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Why Your Laundry Is Filthier Than You Think

14 points by abtinf 12y ago

abtinf 12y ago
This guide has some proposed solutions for cleaner clothes: http://liberty.me/guides/free-your-laundry/ http://liberty.me/guides/free-your-laundry/
- salibhai 12y ago
  This guy's recommendations are quite selfish. Use banned phosphates despite the fact they cause large amounts of algae growth in public lakes. He also recommends using the hottest water possible, and the most amount of water so your clothes will be "crisp, fresh, and clean". I suspect that if we actually tested clothes cleaned via traditional laundry, they would not be full of algae, mold, and bacteria as he claims.
  - deadghost 12y ago
    Hot water also shrinks clothes and fades colors.
mathattack 12y ago
I've always assumed that the P&Gs of the world were making stronger soap year over year. Isn't the idea that we had magically clean clothes in the past just wishful (wistful?) thinking? Kind of like, "When I was young, kids had respect!"
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
colanderman 12y ago
I'd believe this article much more if the author's agenda was even remotely related to laundering clothes. "Your laundry is filthier than you think because THE GUMMINT!" Protip: Sodium percarbonate (i.e. OxiClean) does a great job of cleaning clothes (in addition to detergent); it releases hydrogen peroxide in solution with water, which is a decent (though not perfect) disinfectant and oxidizing agent. But it's not banned by The Man so it's not as exciting as the civil disobedience of wasting water or polluting rivers with phosphates.
- hollerith 12y ago
  what you refer to is also known as oxygen bleach. I have been using oxygen bleach in the kitchen and on my tile floors for many years. it is good stuff, but makes cotton washrags wear out and come apart much faster -- maybe ten times faster. in the kitchen, I solve this problem by using nylon microfiber rags, but clothing made of nylon is uncomfortable. so, although I put oxygen bleach in my washer periodically (to kill germs that persist between washer loads) I do it only when I am running the washer without any cotton clothing in it.
deadghost 12y ago
So what? It's not like there's no bacteria on our bodies and the cute critters regenerate to original levels plenty fast. My clothes haven't fallen apart after years of use. Guy just sounds like a loony bacteriophobe whose only point I've considered was whether the machine rinses out all the detergent.
sp332 12y ago
The principal source of effluent phosphorus was from phosphates used in laundry detergents. http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs/94-54.htm http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs... This contradicts the article's claim that most phosphorus pollution was from "big agriculture". Edit: although that may be more true now than it was in 1994. The largest source of phosphate discharge into surface water is agriculture, mainly from fertilisers, but also livestock feed, followed by human sewage and then detergents. http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/June/24061105.asp http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/June/24061105.as...
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

14 points by abtinf 12y ago

This guide has some proposed solutions for cleaner clothes: http://liberty.me/guides/free-your-laundry/ http://liberty.me/guides/free-your-laundry/

salibhai 12y ago
This guy's recommendations are quite selfish. Use banned phosphates despite the fact they cause large amounts of algae growth in public lakes. He also recommends using the hottest water possible, and the most amount of water so your clothes will be "crisp, fresh, and clean". I suspect that if we actually tested clothes cleaned via traditional laundry, they would not be full of algae, mold, and bacteria as he claims.
- deadghost 12y ago
  Hot water also shrinks clothes and fades colors.

mathattack 12y ago

I've always assumed that the P&Gs of the world were making stronger soap year over year. Isn't the idea that we had magically clean clothes in the past just wishful (wistful?) thinking? Kind of like, "When I was young, kids had respect!"

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

colanderman 12y ago

I'd believe this article much more if the author's agenda was even remotely related to laundering clothes. "Your laundry is filthier than you think because THE GUMMINT!" Protip: Sodium percarbonate (i.e. OxiClean) does a great job of cleaning clothes (in addition to detergent); it releases hydrogen peroxide in solution with water, which is a decent (though not perfect) disinfectant and oxidizing agent. But it's not banned by The Man so it's not as exciting as the civil disobedience of wasting water or polluting rivers with phosphates.

hollerith 12y ago
what you refer to is also known as oxygen bleach. I have been using oxygen bleach in the kitchen and on my tile floors for many years. it is good stuff, but makes cotton washrags wear out and come apart much faster -- maybe ten times faster. in the kitchen, I solve this problem by using nylon microfiber rags, but clothing made of nylon is uncomfortable. so, although I put oxygen bleach in my washer periodically (to kill germs that persist between washer loads) I do it only when I am running the washer without any cotton clothing in it.

deadghost 12y ago

So what? It's not like there's no bacteria on our bodies and the cute critters regenerate to original levels plenty fast. My clothes haven't fallen apart after years of use. Guy just sounds like a loony bacteriophobe whose only point I've considered was whether the machine rinses out all the detergent.

sp332 12y ago

The principal source of effluent phosphorus was from phosphates used in laundry detergents. http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs/94-54.htm http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/full_text_search/AllCRCDocs... This contradicts the article's claim that most phosphorus pollution was from "big agriculture". Edit: although that may be more true now than it was in 1994. The largest source of phosphate discharge into surface water is agriculture, mainly from fertilisers, but also livestock feed, followed by human sewage and then detergents. http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/June/24061105.asp http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/June/24061105.as...

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]