I haven't used laundry water in the garden, since I haven't been able to work out a way to save it yet, but I use water from the shower and the kitchen sink, which has been collected in buckets. I have a barrel outside the back door, and I dump the buckets in there to use later in the day, next day at the latest.

I only use it in the flower gardens, not the vegetable garden. I don't worry too much about soaps, etc. I use all organic soaps, which doesn't mean they won't necessarily hurt anything, but I figure they get filtered out in the soil.

Maybe Len will chime in here. I think he uses a lot of greywater. Also, do continue to do research. There's a lot on-line, and there's a book put out by Oasis which is good - check your library for it.

You'd be amazed at how much water you will save by re-using the greywater.

Good luck!
Dee

After I posted, I remembered this thread from awhile back. Might be of some help.

:)
Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: greywater thread

Thanks Dee. I forgot about that thread.

I did find one website that said laundry water was OK to use in the flower garden as long as you periodically used fresh water to avoid a buildup of sodium salts. Also, don't use it at all if you use bleach to whiten clothes. That will kill everything outright. Makes sense. Also, don't use it on acid loving plants like azaleas, rhodos, etc. or seedlings.

As kind of an experiment for the last couple of months I have been dumping the soapy water on an area of the garden populated by hundreds of wild violets. They haven't shown the slightest signs of stress. In fact, they're thriving.

Another suggestion from the same website was to use the rinse water to wash your next load of clothes. Never thought of that one.

K

I used to use the water from the tub till DH threw a right royal fit, also used to gather the water from getting the water warm for a shower.

One thought about the soapy water, several articles I have read concerning "natural" remedies for fleas and the like involve various soaps such as Joy dish soap. It may help keep the bugs in line, however you'd drive off the beneficial ones as well as the others.