Hexwash: A Laundry Detergent Alternative
Hexawash (use code ENGLANDNAT10 for 10% discount) is an organic laundry detergent that lasts for 300 loads. Made from organic cotton offcuts, just throw the pouch in the machine with your laundry, and the magnesium pellets mix with water to form hydrogen gas and magnesium hydroxide, to generate an alkaline solution that is the ideal PH to lift dirt and oil from clothes.
Proven 10 times more effective than laundry detergent to remove stubborn stains, use Hexwash in soft or hard water at any temperature, it’s safe for use with all washing machines. If your washing machine has no soak function, soak for an hour in a covered bucket first, for best results.
If you launder weekly, this invention should last a year, as the magnesium pellets gradually dissolve. You can then bin, compost or even bury it in the garden, where the organic cotton will break down, as will the magnesium which can fertilise the soil.
Choose unscented laundry detergents if pregnant/nursing and for baby/pet bedding (and higher temperatures for weak immune systems). Use natural oxygen bleach for stains. And use a microfibre filter, for synthetic fabrics.
Avoid Most ‘Biodegradable Laundry Sheets’
Most ‘biodegradable laundry sheets’ contain PVA (plastic polyvinyl alcohol). Plastic Pollution Coalition wants a ban on such terms being used, to greenwash consumers.
The law says that if 60% of something degrades into carbon dioxide and water within 28 days, it ‘passes the test’, even if the other 40% of plastic is still present, and leaches out to sea, after wastewater system treatment. As an example, salt also biodegrades, but it’s still in the water. Just like plastic pouches.
One environmentalist writes that in order to ‘trust items made with PVA’, she would want to know when, where and for how long PVA is coming into contact with such processes, as biodegradation needs certain times and temperatures, in order to safely break down. And as no company can promise this, she avoids them.
Got chemical laundry products under the sink? You can bin empty containers (don’t rinse). For half-full items, take them to toxic waste at your local refuse centre.
