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There may be those who spend loads of time thinking about laundry — but I wasn't one of them. I had my environmentally correct laundry detergent, and I was satisfied. Or so I thought. The truth was that my whites where less than blinding, and I had a dirty little secret in the form of one potentially not-so-earth-friendly "stain stick." That's when my research began...

Laundry Detergent
The leading brands: Even though most laundry detergents no longer contain phosphates, they still contain petrochemicals and other unhealthy ingredients (see sidebar). Many manufacturers don't list all of their products' ingredients, and the ingredients they do use are often not fully tested.

Healthier alternatives: Do your earth-family a favor by switching to one of the brands listed in the "Earth Friendly Brands" section. I've used them all, and they work well. They are biodegradable, often highly concentrated and do not contain dyes, fragrances, phosphates or optical brighteners.

Boost their cleaning power: Karen Logan, author of Clean House, Clean Planet, adds ½ cup of borax to the load if clothes are especially dirty. If you have hard water or want to soften your clothes, she recommends adding ½ cup of baking soda when you add the detergent. If you're concerned about getting all the detergent out, add baking soda to the rinse cycle instead. (Many brands, especially the leading ones, leave lots of residue.)

Bleach
The most popular commercial bleaches often contain chlorine, a known carcinogen. Try non-chlorine bleach made with precarbonate (composed of salt, limestone and oxygenated water) or hydrogen peroxide. All four of the reviewed brands sell non-chlorine bleaches.

Fabric Softeners
Read the Material Safety Data Sheets for the standard brands of fabric softeners and you'll find that the listed ingredients can cause skin irritation, allergic reactions, liver or kidney damage and even cancer. Many fabric softeners use animal tallow and water-repellent chemicals to "waterproof" your clothes to make them feel softer.

Seventh Generation and Ecover both make a natural fabric softener that they say also reduces static cling. Since I don't like the way fabric softeners make my clothes feel or smell, I tried Ecover's brand with reluctance. I am surprised to admit that while my towels were noticeably softer, I didn't feel like I was drying myself with a soft raincoat. If you can't bear to buy one more laundry product, here are a few tips.

Soft Tips:
For static cling: Dry your cottons and synthetics separately and remove clothes from the dryer when they're still slightly damp and hang them up.

To soften fabric: Use ½ cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle or ½ cup of baking soda during the wash cycle. (Combining them doesn't double the softening power.) Note: This wasn't quite as effective as Ecover's fabric softener.

For a fresh smell: Karen Logan recommends putting a little essential oil on a paper towel and adding that to the dryer. I don't like scented clothes, but adding vinegar to the rinse cycle helped remove residual cooking smells from kitchen towels.

Stain Sticks
Leading stain sticks may contain many toxic chemicals. Our clothes generally suffer from the three Gs: grease, grass and goop (unnamed food particles), so I tested four stain removers: a major brand's "stain stick," Ecover's stain remover, Karen Logan's spot remover and a mixture of vinegar and water. The results were surprising. I stained a cloth separately with oil, ketchup and mustard and then applied the spot removers immediately. They all removed the oil and ketchup stains, and none of them completely removed the mustard stain; the differences were negligible. The leading brand did slightly better on old stains.

More stain-removal tricks
Always use cold water and immediately put something on the stain. Combine vinegar and water for most stains except blood and mustard. For those, use a combination of water and club soda. This may be common sense, but don't forget to use an apron when cooking to avoid grease splatter and food stains. If you have a grimy job to do, or the kids want to play in the dirt, take an extra five minutes to get into some grungy clothes. Prevention is the best tool.

Earth Friendly Brands
Here are some of the companies that manufactor a full line of earth-friendly laundry supplies.

Ecover: is a Belgian company that sells detergent, non-chlorine bleach, stain removers, fabric softeners and a product for delicate fabrics. They use surfactants based on sugar and/or coconut oil. The United Nations has recognized Ecover for their products and efforts to protect the environment. See www.ecover.com.

Country Save: sells non-chlorine bleach and detergents made with sodium borate and coconut-oil-based surfactants. Their website includes cost comparisons with Tide and a study that says their product leaves fewer residues than many brands, even the eco-friendly ones. Elmer Pearson, the chemist who invented Elmer's glue, founded the company. Order products online at: www.countrysave.com.

Seventh Generation: markets laundry detergent, fabric softener and non-chlorine bleach. Their detergent contains coconut-based surfactants, non-chlorine bleach, sodium percarbonate and non-animal-derived enzymes. See www.seventhgeneration.com.

Bi-O-Clean: sells products containing oxygen bleach and grapefruit seed extract — a powerful natural disinfectant. The family-owned company has a special detergent for tough stains and an oxygen bleach. The powder detergent can clump, so swish it in water before adding it to the wash. See www.bi-o-kleen.com.

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