favored by greenwashed brands.
   3) Cocamidopropyl betaine, an endocrine-disrupting, “naturally derived” foaming agent.

   (If you’re sticking to brands that are at least marketing themselves as being non-toxic, they aren’t going to have the most common Bad Stuff, such as parabens, BHA, chlorine bleach, and triclosan, so don’t worry about remembering those.)

3. Set it and forget it with subscription cleaning products.
   

   One thing that’s so frustrating about trying to find non-toxic cleaning products is that there are very few brands that make across-the-board Good Stuff. Once you find something that you know is safe and that works well, I recommend subscribing so that you never find yourself in the cleaning aisle of Whole Foods, trying to remember which products are Sneaky Stuff.

   Of course, you can always shop from our online store, where I’ve vetted every single item. We also offer subscription services for our non-toxic cleaning products, or you can set it up recurring deliveries on Amazon.

   

4. Sneaky Stuff is better than Bad Stuff!
   

   When it comes to shopping for non-toxic cleaning products, the most important thing you can do is avoid the Bad Stuff. This means staying away from all conventional cleaning products–think Tide, Windex, Clorox, and Mr. Clean (with this exception).

   Even brands that we have deemed Sneaky Stuff–like Mrs. Meyers, Babyganics, and Method–are way better than the ones that don’t even claim to make non-toxic cleaning products. So when in doubt, choose anything in a natural foods store over a drug store.

5. Remember these three brands.
   

   In many cases, certain products by one brand will be Good Stuff, while others will be Sneaky (Seventh Generation is big with this). Here are three brands that make only truly non-toxic cleaning products: MamaSuds, Eco-Me, and Sonett. You can’t go wrong with anything made by these three.

I hope that these tips will make it easier to switch over to only non-toxic cleaning products. Please share your own favorite brands–or recipes if you are a DIYer–below.

Stay sane,

P.S. Download a cheat sheet of all my favorite cleaning products–from floor cleaners to dishwasher rinse aids–here.

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The post April: Five Ways to Clean Up Your Cleaning Products appeared first on Gimme the Good Stuff.

I remember fondly the days before I started using natural laundry detergents….While I was never was a big fan of cologne, I used to find a man who emitted the intoxicating scent of Tide to be irresistible.

For the last ten years, Daylon’s clothes have smelled like Tandi’s Naturals laundry soap—which is to say they smell like essentially nothing, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Read on to learn more about why I made the switch the natural laundry soaps, what to look out for in conventional laundry products, and how to avoid the Sneaky Stuff.

My Top Pick for the Best Natural Laundry Soap

I thought I would never fall in love with a powder laundry soap, until I met Tandi’s. Try it. You’ll see. (Plus it has absolutely nothing concerning in the ingredients).

$19.99 – $28.99 — or subscribe and save up to 15%Buy Now

Toxins in Laundry Detergent

All laundry detergents leave a residue on clothing, which is absorbed by our skin (and inhaled). The ill effects of some of the chemicals in detergents range from skin or eye irritation to possibly much more serious, such as endocrine disruption (some ingredients are even considered potential carcinogens, but I’m not going to suggest that if you don’t give up your Tide you’ll get cancer).

Best Natural Laundry Soap for Cloth Diapers

If you’re a cloth-diapering mama, then you need to know about Mama Suds.

$17.99 – $18.50 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now

What Are the Ingredients in Tide?

Because of “trade secrets,” manufacturers are not required to disclose what’s in their laundry detergent, so the ingredient list is usually vague and not very helpful. Conventional laundry detergent generally contain the following:

• synthetic detergents, which are often made of petrochemicals
• phenols (established endocrine disruptors, of which BPA is the most notorious)
• beloved, delicious, and totally toxic fragrance (which usually contains phthalates)
• optical brighteners, which are often made from benzene, a definite carcinogen
• bleach, which contains chlorine (an environmental toxin–and possibly a carcinogen and endocrine disruptor)
• phosphates, which break down minerals and render detergent more effective, but with harmful environmental ramifications 

Dirty Detergents

A 2008 study found that of all the top selling laundry detergent brands tested, each contained at least one ingredient considered hazardous under federal law. None of these ingredients was listed on the label and the study didn’t disclose which brands were tested—annoying, I know!

Do You Need a Special Detergent for Baby Clothes?

When I was pregnant and setting up a nursery that would never be used (Felix slept with us), everyone told me to wash all of his clothes in Dreft. After a bit of research I decided against it (see below, under “The Bad Stuff”).

I’m sure there are people who separate baby linens from other household laundry–probably the same people who make their bed in the morning even if no one is coming over. While I envy such organization, I personally feel successful if a cloth diaper is washed separately from a cashmere sweater.

More importantly, if my laundry detergent is an irritant for my babies’ skin (or worse), I don’t want to use it on my clothes! My own health aside, when my boys were infants I spent about 30 percent of my day snuggling their little naked bodies to my clothed one, so I was determined to find a safe, natural laundry detergent.

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Tallow-based laundry soap works as well as detergent and may not trigger eczema.

Who Uses Powder Detergent?

I used to think no one did, but then I tried it and it turns out it works just as well as liquid. The only one I use now is Tandi’s natural laundry soap, since almost every “natural” laundry detergent brand is not natural at all. Tandi’s contains nothing concerning and works so much better than the Sneaky Stuff we used to use (I remember washing Felix’s bibs in Seventh Generation detergent and then pulling them out of the dryer and seeing food still stuck on the fronts). I didn’t think I could fall in love with a tallow-based, powder detergent, but there you go. Tandi’s is the best natural laundry detergent for babies’ clothes and mine.

Here’s a video of my dad demonstrating the super cool dispenser on his favorite brand of Good Stuff laundry soap, Pure.

The Good Stuff

The Okay Stuff

The Bad Stuff

The Sneaky Stuff

A Note on Drycleaning

Be wary of organic dry-cleaning establishments. These are almost always sneaky! Learn how to find truly safe professional cleaning services in our recent blog meh “The Truth About Organic Drycleaning.”

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By John, Certified Holistic Health Coach

This might be hard to believe, but there is an upside to the Tide Pod Challenge phenomenon that you’ve probably seen in the news lately. It has caused scientists, doctors, politicians, newscasters and even Tide itself to publicly announce what our readers have known for a long time, which is that these laundry products contain “highly concentrated, toxic detergent.”

That’s right, “TOXIC.” Those are also the words of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Tide laundry detergent is toxic.

Obviously, nobody should eat any laundry product (even the ones

we call Good Stuff!), but we’ve known for years that most major brands contain a wide array of toxic ingredients.

Chief among these concerns is a chemical known as 1,4-dioxane. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, exposure to this compound can cause eye and nose irritation, kidney problems, and possible long-term lung damage.

