At Monk’s and Beach Solar Laundromat, we have shifted away from American-made soaps as our default.
Going forwards, our default will be a store-mixed, scent-free detergent made from four natural ingredients listed below. Our current sources for these ingredients are 2/3 Canadian by volume, meaning the moniker “Made in Canada” is appropriate. With additional research, we hope to find Canadian sources for all ingredients, and can then call it a “Product of Canada”. We’re calling this mixture, Monk’s Magic.
We will also offer a natural, Canadian, scented soap solution, and are currently focused on “Eco-Max” detergents.
By request, we will continue to offer American Tide-brand scented and unscented laundry products. Some families have described autistic children who are disturbed by change, and the change in scent would be very disruptive. I don’t want “Good” or “Better” to fail because we haven’t achieved “Perfect”.
The four ingredients in Monk’s Magic are:
Borax is a powdery white substance, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate. It’s widely used as a household cleaner and a booster for laundry detergent. It’s a combination of boron, sodium, and oxygen. Borax is often found in dry lake beds in places like California’s Death Valley, where the water evaporated and left behind deposits of minerals.
Oxygen Bleach is a versatile stain remover in a powder form that is activated when added to water (warm or hot water work best). Oxygen is released and targets the stains, rather than the fabric, removing many tough stains on water-washable clothing, carpet, upholstery, and hard surfaces both inside and outside the home. Oxygen Bleach cannot be used on wool, silk, leather or anything else that cannot be washed with water.
Washing Soda is a chemical compound with the formula Na₂CO₃, also known as sodium carbonate, and it’s a salt of carbonic acid. In the natural world, washing soda can be found in the ashes of many plants, and is present in the mineral natron, a widespread evaporite deposit. Historically, it was extracted from the ashes of plants growing in sodium-rich soils.
Citric acid is a weak organic acid that occurs naturally in produce, such as citrus fruits. It is used in food, cosmetics, and cleaning products. Citric acid is a naturally occurring antioxidant. People use it as a food flavoring and preservative, an ingredient in cosmetics, and a component in cleaning products.
Meaning of Words
Natural – existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind.
Organic – Organic means produced without synthetic chemicals or genetically modified components. It can also refer to practices that improve soil and water quality, reduce pollution, and support healthy farm animals.
Organic chemistry – Organic chemistry is a discipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms. For example, an oil refinery uses organic chemistry to crack oil into petroleum products.
Biodegradable – capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms.
Eco-friendly – not harmful to the environment.