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Mitigating Cross-Contamination
One of my quests in doing laundry has been to clean our clothes in a way that any mold spores from cross-contamination are mitigated.
Since leaving our home that was contaminated with toxic mold and getting rid of all our clothing, my laundry procedure has been varied. Borax has been an integral part of making sure that the laundry gets clean, but it is not my favorite. I know there are differing views on its safety. Recently, borax has been in the news as it is an ingredient in a popular slime recipe that children are making. Even doctors, upon being interviewed, have opposing opinions on whether it should be included in this slime that children play with.
I’m not trying to make a case against borax and say that I would never use it; however I’m always on the lookout for a great alternative!
Enter: EnviroKlenz
In our quest for living in clean spaces, we ran across a company that makes several products for cleaning the air and environment. After purchasing and using some of their other products (like their mobile air purifier), EnviroKlenz offered a free product for me to review here. I was eager to try their laundry enhancer to see if it was something that I could use successfully instead of Borax.
EnviroKlenz Laundry Enhancer Powder Ingredients:
· Soda Ash
· Magnesium Oxide
· Zinc Oxide
· Titanium Dioxide
You can call me “old-fashioned,” but I much prefer a top-loading washer with an agitator. I have used a wide variety of washing machines, and have yet to find any that I like better than the top-load models. One advantage to a top-loader is that it is less likely to have a mold issue, as front-loaders are notorious for trapping water and moisture around the seal, leading to mold growth. Because of my top-loader, the laundry enhancer that I chose was the powdered version (there is also a liquid version that would have worked in my washer, or can be used for front-loaders as well).
When I opened the 30-load canister of Laundry Enhancer Powder, I noticed that the powder was a bit more dense than borax (more like the consistency of diatomaceous earth). It comes with a scoop that allows for easy measuring — 1 scoop for each load.
“Safe for use on cotton, personal delicate, nylon, polyester, spandex, washable lace, washable rayon, washable wool, and all other washable fabrics. Not intended for use with bleach or on dry-clean-only fabrics, leather, satin,silk, and suede. This product is safe for the environment, made from proprietary materials. Safe to use in High-Efficiency washing machines.”
I have a couple of shirts that have been problematic lately. I’m not sure why, but they have been making my throat itch when I put them on, and have had a very faint “sour” odor that smells all too familiar to me. I threw these shirts into a load along with the EnviroKlenz Laundry Enhancer.
How to Use the Laundry Enhancer Powder
1. For top-load washers, partially fill the tub with water.
2. Add your normal detergent, followed by the EnviroKlenz Laundry Enhancer, and then the clothing last as the water continues to fill.
EnviroKlenz says that for best results, use the Laundry Enhancer with warm water. I noticed that the zinc oxide MSDS sheet states that it’s “insoluble in cold water,” so it seems warmer water is a necessity to completely dissolve this ingredient.
If you use this product, you’ll definitely want to follow the directions to dissolve the Enhancer first in the bottom of the washer, filling with warm water first. 🙂 I learned the hard way with a couple of loads — I forgot to add it and put it in later after there were already clothes in the washer. Several articles of clothing ended up having small patches of powder, reminiscent of the days in my childhood when we used powdered detergent and I did the same thing. 🙂
The price of the Enhancer is about 66¢/load for the 30 load container and 50¢/load for the 80 load container. I find this to be more than the borax that I was using, as that averages $5.00/box and probably lasted 10-15 loads, making it about half of the Enhancer at 33¢ per load.
My Conclusion
Although I would like to experiment with this laundry powder more, my consensus is that it worked pretty well to accomplish my goal. The shirts that made my throat itch when I put them on came out smelling clean without the sour smell. Now, I’m highly sensitive to smells, so I can’t say that my shirts didn’t smell like anything. I could still smell a hint of myself on the articles of clothing. But, it seems like the 100% cotton shirt got pretty clean by using the Enhancer and I was able to wear it without reacting.
We are offering a special of 15% off your entire order at EnviroKlenz.com! Just enter the code Journey15 at checkout! 🙂
