Healthier Hand Soap And Laundry Essentials
Below you’ll find my favorite healthier soap alternatives for around your home — specifically for handwashing, laundry, and the dryer. These swaps are gentle, effective, and made without the synthetic fragrances, dyes, and harsh detergents found in many conventional products. They’re also incredibly versatile. Just this month, I used one of these soaps to wash my dog and detail my car, which shows how truly multipurpose these options can be.
Why These Swaps Matter
Choosing healthier alternatives for your hand soap, laundry soap, and dryer routine helps reduce:
Skin irritation
Indoor air pollution
Synthetic fragrance exposure
Environmental impact
Plastic waste
These swaps are simple, effective, and make your home feel cleaner in every sense of the word.
Hand Soap
For a healthier hand‑washing routine, castile soap, and unscented plant‑based liquid soaps provide effective cleansing using only plant‑based, low‑toxin ingredients. These options avoid synthetic fragrances and harsh chemicals, making them ideal for sensitive skin and a cleaner home environment.
Carina Organics- This sweet pea hand soap doesn’t disappoint. Switching from toxic to non toxic hand soap, you will love this brand.
Dr. Bronner - When peppermint and lavender hand soap becomes a crowd pleaser during the holidays!
Lisas Ideal Health - Handsoap that comes in both liquid and foam and made with glycerin and essential oils. My personal favorite are the scents Matcha and Vanilla, Tumeric, Lavender, Citrus.
Alaffia -African black hand soap is made from different forms of coconut. I purchased unscented and lavender for my bathrooms. This was a starter soap for us because is was an easy and cleaner swap for the price.
Saje Natural Wellness- The foaming hand soap called Liquid Sunshine uses essential oils and is excellent! Use my code to get 10% off: https://www.talkable.com/x/AZ2k8h
Laundry Soap
(Standard and HE Washers)
For a healthier laundry routine, castile soap, soap nuts offer clean, plant‑based washing power, while vinegar, baking soda, and natural stain‑removing pastes provide safe softening, deodorizing, and spot treatment. These non‑toxic alternatives work beautifully in both Standard and HE washers, giving you fresh, clean clothes without synthetic fragrances, harsh detergents, or irritating chemicals.
Eco Nuts- These soap nuts work great for basic washes in cold or warm water. If you have an extra dirty or greasy load these eco nuts work better if you pretreat the stain before washing. Washing with eco nuts in hot water can also remove tough stains if you don’t have time or energy for pretreating. I did notice right away that any allergy I did have using toxic detergent went away after switching to these soap nuts so its worth switching. Kid, pet and allergy friendly this is my recommendation for sure.
Eco Max-Unscented, Orange, Lavender, and Sport- This is a great healthy alternative, affordable and it’s available at many retailers.
Better Life- This is another clean brand I found earlier on. They make great products like dish soap too!
Common Good- A fun trendy laundry soap that cleans well and creates many household products that are worth trying!
Attitude- This laundry detergent is affordable, less toxic than others and comes in a few scents that are not overwhelming. You can find this brand at many retailers like Walmart, Target or Amazon.
Package Free Shop- Package Free is a zero waste store that sells their own laundry detergent. It’s packaged in glass jars, that way you can reuse the same jar and come back to the store to refill the same jar. and or upcycle the jar for something else around your home. I recently purchased their powder detergent this summer and I am very happy with the results. So far this is the only brand of detergent that I have found that uses clean and simple ingredients, which makes this totally #LMSTL approved!
Laundry Softener
For a cleaner, non‑toxic laundry softener, white vinegar is a simple and effective option that helps soften clothes, neutralize odors, and break down residue left behind by detergents. It can be added directly to the fabric‑softener dispenser in both Standard and HE washers, offering a gentle alternative to synthetic fragrances and chemical softeners.
Allens - Add Allen’s vinegar to a load of towels or extra‑smelly sports uniforms and it will effectively eliminate odors while leaving fabrics soft and refreshed — all without the harsh fragrances that can irritate your skin or the lingering vinegar smell.
* Pro Tip: Vinegar is probably the best option for all eco swaps from laundry softener to multi-purpose spray and its super affordable for about $2 per 2.5L bottle.
Eco Max- If you prefer something more mainstream, Eco Max offers affordable 1L and 3L sizes that are easy to find at most major retailers, making it a convenient low‑toxin upgrade for everyday laundry.
Attitude-If scent is important to you, cleaner fragrance options from brands like Attitude or Eco Max offer a fresher, safer alternative to traditional fabric softeners while still delivering comparable softness at a more affordable price.
Stain Remover/Bleach
Eco Max- Stain remover spray- it’s affordable, plant‑based, and genuinely effective on everyday stains. I’ve used it continuously, and it consistently lifts spots without harsh chemicals or synthetic fragrances.
Attitude- Stain remover spray-A citrus scented less toxic alternative and easy to find on amazon.
Nellie’s- Stain remover stick- If you prefer a stick option for stain remover I have a few good alternatives here too.
Nellie’s- Stain remover powder- A cleaner version of a powder is always a great option for a full load of extra dirty kid clothes.
The Soap Works- This bar works great, its easy to use and an affordable option. Perfect for a quick spot treatment on the go.
The Soap Works- The soap works company also sells other great laundry options like safe bleach which any busy sports mom would appreciate.
Dryer Essentials
If you want a safer alternative like I do, try wool dryer balls with a few drops of essential oil or low‑toxin dryer sheets. They leave your laundry soft and fresh without the harsh fragrances or chemical coatings found in conventional options, making them simple swaps that meaningfully reduce everyday exposure.
Saje Natural Wellness: The Laundry Bliss kit contains wool dryer balls that I would highly recommend! Start your clean laundry journey here because right now its on sale at Saje. This kit is full of clean laundry goodies and I personally use wool dryer balls and just add essential oils to them.
Grove Collaborative: Wool Dryer Balls can be purchased with or without essential oils its a great option and price either way.
Eco Max- Dryer sheet- This is a gamer changer for busy families who want a low toxic life style without having to compromise their routine.
Attitude - Dryer sheets - A cleaner alternative to dryer sheets without having to overthink in this space of your home. When companies produce cleaner alternatives we all win.