Just Call Me Cinderella...

Today I am going to talk to you about being a hairstylist and a laundry queen! As many of you know, I am a licensed cosmetologist. I LOVE playing with hair...just not my own lol. And being that I went to school for cosmetology later in life, I took the education a little serious. How serious? Well, let's just say I never missed one day of class...not a one! We had no children living under our roof and maintaining the home wasn't too big of a hassle so I had plenty of quiet time to study for quizzes and tests. I was bound and determined to UNDERSTAND the science and not just the techniques. But, what does that have to do with laundry? Well, it's pretty obvious the hairstylists have laundry to do, but this isn't about that. It's about the science I learned in school.

If you've browsed through this website and clicked the CLEAN tab under The Everyday tab, then you may have read my story about becoming a Norwex consultant. It was around this time I had already started diving into harmful cleaning chemicals, the truths, the lies, the health statistics, etc. It was shocking, yet it was the kick in the butt I needed to start making more drastic changes then the ones we were slowly implementing. Again, I am very blessed to have a very open minded, level headed, and true supporter of a husband...who by the way was also very curious in the learning, but relied on me to research.

One of the many researched (and I continue to research this!) items was laundry detergent. I've researched the pros and cons of powder vs liquid detergent, the chemicals in detergents, looked into the EWG lists, bleach, fabric softeners, hard water magnet balls, wool dryer balls... you name it. I've talked to Bill (being the plumber he is) about our water quality, whole house water filters, reverse osmosis, water softeners, etc. etc. all to figure out what will be the healthiest yet AFFORDABLE solution(s) for us. Let's just say we are still working on some of those solutions. But for the most part, we have changed our household cleaning lifestyle from top to bottom which is a HUGE step I hope many others will do.

For most of us, we grew up with top loading agitating washing machines. We never thought twice about the wonderful scents of Gain detergent, Downy softener, Bounce dryer sheets. When at the grocery store, I was sniffing every bottle of something because aromatherapy is my middle name...and I wanted my clothes to smell clean! Then we had to make sure to get the stain-fighter detergent, the bleach for our whites, the colorsafe bleaches, and before you know it, new products were being developed- the detergent pods, the oxy cleans, the SCENT boosters!! Then throw in front loaders and HE! Oh my God, with everything on the market, where is one suppose to start? Well, basically, it's pretty easy...start at the beginning!

Starting at the beginning sounds a little vague, but that's exactly what I did. In the back of my mind, I remember seeing all those wash boards society had prior to washing machines. Our ancestors didn't have the amount of clothing we all do today, but nonetheless, they still had to clean their clothes. Washboards and ring buckets were the tools to have! Considering I don't want to hand wash everything we own, Bill and I have mutually agreed that the top loader washing machine with agitation is our favorite. Please don't come at me because you love your front loader. I can agree to disagree! I just 'feel' like it's the closest modern day convenience to the washboard, and spinning clothes in soapy water with no friction messes with my mental understanding of scrubbing.

As for detergents and the extras, well, we've REMOVED a lot! We no longer use fabric softener, we use vinegar instead. We don't use it all the time either. We no longer use dryer sheets whatsoever. The toxicity and film left on clothes is horrible. (same with fabric softener in the washing machine) Instead we use wool dryer balls. I, personally, use 6 for every load. The only reason I ever used dryer sheets was because of smell and static. Since cutting out dryer sheets, I've learned that every dryer has what I call a "sweet spot". Depending on the size of your load, set your dryer for short amounts of time until your clothes are damp but almost dried. Once there, continue to dry your clothes for 5-10 minute increments until your clothes are no longer damp. Reaching the 'just dry' state is the sweet spot. Drying clothes longer will create the static. If you are like me, I use to just shove it all in and set it for 45 minutes no matter that size of the load. Needless to say, this is why I needed dryer sheets. Not anymore! I've adjusted my drying time by cutting it down immensely (again depending on load size) and we no longer suffer from static cling. The dryer balls create air space between the clothes allowing hot air to flow around (that's why I use so many). You can also wash the dryer balls right in your washing machine. I do that about every 5 months or so. But if you see you've over-dried your load, just get a wash rag saturated with water and throw it in the dryer with the clothes. Set for 5 minutes and the heat will steam the clothes, releasing the static. Oh, some people also like to use essential oils on their dryer balls, but I am careful to use caution with that because they are OILS, which means they are volatile....and we're putting them in the dryer...

As for detergent, that's a biggie. Over the past 4 years, I have tried SEVERAL. I had to get past the smell part and learn the CLEAN HAS NO SMELL. As with all household cleaners in our house, I have removed everything that has harsh chemicals in it. It took some time, but once it's done, it's done! As for laundry detergent, I personally use powder detergent, again with no harsh chemicals, BUT with plant based enzymes (enzymes are key as they are the powerhouse to stain removing) . I do pre-treat stains with no harsh chemicals, but also with enzymes. And I RARELY use bleach. RARELY. And it's probably the only harsh chemical we own. I use powder detergent mainly because liquid, unless it is concentrate (which I use for Bill's work clothes) is mainly water.

But what does all this have to do with being a hairstylist?? Well, one of the very important sciences I learned in hair school was the color wheel. If you are one of my clients OR if you have ever had your hair bleached/highlighted, then I'm sure you have heard about TONER and having your hair toned. Toning is a crucial step as it covers up unwanted undertones. For instance, I could bleach someone's head and after washing out the bleach, they are left with orange and gold hair stripes...not good. Toner is then added to "cover up" the orange and create a softer neutral color, possibly softening the gold as well-just depends what you are going for. In actuality the toner is not permanently coloring, it's depositing color to actually reflect light differently! Awe...the science! And this process helped me understand laundry detergent, specifically detergent that has brighteners and enhancers SUCH AS BLUE COLORED DETERGENT! See, the color wheel is used all the time in a hair colorist world. Every color has an "opposite' color on the color wheel which is what a colorist needs to add to create a neutral color. For those who want blonde hair (depending on how blonde) the colorist will tone the hair with a purple/violet toner to neutralize and soften the yellow hair after bleaching. Purple is the opposite of yellow on the color wheel. However, blue is the opposite of orange on the color wheel. And the majority of stains on clothes have undertones of orange! The idea behind a blue detergent is to actually TONE what isn't removed! Remember what I said above about reflecting light. The blue isn't any fancy cleaning compound. It's not some stain fighting powerhouse. It's literally there to do one thing and that's tone. I call it fake clean or stain cover-up and it's completely made of harsh chemicals and obviously not used in this house.

I don't know where you are on your journey of greener cleaner living or if you have even started a journey, but I can talk about it all day. Researching the chemicals in everything we use can get tiresome, frustrating, and can lead you down other rabbit holes...ask me how I know! Understanding marketing is also another headache. That's why I just tell myself to stay simple when buying products-from makeup to cleaning supplies to food. Read the ingredients, less is more! Check out and follow the EWG at www.ewg.org And, feel free to reach out to me if you have questions! I invite everyone to my Norwex page at www.Norwex.com/annasteinle if you would like to look into a trusted environmentally and human friendly company. I'm here to answer question about that as well! You can also join my VIP facebook page (members only page so reach out and I'll add you!) Everything starts with baby steps. Start slow if you must. I'd love to help you in your journey so reach out!