I’m almost to the end of my challenge and giveaway (enter please if you haven’t already) and here are some of my reflections on this whole hanging the laundry to dry thing….

• I have plans to keep this up for the rest of the summer. At least while it’s so hot. It keeps the house cooler, cuts on our energy usage (smaller bill), and things dry so quickly in this heat.
• I’m keeping up better with the laundry since I only have so much hanging space.
• It’s not that much more work than using the dryer and I feel very vintagey, homemakey while attending to the task
• An apron is a good thing to have while doing this. It holds the pins well and adds to the feeling mentioned above.
• Note to self keep clothes pins away from Peanut. She managed to remove the springs from half of my collection. It’s a little difficult to put them back together so I’m just going to get some more.

So heres some great techy information on what’s in many laundry detergents.

Masking Agents: What Are They Hiding?

·         Truly fragrance free products have a scent. If there is no scent, it is likely that the product contains a masking agent.

·         Masking agents are actually synthetic fragrances that neutralize the scents so that there is no appreciable odor in a product.

·         Masking agents have similar effects to fragrances – some people have skin and respiratory sensitivity to them.

·         If a product does not contain fragrance it may still contain a masking agent – “no masking agents” claims indicate to consumers with sensitivities to fragrance that there are no fragrances present.

Optical Brighteners: Not a Brilliant Idea

·         Optical brighteners are chemicals that make fabrics seem brighter or whiter than they are.

·         They remain behind on clean laundry as a coating and when invisible ultraviolet light hits this coating; they convert it into visible light to create an optical illusion that tricks the eye into thinking our clothes are super clean.

·         Optical brighteners are designed to remain behind on clothes/laundry which means they come in direct contact with skin.

·         They can cause allergic reactions in some people.

·         Some are poisonous to fish and other aquatic life.

·         Many are not biodegradable and remain in waterways.

Why Seventh Generation Laundry Products are Different

·         Plant-based laundry detergents are non-toxic and biodegradable

·         Hypo-allergenic

·         Free of phosphates and optical brighteners

·         Safe for septic and greywater systems

·         Not tested on animals and are Kosher certified

Learn more about Seventh Generation’s line of laundry products at http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Natural-Laundry-Detergent

So how’s it going so far (this is me talking to myself). It’s week 3 in Project Laundry line and again so far so good. We’ve moved the laundry line out of the garage and upstairs where I can open windows and let a good breeze dry our things in a few hours.

As I’ve said before our outside setup is not the best for laundry so I’m improvising. It’s going well.

I’m a bit shocked that it is going so well. I thought I would get behind in the laundry due to the dry time and the additional work of hanging. But not so. Yes there is the additional time of hanging but it seems a bit therapeutic and old timey. Anyway not bad.

Here are my pros so far:

• Cooler home without the dryer running.

Want to get in the hanging your laundry to dry act? Here is a really great post on hang drying your laundry, hang drying laundry.

And please don’t forget to enter our giveaway and win a pack of your own laundry supplies.

It’s week 2 in Project Laundry line and so far I’ve kept to washing our laundry in cold water and hang drying our laundry.

Here’s a little about our setup for this.

We live in a windy area in the Northwest hat has been raining pretty much non-stop.  I decided that hanging our laundry outside was pretty much out. So we made the decision to hang the laundry to dry in the garage (which is not being used to house a car).

The line dryer we received (and the one our winner will too) is pretty big so this is working out.

I’ve been washing in cold for about a week and so far so good. Dry time is a little longer.  Last night I resorted to ironing some sheets since I wanted to use the line dryer for a new batch of clothes. They were pretty much dry but I wasn’t 100% sure so I ironed them to make sure. My husband commented that the washing thing seemed to be going well and since I was doing dreaded ironing that I don’t like so much I growled at him.

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway and win a pack of your own laundry supplies.

The Giveaway is now closed.  Winner update post here.

Thank you to all the participants.

In this era of cutting costs and going green Seventh Generation has a timely challenge my family is excited to participate in.

The steps are switching cold water washing and  line drying our laundry.

The aim of this challenge is two-fold; environmental savings and wallet savings. My husband is excited about the latter.