The EPA on 1,4-Dioxane

“1,4-Dioxane is used as a solvent.  Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure to high levels of 1,4-dioxane has caused vertigo, drowsiness, headache, anorexia, and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs in humans…Damage to the liver and kidneys has been observed in rats chronically (long-term) exposed in their drinking water…  Tumors have been observed in orally exposed animals. EPA has classified 1,4-dioxane as a Group B2, probable human carcinogen.”

1,4-dioxane is commonly found in Tide and many other major brands of laundry detergent, whether or not you see it listed as an ingredient.

Phthalates in Laundry Detergent

Another toxin is something as benign sounding as “fragrance.” Fragrance, as you’ve probably heard us mention, is almost always packed with a group of chemicals known as phthalates, which cannegatively affect reproductive systems, endocrine systems, and infant development.

Don’t Detergent Toxins Wash Out?

So my question is; why would we wash our clothes with known toxins?

It would be easy to think that these toxins simply wash down the drain (and into lakes, rivers, and oceans), and yes they do wind up in the environment and cause all sorts of problems there.

In addition, ingredients in these toxic laundry products are intentionally made to stick to fabrics, mostly to keep our clothes smelling “clean.” This means that as we wear our clothes and sweat, these chemicals break down and are being absorbed through our skin. So when we use these products we are being exposed to these chemicals essentially all the time, even when we sleep.

Alternatives to Tide’s Toxic Laundry Detergent

The fact is that there is very little meaningful regulation around cleaning and laundry products, so it’s up to each of us to stay informed.

Gimme the Good Stuff is far from the first to bring awareness to these problems, but we do offer alternatives to toxic laundry detergents. Below are some of our very favorite safe laundry soaps and detergents. (But still, don’t eat them!).

Stay sane,

Check Out Our Safe Laundry Guide

Tallow-based laundry soap works as well as detergent and may not trigger eczema.

Tandi’s Naturals Concentrated Laundry Soap

From: $16.49 / monthBuy Now

Christina Maser Concentrated Laundry Soap

$22.00 – $29.00 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now

Mama Suds Liquid Laundry

$17.99 – $18.50 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now

Sonett Laundry Liquid 

$29.99 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now

Pure Natural Laundry Detergent

From: $24.99 / monthBuy Now

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When my sons are sick, we all suffer–they miss school, I can’t work, and no one sleeps. I’m judicious with the use of fever reducers and painkillers (here’s why), so some level of misery is inevitable. And in New York City, it’s hard to ignore how much exposure the kids have to germy surfaces, especially as babies (when mine can typically be found gumming the nearest subway pole).

With the flu dominating headlines right now, it’s hard not to worry about germs, so while you won’t see me with Purell in the sandbox, I have been known to surreptitiously spritz my kids’ hands with a natural sanitizer before they eat their snacks, hoping no onlookers are judging me.

I love CleanWell’s hand sanitizing spray.

Are antibacterial products toxic?

Most antibacterial products are decidedly toxic. Triclosan is the most popular ingredient in antibacterial hand- and dish-soaps, and lots of research has shown it to be an endocrine disruptor, with some studies suggesting it may also be harmful to the immune system.

Worse, bacteria that’s been exposed to triclosan is likely to become resistant to antibiotics, leading to the emergence of so-called superbugs. And get this: triclosan only works against bacteria—not viruses! And while obviously we want to protect our kids from salmonella, I suspect many of us use sanitizing soaps, wipes, and sprays with the hopes of staving of influenza and other miserable viruses.

CleanWell makes a great antibacterial hand soap that’s free of triclosan.

The good news is that triclosan will not be found in any leave-on sanitizers (like Purell, which uses alcohol to do it’s germ-killing job). The bad news is that products like Purell have other problematic ingredients, like retinyl palmitate, which may create free radicals when exposed to sunlight, and propylene glycol, which is linked to cancer and reproductive damage.

Any scented hand sanitizer likely contains hormone-disrupting phthalates, and while the ethanol (alcohol) isn’t so bad in itself, it enhances the penetration of the other yucky ingredients.

Do hand sanitizers prevent illness?

If you’re thinking that the risks of small amounts of these ingredients is worth the benefits of sparing your family from nasty illnesses, this may change your mind: while alcohol-based hand sanitizers kill flu and other viruses in a lab setting, in actual practice they seem to be pretty ineffective.

Most studies show no reduced risk of infection with the use of hand sanitizers, perhaps because most upper respiratory infections (like the flu) are more likely to be spread via airborne droplets—from sneezing and coughing—than from touching germy surfaces.

The bottom line on hand sanitizers

There is very good reason to wash your hands after using the bathroom (obviously) and before eating. Studies have consistently shown soap and water to be more effective than hand sanitizers at removing germs from hands.

Need another reason? Sudsing up removes a host of environmental toxins—from flame retardants to heavy metals to pesticides—that you and your children have likely touched while going about your day. My kids definitely know to wash their hands whenever they come home after a long day out and about in the city, and before they prepare or eat food.

I continue to carry a natural hand sanitizer in my bag for times when we can’t get to a bar of soap before they eat, but I’ve relaxed enough to let my boys hold onto the subway pole, even if another kid has just sneezed all over it.

Stay sane,

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The post Why Your Hand Sanitizer Doesn’t Stop the Flu (and Might Make You Sick) appeared first on Gimme the Good Stuff.

Read our Safe Sofa Guide for a list of our favorite toxin-free sofas.

Even if you live in an urban location, the air inside your home is likely more polluted than the air on the city streets outside. If you’re a reader of this blog, you probably know that indoor air contamination comes from places like the paint on your walls, carpeting on your floors, and flame retardant treatments in the foam cushions of your upholstered furniture.

It’s true that these are all important sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are airborne chemicals implicated in a range of ill health effects. And while ideally we would all replace our sofas, tear out any carpeting in our homes, and repaint all our walls with milk paints, but this kind of overhaul isn’t realistic for most of us.

The good news is that there are three steps you can take right now—none of them overly costly or complicated–that will greatly improve the safety of your home.

Clean up your cleaning supplies (and choose the right vacuum cleaner).

A major source of indoor air pollution is, ironically, the stuff we use to keep our homes feeling fresh and clean. From glass cleaners to laundry detergent, most cleaning supplies contain ingredients that are caustic to our respiratory tracts and disrupting to our endocrine systems.

Mama Suds All-Purpose Cleaner is the Good Stuff.

It’s hard to know which “natural” cleaning products are truly non-toxic and which are just Sneaky Stuff, and unfortunately you often have to look product-by-product even within one brand. Mama Suds, Eco-Me, and Better Life, and Sonett are four brands that I trust across the board.

Flame retardants and other toxins build up in dust, so the more you vacuum, the more toxins you’ll clear from your home. But choosing the right vacuum is important: you’ll want a HEPA-sealed model, which ensures that dust and toxins stay sealed inside the filter. Furthermore, many vacuum cleaners are actually treated with flame retardant chemicals themselves, so look for one that’s RoHS-certified. Miele is one brand that fits the bill.

