Browsing by Author "Miilunpalo, Satu-Marja"

The purpose of this research is to investigate what kind of practices consumers have in textile washing and caring and how environment friendliness is present in those practices. The focus is also on how laundry habits could be developed to be environmentally friendlier. The results of this research are compared to the results of prior researches that have been conducted on textile washing practices. These prior researches have shown that laundry has been washed excessively, it hasn't in fact been dirty and the washing machine's full capacity hasn't been used. Additionally, consumers have not been aware of the hardness of water in their region, thus administering too much of laundry detergent. The data for this research was gathered by an online inquiry that consisted of structured multiple-choice questions. The survey reached 1841 persons of whom 97,5 % were women. The data was analyzed using frequency analysis, Kruskal-Wallis test and post hoc test by investigating the effects of variable variation to environment friendliness. Additionally, correlation between different variables and cross tabulation between households with and without children. It seems that many of the different factors in laundering that are burdening the environment are still present today. Washing machines are seldom used at maximum capacity and consumers are not aware of water hardness and because of that administrate too much laundry detergent. The laundry practices of households with children were more harmful to the environment than those without children. However, the current life situations of the household members is a major factor. Especially for families with children and young people, it would be good to have instructions for laundry cleaning in the future. Topics could be water hardness, energy saving with washing temperatures and drying methods, and the benefits of properly dosed detergent and properly filled washing machines.