The other day a dear friend of mine emailed me about how she could ecologically remove stains from her children's clothing. She seemed to have tried everything in the natural pantry, but was left empty handed, and desperately reaching for a bottle of the harsh stuff to try and get the job done. I totally hear her! I've been there before, but luckily for me through my travels, motherhood and more, I've learned a few tricks along the way to keeping things clean(er) using the simplest and most natural products possible.
This questions had me reminiscing about one of my favorite products that I discovered while living in Italy - marsiglia. One whiff of this scent really takes me back to doing handwash laundry in my itzy-bitzy apartment overlooking a huge piazza in Florence. Marsiglia is not only the scent of laundry detergents, but also floor cleaners, drawer sachets, oven cleaner - the whole lot. For the longest time I thought that the scent of marsiglia was an Italian creation, but then I found out that it's actually the word for the French city Marseille!
One of the oldest "Savon de Marseille" companies (16th century) in Marseille makes these beautiful and chunky blocks from olive or palm oil (remember what I said about palm oil in my old post?!). I love the one made from olive oil, it has a very mild scent, and when you rub it on stained clothing, combined with a nail brush, it can get out pretty much any stain I've encountered. You can use the Marseille soap for everything from your laundry, body, and baby, and it's so mild you can really use it abundantly without the risk of it being too harsh.
It's so great to know that there's a natural product out there that is safe to use, biodegradable, contains no excess packaging, and is truly economical! The fact that it can be used for everything from top to bottom on yourself and in your home is even better. A truly great product from ancient times, made perfectly to suit the modern needs of today - and naturally.
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