Caring for your clothes - Eco clothes washing tips

It doesn’t much time, effort or money to wash your clothes more ecologically...here are Equa’s top tips:

• Wash cold or at 30 °C: 90% of the energy used by a washing machine is used to heat the water


• Wash only a full load: use the full capacity of your washing machine, small loads waste energy


• Use a green detergent: avoid conventional laundry detergents which are usually made from petroleum. They are not biodegradable and contain countless chemicals that you wouldn’t ingest so why would you want them on your skin! Look for detergents that are biodegradable and made from plant-based ingredients


• Use Eco-balls: these are refillable plastic spheres that contain pellets made from mineral salts. The pellets produce ionized oxygen which penetrates into your clothes during the washing cycle. There is no detergent to rinse out so you can use a shorter rinse cycle. The eco balls last up to about 1000 washes so they are cost effective and eco friendly (tip: if you like your clothes subtly fragranced after washing, try adding a few drops of lavender essential oil into the rinse tray of your machine)


• Air dry your clothes: avoid using a tumble dryer if possible, it is better for your clothes and the environment


• If you must use the dryer: use dryer balls which stop your clothes from sticking together and reduce drying time by about 25%

Next time...we will help decipher the care instruction symbols on your garment labels!