Introducing our *GUEST BLOGGER* Jessy of The Laundry Tarts!
To celebrate The Laundry Tart month of April, now coming to a close, she discusses why they use the ingredients they do in their detergent and how chemicals have become popular and changed the way laundry is done.
From ancient Babylonian and Roman texts, soap has been used to launder, clean and maintain basic hygienic practices for thousands of years; sought after by Kings and Queens, made from the finest oils and botanicals, soap has been the ultimate way to get clean. Since then, we’ve grown into body washes, liquids and other compounds that are marketing for cleaning but actually contain no soap ingredients at all! So, why after all these years have people steered away from soap?! Believe it or not, the war changed how we look at soap. After World War 2, many different detergent compounds were created due to the shortage of fatty acids for basic soap ingredients. Chemical compounds became a cheaper and faster way to include filler ingredients and replace the basic ingredients needed to make soap. It was more cost effective to manufacture using these chemicals and was readily available to use in hundreds of products from washing your dishes, house, body and clothes. The age of chemicals and convenience was born without thinking of the repercussions. In the 1970’s, it became apparent that the chemicals created in the war had negative, long term effects on the environment; sulphuric additives were showing to be hazardous to skin, phosphates were causing algae buds and destroying large areas of fresh water. Fish and other aquatic life were becoming hermaphroditic and communities of scientists began testing and questioning whether or not these chemicals were safe. The last approval on ingredients was in 1973, most additives and ingredients are still
being used in cosmetics and other body care and cleaning products. Europe leads the ban on phosphates and other potentially harmful ingredients, although in Canada and the USA-we have little to no testing or protection other than gathering information and basing our dollar on our decisions.
As convenient commercial products took to the shelf, natural products took to the sideline regardless of the immeasurable benefits to using them. Out went soap. In came chemicals.
Although the age of convenience made way for the age of customized products, it also gave consumers the idea that you can’t have natural products that are convenient. It seemed a step back. Especially with laundry detergent, commercial brands have made a brilliant and terrifying slurry of junk that contain bleaching agents, acidic stain removers, softeners, enzymes, sulfuric acid compounds, foaming agents, chemical fragrances and waxes that adhere to clothing and mask odors instead of removing them. In theory, this is a convenient mixture-stains or no stains, you throw in your clothes and they come out “clean” and “fresh” smelling. Sounds great-right?? Unfortunately, it’s not as good as it sounds. These chemicals are not only ending up in your blood stream as synthetic hormone disruptors, but are great cause for environmental concern. The acidity levels of these chemicals also deteriorate your clothing much faster and can cause mold and buildup issues with your washing machine and residues on your clothing. While long ago, soap was used with water to clean then wash away the dirt, these new chemicals stick to your clothing
along with bacteria, fragrance chemicals and acidic hormone disrupting agents. I miss soap.
Cleaning has indeed become a messy business and it shouldn’t be as complicated as it has become. You should be able to feel good about the products you choose to use in your household and use for your family. When we came up with The Laundry Tarts inc. formula, it was imperative that we use soap as our base for a great cleaning products. We wanted to bring soap back and give it a modern twist. Both Tanja and I being mothers and very picky about ingredients, we searched for the best of the best. We use a custom artisan made vegan soap with non-GMO ingredients and it is lovingly made in Canada. Although the recipe is anything but simple to make, the ingredients we use are a combination of natural, simple and effective food grade ingredients. We love this soap because it is incredibly mild on delicate skin and very tough on stains; SO tough in fact that we isolated it into a stain remover bar which has yielded amazing results. Tradesman, firefighters, plumbers, mechanics, gardeners, nurses, athletes, cloth diaper users and laundry mats all use our detergents and stain bars simply because it works and they love it too. Our ingredients set us apart because we’ve found a way to use old fashion ingredients for modern day spills, stains and dirties. When we can get an old stain out from your grandmothers vintage coat that you’ve re-claimed, a
coffee stain out of your business shirt or blouse, marker out from your white rug, your cloth diapers restored or your child’s blankie can look as good as new, we know we’ve made something that we can be proud of from going back to the basic and bringing it to you.
Every month, The Laundry Tarts will be producing a new limited edition scent. For the month of May the scent is Blueberry Cobbler and it smells delicious.
