We’ve all seen the blue bottle with the photo of a baby snuggling in a soft, pink blanket. The message is - “Use this to get softer, fresher smelling clothes.” But is that true and is it necessary?

As a toxin-free laundry service, we at OrangeBag advise you to ditch the fabric softener. Not only can it irritate sensitive skin, leave a layer of residue on your clothes, and reduce the absorption of your towels - but it’s also filled with toxic chemicals that aren’t good for you or the planet.

Fabric softeners work by depositing a layer of electrically charged chemical compounds on fabric. This coating causes the fibers on clothes to fluff up, making fabric feel softer next to your skin. They also neutralize electric charge, which eliminates static cling.

But the benefits of fabric softener stop there. Find out why you should ditch your fabric softener and what to do instead!

If you have ever washed your favorite t-shirt, only to remove it from the dryer and find that it now can fit your 5 year old child, you have felt the pain and regret of shrinking your clothes.

Sadly, that happens to thousands of people every single day. So today we are going to find out what causes clothes to shrink and how to prevent it from happening in the future!

In a study of 2000 people, it found that 76% of people admitted to have done the "sniff test" to determine if a piece of unwashed clothing was ok to wear, and 50% of people took clothing out of their laundry basket to wear it.

But how do you really determine if something needs washing? It's not like you were taught about laundry in school! So we wanted to share a quick at-a-glance guide to help you determine if something is actually "dirty" enough to wash.

Laundry is an inevitable part of life. And unless you’re walking around naked (if you are, cheers to your self confidence!), you’re wearing your laundered clothes 24/7. And while you could be living an otherwise “healthy” lifestyle, you could be walking around with an outfit covered with toxic chemicals that could be harming your health.

There are over 8,000 synthetic chemicals used in the apparel industry, and 80,000 chemicals being used in everything from your clothing to your laundry detergent. And unfortunately, most of them contain known carcinogens and hormone disruptors.

So if you’re ready to “clean up” your laundry and get rid of the hazardous chemicals that could be impacting your health and the environment, read on!