No matter how you go about it, laundry is a regular part of life. Even more so if you have kiddos running around and getting dirty! While many might hang our clothes on a line to dry, the majority of us choose the convenience of the dryer. One of the most toxic things we do on a regular basis is use fabric softener or dryer sheets. These products are full of nasty chemicals! Exposure to such toxins is linked to skin irritations, neurological disease, cancer, hormonal imbalance. Yikes!
Chemicals infiltrate the clothing we wear, which in turn gets on to our skin and is absorbed by our bodies. There are reports that show the occurrence of brain disease is growing, as well as the levels of industrial chemicals being found in human bodies. Some suggest the two are linked! Using alternatives to these products is a great way to avoid increasing the amount of chemicals being absorbed by your body.

Soft Laundry with no Toxins

Don’t worry, you can still have super-soft and scented laundry, without subjecting your body to horrible toxic chemicals thanks to Nellie’s Lamby Wool Dryerballs and Nellie’s Flyerballs! Both are made with 100% pure New Zealand wool, so no nasties! They reduce drying time by helping dry your clothes faster, so you’re saving energy and money. They also reduce wrinkles, all while softening your clothes. Plus, they’re chemical free and will last about 2 years. What’s the difference between the original Lamby Wool Dryerballs and the Flyerballs? The wings on the Flyerballs are designed to help float through your dryer to separate fabrics, shortening drying time and reducing static.
If you prefer your laundry to have a fragrance, the Scented Wool Dryerballs are infused with pure essential oils and available in Citrus, Lavender, and Simply Fresh. The scent will last about 50 loads, so you can enjoy the chemical-free natural scent. We recommend tossing one scented wool ball with your four unscented wool balls to enhance your drying experience.
 

One sheep, two sheep, three… Introducing the brand-new Flyerballs! Sheep all over New Zealand are lining up to strip down for the newest addition to the wool dryerball family.
Soft, silent, and undeniably adorable, Flyerballs are the wool dryerballs you know and love, reinvented. Made of pure New Zealand wool (as always), Flyerballs have added wings to float through your dryer and help separate fabrics, cutting down on both static and drying time – saving you money and looking cute while doing it!

How to Use

After washing with Nellie’s Laundry Soda, place three Flyerballs in the dryer with your fabrics. Nellie’s Flyerballs shorten drying time, soften fabrics, and reduce wrinkles, all without the use of nasty chemicals. Separate natural fabrics from synthetics to help reduce static.
No sheep are harmed in the making of the Flyerballs or Lamby Wool Dryerballs.

Even on the longest, worst days, every one of us can take five minutes to make a room look a bit better (and hopefully, as a result, feel much better too). Whether you’ve got guests coming over and forgot to clean, or you just want a nicer looking space, you can make a major impact in just five minutes! Here are five things you can do quickly to make a big change.

Let in more light during the day or dim the lights at night

Is it daytime? Throw open every curtain, roll up every blind and try to get as much natural light into your home as physically possible. Though that might seem to shed more light on a less-than-clean home, when you've got great natural light flooding in through windows, everything just seems nicer. Have a few more minutes? Give your windows a quick swipe to let even more light in. Is it nighttime? Do the opposite. Turn off overhead lights and focus a room into dimly lit pools of warm glow from lamps and candles.

Break decluttering rules

We often argue against things like junk drawers and overflowing baskets, but when you've only got five minutes, ignore all those rules and start tossing clutter into hidden spots as quickly as you can. But only if you promise yourself to declutter those areas when you've got more than five minutes to spare.

Straighten things

I don't know what I do in my home that makes every chair, book and table askew all the time, but just the simple act of aligning things back to where they belong can bring order and pleasantness to a room. So readjust any ottomans that aren't where they go. Realign any tables (especially that coffee table) that have been nudged out of a place. Adjust a stack of books or magazines. Even straighten any crooked art pieces. It's not about trying to always live in a state of perpetual perfection — these little straightening movements are just easy things to do to create a pleasant effect on the overall feel and look of the room.

Pick up or dust visible dirty spots

It might be the coffee table, it might be that rug made of a material that is like a dust bunny magnet — use whatever tools you have at hand (even if it's just your hands) to quickly remove the largest and most visible spots of dirty. Stray pieces of paper or trash that have fallen on the floor. A quick swipe of a table top that catches the light with the All-Purpose Cleaner, or a quick swish on the dusty floor with the WOW Mop. Yes, a full cleaning would of course make the entire room look great, but the 5-minute refresh is about keeping up the look of a clean home in between regular cleanings, and doing it quickly so you can get back to enjoying your beautiful home.

