Victoriously clean with Victoria Laundry Powder

For the new year, I wanted to concentrate first on using biodegradeable soaps, dishwashing, laundry and bath. Why soaps of all things? I feel these three areas would be a great place to start the New Year’s Green experiment. The results are quantifiable at a shorter given period of time and would give me some momentum to keep going with the eco-experiment (yes, I admit to fall for the trap of having a short attention span, or ningas cogon or something like that, bummer right?).

So let’s get down to the practical side and see whether this switch will be worth it.

I chose Victoria Natural Herbal Laundry Powder first, because it was the first to offer an environmentally-friendly alternative to us Filipinos I believe.  They have been around longer than being eco and environmental was even an issue for us, I can still remember as a child seeing them on grocery shelves and I have been curious.  But the price is really higher so we never tried it.  (I remember a marketing whiz saying, in the consumer world you do get what you pay for).

But this year, with the providence of no maid, I tried it myself.  I did a week’s load of 5 adults and 2 kids worth of laundry complete with bedsheets.  As an added challenge, I have , the last time I did the laundry with a popular brand, all my fingers had wounds that made me want to scream!!! and cry for two weeks, believe me it was, actually worse than you can imagine.

So this experiment is a CHALLENGE!

THE REVIEW:

Credentials:

• Grandprix – Best Foreign Invention 5th East-West Euro Interllect Exhitbition of Invention – Sofia Bulgaria, 1997
• Special Award of Recognition – 2nd Morocco World Exhibition of Invention Under the Domain of Water and Environment – Casablanca, Morocco, 1998
• Silver-Gild Medal Award 0 24e Salon International des Invention – Geneva Switzerland, 1996
• Gold Medal with Mention – 3eme Salon Mondial de l’invention et de l’innovation au Moroc – Casablanca, Morocco 1997

Price: P150-160 per kilo depends where you buy it (do share if you know where it is less expensive)*

Where it is available: Hi-Top, Eco Market (Market-Market), Sesou (Trinoma), The GeoShoppe (Cubao Expo)

Quantity Used: 1/2 cup of granules (there are suggested washing quantities on the box but I used our usual quantities to gain a more comparative assessment)

Wash Load:(this is the first half of my laundry)

• 10 adult shirts
• 2 dresses
• 4 denim pants
• 3 bedsheets
• 4 pillow cases
• 20 children’s tops and bottoms
• 16 underwear

Cleanability:

I am not a chemist nor do I have fancy equipment to check for 100% accuracy for cleanness, but this is what I saw.

1.       The water did turn dark, I took it as a sign that the soap is doing its job of getting the dirt out.

2.       The not-so-dirty clothes were really clean smelling.  It has its own subtle fragrance not too overpowering.

3.       But the adult white shirts that saw some serious work, needs to be laundered a few times or soaked longer.

BONUS:

This bonuses were unexpected, you will just find it out when you use it.

1.       Saves on Fabric conditioners. The clothes were so soft, no fabric conditioner was needed, actually you’d think you used the expensive fabric cons on them, but of course I know the truth hehehe.

2.       Saves on electricity.  Out of the 59 pieces, I had only to iron 3 pieces!  Ha!  Talk about time and energy savings!  Yehey!  For someone without help, that alone is a lifesaver!  (You’d have to do the usual stuff like properly hanging them to dry and folding them as soon as you take them down, of course)

3.       Saves your hands.  Personally this is one of my favorites, the powder is literally soft on your hands! Like I said, I have contact dermatitis, normally I would have really itchy fingers even after a short contact with laundry soap and washing it immediately.  But with Victoria, it was really soft! (I said that already hahaha)  There was no itching, no drying, and to think I had my hands in it for a long time!

4.       Saves water.  Did you know, you can use the laundry water to water your plants.  It may be unbelievable to some, but I did it to satisfy my curiosity.  And to the joy of our backdoor plants, (I couldn’t experiment on my mother’s prized plants hehehe) they survived!!!! yehey!  Imagine the gallons of water you use on laundry?  (I lost count after 50 gallons, didn’t have enough containers.) Wow! right?

Conclusion:

Victoria Natural Herbal Laundry Powder…

Saves money

Saves the planet

Like I said… you do get what you pay for… this time a lot more than what I paid for.

No wonder they got all these international awards!

And on a more personal note.

My eldest son lost his milk teeth at age 5 a few months short of 6.  I was quite bothered by it so I asked my pedia, Dr. Chen about it.  It turns out, the early changing of teeth a sign of early maturity, though nothing alarming or life threatening.  But it is alarming that more and more children.

Why is this a concern?  There have been studies regarding the connection of early maturity and higher risks to certain diseases. So what’s the connection with soaps, for heaven’s sake)?

Ordinary laundry soaps usually have sufractants called APES (those chemicals that help clean stains and dirt away) and these can damage the immune system, are suspected hormone disruptors and mimic our body’s estrogen hormone that regulate our development and reproduction. But we don’t eat it, right?

Yes… but when we wash our clothes, dishes, and take a bath, where does the water go, with all the soap and other chemicals?  To our water streams, and where do we get our drinking water? Yes its treated, but these chemicals are not completely gone. Hmmm, too much info but its food for thought.

Remember, what we do today has an impact on tomorrow.  We may not see the fruits of our choices but our children will be very thankful that we did.

Be happy.  Be Healthy.  Be Whole.

Make the Quaint things count,

Theresa

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edit: part of the republished lost posts.

* I was happy to find Victoria Laundry Powder in Unimart, Greenhills for just PhP137.50.  I’ll also check Cash and Carry, my SIL mentioned it is cheaper there.

A friend recommended for cleaner smelling clothes, to dry it out under the sun.

Also, to be careful with colored garments, another friend observed white marks on her husband’s blue pants.