We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Did you know that the laundry detergent you may be using could contain little-known chemicals called optical brighteners? Â According to scientific research, these can cause allergic reactions, are toxic to small fish and other aquatic life, and can pollute your waterways.
When ultraviolet light hits optical brighteners coating your clothing, the brighteners convert UV rays into visible light to create an optical illusion. This tricks the eye into thinking the clothing is whiter and brighter, and therefore cleaner than it really is.
So how can you avoid these optical brighteners? Seventh Generation makes it easy because their laundry detergents are not only free of optical brighteners, but they’re also non-toxic. In addition, because Seventh Generation liquid laundry detergents are both hypo-allergenic and biodegradable, you can rest easy knowing you made a considerate choice for your family and the environment. We invite you to take part in this Spark and conduct your own experiment to see the difference between your current laundry detergent and Seventh Generation laundry detergent.
When washed in a conventional laundry detergent that contains optical brighteners, clothes appear to glow under a black light. When you use Seventh Generation liquid laundry products, you won’t see the same glow on your clothing.
Take a look at my experiment in the photo above. I took two identical organic cotton shirts and washed one in a conventional laundry detergent that contains optical brighteners and the other in Seventh Generation laundry detergent which does not use optical brighteners. I was shocked, that I really could see a big difference. The shirt washed in my normal laundry detergent was actually a lot brighter and glowed a lot more than the photo shows, it was kind of hard to photograph. This was kind of an eye opener for me!
Would you like to win a set of Seventh Generation laundry products? To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment letting me know how many loads of laundry you do a week.
This giveaway will close on Wednesday, December 15th. Good luck!
The Seventh Generation products, prize pack, shirts and really cool black light (according to my teens) and information was sent to me by Seventh Generation through MyBlogSpark.
becky says
I do anywhere from 10-12 loads of laundry a week. With my family of 4 and 2 of them being a 5 year old boy who is rough and tough to my 2 year old daughter that has to change her outfits at least 3 times a day. We also vary with season and when baseball season is here I do 2 extra loads of just his uniform.
Melissa Lou says
id say around 10 loads a week. and usually its within a 2 day span (my days off)
BusyMom says
With five people in the house, at least 3, 5 sometimes if I get time (to separate them :))
sarah w says
6
paula says
at least 5
Angie J. says
I do 2 or 3 loads a week.
Lyn says
I wash between 6 and 12 loads of laundry per week, depending upon how many children are at home.
Linda says
I have a family of 4. My husband is in construction so throughout the rainy season I do alot of laundry because of all the rain we get. His clothes are soaked when he gets home. Alot of sweatshirts and jeans!!! Plus I have my 8 and 6 year old so lots of laundry at our house! Please consider us for this laundry soap! Would love to help preserve our environment as much as we can!
Gaby says
I do at least 5 loads a week with my hubby, one year old, and cloth diapers. Always something to put away!
Jessica says
I love 7th Generation! We do 6-8 loads of laundry for our family of 4, depending on whether it’s a sheets and towels week 🙂
Heather Evans says
Last week I did 16 loads of laundry. Normally my husband does the laundry but it was really behind and we couldn’t find things we wanted. He went out of town, so I decided to “surprise” him and thrill us with caught up laundry!
Linda says
Well, I’m not really much into laundry. We tend to wear things at least 2 times before washing. I probably average 2 Loads per week. I have a sister-in-law that has environmental allergies, so any little thing to keep toxins out of the air do help.
tabitha says
wow! how do some of you ladies do so few loads! we need a new blog on how to decrease our laundry loads! We only have a family of four and I do 10-12 loads a week. only use 7th generation – love it!
Tiffany says
I think around 8ish…but about to increase when we have our third child in a few weeks!!
Kristie Alvarez says
I do about 10 loads a week, we are a family of 7 and I am so thankful for my Super Capacity Plus Washer.
Kathy says
I do about 8 loads of laundry a week, way to many!
Bridget Zarzoso says
A lot!!! A family of four and we do about 5 loads of laundry a week with reusing things that aren’t too dirty like pajamas. Plus, we are switching to cloth diapers in a month when I don’t have to share a washer (present owner won’t allow it) and that will add 1-2 more loads probably.
