GoodGuide Laundry Ratings

It‘s kind of hard to avoid laundry. Even using the most ruthless of detergents has less environmental impact than buying new clothes every time your current ones get dirty, so you’re stuck with those trips to the washing machine. There are a few ways to make those trips greener and safer, though. One is to look for laundry soaps that don’t use petrochemical ingredients like cocamide DEA and triethanolamine—although these may not be on the ingredients list, many laundry soaps will advertise on the label if they’re made either using only plant-based materials or without petroleum-based chemicals. (more)

If possible, it’s also good to avoid optical brighteners, which often contain harsh chemical ingredients that can stay in your clothes. Chlorine bleach (generally labeled as sodium hypochlorite), that old familiar whitener and brightener, is a strong irritant and can react with other chemicals in your clothes or in the environment to turn into carcinogens. If you use dryer sheets, look for ones without fragrance, or ones made from alternative, non-petroleum-based ingredients.