This week is a busy one. Work is bonkers at present, I've got a series of medical appointments, a meeting at school and to top it off, Mr. B. is away from home. I'm juggling. It is on weeks like this that I'm glad I'm naturally a fairly well organised person and things such as keeping on top of the laundry are so ingrained into my routine that I don't need to juggle the chores so much as keep them ticking. That said, the laundry is time consuming so I've welcomed the arrival of some tips from Ecover of how to lighten the load of the weekly wash with their Non-Bio Concentrated Laundry Liquid.
I haven't blogged a lot about cleaning, nor about the environment for a good while but those who have been following for some time will know that trying to make a few green savings here and there is one of the things I like to do. Ecover's plant-based Non-Bio Concentrated Laundry Liquid is one of the products I use to help keep my family's laundry clean without making such a big dent on the environment. Actually, one of the main reasons I like to use Ecover is because I've found it to be very gentle on the girl's skin (they both have incredibly sensitive skin).
Ecover know that we can't escape the laundry duties forever but that with a few simple steps you can take some of the drudgery out of the task and make the load faster, smarter and more environmentally friendly.
First up, Ecover recommend that every once in a while you run a cleaning cycle in your washing machine to help it keep working at its best - you can't get laundry clean inside a washing machine that is itself dirty! It is a VERY long time since I've done this to my machine so I filled it full of an entire bottle of white vinegar and ran it through a hot wash. Lots of the unpleasant gunk in the door seals worked loose and the washing machine does seem to have a bit of extra sparkle. I was worried that the entire machine would smell of vinegar but it is surprisingly odour-free!
Next up, Ecover recommend that you keep on top of the washing loads by creating a weekly schedule. Apart from staying organised, they've also noticed that a schedule means you are more likely to wash full loads which can save you a couple of loads of washing a week. This means less water and detergent used. Yay. Planning ahead also helps reduce the feeling of rush - I tend to schedule my wash to complete while I'm out at work so that it finishes as I step through the door in the evening.
In-grained stains are a regular feature in our house - particularly in clothes that Holly wears to nursery. Rather than running your clothes through the wash multiple times to shift the stains, there are other products around the house that you can use to eliminate stains instead, Shampoo can help remove greasey stains, hairspray can help remove biro and sliced bread can help remove make up stains. For me, one of the most effective natural stain removers is a lemon - it doesn't work the wonders that some chemical whiteners can, but a whole lemon's worth of juice in a regular white wash does seem to help to keep our towels looking white rather than grey.
I'm a big fan of small natural alternatives than can make a difference around the house and if you've never tried some of the Ecover #LightentheLoad tips above, I'd really recommend giving them a try.
