Tags
dear customers, coworkers and other such individuals who douse themselves in fragrances and then proceed to invade and poison my workplace:
you reek.
no, seriously. i know i’m supposed to be providing superior customer service, but once you step anywhere near my workplace, even if only in passing, i cannot think once the air is tainted. my head gets swimmy, i begin choking and coughing, and one hell of a headache starts piercing me right behind my eyes. this isn’t bc i think you smell bad, which people often think when someone starts coughing only when in your general proximity. it’s bc i’m disabled, and my sense of smell has become more powerful than most people can even imagine. there are days where i can be left choking over an entire shopping cart of clothing bc there is one article in there somewhere that had been washed.
people may think i am kidding when i say these things as literally as i do. i would then urge you to speak with one of many people who has chemical sensitivities, to perhaps show you that this is not a case of one or two people. several people [tho numbers are unknown] are bound to their homes or must go through extreme measures just to step outside of one’s home in order to run basic errands or even see their own doctors.
perhaps then you might be able to understand. or if not, at least stay away from my fan.
————
snark aside, this is a call for aid.
as my last post has suggested, i am in relapse. this is odd for me, as i do not typically relapse during summer months – typically it happens during the winter with the snow and severe cold. i don’t know why it’s coming up so early for me this time, but it’s left me in quite a sorry state. most of it i already know how to handle. but for one reason or another, my sensitivities have shot through the roof. this is quite alarming seeing as i’m still only just learning about how extensively chemicals inside and outside of my home are affecting me [albeit without the assistance of my doctors]. as such there are things that have never affected me before [or at least not that i am aware of] but are now, such as showering and laundry supplies.
i’ve been taking care to try to remove some of the problematic chemicals and fragrances where i can, tho finances make this difficult. shampoo and the likes i think i can work with, but i need help with ideas from my readers for the laundry situation.
currently i use the purex complete 3-in-1 laundry sheets. my fiance introduced them to me bc of how difficult and painful it is for me to use bottles of laundry detergent, both in carrying and in pouring. the sheets meant that i could do my own laundry without assistance, and i wouldn’t have to put them off for ages bc i didn’t have the energy [well i still put it off but not for as long]. but now for one reason or another these are starting to set me off, and last week i nearly had to call into work bc my own clothes were starting to make me sick. i need a way to do said laundry without including the potent chemicals and fragrances in most laundry detergent, in a way that will not further aggravate my disabilities [joint & muscle pain/weakness & low energy primarily, and esp since i will have to bring said products down a flight of stairs at least once], and in a way that i can reasonably afford seeing as i am also incredibly poor. access to products around here is quite limited and expensive – a single reasonably sized bottle of fragrance-free shampoo here can cost me about $17. meaning i would likely have to start getting these products online, which poses the problems of shipping costs and questions of how safe their products actually are.
so yes. given the complexity of my situation, and how little experience i have in searching for such products seeing as it hasn’t been a problem in the past, i am in desperate need of your help. i am hoping that someone will have ideas and experience where i have none.
Upfront cost aside, Eco Balls would seem to be one possible solution: http://www.ecozone.com/p_Ecoballs1000.html
They’re on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Laundry-Balls-plus-dryer-balls/dp/B000TXS64K) in the US.
thank you very much for this, it’s something i’ll definitely look into – tho a review left on the amazon product does leave me a tad worried. they mention that the product listed is a knock-off that’s less effective, tho my concern is not that but rather the materials used in the product. the first link you gave me was sure to include the list of ingredients used in the product, the amazon link does not. the cost would be a concern tho. i have some savings now but i can’t rely on that in case future situations leave me without them. i wish they had the 1000 wash version available in their amazon.co.uk store so i could get a better idea.
Hi again. The 1000 wash version is on Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ECOZONE-NEB1-Ecozone-Ecoballs1000-Balls/dp/B000F5FNX4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312064582&sr=8-1
The following technical details are given: Ecoball1000 dimensions (each ball): height 7.0cm x width 10.0cm x depth 10.0cm (including sponge ring), weight 145g. Ingredients: Anionic Surfactants >25%, Sodium Carbonate >17%, Sodium Metasilicate >4%, Calcium Carbonate >30%
According to wikipedia, all laundry balls of this type are ineffective – usually no better than washing with just water, and sometimes worse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laundry_ball
I did some poking around and found these. They’re three-in-one like the Purex sheets, fragrance and dye free, and look to be a comparable price. I may have to try them myself, since I’m also having unusual reactions to previously safe stuff.
On the shampoo front, you could try foregoing shampoo and using baking soda paste a few times a week and an apple cider vinegar solution for conditioning, provided the smell of vinegar doesn’t cause a reaction. It would probably also decrease how often you need to wash your hair, and it’s definitely cheaper than fragrance-free shampoo.
If skin care is also a concern, pure shea butter is available on Amazon, and cheaper than a lot of the fragrance-free lotions I’ve seen. But it does have a very thick, somewhat grainy texture and takes a while to fully soak into the skin. Cetaphil is fragrance-free and a better texture, but it’s very expensive. Lubriderm and Curel both have fragrance-free lotions as well, and they’re more affordable.
Arm & Hammer makes a good unscented deoderant, if you can find it. If you’re having reactions to something else in deoderant, you could try dusting yourself with baby powder or body powder–or, if you can’t find them unscented or in a scent that doesn’t trigger reaction, a plain mixture of cornstarch and baking soda.
Um, I think that’s all I can offer right now. Hope it helps. <3
@Adelene, not sure I’d rely on Wikipedia for a definitive verdict on anything, especially not a page that has a warning at the top of it about improper references to self-published resources.
Having used both, I prefer detergent, but that’s primarily because I like the fragrance and am fortunate enough not be allergic to it. Clothes washed with ecoballs came out feeling and smelling clean (smelling in the sense of not smelling dirty/bad), though I’m perfectly prepared that was the result of mechanical action as much as anything.
outside of the wiki thing, one of the things that concerned me was the reviews that pointed out stiffness occurring in some articles of clothing after a few washes, which can be abrasive for skin that is highly sensitive [be it due to hyperactive nerves or otherwise], and the buildup of mold, which can cause just as much issues as chemicals and fragrances for people with toxin sensitivities. i have to be very careful with the softness of my clothing as anything my body reads as ‘rough’ can be quite painful on a given day.
what i may have to do, even if only bc of cost, is try out therin’s suggestion first since a potential failure would cost me significantly less. unfortunately upfront cost is a definite factor for me to consider.
My sympathies on the overly-fragranced people. I am often left coughing and headachey after the person next to me on the train decides it’s time to spritz hirself with perfume AND apply smelly hand lotion AND paint hir nails, after smoking 3 consecutive cigarettes. Ugh.
I’ve used Indian soap nuts in the past – I’m not sure if they’d work for you, as I have no experience with your kind of sensitivities, but they’re completely natural, and thus fragrance- and chemical-free. Also, because you only need a couple for each wash, they end up not costing a whole lot (but you do have to use hot water, so not as ecological as they could be, I guess). Where I live (in Switzerland) you can get them in health food shops and I’ve also seen them online.
Just what popped into my head.