How Detergent is damaging your health

Having fresh, clean clothes is important for good health, but when it comes to our health, the conventional detergent does way more harm than good. Doing the laundry is a simple, straightforward task for most people. However, have you actually thought about the chemicals contained in most laundry detergents? In fact, most people would be surprised to know that laundry detergents are not soap. Knowing what we are putting on our clothes, and in our body, can be incredibly important for protecting our health. 

Detergents, for example, contain chemicals that can contribute to skin irritation. Not only that, many commercial detergents may mimic hormones and disrupt endocrine function, a problem that influences reproduction, mood, and metabolism.

Did you know that Before World War II, no-one used detergents?

Why you ask? No one used detergents before WWII because they were yet to be invented. Why did no one invent them before this time? Well, that is a tricky question, but my answer to that is that detergents were not needed before then. This was because everyone was happy with the real soap that was used to wash people, dishes & floors, etc. During WWII the fats and oils that were used to make soap became scarce because they were being used instead to manufacture nitro-glycerine for explosives, and so another chemical source for cleaning agents had to be found. We were finding petroleum all over the place by this time, and scientists discovered that they could make thousands of new chemicals from this petroleum, including what they called detergents. Detergents soon became a regular household item because there was no alternative during WWII. 

OK, so if soap was so good at its job (before the war), why did we not return to using real soap after the war was over? 
I call it coperate brainwash. Think of it this way; if you ran a company that made detergents and soap, and you could make a much larger profit on one product (detergent) versus another (soap), which would you promote? Today, detergents are still much cheaper to manufacture than true soaps, and marketing has ensured that a majority of the population is absolutely convinced that detergents are safe to use. Would you be surprised to learn that the vast majority (greater than 80%) have never been tested? And the majority of the others have been tested only by the manufacturer and not an independent testing laboratory?. The same goes for make-up, hairspray, creams and lotions, and any other cosmetics. These also changed from being made with 'real' ingredients to being synthetically prepared from petroleum products and becoming very similar to detergents. 

The Dangers Of Laundry Detergent

Hidden Ingredients

An even more disturbing fact about detergent is that they are not legally required to list their ingredients on the labels. While these chemicals may not be on the label, recent studies show many of them to be proven lethal toxins. They build up in your skin, and may cause many serious health problems such as asthma, autism, infertility, allergies, and even cancer.

The Filth within a Clean Scent

When shopping for cleaning products, what is the first thing you look for? After considering the price, you want to know what it smells like. You may think you are choosing between strawberry spring  and lemon fragrance, but you might actually be sniffing formaldehyde and inhaling at least one carcinogen (cancer-causing agent). The EPA reports that formaldehyde causes cancer in animals and may do so in humans. In addition to severe allergic reactions, this gas can also irritate your respiratory system and cause nausea. It is nauseating indeed to think of how often we are exposed to these fumes while doing laundry and wearing clothes that carry the scent. Not only are the fragrances harmful, but the carriers of fragrance (phthalates) show adverse effects on reproductive health. If you are wondering why companies use such harmful ingredients for fragrance, the answer is simply money. Natural fragrances, such as essential oils, are costly in comparison to synthetic fragrances.

The flowery perfumes escaping your wash cycle may smell pleasant, but they may trigger asthma in your children and cause the development of new allergies.

Optical Brighteners: The Illusion of Whiter 

Are your white clothes really whiter after you wash them? Most laundry detergents contain optical brighteners, which are chemicals that trick your sensory perception. Your clothes are not really whiter and brighter, you only think they are. Optical brighteners leave a residue of molecules that reflect ultraviolet light from your clothing. The detergents are not providing a deeper clean to brighten fabrics; they are leaving yet another layer of chemicals to give the appearance of vivid color.

The brighteners stick to more than just your clothes. While you are working, relaxing, eating and sleeping, the chemical coating on your clothes and bedding is rubbing against your skin. Due to the ultraviolet reactive molecules, your skin can become photosensitive and easily burn from exposure to sunlight. Increased exposure to ultraviolet rays increases your risk for skin cancer, which is only one of the many reasons to avoid optical brighteners.

People with sensitive skin often experience irritation and develop skin rashes from optical brighteners. Because many people assume this is some sort of allergy, they opt for detergents that market “hypo-allergenic” formulas. The problem with such detergents is that many of them actually contain ingredients to mask undesirable chemical odors.

You Only Need a Little

“Well, these clothes are really dirty, better add extra detergent for good measure.” Have you ever said that? Don’t. If you put too much detergent into the wash, residue will remain on your clothes. This residue is what leads to skin irritation, rashes, endocrine disruption, and possible respiratory distress

How These Chemicals May Damage Your Health And Your Body

Just like lead poisoning, the effects of these chemicals usually are not instant, they gradually eat away at your health over time, because they are absorbed through your skin. Your skin is like a sponge. The chemicals in laundry detergent end up on your clothes and they are never rinsed completely. As you wear them on your body, the chemicals soak into your skin.

Have you ever had dry, itchy, or irritable skin in areas where you wear clothes? Do you have dry scaly palms after doing laundry by hand? Do you ever get headaches when cleaning? These may be the initial 'mild' symptoms of these toxins in your body. Over time this toxic gunk can build up in your body and begin to wreak havoc on your immune system and overall health.

We’re not saying these chemicals are the main cause of disease. However, companies shouldn't have the right to put toxic chemicals into something you put on your skin, and on your children, without you knowing about it.

Now that I know what can I do?  the answer is pretty simple : choose soaps and not detergent.

Home made soap: the solution to harmful chemicals

Soap is also different from detergent in how it works:

Soap is made up of a molecule that has a polar end and a non-polar end. When dirt and oil is washed from your skin's surface using soap, the dirt and oil are surrounded by the soap particles with the non-polar 'tails' and the polar 'heads' point away from the dirt and oil into the water. You might remember the terms hydrophilic (water loving) and hydrophobic (water hating) from highschool chemistry. Having these properties at opposite ends in one molecule is what makes soap such an effective cleanser. Soap allows dirt and oils to mix with water and let it all get rinsed away, thus leaving your skin surface dirt and oil (and soap) free. 

Detergent on the other hand, competes with the oils and dirt for the right to stick to and sink into the surface of your skin, thereby releasing oil and dirt from the surface and from far below the surface of the skin. Solvents in the detergent then keep the oil and dirt from settling anywhere else. Did you know that detergents foam because of foaming agents that are not necessary for it to work? Foam is only added for our viewing pleasure because people expect detergent to foam, and that the more foam there is, the better it works.Handmade natural soap does not need any of these toxic extras to make it conform to expectations. What you see is what you get - an honest bar of soap that works, is pleasant to use, and is healthy for you and your skin!

"I had no idea how much money I was throwing down the drain(literally) on all kinds of unnecessary products until I made my own soap. After using my own soap for only a couple of days, the difference to my skin was amazing. I did not need to use cream or lotion, because my skin no longer felt dry or itchy. I was absolutely stunned that I had been so brainwashed into buying all these synthetic chemicals by these marketing gurus, when all they do is damage my body! "