I’ve had to, for lack of an electric dryer, line dry my clothing in the past. I never thought it much more than a hinderance. This is the first time I’m choosing to line dry even with the convenience of a dryer.

To help encourage this line drying stuff Seventh Generation has provided me (and will provide one of my lucky readers) with a Project Laundry Line kit.

Seventh Generation Natural 2x Concentrated Laundry Liquid (good for 66 loads of laundry)

A portable laundry line (this thing is huge!)

A package of clothes pins

And a laundry basket

I’ll be posting weekly or so about how it’s going and when we get our bill if we’ve seen a nice drop in the amount.

For the record I was already a Seventh Generation Laundry soap user. I use lot’s of different laundry detergents and even some I’ve whipped up myself. In my regular rotation is Seventh Generation, Method, and LeBlanc Linen Wash

For now though let’s get with the giveaway details.

Seventh Generation “Project Laundry Line” Giveaway

Enter to win a Seventh Generation “Project Laundry Line” pack which includes…

• Seventh Generation Natural 2x Concentrated Laundry Liquid (good for 66 loads of laundry)
• A portable laundry line
• A package of clothes pins
• And a laundry basket

Giveaway ends Midnight on Thursday July 15th. (this is a long one)

How to Enter

*This giveaway is open to US residents only (sorry) who are 18 years or older.

Leave a comment (here) telling me about your line drying experiences and/or other things you are doing to lower bills and cut costs in the home.

Additional Entries (must do entry above first)

1. Blog about this post and link back (1 time, 1 extra entry)
2. Tweet about this post include @momtools in the tweet and leave me another comment letting me know you did this. (again 1 time, 1 extra entry)

The supplies for this challenge and prize pack have been generously provided by Seventh Generation  through MyBlogSpark (see my button on the side?)

The Cloth Diaper Report is hosting a giveaway for Crunchy Clean natural laundry detergent (and some sprinkles) on her blog. I’m already a faithful user of this great product so I’m entering.

Yes you could make your laundry detergent but why try when Crunchy Clean has so many fabulous scents. I’ve been using the Everyday Detergent Hard Water, Diaper Detergent (no longer needed wahoo!), and linen spray in Crisp Cool Clean. I also have the deodorizing sprinkles in grapefruit which you can sprinkle and then vacuum up for a nice clean scent. Since I no longer have a laundry need for the diaper detergent I’ve been mixing with vinegar and using it to wipe down walls and flat spaces when the mood arises. It gives such a delightful scent to the home! I had also purchased the lavendar and eucalyptus in diaper detergent but since I don’t need it for that right now I want to use it on something. It is fabulously strong (I love that scent combination).

Anyway drop by The Cloth Diaper Report and follow all her detailed directions for entering numerous times. I admit I sometimes get confused with all the follow me and tweet me here and blip it twice or whatever. But I did set up a twitter account (twitter.com/momtools) and have attempted to do some things there.

Off you go now. Go enter.

We all know how difficult stains are to remove. The stains baby’s acquire can be some of the most challenging. From baby formula to pureed foods. Well my sweet baby had a juice fest with her father and got some nice deep purple grape juice stains on her once lovely white onsie and a cute pink top . I was so disgusted I dumped the tops in the laundry hamper and didn’t think about them for about 2 days. Well okay I thought about them but with great disgust.

I didn’t even bother to research my stain removing guides or the numerous laundry tips I have around. In my state of continuing disgust I just picked up my new tub of OxiClean Versatile – The Original! and followed the directions for treating a stain on clothing.

Making a paste with 16 oz of water and 1/4 cup of OxiClean Versatile. I let both of the tops sit in the sink with the paste on them for a about an hour while I did other things and then I dumped them in the wash with a load of laundry (toddler clothes). Again, to make sure I really got the stains, to the laundry I added a scoop of OxiClean Versatile and then filled the washer with hot water. I soaked her complete load of laundry (minus a blanket that likes to color everything) overnight and then completed the laundry this morning.

Boy was I surprised! I truly expected to find a least some trace of the stain because as we know grape juice can be a bear to get out. They were all gone!!! Both tops are like new! The OxiClean Versatile got all of the grape juice out and of course the rest of the laundry is wonderfully clean.

I was and am still very happy.