Dangers of Microplastics and How We’re Combating Them
What are Microplastics?
When you wash a load of laundry, microscopic particles of plastic are released. These are known as microplastics. Because these plastics are so tiny, they can slip through filters and pass into waterways. These microplastics are found in water tables, lakes, streams, rivers, and even the ocean! Natural condensation and evaporation of our waterways mean that microplastics can be taken into the atmosphere and rain down on unsuspecting people.
These microplastics make their way into the waterways and are eaten by aquatic life. This means that anything from the smallest fish up to the largest parts of the seafood chain are consuming these microplastics. Redeposited microplastics can also make their way to vegetation eaten by herbivores. This means these microplastics are also entering the food chain in these ways. The extent of the negative effects of microplastics is not fully understood yet but current studies confirm it negatively impacts over seven hundred marine species with more being added daily.
Did You Know Many of Your Clothes are Plastic in Disguise?
Much of the clothing we wear is composed of polyester, rayon, acrylic, and many other items that are essentially plastic. When these materials are washed microplastics are created. Some might suggest using clothing not made of these materials. This could sound like a solution but it isn’t always that easy or practical. The fact is, these pseudo-plastics are used as a way to reduce clothing costs to consumers and manufacturers.
Does Having a High-Efficiency Washing Machine Fix the Problem?
The first instinct when learning about microplastics is to change the way you wash laundry. It’s important to understand how laundry works and how these microplastics are created. During the wash cycle, clothes are rubbing against each other over and over again. This rubbing causes the fabric to erode and causes the fibers of your clothes to break and shed. This is what creates the small pieces of polyester, acrylic, and rayon to break off and slide between filters in your washing machine.
The temperature of the water and the length of time in the wash cycle will also contribute to the rate of the breakdown of clothing. In cooler temperatures, molecules move slower and don’t break up as much. Shorter wash cycles also mean less time for clothes to wear down. While you can change your temperature of the washing machine or change the load duration, using a high-efficiency machine has not been proven to help control microplastics.
So What is the Microplastic Solution?
One place you can start when attempting to help with microplastics is to change the way you do laundry. Switching to cold water when possible can have a huge impact on microplastics. Another big change you can make is to shorten the wash time your laundry spends on a given wash cycle. These may not be practical for every load but can be a great starting point. There is another great way we can help you fight microplastics while doing your laundry.
Introducing Healthier Home Products Laundry Detergent Packs
At Healthier Home Products we set out to make sure we were addressing the issue of microplastics without compromising in other areas. The solution still needed to have an outstanding cleaning formula, out clean competitors in cold temperatures in quicker cycles, and clean without harsh ingredients. It also needed to protect the clothing while being packaged in a responsible way. This is why we built a team with the laundry industry’s best minds to work tirelessly to achieve this goal!
We developed what may be the best laundry detergent ever! Healthier Home Laundry Detergent uses a synergistic formula packaged in a super-concentrated pack with less than 10% water. It was rigorously lab-tested against national brands for cleaning soils such as motor oil, coffee, topsoil, tea, and clay. On every soil, Healthier Home Laundry Detergent outperforms the competition.
When it comes to microplastics, Healthier Home Laundry Detergent contains a complex polymer that helps to reduce the microplastics in a wash cycle. The detergent is designed to help reduce the spread of microplastics while also offering best-in-class cleaning to make your clothes look good, feel good, and smell good. Since we always go that extra step, we even placed a premium emphasis on restricting color fading and improving fabric quality. There is nothing better than knowing you are helping the environment while also getting a high-quality cleaning product!