cleaning

Part 15 of our 15-part Q&A series on all aspects of green building from the publishers of HealthyHouseInstitute.com. Click here for the introductory post and furthur details.

Question: I can’t tolerate the artificial fragrances in laundry products. Are there any healthier options?

Answer: There are a number of fragrance-free products, and they’re also often available at health-food stores or co-op groceries.

If you live in or near a large city, look in the telephone directory under Chemical Suppliers. There should be companies listed that sell all kinds of nasty industrial chemicals. However, they also often sell unscented borax, or unscented washing soda (sometimes called sal soda, or sodium sesquicarbonate)—both of which can be used in the laundry. You may need to purchase 50-100# bags, but buying in bulk is considerably cheaper per pound than buying in small quantities. Sometimes, adding a cup of white vinegar to the wash water can help remove odors.

You may run into another problem with artificial fragrances if you’re shopping for a new washer or dryer. That’s because many manufacturers put scented samples of detergent or fabric softener inside new machines at the factory. If you can’t get a company to ship an appliance without free samples, your best solution is to remove the offending products from the washer or dryer immediately. Then, run the washer (without clothes) several times with unscented borax, baking soda, or white vinegar until the odor dissipates. Likewise, run the empty dryer on its highest temperature setting until all the perfume odors are gone. If your utility room has a window, keep it open during the entire “decontamination” period.

Question: How important is it to use unscented cleaning products and cosmetics, and natural-fiber clothing?

Answer: Scents and perfumes very often trigger reactions in chemically sensitive people and they bother many individuals with conventional allergies. We feel it’s very important to use unscented products throughout your home. Because fragrances are formulated to spread and cling, they can quickly saturate an entire house and be difficult to remove.

Scented cosmetics can be especially problematic for sensitive people because they’re applied directly to the skin. Your clothing is also in direct contact with your skin. We’ve found that untreated natural-fiber clothing (cotton, wool, linen, ramie, hemp, etc.) is a good option because it outgases no synthetic odors. And, we choose only those items that can be easily cleaned at home with unscented laundry products.

Question: The house we just moved into smells perfumy. What can I do to remove the odor?

Pasta sauce, wine, toothpaste — no matter what you get on your favorite white shirt, a dry cleaner can get it out. With such strong stain-fighting power, have you ever wondered just how safe those chemicals are? Pretty hazardous actually, but there are alternatives.

Unsafe Hydrocarbons
The main solvent used in dry cleaning is called perchloroethylene, also known as PERC. While commonly known as a cleaning agent, it is also used as a metal degreaser and appears in consumer paint strippers. It’s a chemical heavily regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) due to environmental concerns. A manufactured chlorinated hydrocarbon, PERC is a known hazardous air pollutant linked to increased risks of certain cancers. Other possible side effects include skin, eye, nose, and throat irritation; reduced fertility; headache; dizziness and nausea.

Dry cleaning employees suffer the most with severe reactions but there has also been documented minor, long-term irritation in customers who use dry cleaning regularly. By simply bringing clothing home from being cleaned, you release PERC into the air, making your indoor air all the more toxic. Runoff from dry cleaning businesses has also resulted in PERC mixing in with local water sources, but so far not much contamination has been linked to this.

Cleaner Choices
A few less toxic options are available to consumers. One of the most widely used alternatives is GreenEarth, which uses a silicone-based solvent that carries detergent to the clothes and rinses away trapped dirt and oil. No chemicals are brought to the clothing. Colours stay vibrant and the fabric remains soft with little wrinkling.

After many local and regional awards, the company was presented with the EPA Environmental Achievement Award for all their hard work. Big names like General Electric and Proctor & Gamble recently partnered with GreenEarth to help make this new cleaning option available worldwide.

The other two commonly mentioned eco-conscious options are liquid carbon dioxide (used in high-pressure cleaning machines) and wet cleaning using regular water in computer-controlled washing machines. According to a study done by Consumer Reports, both the liquid carbon dioxide and GreenEarth recently proved to be more effective on cleaning clothes as well as more enviro-friendly than traditional dry cleaning. In the same experiment, wet cleaning did not fair so well and hasn’t become very popular among businesses or consumers.

Substitute Solutions
Green dry cleaners are still difficult to find. The Canadian Centre for Pollution National is working with Environment Canada on the Green Dry Cleaners Survey, a project to expand the existing green dry cleaners network in Canada. They have an interactive map to help you find a green dry cleaner in your area. GreenEarth also has a listing of their cleaners for both Canada and the USA.

Just down on your laundry
No matter the method you use to clean your clothing, reducing the number of times you do the wash will help preserve our planet’s resources. Consumer Reports suggests the following two tips:

- Hang up clothes immediately after you’ve worn them, give them a day off between wearings, and air them out before returning them to the closet. Use a clothes brush occasionally to remove surface dust.

- Treat spills quickly to prevent staining. And don’t iron stained garments; heat sets stains.

[from Green Living Online, via Victoria-E.com]

Years ago, an episode of the Oprah show featured a woman who described how she had turned her household chores into pleasurable rituals: she burned candles in the laundry room, and folded her family's clothes with a sense of mindfulness, using the time to think about the people the clothes belonged to. That image stuck with us to this day, as a prime example of what we'll call emotional sustainability. It's about bringing passion and attention to bear on the littlest details of how you live.

What got us thinking about such things? An excellent article by NaturalPath, posted on the Alternative Consumer blog, about what you can get out of the experience of shopping for your food at a farmer's market instead of a supermarket. Which in turn reminded us that hanging clothes on a clothesline to dry can also be a wonderfully meditative exercise in sun worship.

What other ways can you think of to turn your daily chores into art? For starters, no aspiring gourmet housekeeper should be without a copy of Cheryl Mendelson's Home Comforts, subtitled "the Art and Science of Keeping House." Mendelson's book is a beautifully written encyclopedia that brings intelligence, wit and passion to a much-neglected topic.

Have any ideas or inspirations to share? Contribute to our Share section! And to learn more about how you can design your home for sustainable living, check out our friends at Slow Home.

By John Bower

I have found that one of the best vacuums to use is a central unit with an outdoor exhaust. They usually are far more powerful than portable models, and even if some small particles get through the filter, they will be blown outdoors and not in your face.

There are many different manufacturers of central vacuum systems, and units are available in several sizes. Typically, there is a canister that contains a motor and a dust collecting bag. It will have a 120 volt electrical connection, an inlet and an outlet pipe, and a low voltage connection. The canister is usually mounted in a basement, utility room or garage.

The flexible hoses are 20'-30' long, and there are a variety of cleaning attachments available. Some manufactures have a power head with a rotating brush that is powered by the air rushing through the hose, others are electrically powered.

The inlet pipe and the low voltage wire on the canister are connected to one or more wall plates. When the hose is inserted into a wall plate, the low voltage circuit is activated and the vacuum motor is started automatically. With the long flexible hoses available, an average house may only need 2 or 3 wall outlets if they are located with a little forethought. While such a long hose can seem like a snake at times, it is easier to use than dragging around a portable vacuum.

The outlet on the canister is simply piped to the outdoors. A few manufacturers have an indoor exhaust with a sound reducing muffler, but a model with an outdoor exhaust is probably a healthier and quieter choice.

Read more on the Healthy House Institute's website.

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