And by the way, sweeping isn’t such a great way to rid your home of toxins—instead, it sends dust into the air where it can be inhaled. Vacuuming or wet mopping are more effective ways of cleaning dirt and toxins.

Nontoxic Housekeeping from ecomaids of New York

If you live in New York and use a cleaning service, I can’t say enough things about ecomaids. Not only are they the most professional and thorough house cleaners I have ever experienced, but they bring all of their own 100% nontoxic cleaning products (I checked all the labels, believe me!). Even if your budget doesn’t allow for regular cleanings, you might consider treating yourself to ecomaids deep cleaning services once a season.

Purify your air.

The Austin Bedroom Machine is the most effective way to clear your air of VOCs.

There are a variety of ways to clear your air of any emissions coming from your existing furniture, paints, flooring, and so forth. Depending on how extensively you want to clean the air, your options range from very affordable to fairly expensive.

Here are some ideas:

• Open the windows more to let in cleaner air.
• Put out some charcoal air purifiers, which help with everything from odors to VOCs.
• Fill your home with houseplants, which absorb airborne toxins while also producing clean oxygen.
• Cover your floors with 100% wool rugs (wool naturally absorbs VOCs).
• When it’s time to paint your walls, look into ECOS Pure paints and primers, which absorb a variety of VOCs, including formaldehyde.
• If your budget allows, go for a top-of-the-line electronic air filter, which will remove everything from dust and pollens to VOCs. (I recently invested in the Austin Air Bedroom Machine myself, and have noticed an immediate difference in my own home.)

Related Post: How to Choose the Best Air Purifiers and Air Filters

Filter your drinking water.

Even in places like New York City, where our water is known to be “really safe,” chlorine and controversial fluoride are added. Pitcher-style or refrigerator filters help a little, but mostly clean up the appearance and taste of water, rather than doing much to make it healthier. A more robust carbon-block water filtration system will deal with chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, hydrogen sulfide, VOCs, pharmaceutical products, and a range of other chemicals you haven’t heard of, but definitely don’t want to be drinking. We use this three-stage filter in our home

Extra credit: Be smart when replacing furnishings.

Clean Sleep bed frames are solid wood with toxin-free finishes.

When you are shopping for new furniture, be sure to seek out low-toxin or toxin-free pieces.

Most importantly, be sure to choose a mattress and sofa that are not treated with flame retardant chemicals.

As for desks, tables, beds, and bookcases: most “wooden” pieces are actually made of something called “composite wood,” which is bits of wood glued together to mimic a solid piece. Unfortunately, processed wood contains noxious glues that emit VOCs, include formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

Composite wood may be called pressed wood, compressed wood, plywood, particle board, or medium density fiberboard (MDF). Look for furniture that’s 100% solid wood (but be prepared to pay more for it!). Our line of Clean Sleep bed frames are constructed of solid wood and finished with only linseed oil and beeswax.

What else do you worry about when it comes to toxins in your home? Ask your questions below!

Stay sane,

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The post 3 Easy Ways to Have a Less Toxic Home appeared first on Gimme the Good Stuff.

Now in our final weeks of summer, the boys and I have been enjoying exploring the city (and still traveling every weekend!). This picture was taken at Battery Park’s SeaGlass Carousel, which was actually pretty magical, although Wolfie’s face sort of sums up the rest of the trip–it was HOT, we waited 45 minutes for pizza (and wine!), and opted for a $30 Uber-ride home after a major tantrum for a Sponge Bob popsicle completely derailed the afternoon.

Anyway, despite our busy schedule, I did manage to finish updating our Safe Dish Soap Guide this week, which I’ve been working on ALL summer!

Here’s what you’ll find in this updated guide:

• Two new brands that I consider Good Stuff (thanks to you guys, for asking me about these and putting them on my radar!).
• An admission about what I actually use to wash my dishes(it’s not the one I thought I would).
• Four brands that I’m calling Okay Stuff, meaning they are better than most if you can’t find The Good Stuff.
• A whopping 14 brands of Sneaky Stuff (again, thanks for all the questions about these brands, some of which I hadn’t heard of).
• A few formula changes in popular brands, which means some dish soaps have switched categories since the last version of this guide (from Sneaky Stuff to Okay Stuff, or from Good Stuff to Sneaky Stuff, sadly).

So, if you want to know our opinion of the dish soaps made by Seventh Generation, Eco-Me, Mrs. Meyers, Biokleen, Better Life, Honest Company, Whole Foods, Method, Earth Friendly Products, Trader Joe’s, GrabGreen, Dapple, Attitude, Ajax, Dawn and a bunch more, check out the latest Safe Dish Soap Guide.

Stay sane,

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Written by Maia, President

I have three quick things to say about this:

Stay sane,

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The post Honest Detergent Contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, After Calling it “Toxic” appeared first on Gimme the Good Stuff.

Written by Rebecca Stern, Guest Blogger

What is 1,4-dioxane?

1,4-dioxane is a stabilizing agent and is classified as an ether, as well as a probable human carcinogen.

Where You’ll Find It

You can be exposed to 1,4-dioxane contamination in the air, water, and cosmetic and cleaning products. 1,4-dioxane has been found in groundwater sites in the United States and can be inhaled through indoor contamination, particularly in the shower (1,2). In cosmetics, 1,4-dioxane is found in trace amounts due to contamination of other ingredients including PEG and polyethylene (3). In addition, the presence of this chemical can be a result of ethoxylation, a process that is used to improve the effectiveness of detergents like sodium lauryl sulfate (4) (turning it into sodium laureth sulfate).

Why It’s Dangerous

1,4-dioxane contamination in cosmetic products is particularly concerning, as the chemical can be absorbed by the skin in toxic amounts (5). Studies have established linkages between 1,4-dioxane and cancer of the skin, lung, breast, liver, and gallbladder (6). In addition, the compound poses the threat of skin irritation – prolonged exposure may cause eczema, it exhibits acute aquatic toxicity, and its mild odor may lead to accidental inhalation in large amounts, which can be acutely toxic and lead to comas or death (7). Finally, given the water solvency of 1,4-dioxane, the chemical readily leaches into groundwater (8).

How to Avoid 1,4-dioxane Exposure

Unfortunately, until tighter regulations are in place, there isn’t much you can do about 1,4-dioxane in your air and water. But at least we can work to eliminate it from the products we buy and bring into our homes. Several ingredients used in cosmetics and cleaning products pose the risk of being contaminated with 1,4-dioxane impurity. These include:

• PEG
• Polyethylene
• Polyethylene glycol
• Polyoxyethylene
• Sodium laureth sulfate (which may be called “coconut-based surfactant” or something else vague)
• Compounds ending in –eth or –oxynol

By avoiding products containing these ingredients, you can protect your family from potential exposure to 1,4-dioxane.

Here’s more on the difference between sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate.

