Cleaning and Laundry Products

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Another good gentle eco-friendly abrasive that comes in plastic-free packaging is Meliora Home Cleaning Scrub. It's baking soda with organic plant oils like coconut and tea tree oil, peppermint oil for natural scent, glycerin, and sodium cocoate, a non-toxic surfactant commonly found in soaps. It comes in a paper and steel canister with no plastic of any kind. Meliora is a woman-owned business. They  donate 2% of revenue to environmental causes and all their products are certified non-toxic, cruelty-free and vegan.

Earth-friendly Meliora Dish Soap is made with natural plant-based non-toxic ingredients and comes in plastic-free packaging. No plastic anywhere. It's also free of preservatives, dyes, fragrance, phthalates and parabens. It's vegan and cruelty-free. The bar (it's more like a short cylinder than a bar) can be purchased with a small square cedarwood tray that helps drain off water after you've washed the dishes so it doesn't pool up on the counter. The solid soap is concentrated so you just have to rub your sponge or dish scrubber over it to get enough soap. 

If you need an abrasive cleaning slightly stronger than baking soda for cleaning the kitchen and bathroom I like Bon Ami powder cleanser because it comes in a cardboard and metal container. (And 65 percent of the cardboard is post-consumer recycled material.) Made in the U.S. and contains only mild minerals and biodegradable cleaning agents. There's no chlorine or phosphorus or other toxic chemicals. Bon Ami has been around since 1886! I hope they don't ditch their environmentally-friendly packaging for plastic. There are other gentle abrasive cleaners out there but most are in plastic containers. 

This non-toxic dish soap from Zero Waste Store is vegan, cruelty-free and made with a variety of plant oils like jojoba and coconut, essential oils and aloe vera. It's in a glass bottle with a metal cap. You can order a plastic pump top for it but I think its easier and more efficient to just pour some in a decorative glass bottle to keep by the kitchen sink and store the rest underneath the sink . These vintage style glass bottles are nice and this variety is a little smaller. 

Ayeya dishwasher tablets are vegan, plastic-free and free of harmful chemicals like parabens, phosphates, VOCs, phthalates, SLS, ammonia and chlorine bleach. They are packaged in a cardboard cylinder made of sugarcane fibers, a by-product of sugarcane production in Columbia. Ayeya mean 'life in balance.' It was founded in 2003 to support local economies, cooperatives  and craftspeople in Africa and has since expanded to Latin America and the US. Ayeya also makes laundry detergent tablets.

If you Care dishwasher tablets are phosphate and chlorine-free. And cruelty-free as it's not tested on animals. The tabs' film wrapper is polyvinyl alcohol which is a biodegradable polymer. Ingredients are 30% mineral and plant-derived. They come in a biodegradable cardboard box. 

Vove dishwasher tablets are vegan, plant-based, biodgradable, cruelty-free and plastic-free. They are made in Europe and ingredents include baking soda, washing soda, citric acid, plant-based surfactants and a natural enzyme. There are no artificial dyes or fragrances. 

I love Dr. Bronner's organic castile all-purpose soap  It's a wonderful soap though I don't like that the liquid soap comes in plastic. To get around that, I recommend instead buying Dr. Bronner's bar soap, which is wrapped in paper. To use it for cleaning your house just lather a bar up and rub it on a sponge. No need for sprays. 

Hemp is one of the best materials to buy to help the environment and keep your home natural and non-toxic. This versatile fiber has so many uses, one of which is household sponges. These fantastic hand-made sponges are biodegradable and compostable, last for five or six months, are 100 percent hemp and won't scratch dishes. 

This plant-based kitchen brush set has FSC-certified bamboo handles and sisal bristles made from Mexico's palmyra & sisal plants, great for scrubbing pots, pans, dishes, and more. The bristles are biodegradable and effectively clean without harming surfaces. Packaged in a paper box. No plastic. 

This all-natural bamboo scrub brush from Eartheasy is great for tough scrubbing on dishes and soft gentle scrubbing of vegetables as there are two types of bristles, one soft and one harder. It's made using all plant-based materials -- bamboo, tampico and palmyra. And there are no plastics, glues, or chemicals of any kind. 

These all-natural scouring pads are  tough but gentle on dishes and pots and pans. They are made from the outer husk of coconut shells. They are non-toxic and biodegradable and there are no plastics, glues, or chemicals of any kind. 

There are so many affordable and widely-available natural plant-based sponges on the market now, there is no need to buy synthetic sponges. Zen Living is a great choice as they have a scrubby surface on one size for touch stuck-on food and are biodegradable. They're made from wood cellulose and coconut fiber.  

The Earthly Co. says a 10-pack of these cotton paper towel alternatives replaces 80 rolls of regular paper towels. These towels are biodegradable and compostable. They are versatile and attractive and can be used as paper towels, napkins, guest towels or anything else. They are non-toxic and free of chemicals. 

I'm seeing more and more tree-free paper towels. These paper towels from Save Trees are made from FSC-certified bamboo. They are bleached with elemental chlorine-free (ECF) bleaching. This method is safer and less toxic than using chlorine because it does not create dioxins. (It uses chlorine dioxide which is not the same as chlorine.) The paper towels are toxin-free, pesticides-free and have no added fragrances. Plastic-free packaging.

