Learn » Truth About Conventional Products
Quick History
Traditionally, soap was made using lipids, whether animal fat or vegetable oils (corn, apricot, jojoba, coconut, etc.), and wood ash, or lye, in a chemical reaction called saponification. Natural soap can still be found today by natural and organic vendors. Depending on the type of lye used, how much water is added, and the curing process, you get either hard bar soap or liquid “hand soap.”
Folks in the 1920’s used to wash their laundry with soap flakes. This was a poor choice, since it dissolved poorly in hard water, dulled colors, and turned whites gray.
It is hard to pinpoint when exactly synthetic detergents first entered the American market. A good place to start would be in the 1940’s, when the rationing of fats opened up a market for petro-based chemical cleaners. In the past four or five decades, practically every single Western home has become ingrained with the detergent-bleach-softener routine for doing laundry.
How Detergents Work
As we all know, oil and water don’t mix. The problem is that stains, grime, dirt, and grease are pretty much all oils. So washing with plain water is a difficult method of cleaning grease, especially if it is set or caked into a surface.
Soap contains ingredients that act as emulsifiers, which allow oil and water to “mix” so that the dirt can be removed when rinsed away. Emulsifiers have one end that likes to bind to water molecules and another end that likes to bind to lipid molecules. Emulsifiers are also used to make lotions and creams by allowing the oil and water to mix into one even substance. Without emulsifiers, your hand lotion would just be a heterogeneous mix of oil and water: not too appealing!
Soap and detergents are a class of emulsifier called surfactants, which is short for surface acting agent. Surfactants make water more “wet,” which allows it to mix more freely and therefore bind with more oil molecules. With one end of a surfactant molecule bound to an oil and the other end bound to a water, the agitation during a wash cycle allows the surfactant to pull the oil or grease away from the stain and into the wash water. The rinse cycle then flushes everything away. Using warm or hot water softens hard or heavy stains, allowing it to more easily be pulled away.
Saponins are a class of natural substances, many of which have surfactant-like properties. The process of natural soapmaking utilizes a process called saponification. Saponin is what coats the shells of Nature’s Wash Berry soap nuts.
Synthetic detergents use petroleum distillates to create artificial surfactants. In addition to surfactants, chemical detergents contain a slew of other chemicals. A University of Washington study found popular laundry products and air fresheners emitted dozens of different chemicals. Researchers say all six products gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but those chemicals were not even listed on the product labels.
Here are just some of the more common offenders.
Perfumes: That clean smell has a dirty secret. Most scents are made using a chemical recipe that can be easily absorbed through the skin and can be harmful to the liver. Many people also react negatively to artificial fragrances. That is why there are so many “fragrance free” formulas now available by conventional manufacturers. If you absolutely need to give your linens a fresh scent, we recommend using a natural alternative such as dryer sachets or diluted essential oils.
Petroleum Distillate (naphthas): Naphthas are a huge family of refined petroleum products. Some different types of naphthas include lighter fluid, varnish/paint maker, shoe polish ingredient, and industrial solvents. Naphthas are found in detergents because of that last trait. As a group, naphthas are a volatile and potentially toxic family of chemicals. Prolonged exposure to concentrated naphthas can result in damage to organs and the Central Nervous System.
Phenols: Designated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as hazardous.