Here are some of our favorite cosmetics and cleaning products that are free of 1,4-dioxane:

Sonett Dish Soap
Paleo Skincare Laundry Soap
Tandi’s Naturals Scouring Powder
Babo Botanicals Bubble Bath
Farmaesthetics Fine Herbal Cleanser

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Citations

1) http://www.nrdc.org/living/chemicalindex/dioxane.asp
2) http://www.epa.gov/chemfact/dioxa-sd.pdf
3) http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/PotentialContaminants/ucm101566.htm
4) http://www.nrdc.org/living/chemicalindex/dioxane.asp
5) http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/PHS/PHS.asp?id=953&tid=199
6) NTP (National Toxicology Program). 2005. Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program.
7) http://www.epa.gov/chemfact/dioxa-sd.pdf
8) http://www.epa.gov/chemfact/dioxa-sd.pdf

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Written by Rebecca Stern, Guest Blogger

What is Phenoxyethanol?

Also known as Ethylene Glycol Monophenyl Ether, phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative used in consumer products and pharmaceutical drugs.

Where You’ll Find Phenoxyethanol & Why It’s Sneaky

You’ll find phenoxyethanol in personal care products including makeup (e.g. eye shadow, foundation, and mascara) and moisturizers as well as skin- and hair-care products for babies and kids. The compound has become increasingly popular in recent years, as it serves the manufacturing industry as a replacement to parabens, established endocrine disruptors. In addition, phenoxyethanol is used as an insect repellant and disinfectant and added to perfume to reduce the volatility of compounds dispensed as a spray. Phenoxyethanol is also an ingredient in some vaccines (1). You’ll find this preservative in many “organic” and “natural products.”

Why Phenoxyethanol Is Dangerous

Phenoxyethanol has been cited for hepatotoxicity (liver toxicity) and may cause nervous system disease (2). A member of a class of glycol ethers, phenoxyethanol poses a threat of being toxic to reproductive and developmental health. Other glycol ethers have been shown to cause genetic mutations, testicular atrophy, and interference in reproductive health in mice (3). The chemical may also cause contact dermatitis in some individuals with allergic susceptibility (4, 5). Indirectly, phenoxyethanol can degrade and produce acetaldehyde, which is identified as a likely carcinogen (6).

How to Avoid Phenoxyethanol Exposure

Be aware of products that offer topical antiseptic properties. Safe antiseptic products include Healthy Hand Antiseptic Wipes and the all-natural white vinegar. For makeup and creams, oil-based compounds (rather than water-based) are less likely to include preservatives like phenoxyethanol.

None of the products in our online store contain phenoxyethanol.

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Citations

1) http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf
2) http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/category-details?id=1901&table=copytblagents
3) Hardin BD (June 1983). “Reproductive toxicity of the glycol ethers”. Toxicology 27 (2): 91–102.doi:10.1016/0300-483X(83)90014-8.
4) ZZug KA, Warshaw EM, Fowler JF et al. (2009). “Patch-test results of the North American Contact Dermatitis Group 2005-2006”. Dermatitis 20 (3): 149–60. PMID 19470301.
5) Heidary N, Cohen DE. Hypersensitivity reactions to vaccine components. Dermatitis. 2005 Sep;16(3):115-20.
6) International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group, Special Report: Policy A review of human carcinogens—Part E: tobacco, areca nut, alcohol, coal smoke, and salted fish. The Lancet 2009 10, 1033–1034.

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By John, Certified Holistic Health Coach

Comet disinfectant cleanser is just one of several products sold that are meant to “gently” scour our bathtubs, showers, sinks, and tile. Others include Ajax, SoftScrub, and more. These cleaners are effective because they rely on chlorine bleach, and/or a bunch of other chemicals that are often not even listed on the label (which is somehow legal).

A chemical analysis of Comet Disinfectant Cleanser Powder showed that it, “…emitted 146 different chemicals, including some thought to cause cancer, asthma and reproductive disorders. The most toxic chemicals detected – formaldehyde, benzene, chloroform and toluene – are not listed on the label.” 

You might assume that there is regulation regarding cleaning products but, in fact, there are no regulatory agencies that monitor the products that are brought into your home. Manufacturers are protected by trademark law loopholes, so they don’t have to list their ingredients.

What’s Wrong with Bleach?

Chlorine (bleach) is a very strong corrosive substance that can easily cause damage to the eyes, nasal passages, and lungs simply from inhaling the fumes. In fact, chlorine was the main ingredient for the most damaging gasses used in WWI. In the workplace, chlorine is regulated and gloves and goggles are required when handling it…but at home there are no such requirements, and even better, all of the chlorine we use eventually gets washed down the drain and ends up causing harm to the environment.

Chlorine is used to treat municipal water supplies. It is so toxic that it very quickly kills bacteria and other life forms that might take root in stored water systems. This is good because it shields us from some pretty nasty pathogens, but it should be removed from drinking and bathing water before we use it. (This is part of the reason I always tell my clients to invest in a good water filter.)

How then, can these cleansers call themselves “gentle” if they use chlorine? Prior to the introduction of chlorine into scrubbing powders, the main agents used to get things clean were tiny abrasives that literally scrape away the stains. Of course, over many decades of use, the finish on sinks, tubs and toilets would eventually degrade due to the repeated abrasive action. Bleaching away stains with chlorine is less abrasive so they call that method “gentle”.

So by using less abrasive, (but more toxic), cleaners we might be extending the life of our bathroom/kitchen fixtures, while simultaneously possibly shortening our own lives, or compromising our family’s health. I don’t know about you, but this does not sound like a good trade-off to me.

Back to the Future

There are alternatives. Here at Gimme the Good Stuff, we use and now sell three such options:

• Tandi’s Scouring Powder, which is handcrafted in Lancaster, PA, is super effective at cleaning all types of surfaces–including stainless steel, bathtubs, tile, toilet bowls, sinks and more. The essential oil combination boasts antibacterial properties, cuts grease, and best of all it smells fresh and delicious. Customers who’ve tried Tandi’s scouring powder rave about it and come back again and again.
• We recently started carrying the German-made Sonnett scouring fluid, which we also love, and which also passed our safety review process with flying colors
• We have a limited number of Eco-Me scrub cleanser jars left (we discontinued the line but not because it isn’t safe and effective).

Don’t want to buy from us? Even old-fashioned Bon Ami is relatively innocuous, and much safer than Comet.

I suggest you stop treating your home like a battlefield, and opt for one of these safe and effective alternatives.

Stay sane,

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We had just been through her pantry, where all  of her stored foods–exclusively organic items, of course—were housed in glass tubs…from quinoa to oat groats to seaweed, nothing lived in a plastic container of any kind. After moving to the playroom, where I spotted only one piece of plastic (in the form of a miniature beach ball) amidst a sea of beeswax, untreated wood, and felted wool, I started to worry that I wouldn’t be able to help this woman at all. Her home seemed devoid of all toxins–from the custom furniture made of goosedown and hemp, to her five-month-old’s wardrobe that consisted entirely of organic cotton clothing items, I have never seen a cleaner home.