Deb says
I do about 3-4 loads a week.
Lori N. says
I do an average of 8 loads a week. Doing some right now, go figure! ::sigh::
Marisa says
Usually 2-3 but I’m just a single person 🙂
Stacy says
Hi – Our family does about 5-8 loads of laundry a week! Thanks for the chance to win!
Jenny G says
I do anywhere from 8-10 loads a week. I try to do it all in one day, but it usually stretches out all week. I would love love love to try 7th Generation products.
Jessica says
A million! Oh, it just feels that way. Probably 10 loads a week….
maria says
I do at least 8 to10 loads a week and sometimes more just depends on the week.
mgood says
I do 1-2 loads a week.
Stefanie says
i do between 1 and 3 loads per week usually.
Jamie Larson says
I do at least 14 loads a week!
Sara T says
6 or 7 a week, but I really don’t keep track.
Monica Guenther says
I do about 10 loads of laundry a day. I love the natural cleaning soaps and I think this is a great product!
Jessica S says
About 5 a week.
Erica says
I have a family of 5. My oldest is 6 and in Kindergarten and the twins are 4 in preschool. Depending on how messy school is for them that day will determine my laundry. I think in a good week I do about 12 loads. In bad weeks, I can do a lot more. If we have company (like we did last week! We had 11 people here so towels and sheets are used up atm) I do 20+ I’m always out of laundry soap.
Juli says
between 6-8.
Diana says
With a 3 year old and a 9 year old, I pretty much do at least a load a day. With a baby on the way I can’t even imagine how many then!
tori says
I do laundry only twice a week, maybe 2 loads each time.
😉
Anna Galanos says
At least 3-5 loads a day!
Annabel P says
My family is small, there are only 3 of us. Myself, my husband, and my 11 month old daughter. With that said, I do 4 loads of laundry every other day! My husband works Monday through Saturday so he goes through a lot of clothes. I used to wash my daughters clothes once a week but that just made the pile bigger. I used to also buy the leading brand’s free and gentle version to try and keep her clothes as natural as possible, but that started getting too expensive. So now, my daughters clothes is washed with regular detergent, and so is ours. It’d be nice to be able to change it up a bit!
Genna HOlt says
I am a mother of 4. Ages 6, 3, and 1 year old twins. I do tons and tons of laundry. Just bought a new front load washing machine. We ran our other washing machine into the ground. Does 7th Generation have a high effeciency brand? I do 20-22 loads of laundry in a week. amazing!!
Julia S says
7 loads is my average for the week – that’s just for my family of 4
Diane says
We do about 8 loads per week.
Erin Jones says
I do laundry for a family of 8 each week, which is usually between 10-12 loads.
Ann says
With a 3 year old, 5 year old and myself, I’m looking at 4 loads. With the hubby in the military he’s not around too often but when he is, add 2 more loads of uniforms to that. Not too bad. Doing the laundry is isn’t such a chore. It’s the folding and putting away is what i rather not deal with. =)
Jennifer says
About 3 loads…I try and wash all the dog stuff every week 🙂
Jennifer Makinster says
I do 7 loads a week.
Stephanie Hill says
On average we do at least 14 loads a week. We are a family of 7 people, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 ferretts, and 1 bunny! Between clothes (separated by lights, whites, darks, and towels), bedding, and animal bedding it never ends in this house. It seems like I am either starting a load, folding a load, or putting away a load.
Michelle Endicott says
I do 10-15 loads a week in my high capacity washer. Family of 6 adult sized people. That is a minimum of 36 pairs of jeans a week. Yep, looking forward to some of them going off to college and doing their own laundry!
Jill says
At least 6 and all on Monday!
Stacy Popich-Buhrman says
6-8 Loads!
Kate says
I do 3-4 loads a week to make sure my new husband has the clothes he needs for work. (:
Amy H. says
I do about 10 loads a week. I have a 4 and 2 year old who go through several outfits a day and husband who is the same way!
katie m says
We do about 2 loads per week on average
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