Chartrock, that's our rig up there but I think BOD has the same setup
It is a great setup for kids and especially given our age gap it will work perfectly as when our 7 year old hits teenage years and is getting too long for the bunk, he'll swap with his little brother who will be hanging to be up on the top bunk
Hi Bill, I was going that way. We have spend many hours in the past investigating the chemcial make up the sodium percarbonate products (home brewing) and the cheap brands are not spectic safe, the only one we have found is the Ecostore one. We will probably top it up with some additional 100% sodium percarbonate to bring the percentage up to around 40%
for any interested, this is what is in most of the commercial nappy soakers (extracted from
http://frugalandthriving.com.au)
Nappy soaker is often said to be biodegradable and safe to use. I purchase home brand nappy soaker (it’s cheap) and use it as a pre soaker for stain removal and to boost my homemade laundry detergent. Of course, the ingredients aren’t listed on the label so I contacted Woolworths to find out what exactly is in their product. It took over three weeks to get a response – actually I’d already written this article, but better late than never: Dense Soda Ash, Sodium chloride, Sodium percarbonate (active ingredient as stated on label), Sodium metasilicate pentahydrate, Optical Brightener, Tixosil 38, Fragrance, Triple Enzymes, Sodium Salt of LABSA.
Dense Soda Ash is Sodium Carbonate (above). Sodium Chloride is common table salt.
Sodium Percarbonate is made from Sodium Carbonate and Hydrogen Peroxide (which breaks down into water and oxygen. It is produced naturally when sunlight acts with water and is a more green alternative to chlorine bleach). It is used to bleach and disinfect. This ingredient is considered environmentally safe.
Sodium metasilicate pentahydrate softens water and enhances the cleaning efficiency of the other ingredients. Although it has been claimed that it is environmentally safe and at least a better choice than it’s functional counterparts, the jury is out in my opinion on whether this ingredient is safe or not. The only info I could find was that it is commonly used in skin care products, that you shouldn’t let it get in contact with skin and that it is toxic to marine life.
Optical brighteners are dyes that absorb light in one spectrum and re-emit light in the blue spectrum giving a lighter appearance. The dye remains on the laundry after washing as microscopic fluorescent particles. These brighteners are often derived from chemicals that are toxic and can cause an allergic reaction. They are not biodegradable and potentially toxic to marine life.
Tixosil 38 as far as I can tell is an anti-caking agent. It is also a brand name so who knows what’s in it.
Enzymes are proteins naturally produced by living organisms. In the laundry, enzymes act on stains and dirt so that this material can be washed away more easily. Protease acts on protein stains, lipolases break down lipid (fat) based stains and amylases break down starches and other carbohydrate based stains, which is where the triple part comes in.
Salt of LABSA or Sodium Laurylbenzenesulfonate is a synthetic anionic surfactant (reduces the surface tension of water helping oil and water to mix – needed for cleaning) that helps remove oily dirt. It is considered an environmentally better option than alternative chemicals as it is biodegradable and has a relatively short chemical chain but it’s still synthetic.
As you can see, commercial nappy soaker has some ok ingredients and some not-so-ok ingredients. The popular Napisan has similar ingredients. Next time I’ll be looking for a brand that is transparent and more environmentally friendly.
As a side note, the nappy soaker states on the packaging that it complies with the Australian Standard 4351 for biodegradability. That sounds good, right?
I did a little digging and the Standard only refers to surfactants so you can make this claim on you label even if only one of your ingredients is a surfactant and complies with the standard (biodegrades within 28 days). I checked out the standard (you can only read the first couple of pages unless you’re willing to fork out $40 to download the pdf) and the scope states the the standard refers to the “biodegradation of organic compounds in an aqueous medium. This Standard does not assess the impact of a material or its metabolites on the environment.” Not such a great claim after all.
Bicarbonate Soda – Sodium bicarbonate is naturally occurring and non-toxic. It has many, many uses and is one of those must have miracle ingredients for the home. It is used in laundry to soften water, remove stains and odours and lift dirt. Use as a substitute to borax.