I felt like a fraud, and I realized sadly that despite how much I liked this woman, we could never become friends, lest she see the inside of my apartment, full of Legos and ice cubes stored in plastic trays and even some non-organic cloves of garlic.

In any event, this client had paid me to help her banish toxins from her ridiculously gorgeous apartment, and I was determined to hunt these toxins down. So my pulse quickened as I stared into her cleaning supply closet and–amidst the bottles of Sonett glass cleaner, Seventh Generation dishwasher detergent, and Eco-Me all-purpose cleaner–I spied the unmistakable sheen of a bald head. “It’s Mr. Clean Magic Eraser,” my client spit out guiltily. “It’s amazing, but I know it’s so so toxic, so don’t even tell me what’s in it, okay?” Actually, I couldn’t tell her what was in this product, as I was until that moment unfamiliar with it (although of course I knew that regular old Mr. Clean liquid cleaner was full of chemicals. But she didn’t need to pay me to tell her that.)

What Magic Eraser Does
I’m sure all of my readers know what Magic Eraser is, but if not, it’s basically a miracle sponge that wipes stains off of pretty much any hard surface. It seems I am the only mom who didn’t use these sponges for smudges on white walls, crayons on countertops, or strawberry juice on floors.

I told the client I would look into it, left her apartment, and practically sprinted home, heady with the anticipation of uncovering all sorts of noxious ingredients and hopefully finding a safe alternative I could recommend to her. But my research revealed something surprising…Mr. Clean Magic Eraser really isn’t that bad.

What Magic Eraser Is Made of
Magic Eraser’s pad itself is made of melamine polymer, about which safety info is lacking, but which doesn’t appear to be toxic. I mean, it’s a type of plastic, it’s not remotely natural, and it’s certainly not something I would sell in my online store. You shouldn’t use it on dishes or something you eat off of as bits of the polymer are left behind. You should avoid formulas with added fragrance or bleach. All that said, as far as cleaning products go, Magic Eraser is actually one is among the safer options, especially considering how well it works.

Magic Eraser: The Most Unlikely Good Stuff
Obviously, my client was thrilled to hear that she could keep using the Magic Eraser without compromising the air quality of her pristine home. And in the end I was able to help her by working with her decorator to design a flame-retardant free day bed for her toddler, and we also added air-purifying houseplants and Moso bags to all the rooms of her apartment.

Oh, I also did end up becoming friends with this client. And someday, if I can hide the Legos, perhaps I will let her venture into my home, where she will find a full supply of Mr. Clean Magic Eraser in my own cleaning closet.

Stay sane,

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We get multiple emails a day asking about Jessica Alba’s line of baby and household products, The Honest Company, whose mission is “to reduce the ubiquitous presence of toxic chemicals in our our natural environment, man-made environments, and our personal environments.”

It seems that Gimme the Good Stuff readers are all dying to know: Is The Honest Company truly good stuff?

I’d feel comfortable using most of the products in the Honest line (and give my private clients the green light on the diapers, which people seem to particularly love), but unfortunately there are a couple that are Sneaky: namely, the hand wash and the dish soap. Honest Auto Dishwasher Gel and Honest Laundry Detergent are questionable as they have undisclosed ingredients (see below).

I think Jessica Alba was coming from a sincere place when she created this company, and the website is more or less transparent, with a few vexing exceptions (see below).

Some people might not like the following:

• The diapers contain SAP (less than conventional brands, however).
• Some Honest products contain the preservative sodium benzoate.
• Honest products are not 100% natural–they all contain a variety of synthetics, although for the most part these are synthetics that seem to be safe.
• Some ingredients don’t have any safety data available (sodium lauroyl oat amino acid, for instance).
• SNEAKY: Honest Hand Wash contains phenoxyethanol. This isn’t the very worst ingredient, but not the Good Stuff. Honest Dish Soap contains cocamidopropyl betaine, phenoxyethanol, and methylisothiazolinone.
• MAYBE SNEAKY: Honest Laundry Detergent contains “100% biodegradable anionic coconut kernel-oil based surfactant” and the Honest Auto Dishwasher Gel contains “biodegradable low foam surfactant.” No one at the company can tell us any more detail about what these ingredients are, other than that they are “corn-based.” We’ve called several times.

Bottom Line: This stuff is much better than anything conventional you will buy, and stacks up well against most natural brands. Avoid the dish soap and hand wash.

Oh, and here are our picks for:

• Hand Soap: Sonett or Eco-Me
• Dish Soap: Sonett
• Dishwasher Detergent: Seventh Generation Powder (avoid the gel)
• Laundry Detergent: Sonett (liquid) or Tandi’s Naturals (powder)

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How can we minimize our exposure to perc?
Most dry cleaners continue to use perc (yes, it is still legal, although it is being phased out in some states), but you’ve no doubt noticed “organic” dry cleaning establishments popping up all over your neighborhood. “Organic” brings to mind things that are wholesome and healthful, so this must be good, right? Well…it depends.

Where food is concerned, the term “organic” refers to a method of growing that eschews the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that may be harmful to humans and to the environment–yay! In most other contexts, however, “organic” simply refers to any “compounds containing carbon.”

Well, most things on earth fall into that category, including–you guessed it–perc! So technically, because the industry is largely unencumbered by pesky government regulations, any dry cleaner can put a big ORGANIC sign in their window.

So what’s a concerned lady with dirty cashmere sweaters to do?
The good news is that an increasing number of establishments who advertise themselves as organic cleaners are indeed moving away from perc, perhaps because the people most likely to suffer health problems from perc are those with chronic exposure (I cringe when I see pregnant women behind the counter of my local cleaners).

Some perc alternatives are safe, while others are just good examples of greenwashing. And just to confuse the issue, they are all organic.

Gimme the Good Stuff exists to separate the good stuff from the bad and sneaky stuff, so here we go:

The Bad Stuff

When it comes to drycleaning, perc is bad stuff, obvi. I hope I’ve sufficiently scared you out of continuing to bring your clothes to old-school dry cleaning places.

The Sneaky Stuff

• DF-2000. Some “organic” dry cleaners actually don’t use perc these days. This sounds great, but you’ll need to ask if they are using a petroleum-based solvent called DF-2000 in its place. Produced by Exxon-Mobile, DF-2000 is classified as a neurotoxin by the EPA, and while I do believe it is less concerning than perc, it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, non-toxic.
• GreenEarth Cleaning. Your “organic” cleaner may use the GreenEarth Cleaning method, which relies on D-5 silicone (technically known as decamethylcyclopentasiloxane–spell check just threw up) to clean garmets. This option sounded good to me at first since I’ve done a lot of research on silicone and it seems to be harmless, but the truth is that D-5’s potential toxicity is largely unknown (some animal studies suggest that it may be carcinogenic in large doses.) Overall, GreenEarth Cleaning is certainly better than old-school perc dry cleaning, but the safety of D-5 is still questionable.

