It’s a typical Sunday. You walk into a grocery store, and after loading up on all your produce, you head over to the detergent aisle.
Hmm, which one to buy?
After thinking for a bit, you recall a catchy commercial you saw on TV involving one particular brand. So, you reach for that one and head on your merry way, confident you’ve bought an effective, great product.
But have you really?
The product you’ve just chosen might look like the one from the commercial. It probably even smells like it.
But what if I told you there’s a chance you’ve just picked up a counterfeit?
Surprised? I don’t blame you – it’s not an item you’d normally think of as being fake.
But authorities are warning consumers about a recent surge in phony detergents that are not only a ripoff but a major health risk as well.
One Los Angeles raid turned up over 400 buckets of counterfeit laundry detergents all across the city.
After the raid, samples of the laundry detergent were sent to a Procter & Gamble lab in Ohio for testing. Researchers there found that the phony detergents were no more effective than water at cleaning clothes.
They were also filled with chemicals researchers were not able to determine the origins or safety of.
Jack English, senior scientist of Procter & Gamble, says that the risk of using the counterfeit detergent could be very severe.
“It would be like putting your family in a car that you have no idea where it came from,” he tells ABC News.
How widespread is the issue? In the past year alone, Procter & Gamble identified nearly 50 factories producing counterfeit Tide, Downy and Gain detergents.
The company says the counterfeit products have been showing up all over, with the issue reaching new levels of severity in the past year.
To avoid counterfeit detergent, the company suggests consumers avoid 5 gallon containers of detergent, as they do not sell their products in that quantity.
But let’s face it. Even legitimate laundry detergents are far from safe.
Commercial laundry detergents contain a slew of harsh chemicals like phenols, optical brighteners, bleach and artificial fragrances. We cover just how harmful these chemicals can be in this post, but the bottom line is this:
You probably don’t want to be exposing your family to what goes into conventional laundry detergent.
So what should you do? Make your own, of course!
Safe, Effective Laundry Detergent Recipe
This recipe comes from Wellness Mama. It’s totally safe and makes use of naturally occurring compounds like sodium carbonate and boron.
What you’ll need:
- To make a liquid laundry soap from these ingredients, begin by grating the bar of soap or placing it in a food processor.
- Put the soap in a pan with 2 quarts of water and gradually heat it. Stir constantly until the soap has dissolved.
- Next, pour 4.5 gallons of extremely hot tap water in a 5-gallon bucket and stir in 2 cups of borax and 2 cups of washing soda.
- Pour your soap mixture into the bucket and stir it well.
- Cover the bucket and leave it to sit overnight. Shake or stir until it’s smooth and use between half a cup and a full cup for a load of laundry.
Sources:
Wellness Mama
ABC News
Yahoo News
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