We get it, everyone wants clean and fresh laundry, without too much hassle. But while conventional laundry products may smell clean, they actually can contain harmful residues that stick to your clothes, and can be absorbed by your skin.

How to get the most out of your nontoxic laundry routine?

Follow our step by step guide below, for machine washing.

Step 1 - Sort your laundry & load your machine

Unless your clothes are super new, it’s not always necessary to separate whites or colored clothes - especially because we don’t use chlorine bleach here at Grounded.

Focus on sorting your laundry to identify and pre-treat stains. Use our Stain Remover for small localized stains before adding to the machine, or set aside super soiled items for a deep soak using our power house OxyBoost, or hand wash with our coconut-based Laundry Bar.

Ready to load your machine? Make sure you do not over fill it! While it feels good to get done in 1 load, if your laundry does not have enough room to move around in the machine, your clothes will not get clean - you need room for the water and products to toss them around.

Pro tip: Keep a Stain Remover handy by your laundry hamper - spraying early can help allow the product to work before you wash it later.

Step 2 - Add your Laundry Products to your Machine trays

1. Add Laundry Powder or Laundry Liquid to the tray that looks like this \II/

   Our products are concentrated because we don’t add unnecessary filler products to make you buy more! Just 1 scoop of 30g of powder, and 2 capfuls (30ml) of liquid is enough for up to 10kgs of clothes! Bigger load and machine? You can double the dosage for loads between 10 and 15kg.

   Choosing between Laundry Powder or Laundry Liquid? Both are fantastic products! We like to use the Laundry Powder for everyday loads - it’s boosted with a bit of OxyBoost for stain removal, and is a more gentle formulation for anyone with very sensitive skin. We also love our Laundry Liquid - boosted with stain removing enzymes targeting protein, starch, and oil based stains. Do not use Laundry Liquid on any wool, cashmere, or silk products. In fact, for delicates like this we recommend our Pure Soap.

   Reminder - more product does not mean more clean! In fact, it wastes money, and can result in undissolved powder, or extra soap residue. in your clothes.

2. Add optional boosters in the tray that looks like this \I/

   We love our OxyBoost powder, or Fabric Brightener for this. The products help boost cleaning using the power of oxygen, without harming colored clothes. Bonus - they can also disinfect and freshen stinky clothes - like workout gear. Add 1 scoop (30g) of OxyBoost to your pre-wash tray, or directly to the drum. Or use 60ml of Fabric Brightener into the pre-wash tray. Reminder - both are color safe.

3. Add Fabric Softener

   Most conventional fabric softeners don’t actually make your clothes soft. They often contain petrochemicals and artificial fragrances that stick into your clothes. These can contain hormone disrupting chemicals that are absorbed by your skin. Also - have you experienced “crunchy” towels? This is usually due to build up of conventional softener sticking into the towels, making them harder over time.

   Grounded’s natural Fabric Softener is powered by herbal vinegar. Vinegar is great for removing remaining soap, or minerals that came in with the water - therefore leaving your clothes softer, and adding a very light scent.

   Add 120ml to the tray with a flower for loads up to 10kg. Your machine should release this at the end of the cycle after it rinses the detergent or powder.

Step 3 - Choose your cycle!

Most machines have options for different fabric types and temperatures. Our trusted resource over at @jeeves_NY suggests that quick wash cycles are better for the environment, and get the job done! Longer cycles usually have multiple rinse cycles and use a lot more water. Usually these are only necessary for super dirty items!

Step 4 - Dry and Freshen

Unless you have a dryer machine, most of us are using line drying. Make sure that your lines are clean - we have seen rust stains on clothes when using a metal line. Make sure to wipe down your lines also. You just spent time cleaning the clothes, you don’t want to make them dirty!

Try not to dry in direct sunlight - this can lead to color bleaching in some spots.

Missing the strong fragrances from traditional laundry products? Add some Freshening Spray to lightly scent your clothes with our mix of herbal essential oils.

Clothes still not getting clean?

You may be overloading your machine - Clothes need space in order to agitate the product and get clean. Check your machine for max capacity, and make sure to fill only two thirds full, or up to designated line (depends on machine model)

You're using too much product - More laundry products doesn't actually make things cleaner! This can result in undissolved powder, and crunchy clothes.

You're not pretreating stains - Make sure to sort your washing by color, stain/stink level, and material type for best results. Use our OxyBoost in warm water to pre-soak heavily stained items, or spot treat with our liquid Stain Remover.

Your machine filters need to be checked - There are 2 of them, and if clogged, your machine can't properly bring water in. This means clothes won't be rinsed, and product won't get pushed into the machine from the tray. Powder getting clogged in the tray? You may be using too much powder, OR the filter that brings the water in might not be cleaned. You can put the powder directly into the drum with the clothes if this is an issue too.

Watch our step by step video here

Ready to #getgrounded - check out our laundry range here < https://grounded.co.ke/product-category/laundry/ >