The Good Stuff

There are only two methods that I feel comfortable classifying as “good” at this point:

• Liquid CO2 method. This process involves the conversion of carbon dioxide to its liquid form (then back into a gas) and is entirely chemical-free. The equipment required for this method is extremely pricey (as high as six figures), so your town may not have a cleaner who offers this. Note: If your cleaner uses the Solvair process to do its CO2 cleaning, it uses Dipropylene Glycol n-Butyl Ether (or DPnB) as one component in its cleaning fluid. While not natural, DPnB does not confer the health concerns associated with the ethylene glycols, with which it is often confused. Many bloggers (including yours truly), and even the Sierra Club, have incorrectly identified the solvent used by Solvair as highly toxic propylene glycol.
• Professional wet cleaning. It turns out that most “dry clean only” items can safely be cleaned with water and detergent, provided this is done by special computerized machines found at select dry cleaning establishments.

Bottom line–here’s how to safely have your clothes dry cleaned:

Ignore the “organic” sign. It’s meaningless. Instead, ask your dry cleaner if they offer wet cleaning,  and if they do not, find an establishment that provides the liquid CO2 method.

Oh, and if you live above or next to a dry cleaners, it’s probably worth having the air in your home tested to be sure you aren’t being exposed to high (or even low) levels of perc on a daily basis.

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If an all-purpose cleaner doesn’t work very well, it’s kind of hard to tell, right? The same could be said for wood cleaners or even toilet bowl scrubs. But when you use a natural dish soap and find yourself smearing oily water around a pan, the lack of chemical grease-cutters is annoyingly apparent. I used to think Seventh Generation dish soap was a decent choice, but then I learned more about the ingredients and deemed in Sneaky Stuff. (The list of Sneaky dish soaps is LONG, let me tell you).

With fewer and fewer truly safe options to choose from, and more and more dishes to wash, I turned to a bar soap made by one of my favorite natural-product lines, Tandi’s Naturals. We sell this soap in our online store and customers really like it, especially those of you who are better environmentalists than I am (zero plastic!). But here’s a confession that I probably shouldn’t make since I’m selling the soap: I don’t love it. It DOES work as well as Seventh Generation dish soap if you generously load up a nice clean sponge…but I really missed liquid formulas and their ability to produce a big fluffy sink of suds.

So, I cheated on Tandi’s bar dish soap and started using one of the very few other safe options out there: Eco-Me Suzy Dish Soap. And much to my surprise, this stuff REALLY works. Like, maybe (almost) as well as Dawn. So now we are selling it in our store. Try it and tell me if you agree that it’s the best natural dish soap out there.

Read more about dish soaps (the Good, the Bad, and the Sneaky) in our Safe Dish Soap Guide.

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Written by Maia, President

UPDATED: September 2016

As a family of four, we go through a lot of dish soap, and my kids love to “help” wash dishes.

As with many products, natural dish soap often is as effective as the ones that are a startling orange color and full of magical chemicals that make your dishes sparkle. The trouble with being tough on grease is that this usually also means tough on the health of whoever uses the stuff–and on the aquatic life of the rivers and streams where it ends up.

As you will see below under “The Sneaky Stuff,” the vast majority of “natural” dish soaps contain a ton of chemicals, just like their conventional counterparts. And while you do wash most of the product off of your dishes, some residue probably remains. And if your kids are using the soap, you’ll want to make sure it’s truly non-toxic before they get it all over their hands.

My Top Pick for Best Natural Dish Soap

If you want to avoid just smearing grease around pans, I suggest you try Better Life’s natural dish soap. I’ve found it to be the most effective of the natural bunch.

$5.99 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now

Common Dish Soap Ingredients

Here’s some of the Bad Stuff you’ll find in most dishwashing liquid:

Our old apartment didn’t have a dishwasher, so Felix and I washed by hand multiple times a day.

• Surfactants. Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) are common foaming agents, usually derived from coconut. Both SLS and SLES produce bubbles in your dish soap, and are found in lots of “natural” brands. SLS is okay in my opinion (although not ideal), but SLES is not. (Here is where I explain the differences between sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate.). There are other newer coconut-derived surfactants, such as potassium cocoate, that have better safety profiles.
• Dyes. Food-grade coloring is implicated in behavioral issues in kids, so I’m okay with my dish soap being colorless.
• Fragrance. Anything scented probably contains hormone-disrupting phthalates, unless the manufacturers specify that they only use essential oils. Even phthalate-free synthetic fragrances usually are petroleum-derived and contain undisclosed chemicals.
• Antibacterial ingredients. You may see “triclosan” listed on the label, or it may just say “antibacterial agent” or something along those lines. This stuff is totally toxic (carcinogenic and hormone disrupting) and also contributes to the antibiotic-resistant “super bugs” that are becoming a real problem.

The good news is that if you want something that really does work (almost) as well as Dawn, there are several great brands now available. So without further ado…

The Good Stuff: Natural Dish Soap

The Best of the Worst

Because there aren’t that many dish soaps that we can call confidently Good Stuff, here are some that are what I will call Okay Stuff. If you can’t get any of the Good Stuff options, these are the best of the not-so-great.

• Whole Foods dish soaps have some not totally great ingredients, like cocamidopropylamine oxide, coco-betaine (rated a C by EWG), and sodium lauryl sulfate. Still, on the whole (pun!), Whole Foods’ soaps are better than other options. Choose the unscented variety when possible.
• Babyganics has ditched the SLES in their dish/bottle soap, which is great, and continue to change their formula every time I check for updates (so make sure you verify the ingredients yourself, as they may have changed again!). Sodium lauroamphoacetate is the newest surfactant, which seems safe enough although more studies are needed. They’ve added methylisothiazolinone as a preservative, which is definitely Bad Stuff, but in a small enough quantity that it’s not the end of the world. EWG score: C, but irrelevant because the ingredient list is outdated.
• Ecover’s liquid dish soap used to be on my Sneaky Stuff list (see below), but they’ve changed their formula and it no longer contains SLES or many of the other concerning ingredients in the older version. This dish soap DOES still contain SLS, so I’m not going to call it Good Stuff, but I would consider Ecover dish liquid Okay Stuff. Note that EWG hasn’t updated the list of ingredients, so their scores are inaccurate.
• Puracy is a newish brand, and I really WANTED to find out it was Good Stuff since I’ve been fielding lots of questions about this dish liquid. Unfortunately, I have some concerns with some of the ingredients in this one, including benzisothiazolinone, tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, and sodium lauromphoacetate (all of these and other ingredients get C’s from EWG). Still, nothing is overly concerning, so Puracy dish liquid is Okay Stuff.