How I love vintage dish towels! There are so many out there. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Aunt Martha's are my go-to towels. I love the old-fashioned look. I like the blue striped ones the best and next I like the multi-colored striped option. But there are lots of great colors from which to choose. Just as you want your clothes and linens to be organic and natural, aprons and other accessories can help you keep a non-toxic home and wardrobe (in addition to protecting the environment, farmers and wildlife from pesticides). 

Marley's Monsters are reusable cotton flannel paper towel alternatives or “unpaper towels” as they call them. These eco-friendly wipes are made in Oregon. They also make make-up pads, nursing pads and reusable toilet unpaper. The business was started several years ago by a soon-to-be new mom on maternity leave to help reduce paper waste and create a sustainable alternative to common paper products. Marley’s Monsters says if every household replaced just one roll of paper towels with their unpaper towels, it would save about 544,000 trees each year.   

Clean People laundry sheets, packed in cardboard, are my favorites. Clothes look and feel cleaner than they do with other detergents and the handy closable box keeps the sheets dry and separated. (Other brands have gotten stuck together in the laundry room after a while.) The sheets  contain no dioxane, no SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) no SLES (sodium laureth sulfate), no optical brighteners, no parabens, no phosphates, no synthetic dyes and no chlorine. They are vegan and cruelty-free and made in the US and Canada.

This eco-friendly concentrated laundry powder is entirely plastic-free and is made of just three natural ingredients: baking soda, washing soda and castile soap. It comes in a glass jar with a metal top. And mailed in cardboard packaging. The powder lasts for up to 60 loads. It's non-toxic, biodegradable and safe for households with kids and pets. The glass jar is such a sight for eyes sore from looking at so much plastic. Made in the US. 

Ditch the plastic bottles of detergent and get packs of laundry sheets instead such as those made by EarthBreeze. They come in a paper envelope and are easy to use. Throw half a sheet in the washer -- or a full sheet for larger loads -- and you're done. The eco-friendly sheets are vegan and cruelty-free and also free of phthalates, phosphate, bleach and dyes. EarthBreeze gives generously to environmental organizations such as We Are Neutral and One Percent for the Planet. They also donate laundry detergent to a variety of charities around the world.

Tru Earth laundry sheets are also a good choice. Made in Canada, they are vegan and cruelty-free and also free of parabens, phosphate and other toxins. The eco-strips, as Tru Earth calls them, also come in heavy paper envelopes. No plastic! Tru Earth donates 2 percent of its profits to charity (including in-kind donations of their products) and has made reducing plastic waste around the world a mission. They estimate that purchases of their laundry strips have eliminated more than 100 million plastic detergent jugs and other plastic containers from the waste stream and from potentially ending up in the ocean or elsewhere in the environment.  

Another laundry detergent winner is Meliora laundry powder which is made in Chicago and comes in a retro cardboard and steel trim canister. It's cruelty-free, vegan, free of preservatives, dyes and synthetic fragrances and it's biodegradable. It's gentle enough for sensitive skin and for babies' clothes and bedding. Meliora is a Certified B Corp., Made Safe-certified and has an A rating from the Environmental Working Group. Their ingredients are listed on the front of the canister: Baking soda, washing soda and vegetable soap. The three scented varieties use only organic essential oils for fragrance. 

This stain stick from Tru Earth treats stains just like stain pre-treats that come in unnecessary plastic bottles. It's made in Canada, comes in a cardboard box and is safe for all washable fabrics. It's free of harmful preservatives and additives and it's not tested on animals. All of Tru Earth's laundry and dishwashing products come packaged in paper or cardboard. 

I love Dr. Bronner's organic castile all-purpose soap (I also use it on my face and body and as a shampoo and to handwash clothes). It's a wonderful soap though I don't like that the liquid soap comes in plastic. To get around that, I recommend instead buying Dr. Bronner's bar soap, which is wrapped in paper. To use it for cleaning your house just lather a bar up and rub it on a sponge. No need for sprays. Tip: If you ever know you're going to get stuck on a deserted island and you can only bring one soap, bring this one. 

These great non-toxic dryer balls are made of hemp. Toxin-free, cruelty-free, hypoallergenic and 100 percent vegan. They reduce drying time by 30 percent and save energy. Hemp is an especially earth-friendly and versatile fiber. It is grown without pesticides, nourishes the soil as it grows and helps reduce water loss and soil erosion. It's really a win-win for the environment. 

These earth-friendly dryer balls are made of bamboo fiber. Toxin-free, cruelty-free. 100 percent vegan and hypoallergenic. They are handmade in the US and are available in white or activated charcoal infused.

This small mesh laundry bag from Coyuchi is made made in India of undyed organic cotton. It protects delicate clothes like lingerie in the wash and has a zipper closure so nothing falls out. It comes in several sizes.

These mesh laundry bags from Simple Ecology are made of GOTS-certified organic cotton. They protect delicate clothes like lingerie in the wash and have a drawstringr closure so nothing falls out. They come in several sizes.