New Leaf Market will be holding a Green Laundry workshop April 22 at 7:30 p.m.
The workshop will be held in New Leaf Market located at 1235 Apalachee Parkway and will cost $5 for members and $7 for non-members.
Guest speaker and green living consultant, Reenie Rodgers, will speak about different ways to approach laundry chores that are greener and healthier.
Rodgers will cover washers, water temperature, and the difference between harmful and harmless detergent additives.
Best-selling author of “Clean and Green” and green living expert, Annie B. Bond, said most name brand detergents are based on petroleum oil and can be bad for the water stream.
“This makes it really bad for fish but you can’t really tell by reading a label.” Bond said. “Making your own detergent is cheap and one of the purest ways to go green.”
Rodgers suggested that attendees bring a container or an empty ketchup bottle to make stain remover at the workshop.
“Workshop attendees will make an easy, green stain remover,” Rodgers said. “They will learn about bleach, about commercial and natural detergents as well as easy green ways to remove many stains. People can’t fully go green until they learn to give up their bleach.”
Homemade detergents are mostly made up grated bars of soap not containing lotions, dyes and perfumes.
By adding a half a cup of Oxy Clean this will make the homemade product bleach for white clothing, and a half a cup of Arm and Hammer washing soda will help remove stains and oils.
“I have a friend who was one of 12 kids and her mother washed all their cloths when they were growing up with castile soap and she just grated it with a cheese grater,” Bond said.
New Leaf Market sells soap bars ranging from 75 cents to $10.99, varying from oatmeal, jasmine and vitamin E.
Other ingredients that might be used in homemade detergents would include borax, washing soda and glycerin, a gelatin-like substance.
“The glycerin isn’t very necessary,” Bond said. “That’s only used if someone is trying to make it look good, but if you were an athlete and you feel like your clothes need deodorizing then a half a cup of borax is good.”
Rodgers agreed.
“For a really dirty, smelly load of laundry, add a half cup of borax as a laundry booster,” Rodgers said. “You can also add a couple drops of pure eucalyptus essential oil.”
Amanda Boekhout, 27, an artist from Merritt Island, said it only took her 10 minutes to make her detergent.
“I bought a glycerin aloe vera bar of soap from New Leaf for $1.47,” Boekhout said. “It was so easy grating the soap, then once I had enough I dumped it with hot water. I only used a tablespoon for one load and I could smell the aloe vera.”
For more information regarding green products visit www.anniebbond.com.