Smearing Grease Around a Pan: Which Natural Dish Soap I Use
When we first made the switch to natural dish soap, my husband complained that doing the dinner dishes just felt like “smearing grease around a pan.” (I went with Seventh Generation, before I knew it that I had to read labels of the natural stuff, too!). Right now, I’m alternating between Better Life natural dish soap, Sonett natural dish soap, and Eco-Me natural dish soap–and they all are great. While I love the idea of a plastic-container-free soaps, and the Tandi’s soap we sell in our store has some die-hard fans, the truth is I just really like liquid dish soap.

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The Bad Stuff

The Sneaky Stuff

What About Dishwasher Detergent?

We are working on a Safe Dishwasher Soap Guide, but for now, here’s what we’ve identified as the Good Stuff:

• Better Life Dishwasher Gel
• Eco-Me Fragrance Free Auto Dish Soap
• MamaSuds Auto Dishwashing Powder (Note: Because this is a soap rather than a detergent, it’s a great option for those struggling with eczema.)

How to Make a Natural Dish Soap

As usual, my fabulous readers are often greener and cleaner than I am, and many of them use homemade dishwashing liquid. Here is one insanely easy homemade dish soap recipe that a one reader swears by: Combine 2 parts castile soap (Dr. Bronner’s is a good option) with 1 part warm water, plus a few drops of lemon oil. Shake before using.

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1. Aura Cacia / 2. Eco-Me / 3. Moso / 4. Christina Maser

When I started dating Daylon, I loved that his bachelor pad always smelled so nice, thanks to a prominent Glade plug-in in his entryway. Once I learned about what was in that air freshener, I promptly unplugged it. This meant that our apartment began smelling like whatever we’d last cooked—wonderful on the rare occasion when I baked an apple crisp, and less awesome after the more common meal of pan-fried salmon and steamed broccoli.

A Brief History of Air Fresheners

The use of household air fresheners, in one form or another, has been around for thousands of years.

Incense, one of the most ancient forms of air fresheners, is burned so that the smoke can mask other, less pleasant odors. Most modern air fresheners employ the same method (masking), but unlike the burning of incense, they disperse masking agents in other ways, and with a far more sophisticated use of chemistry. (By the way, just because we’ve been burning incense for many centuries does not mean it’s a great idea. Burnt airborne particulates, from incense to cigarettes to auto exhaust, are always bad to inhale, no matter the form.)

Since the 1940s, air freshener manufacturers have blended various chemical agents and tinkered with a variety of dispersal techniques in order to market products that don’t involve burning. This might seem like a step in the right direction, but the chemical agents used are often far less benign than you’d hope.

My Top Pick for Best Natural Air Freshener

Moso Natural Air Purifiers are surprisingly effective at reducing indoor odors (in addition to scrubbing VOCs!)

$19.95Add to cart

My Top Pick for Best Natural Air Freshener Room Spray

If you want a natural air freshener that you spray, try Eco-Me’s organic room sprays, which are great for masking odors with pleasant, phthalate-free scents.

$7.75 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now

Why Modern Air Fresheners Stink

Modern chemistry has shown us that certain chemical agents, when atomized and inhaled, are capable of blocking our smell receptors, thus blunting our ability to detect odor.

Other air fresheners coat our nasal passages with an oily film, and many still just cover up the original odor with better-smelling scents.

A minority of air fresheners actually break down the offensive odor, and even those ones generally contain a heavy dose of chemicals.

What’s Wrong with Conventional Air Fresheners?

A regular run-of-the-mill air freshener will probably contain at least one of the following scary chemicals:

• Phthalates. Synthetic fragrances usually contain phthalates, and most of us know that these are bad—linked with early puberty, autism, obesity, and birth defects. You won’t see “phthalate” on a label; it’ll just say “fragrance” or perhaps “parfum.”
• PEG-40. The Environmental Working Group considers this polymer to be moderately hazardous to human health.
• 1,4-dichlorobenzene (1,4-DCB).1,4-DCB is reasonably anticipated to a human carcinogen, and has been shown to cause kidney and testicular cancer in rats. It also has been shown to cause reduced lung function and increased asthma rates in humans.

Air fresheners may also contain some really gross chemicals that won’t show up on the label. A 2007 study tested 74 air freshening products and measured the concentration of VOCs in the air after use. They reported that a total of more than 350 different chemicals and allergens were detected, including (but not limited to!) benzene, formaldehyde, styrene, and phthalates.

Spray bottles (aerosol) cause additional health risks due to ingredients used as propellants, such as butane and propane.

How to Find a Natural Air Freshener

If you want to truly purify your indoor air, we love Austin air filters.

Rather than masking odors with other, more potent odors, or disabling your sense of smell all together, there are ways to absorb unwanted odors. Sodium carbonate (otherwise known as baking soda) has been safely used as an odor sponge for generations with no known ill effects. There are also ways to employ specific types of charcoal products to scrub unwanted odors from indoor air (learn about these below, under The Good Stuff).

Of course, our modern world is a considerably more toxic place than the one in which our ancestors evolved. This is especially true indoors, where the combination of air-tight homes and toxic agents (such as cleaning products and off-gassing furniture and carpets) is a real health risk, especially when we consider how much of our lives we spend indoors.

But back to commercial air fresheners…The good news is that there are regulations regarding what can and cannot go into them. The bad news is that there are gaping loopholes in these regulations, the most obvious of which is “trade secrets.” This allows companies to refuse to name all the ingredients in an air freshener, and without this disclosure, it becomes very challenging to figure out if your air freshener is toxic just by looking at the label.

We’ve done the research for you here, so read on for which natural air fresheners are truly safe and effective.

The Good Stuff: Natural Air Freshener Brands

Aura Cacia Essential Oil Diffuser

Aura Cacia Essential Oil Diffuser is an easy plug-in unit that uses low levels of heat to volatilize essential oils. This kit contains a diffuser unit and five refill pads. This essential oil diffuser is a perfect natural alternative to toxic plug-in air fresheners.

Aura Cacia also makes this awesome car plug-in car plug-in

$14.99Buy Now

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Aura Cacia Natural Air Freshener

Aura Cacia is another company that is truly committed to product safety as well as sustainability. Their spritzer air freshener is made from essential oils and water and also uses no propellants. You can buy the spray on Amazon for around $7 or get the plug-in room diffuser for $13.

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Christina Maser Natural Room & Linen Spray

This natural air freshener contains only natural essential oils, all of which are food-grade.

$10.50Buy Now

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Eco-Me Vitamin-Infused Natural Air Freshener

Eco-Me makes an entirely safe line of cleaning products, and their vitamin-infused air fresheners are no exception. All four formulas are scented only with 100% essential oils and smell fresh and delicious.

$7.75 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now

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Essence of Vali Botanical Mists

Although the term “natural” is somewhat meaningless (after all, arsenic is natural), in this case it refers to the fact that Essence of Vali mists are made entirely from essential botanical oils and distilled water. The dispenser is a pump/spritzer type thingy and uses no propellants. These mists come in 10 different aromas and affordable at $8 a bottle. You can also opt for a diffuser blend, which costs around $12 and can be used in any standard aromatherapy diffuser. You can buy Essence of Vali products from Amazon.

