It’s not really anyone’s favourite chore—in my house, the laundry sometimes piles up until it’s an indoor toboggan hill for my toddler. Just me? I didn’t think so. There are days when I stare at the basket like it’s a hydra: I fold one shirt, and three more appear.
I feel like I’ll never win the laundry battle, between washing, folding, and putting away for just my small household. Parents with multiple kiddos, I salute you. You’re basically running a full-time textile-processing plant.
Beyond being a huge time suck, I’ve also had that nagging guilt about what all this laundering means for my clothes. The repeated friction, the harsh cycles, and the “oops-I-forgot-and-left-it-in-the-washer-overnight” moments—these slowly nibble away at seams and fibers. Then there are the pieces I never wear because I’m afraid they’ll disintegrate in the machine (hello, wool jacket from the 1950s), and the items I simply cannot bear to wash at all (like my son’s plushie dino pal, whose expression already suggests he’s been through enough). I find myself playing garment triage: what’s sturdy enough, what needs handwashing, and what might simply... perish?
Luckily, there are solutions. Maybe not to the endless piles (if anyone figures that out, please let me know), but at least to the worry about causing damage. When we start to treat garment care more mindfully, we can have a huge impact on our clothing, whether the pieces are new, handmade, heirloom, or hand-me-downs. Instead of seeing laundry as a spinning, sloshing enemy, we can see it as an ongoing relationship with our wardrobes: one small act of care that preserves colour, shape, texture, and even memory. And maybe, just maybe, we can shift our mindsets enough to see this dreaded “chore” less as a battlefield and more as a gentle ritual.
EXTENDING THE LIFE OF YOUR CLOTHES
Who’s pulled a sweater out of the dryer only to discover it shrunk? We’ve all had the “I swear I checked the pockets” moment of finding a sticky, gooey, caked-on residue on a jeans pocket. And, of course, more than one solitary sock has disappeared into the ether. Let's face it—washing our clothes is hard on them. We use agitation, high heat, and harsh cleansers to get the job done. This wears down the fibres in our clothing, especially clothing made of more delicate materials.
When we pay attention to garment care, we can buy less. You won’t need a new pair of jeans as often as you think if you’re washing them more mindfully. In turn, that then means we can buy better, skipping fast fashion for clothing made in small batches, with healthy working conditions, and with fibres that are healthier for our skin.
We can do this in a number of ways. To extend the lifespan of that oft-worn sweater, reducing the heat on your normal washing machine and dryer cycles, and turning down agitation settings, can go a long way. Cooler water and a slower spin will be gentler on all materials. The changing water temperature of a normal cycle causes malleable fibres to expand and then contract, leaving you with a misshapen item. Fibres like wool, linen, cotton, and silk are the most susceptible to this kind of wear.
Also, in a material like wool, the agitation causes something called "felting," which is an "irreversible entanglement of fibre." Studies show that felting can be reduced if the mechanical agitation is reduced. Less agitation can also stop pilling and loose seam damage from turning that favourite sweater into one you feel like you can’t wear out of the house anymore. Of course, less agitation to me means my clothes aren’t clean...how can the piles of sand my son comes home with possibly be beaten without a solid spin cycle?
THE ECO-IMPACT
Sustainable care solutions can replace that spin cycle full of harsh chemicals and strong detergents. From an eco-friendly mindset, we already know it’s better not to wash your jeans after every wear or run the washer when it’s only a few pieces. A washing machine load takes anywhere from about 30 to 140 litres of water, depending on the age of your machine, its efficiency rating, whether it’s top- or front-loading (the latter generally uses less water), and its drum capacity. In the last decade, new appliances in the laundry room have reduced their energy use by more than 80 percent, which is fantastic, but we’re still using a lot of water.
Beyond the water and electricity use, I’ve also been more eco-conscious about what’s in my detergents lately—having a two-year-old with constant eczema might do that to a mom, eh? Standard detergents often contain surfactants for cleaning, enzymes like amylase and subtilisin to break down stains, and water softeners like sodium citrate. They also contain fragrances, preservatives, solvents like alcohol and propylene glycol, and optical brighteners to make clothes appear whiter. That doesn’t sound like a list I want to be wearing—how about you? Even the better-for-you options from the big mainstream brands have a laundry list of unpronounceable ingredients—take a look at the back of a bottle the next time you’re in a store and let me know how many ingredients you have to Google. These big brands may have removed some of the dyes and synthetic fragrances, but is it enough?
SUSTAINABLE SUDS
Luckily, there are solutions that can solve these problems. Okay, maybe not the never-ending pile of dirty clothes, but at least tackle the water and extensive chemical use, along with extending the life of clothing with a gentler process. No-rinse solutions like Eucalan are low-sudsing, so you can use less water to clean even the most fragile fabrics. With wool, less handling while wet helps avoid matting and shrinking and skips over the felting process. If you’re caring for garments that may be tucked safely away into storage, no rinsing also ensures essential oils like eucalyptus or lavender (to inhibit moths) can stay in the fabric. Plus, thinking about all that water use in the laundry room discussed earlier, a no-rinse solution saves a bucket-load of water (pun fully intended).
Introduced to the market more than 30 years ago, Eucalan can be used in both front- and top-loading washing machines as well as in a basin for hand-washing. One of its main components, lanolin, is an oil that is extracted from sheep’s wool by running it through a centrifuge machine. Lanolin is highly compatible with the oils of our own skin and conditions and protects fabrics for long-term use. Lanolin reconditions clothing fibres by restoring their natural moisture, softness, and elasticity and also adds a moisture barrier to further protect clothing. (Cloth diaper users, I’m looking at you! Lanolin is a go-to for those cute wool covers!) Eucalan’s products are also biodegradable, septic-safe, and free of optical brighteners, phosphates, and synthetic fragrances and dyes. This no-rinse solution can easily be used on those hard-to-handle products, like rugs and stuffed animals, in addition to its obvious benefits on fragile fibres like wool.
Are you ready to beat the laundry room battle once and for all? I am. See you on the other side of the laundry mountain.
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Brought to you byEucalan
