Ethical trading can keep your clothes clean

Five years ago cloth nappies were out of fashion and it was difficult to find them in the shops. Single mum of two, Sarah Barnard, found herself looking for them everywhere. She wanted to use washable nappies on her children but could find no outlets in her area that stocked them.

 

Instead of taking the easy route and going disposable, Sarah jumped right into this gap and started to sell them herself. Choosing to home educate her children, she set up her business Ethics Trading. Over time this has changed and developed around her home life and dedication to her children and their schooling. 

 

“My business ethics come from me” she says, “they are my personal ethics and my consumer ethics as well as my life choices. Of course they are influenced by my parenting and by my children, I want to do my bit to change the way we damage our world so there is more of it left for my children and for my possible grandchildren.”

 

The eco aspect of the business has been a learning curve for Sarah as well. “Ethics Trading has evolved as I discover more about climate change, expand my own green lifestyle and as I find more products to assist in doing that” she explains. “I grow some of my own veg and I keep three rescued ex-battery hens in my back garden.”

 

Ethics Trading only stocks products that meet eco friendly criteria before Sarah even considers them, and she won’t sell things she won’t use herself.

 

Sarah is a big advocate of the soap nut, the only 100 per cent renewable cleaning resource. Soap nuts, which are actually seed shells, grow on trees in Nepal and India. They are a mild and gentle natural cleaning agent with none of the harsh chemical formulas of the man made products.

 

 

You put about six soap nut shells into a draw string cotton bag and into your washing machine drum with the dirty washing.

 

Sarah explains: “I was introduced to soap nuts about four years ago when my son had a form of infant eczema and we couldn’t find what caused it – other than soap powder and we were sure there was something else.

 

“Frustrated with an irritable, itchy, scabby three year old, I was given a small bag of what looked like shrivelled conkers and a friend told me to put the bag in the washing machine and use them for the laundry. I was very sceptical, but it was worth a try.

 

“The washing came out clean and my son wasn’t scratching all the time. He’s now grown out of the eczema but we still use soap nuts and not just for laundry now – they’re good for cleaning anything. If you need a mild detergent you can use soap nuts.”

Chopsy Baby decided to give soap nuts a try.

 

The first wash we did contained a mixture of dark adult and children’s clothes. The load was put on at a 40 degree, hour-long programme.

 

At the end of the wash cycle, the load yielded mixed results. The very lightly soiled clothes seemed to be fine, such as children’s clothes that had only had light wear. The adult clothes were not as fresh and the soap nuts did not remove the various smells they had picked up.

 

We re-read the advice on the Ethics Trading website on how to use soap nuts, and for our second, similar load we added some drops of the lavender essence we used for our ghost feature.

 

This time when it came out our washing smelt fresher and cleaner, though some of the more stubborn smells were still lingering.

 

Chopsy Baby thinks soap nuts used in conjunction with some fragrant oil would be good for those people making a complete conversion to an eco lifestyle. It’s also well worth trying if you have a family member who suffers from eczema and you suspect it’s the washing powder.

 

For parents who are looking to make eco changes convenient to their lifestyle, soap nuts could fit in for lightly stained clothes that would go in on a wash together.

 

For really dirty and heavily soiled clothes then a good soak with soap nuts before a machine wash would be in order.

 

With a little bit of trial and error it would be possible to use this product as a way to wash the majority of your clothes. As with many eco friendly products, it takes a bit of practise and getting used to first.

 

To find out more about the soap nut and Ethics Trading please visit:

http://www.ethicstrading.com/

For more information on how to clean your clothes effectively with Soap Nuts:

http://ethicstrading.com/blog/2009/01/30/chopsy-baby-tests-soap-nuts/