Laundry detergent!
Everyone needs clean laundry!
It has been a journey to eco friendly laundry options. It’s difficult to change habits and the mind to think something is the right way to do things. I’ve used liquid laundry detergent my whole life, minus that one week in college where someone changed the liquid detergent to powder and I broke out in hives. I literally had hives all over my body, it was miserable. I could not figure out why I was breaking out in hives - it wasn’t food related, was it stress related?, it took a lot to figure out what the root cause of the hives were. Finally, I figured out someone changed the laundry detergent!
Needless to say I’ve been hesitant to switch my laundry practices due to the extreme fear of repeating my college days. Scary as it was, I tried a bunch of eco friendly detergents and found some winners.
It was weird at first to use anything but liquid. I knew the exact amounts I needed for the size of load. I loved the scent of my Glade Tropical detergent because it was one of those comforting smells that I knew meant clean laundry. It can also be a pain to read the directions and then adjust to what works for you. Because the directions, I feel, are always a guideline/baseline of where to start. I like to remix things and I’m also lazy so laundry isn’t what I want to spend time on.
A little background: I wash all my clothes in cold water, all loads are full (except delicates) which uses less energy because the water doesn’t need to be heated.
Blueland laundry tabs
Cost per load: $0.40 cents per tab
Pro
Great design, compact, easy to store and handle
Comes with a cute tin (if you buy the starter kit)
Faint scent
All packaging compostable or reusable
Cons
Doesn’t dissolve all the way in cold water
I would often find half disintegrated tabs in the folds of my laundry only to have to re-wash everything
If you’re doing a half load they’re difficult to break in half
Not sure how gentle these are for gentle cycle clothes
Kind of pricey
Cost per load =
ECOS laundry sheets
Cost per load: $0.20 cents per sheet
Pros
Doesn’t take up a lot of space
Inexpensive
No scent
This could be a pro or a con
My husband prefers a clean/fresh scent because that's the thrill of new laundry - a fresh clean scent! Which I get, but for someone who has a scent sensitivity this might be a win!
HE friendly
Cons
Bought from Amazon so it was wrapped in plastic, shipped in an Amazon plastic mailer . Bought a 2 pack so the packs were shrink wrapped together
Feels like a big plastic sheet and just felt wrong the first time using them
Sheets are thick and didn’t always disintegrate especially in full loads
UPDATE: it does look like there are other scents now and easily available at Target
Clean Cult
Cost per load: $0.19
Pros
Liquid, feels more like what you would see in store shelves
Convenient packaging
HE friendly
Have a recycling program that accepts containers sent back to Clean Cult
Since our test, Clean Cult has updated their refill bottles to include an easy to pour cap which is biodegradable
Cons
The scent was so strong and not pleasant
Packaging isn’t really zero waste
Small packaging, means having to re-order frequently
Liquid so shipping boxes are heavier which means more emissions
Sheets Laundry Club
Cost per load: $0.40
Pros
Sheets feel sturdy but also easily disintegrates
Light clean linen scent (although wish it were a tad bit more scented)
Husband likes the smell
Easily order from Amazon, can order directly from company website - although it comes wrapped in Amazon plastic bag
Compact packaging
Is sensitive skin friendly, I’m going to try the non-scented sheets on my newborn baby clothes (I’ll update once we’ve had a thorough trial)
HE Friendly
100% plastic free packaging
Cons
By far the most costly option
Doesn’t get stains out like claims, but what detergent alone gets stains out?
So far Sheets Laundry Club the winner, although now that ECOS has scents and available at Target we might have to give them a go again. But we love the Sheet Laundry Club scent, we love that you can bulk order and subscribe. Laundry feels clean and the sheets disintegrate nicely even in large loads.
Have you tried any options that we left out? Let us know in the comments your favorite.
