I’m sitting in my living room and it’s finally quiet…two out of my three children are in bed and the one who’s still up isn’t making much noise. I sit and listen carefully to the familiar sounds of a household that is winding down: the hum of the baby monitor, the swish of the dishwasher, and, one floor below in our basement, the rhythmic hum of our laundry machines. I’ve got a large load of the kids’ clothes in, and I can hear snaps and zippers gently clink against the sides of the dryer as they spin round and round, so that by the time this day ends, our clothes will be ready to start the next one with us.
Laundry. It is the never-ending task in my home; one that is ready to be started again as soon as all the clothes from the last round are finally put away. (And let’s face it, often before they are put away.) It’s something I manage to spend a lot of time on yet not put enough thought into, but as I told you last week, that’s about to change. Emily and I are thrilled to be working with the American Cleaning Institute to spread the word about their KEY Pledge Laundry Safety Campaign – and we want to tell you how you can put some thought into laundry safety at your house and how you can help educate others, too.
Why are we talking laundry safety all of a sudden? Well, as you’ve probably noticed as you’ve cruised down the laundry supplies aisle at the store, laundry products have changed significantly within the past year or so – most notably because of the advent of single-load liquid laundry packets. These powerful little packets have made doing laundry so much more convenient and consumers – especially busy parents – have really embraced them. However, in 2012, the American Association of Poison Control Centers received reports of 6,229 exposures to highly concentrated packets of laundry detergent by children age five and younger. These are fabulous laundry products, and we love what they do for our laundry routine, but they need to be treated and stored just like any other household product – up, away, out of sight and reach of children.
I’m excited about working with the ACI on the KEY Pledge campaign because it means I get to spread the word about how to safely use and handle single-load liquid laundry packets. Awareness and education are KEY to safety! KEY is an acronym that helps us remember how to use these laundry products safely:
- Keep single-load liquid laundry packets out of the reach of children
- Educate your family and friends about the safe use and storage of these new laundry products
- You sere a key role in laundry safety
Now you can get involved and take action yourselves by taking the KEY Pledge at KeyPledge.com and by following the ACI’s simple steps to being the KEY to safe laundry room and routine. By taking the pledge you will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes to win a $2,500 gift card to help makeover your laundry room, too! Doesn’t that sound like some good clean fun?
The ACI has made it fun and easy for you to take the KEY pledge, but we hope you also take to heart how very important it is to keep your laundry products out of the kids’ reach. It’s so important that we’ll be talking about this issue more in the months ahead – this is something we need to be reminded about often!
My dryer just buzzed – time for me to go retrieve that laundry while it’s still warm and wrinkle-free. Maybe I’ll actually get it put away BEFORE I need the laundry basket again this time!