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Natural Air Freshener from Poofy Organics

Poofy’s aromatherapy blend contains nothing concerning, and imparts the room with a pleasantly herbal kind of fragrance.

Buy now from Poofy Organics

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Moso Natural Air Freshener/Purifier

Moso bags contain activated bamboo charcoal, which serves as a filtering agent (as opposed to a masking agent). The great thing about most filtering agents is that they not only remove unwanted odors, but they also scrub the air of some of the nasties that may be floating around your home—things like formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene, chloroform gases, and bacteria/allergens. After a couple of years of use, simply throw the charcoal on your garden–it’s 100% biodegradable. The bags range in size, and will cost between $10 and $20. And because I use these personally, I can attest that they really do work!

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Sort of Coal Kuro Cube Natural Air Freshener

is another kind of charcoal air filter made from very specific types of wood and wood vinegar. Made in Korea and marketed by a hip Danish company, the Kuro Cube removes odors and toxins from your indoor environment and is biodegradable. Sort of Coal sells a range of purifying coal products, all of which are quite pricey.

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The Bad Stuff

The Sneaky Stuff

Make Your Own Natural Air Fresheners

• Gimme the Good Stuff readers tend to be more inclined to tackle DIY projects than we are. For those folks, here’s a list of cool (and amusing!) alternative natural air freshener ideas.
• Sometimes I will make the effort to simmer spices on the stovetop—clove and orange peels, for instance, lend a really nice aroma to my apartment. Just be sure to keep enough water in the pot so that your homemade potpourri doesn’t burn.
• You can also burn a fragrant, natural candle. Sunbeam beeswax candles earn Good Stuff approval.

Want to know more? Here are great resources on…

• Indoor air pollution
• Phthalates
• The dangers of common household dust

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This is Gimme the Good Stuff’s simple primer on sodium lauryl sulfate and its nefarious cousin, sodium laureth sulfate. 

Sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS, is a surfactant (for simplicity’s sake, think of a surfactant as something that creates bubbles in dish soap, toothpaste, shampoo, shower gel, etc.). There is conflicting evidence, but my research has made me believe that SLS is not a carcinogen, but it is irritating to some people’s skin. SLS sometimes appears on labels as “coconut-derived surfactant.”

Sodium laureth sulfate, or SLES, is another widely-used surfactant (also coconut-based), and is probably carcinogenic, as it is usually contaminated with 1,4-dioxane (this happens during its production).

A 2008 study by the Organic Consumers Association showed that many eco-friendly dish soaps contained 1,4-dioxane, which is a byproduct of the production of SLES. Most of these companies no longer use SLES, but Ecover is a notable exception.  Some products containing SLS are manufactured on equipment used to produce SLES, resulting in 1,4-dioxane cross-contamination if the equipment is not cleaned properly. Seventh Generation claims that their dish soap no longer contains detectable levels of 1,4-dioxane, despite their use of SLS and initial cross-contamination problems.

Bottom line: I’m never okay with using products that contain SLES, but I’m basically cool with SLS if I can’t find an alternative product without it.

Of course, none of the products in our online store contain SLES. I use products with SLS in my home, and recommend them as well. I do NOT recommend skin care products with SLS because of its potential as an irritant, but it is safe in things like laundry or dish soap. (If you hand wash a lot of dishes and find that your hands are irritated, this might be something to consider.)

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I was happy to see that BabyGanics, Ecover, and Mrs. Meyers were given poor scores (D’s and F’s in many cases). Natural living bloggers and natural product stores (our competition, you could say!) recommend or sell these products, and Gimme the Good Stuff has been alone in calling them out as Sneaky.

One brand that I have long considered among The Good Stuff is Biokleen. Specifically, we have recommended their laundry detergent and their dish soap.

Keep in mind that EWG found only ONE dish soap that scored an A, and only three that earned a B. (To see what they are, see our newly updated Dish Soap Shopping Guide).

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Any laundry detergent you use will leave a residue on clothing and linens, which is then inhaled and absorbed (via skin) by the people who come in contact with it. Many of you probably use a different detergent for your baby’s clothes, and you probably assume this detergent is a special formulation. This is very rarely the case. Most conventional detergents, be they marketed for baby clothes or grownup clothes, contain some combination of the following:

• synthetic detergents, which are often made of petrochemicals;
• phenols (established endocrine disruptors, of which BPA is the most notorious);
• fragrance, which often contains phthalates;
• optical brighteners, which are often made from benzene, a definite carcinogen;
• bleach, which contains chlorine (an environmental toxin–and possibly a carcinogen and endocrine disruptor);
• phosphates, which break down minerals and render detergent more effective, at the cost of harmful environmental ramifications.

If you ask your pediatrician what detergent you should use for your baby’s clothes, she’s probably going to suggest Dreft. Dreft’s prolific marketing campaign doesn’t includes a single example of their actual ingredients, so you might wonder what actually makes up the “gentle clean” of Dreft? Here’s a list of Dreft ingredients, and some that I don’t consider gentle include fragrance, propylene glycol, ethanolamine, ethanol, sodium hydroxide, diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol 4000 (which Skin Deep scores as 5-8, depending on usage), and about a dozen other ingredients. It’s got more bad stuff in it than Tide does!

Better Bets

 

Tandi’s Naturals makes a laundry soap that works wonderfully on baby clothes and is tallow-based.

Check out our Laundry Detergent Shopping Review for a list of other Good Stuff.

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My exchange with Cindy of Citra-Solv in January 2011:

Me: Can you please clarify if your essential oils are steam-distilled? And, do any of your products contain SLS or SLES? Thanks!

Cindy: We do have other products that contain SLS. I don’t know about the steam distilled essential oils. The Valencia orange fragrance for the laundry is cold press 5 fold orange oil.

Me: Thank you, Cindy. And to be clear, the laundry soap (which I got today–thanks!) does NOT have SLS or SLES? Thanks again.

Cindy: Correct.

Unfortunately, Cindy was either dishonest or (more likely) uninformed. Per a reader’s request, I recently reached out again to the company and received a detailed list of all of the ingredients (their labels use misleading terms like “plant derived surfactant.”). This time, I learned that some of their products do contain SLES, including the laundry detergent that I was recommending!

In addition, several Citra products contain limonene, which, unlike orange oil, is implicated in a host of health issues (check our glossary for more information).

I’ve updated our laundry detergent page to reflect this discovery, which leaves us with even fewer clean options when it comes to washing clothes.

While I don’t want to overstate the dangers of using detergent that contains SLES (I’m not going to throw away my unused bottle of Citra-Suds), it is frustrating to realize that not only are labels misleading, but you also can’t necessarily trust the information provided by company representatives themselves!

I am sorry that I didn’t have the information right the first time, and I am grateful for my vigilant readers.

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