Fabric Care: Laundry Pt. 2 – The Detergent Listicle
In Laundry Pt. 1, we went over some fibers and how to care for each whether it be pre-wash or longterm care. In this segment, I’ve built a natural detergent listicle for you. I will go over “eco friendly” detergents, cost per load, and their effectiveness in both dissolving in cold water and ability to clean and deodorize.
1. Nellie’s Laundry Soda
Nellie’s shocked me by being the overall winner. A tiny scoop cleans an extra large load in cold water. It dissolves completely with no residue or any powder left in the detergent tray. Passes the teen-boy smelly test with flying colors. A tin with 100 loads costs about $30 making it $0.30/load ($0.23/load on Amazon) and refills are in plastic bags, however, Costco has the 5 gallon refill bucket on sale for $69.99 which brings the price down to $0.09/load and $0.11/load at regular price. I realize that doesn’t completely remove the plastic, but buckets have more reusable-options than plastic bags.
2. BioKleen
BioKleen is a pretty great #2. It’s a larger brand these days making it in just about any grocery store, and you can get a 10 pound box with a plastic bag inside, cutting down on how often you bring home plastic. I’m personally a HUGE fan of BioKleen’s Bac-Out, but that’s a post for next month! BioKleen does not dissolve as well in cold water as Nellie’s, but I feel like the scoop is larger than necessary. Using the scoop at 60% capacity works just as well in my opinion, the powder all dissolves, and drops the price from $0.17/load to $.010/load or less.
3. Charlie’s Soap
Oh Charlie. Why did you go plastic? Charlie’s was my favorite for years and you could buy it in brown paper bags. I went through a lot during the kids’ cloth diaper days. Cloth diaper days also required the hottest of water settings and the hottest of rinses. I still love Charlies, but it doesn’t dissolve as well in cold water and at $0.25/load for what I paid (or as low as $0.18/load on Amazon) I want the option to not have plastic. Charlie’s DOES clean and deodorize very well, and the dissolving isn’t that bad, it’s just not as good as Nellie’s and the price isn’t competitive.
4. Defunkify
What can I say? I’m a sucker for design and marketing. I bought this box on a whim. I have kids. Funk happens. So it is with regret I must tell you it is just mediocre. It was the worst powder at dissolving that I tested, it wasn’t anything special in the cleaning department, and at $0.56/load at the lowest cost I found on Amazon, I want more. Plus, there’s still a plastic bag inside the box.
Laundry Detergent Sheets
I broke out laundry detergent sheets into a separate category because, like stores with bulk bins of detergent, these are not available everywhere, they require adoption of a new concept, I’ve only tried 3 brands, and they’re still not economical. However, if you’re traveling long enough to do laundry or are tight on space (did that 5 gallon bucket of Nellie’s up above make you wince?), they make an excellent option. They’re also completely plastic-free and the more we adopt new product, the more the price goes down.
1. Clean People
My mom grabbed these for me, so I didn’t pay for them, however, on the Clean People website the best value is $0.60/load, but they do go as low as $0.27/load on Amazon. A single sheet of Clean People dissolves completely and does clean an XL load, so if you’re interested in detergent sheets, this is my top recommendation. If you’re doing a long vacation and laundry options might be sketchy, these are the way to go.
2. TruEarth
TruEarth is okay. I ordered it online at $0.62/load ($0.38 on Amazon). It states “up-to” 64 loads but I found for my usual XL sized loads, I’d put in 2 sheets. You may not feel 2 sheets are necessary. TruEarth does dissolve completely and I do see it arriving in some stores, making it more convenient and they do have bundles that bring down the price.
3. Laundry Club
Laundry Club is “up to” $0.16/load on Amazon, but not when you throw the box out before finishing it. It doesn’t dissolve in cold water, it feels and looks suspiciously like a cornstarch & gelatin paste that has been dried, it doesn’t clean, it leaves goop everywhere so had to re-wash, and I don’t have time for things in my life that don’t do their job. I’m adding it here as a cautionary tale. They seem to be well rated on Amazon, but once you get into the reviews you see they’re using a whole sheet ($0.32/load) and it doesn’t dissolve in cold water without tearing it up into little bits, etc. If you’re a warm/hot water user and don’t have particularly soiled clothes like teenagers and gardening, they might work for you. They’re a hard pass for me.
This post would not be complete without addressing fabric softener & fragrance.
I learned about fabric softener’s water repellant build-up back when dinosaurs roamed and I had babies in cotton prefold diapers. The last thing you want is for cloth diapers to NOT absorb. Melissa breaks it down better and tells you why it’s bad for your adult body. Got someone in the house struggling with athlete’s foot or candida? Give the boot to those fabric softener or detergents with built-in softeners and fragrances. Also: No Febreeze. No home-dry-cleaning kits. Let them go.
But what do you do when you love all the good smells? I am a fragrance lover and a DIYer, so I use a modified professional theatre trick. I use an 8 ounce spray bottle with 60-80% isopropyl alcohol and 30 drops of essential oils of choice. Professional costumers spray costumes with alcohol to deodorize & sanitize between shows. Add a bit of lavender or cedar or rose & ylang ylang to it and you have a deodorizing and natural linen spray (not to mention frugal!) If you’re not interested in the alcohol part, you could use water or witch hazel. I get my products and use many of the recipes at Mountain Rose Herbs.
If Mountain Rose doesn’t have what I’m looking for, I also like Bramble Berry. Now THAT is a never ending rabbit hole so only go look if you love making all the things!
Final Notes
I didn’t address stores where you can buy from bulk bins and refill your own containers because that is still pretty niche and not in all cities, but of course if you can completely close the container loop, that would be best. These are often grocery co-ops or specialty package-free stores.
I didn’t address making your own detergent mix. I’ve tried the various Fels-Naptha recipes floating around the internet. I’m not a fan, but you do what works for you.
I also did not address liquid detergents as they require the purchase of more plastics that don’t actually get recycled and shipping on what is essentially water. I don’t deny the allure of liquid detergents. I’ve been watching Dr. Bronner’s move to cardboard refill containers and hope they move their Sal Suds to cardboard refills. A bottle of Sal Suds and a bit of essential oil for scent cleans my whole house for 3+ years and I’ve used as laundry detergent in a pinch. Not the most economical for laundry, but a very good company that treats their employees well. Speaking of which, I did not research company ethics, where things are made, or how employees are treated like I have with Dr. Bronner’s, so that would be the next level if you want to dive down into that.
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Guest Author Series
Becky Jo’s Laundry Resume: I’ve done a LOT of laundry. Growing up poor in a rural area with younger siblings, I was washing cloth diapers and hanging them on the line to dry from the age of 8. I have 4 children of my own, also mostly cloth diapered for environmental reasons (this will be relevant later when we get to the detergents & stains parts of the series.) My career has spanned working in my parents’ bowling alley washing kitchen towels & grease rags to suits-required-corporate jobs with the dry cleaning bills to match. You might say I’m something of a laundry savant.