Spritz a good smell

Wait a minute, this post title says "look" nicer. Well surprise! Our noses are tied to our eyes in such a way that a room that smells nice and fresh will magically look a bit cleaner and fresher to us. It's a powerful illusion, and the Wrinkle-B-Gone works as a perfect refresher for couches, pillows, and linens! Just spritz, smooth, and inhale a deliciously fresh lemongrass scent.

We wash our clothes to keep ourselves, our families, and our favourite items smelling and feeling fresh, but there is actually such a thing as washing too much or too little! There are downsides to both: laundering your clothes more than necessary can shorten their lifespan and ultimately wear them out more quickly, and washing them too infrequently can be unhygienic and lead to bacteria growth. Yuck! Here are our general laundry guides for you and your family:

For your clothes

Bras: After three to four wears

Underwear: After every wear, of course!

Stocks and stockings: After every wear

Sports and swimwear: After every wear

Jeans: five to six wears, although some advocate washing as little as possible

Tops: One to two wears

Dresses: One to two wears

Pants, skirts, and shorts: Three to four wears

Jackets and blazers: Five to six wears

Coats: Once every two months of wear, and before storing away for the season

Pajamas: Three to four wears

Get your clothes fresh and clean, but don't sacrifice your health and the environment! Wash clothes (and towels, bedding, etc.) with Nellie's Laundry Soda, and remove tough stains with the WOW Stick. If your clothes need some extra brightening or whitening, choose Nellie's Oxygen Brightener instead of toxic bleach.

For your kids' clothes

Washing your kids' clothes doesn't need to be a massive chore! Most experts say you can wash their clothing along with yours anytime you see stains or they don't pass the sniff test. The problem is that kids tend to get dirtier more often than adults do, so those stains and smells come up more frequently. Here's a handy guideline: the lighter and softer the fabric, and the closer it hugs the body, the more you need to was it. But as long as you don't notice dirty patches or stains, kids can wear clothes multiple times before they're ready for the laundry pile, just like you.

For your baby's washing

It seems like the hamper is constantly overflowing with onesies, blankets, burp cloths, bibs, rompers, and tiny adorable socks! Unlike grownups, who typically wear one or two outfits per day (not to mention wear an item of clothing more than once before washing), babies are mess machines with their spit up, drool, diaper leaks, or the dreaded blow out. Because of this, it's not uncommon to change their clothes as much as 5 times per day! So when it comes to washing your baby's clothes, there are two schools of thought:

1) Wash one load every day because it can be done quickly and won't pile up

2) Wash everything once each week so that you only have to spend one day dealing with laundry

Whichever one you choose, make sure you're washing with Nellie's All-Natural Baby Laundry Soda, which is formulated with baby's soft skin and messy mishaps in mind. Thanks to a concentration of sodium percarbonate for natural brightening, as well as the addition of pure vegetable soap, there is no need for an additional whiteners or brighteners. The stain-fighting formula is effective on cloth diapers and removes stubborn baby stains such as milk, baby formula, and spit-up. The formula is derived from plant-based and mineral-based ingredients and is non-allergenic, leaves no residue on fabrics, and contains no fragrance.

In the dryer

When drying your laundry, use the Lamby Wool Dryerballs to cut down on drying time, soften fabrics, and reduce wrinkles, naturally! Then, smooth out any remaining wrinkles and creases with the new Wrinkle-B-Gone.

Of course, these guides don't apply when excessive sweating or accidental spills occur, or to those that have different hygiene preferences.

Drum roll, please! We’re so excited to announce a brand new addition to the Nellie’s All-Natural family. Say hello to your new favourite, the Wrinkle-B-Gone! Who has time to iron these days? In as few as five minutes, you can have the same effect as using an iron by just spraying the Wrinkle-B-Gone. Simply Shake, Spray, Smooth, and Snap!

This plant-based formula simultaneously removes wrinkles and freshens fabrics with Nellie’s signature lemongrass fragrance. Just like all Nellie’s products, the Wrinkle-B-Gone is free from dyes or synthetic fragrances. The spray can be used as a fabric refresher, an ironing aid, and for bedding, and is available in a 16oz spray bottle and a 3oz travel size bottle.

HOW TO USE

Using the Wrinkle-B-Gone couldn’t be any easier! Simply shake well to activate and apply a light mist to fabric. Smooth fabric with hands and snap. Then hang or lay flat and allow 5 minutes for the fabric to dry.

Also, if you’re as in love with Wrinkles the Dog as much as we are, he’ll be available for purchase soon!