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I definitely will Chris! I've made it before but I watched some soap making videos and made some soap and it worked much better! When I make my next batch I'll send you some soap :)

I mentioned upthread I bought some Almat Bio powder yesterday, whilst it is amazing at cleaning and it's overall brilliant, what I specifically love is how NONE of Aldi's own brand stuff is tested on animals. That is one factor that swayed me to buy a box of it, also the cheap price.
 
I've been using Eco cleaning and laundry products since October 2015, in fact I spent a good chunk of that time most of the different products available. Initially I wanted cruelty free products, P&G and Unilever both have an appalling record regarding animal testing. On my search for cruelty free products I started to look into the chemicals, particularly scent chemicals, in mainstream products and was horrified that I'd been exposing myself , my family and my pet to a cocktail of carcinogens, hormone disruptors, human immune system toxicants and substances that can make mood disorders worse.

Anyway, my favourite laundry product I tried was from a company from New Zealand ( sadly no longer in business ) . They did a concentrated washing powder in a self dosing bottle, it had 4 enzymes but no OBA's or oxy bleach. They sold a whitening powder and a liquid delicates wash too. I've found a lot of Eco laundry products just don't smell that nice . I think Ecover concentrated laundry liquid is one of the best you can get in the UK, I'm not super fond of the smell but it's bearable. Attitude do a great range of laundry, cleaning and personal care products but they're hard to come by here. They are available at Ocafo if they deliver to your area. It seems the USA have a far better selection of green laundry products and , unlike here, a few are biological. Ecos have just come out with two bio detergents in the US , hopefully they'll make it over here, the new packaging looks more "mainstream too. I love Method products, the added bonus is I can get them in the supermarket. The laundry liquid is very effective, a bit too effective as I've found it weakens cotton, I've had holes appear in t shirts , tea towels and buttons fallin off things. Hopefully they'll bring out their 4x concentrated detergent here, you can get it in the US and Australia, it comes in several scents too.
 
Animal testing...

This is the big clincher for me. I really don't want to use Animal tested products.

P&G historically had an horrific record of animal testing I am sure, but now, they commit to no animal testing on their non drug or food products, unless required by law. Even PETA recognise P&G for this.

And upon checking the safety data sheets, none of their actual finished products do end up getting tested. The ingredients that have been tested (and not even necessarily by them) are ingredients found in drugs and even food (preservatives and the like). So it becomes impossible to avoid.

Yes they sell in China, but a lot of the testing for that country (as it is required by law for all products) is carried out by government regulated firms, not usually the manufacturer, whoever that may be.

Looking around the web, of course you can get very conflicting information. Unilever actually appear to be a little (well a lot from one source) worse for animal testing, but they deal with a lot more food products than P&G (Knorr, I can't believe it's not butter, PG Tips etc). They also say they will commit to animal testing if the ingredient is "novel". PG have made no such commitment.

Of course, I can't wait for the day when no animal testing is carried out.

PETA Link:

http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/...why-is-it-still-included-on-the-do-test-list/

Ariel MSDS, showing the product was only given a calculated LD50 (animal test) and the ingredients that have been tested (which could have been by PG or elsewhere, and done under a different product (drug, food etc):

https://www.pgpro.co.uk/_assets/med..._Ariel Professional Colour Washing Powder.pdf
 
I forgot to mention

The biggest problem I have with mainstream cleaning, laundry and cosmetic products is the toxic ingredients used. Air fresheners and " last for days" smelling fabric softeners are among the worst offenders. Manufacturers use these chemicals as they're cheap, thankfully EU regulations on labeling mean that hazzerdous or harmful chemical have to be listed ( with the exception of the loose term parfum). In the USA where labeling is less stringent P&G have got into trouble for using known carcinogens that were actually banned in some of their products.
 
Thanks

Yes I remember there being a big stink in the US over Tide as it contained 1.4 dioxine which is a known carcinogen. After a lot of press coverage and the like, they did remove it from the ingredients.

I do worry about the long term effects of some of the chemicals (as mentioned upthread). So do try to judiciously use products.
 
The reason why I'm loving using Aldi laundry products at the moment is because they're not tested on animals. There are some products that I love using made by P&G that are really hard to give up using, but I do like to thought of using less products tested on animals or full of horrible chemicals.

Oh and Chris, I'm going to be making another batch of laundry soap in the next few days hopefully. Send me a Facebook PM with your address and I'll send you a bar along with the recipe I use. :)
 
@paulc, we seem to be sharing very similar approach.
Recently found out Frosch started distributing their products here; only a limited number of items but they claim it will expand.
I have to admit to missing their laundry powders and dishwasher tablets, they were close to perfect back in Europe. Ordered a bottle of the Apple Color detergent, we'll see how it performs. Have you ever tried it?

So far Ecover powder proves itself to be a stellar performer for whites and colorfast clothing. Used to use OxoBrite to boost bleaching but Vaska Oxygen Bleach tablets are way ahead. According to ingredients they contain a bleach activator, which is ridiculously hard to find in the "natural" selection.
Also like Ecover liquid; doesn't fade, washes very well (except stubborn oil stains - but ring around the collar or mineral sunscreen is removed even in lukewarm water), also contains cellulase so no fuzzy cotton unmentionables syndrome.

Vaska is pretty good, but having had used it for so long I felt forced to switch things up.

Seventh Generation, on the other hand, just doesn't cut it. Found it to fade darks quite visibly and underperform in lower temperatures. Same with Ecos, sudsy mess with mediocre results.

Problem with 1.4 dioxane is that it isn't really an ingredient - in most cases it's formed during the process of manufacturing - hence no need to disclose it on the ingredients list, whether or not the manufacturer actually decided to provide one. Unless a product is tested and found to be dioxane free it's hard to judge from the bottle.
 
Aldi

Non of Aldi's laundry, cleaning or cosmetic products have been tested on animals, they also pay their staff a fair wage and only source food stuff from suppliers that use non bee killing pesticides.

From this Thursday they'll have 100 wash boxes of Almat for £7.99 ! Stock up while the offer lasts guys!!! ;-)
 
I thought the reason for labelling certain scent ingredients in the EU is to give allergy sufferers a better chance to spot whatever is listed in their allergy passport. There`s a lot of stuff in scents to be found which could be considered even more "harmful" but doesn`t need to be listed because it doesn`t typically trigger allergies.

As to dioxane this has never been an "ingredient" in detergents but an unwanted byproduct.
The German consumer magazine Warentest found high levels of dioxane in shampoos as early as in the mid 1980s. All manufacturers responded the problem quickly by altering the production process. AFAIK dioxan in sufactant based products has never been a problem again here.
I suppose Tide is a little late to the party if they still haven`t got this right by now.
 
paulc

That's an excellent price Paul, I wish they would have the Blueberry 2in1 powder in again, loved that one! The bio powder I bought the other day (£.39 for 40 washes) seems to work a lot better than when I last tried it, noticed the oxygen bleach has dropped from 15-30% to 5-15% which makes it an excellent all round detergent.

The Ancosoft Conditioners are lovely too. The concentrate one smells gorgeous as does the dilute version which during use is almost a novelty because so much of it is needed as opposed to the tiny amounts needed now!
 
I don`t know if it was in the media in the UK when IKEA was in a big mess as their top selling Billy bookcases were discovered to gas out huge amounts of formaldeyde. Also must have been decades ago, I don`t remember exactly when it was. Anyway they addressed the problem immediately and you never heard anything negative like that again.
That is how European companies usually handle those things.
American companies seem to prefer to tell their customers there is no risk for their health and just go on manufacturing the product unaltered. And they get away with it !
It doesn`t surprise me at all that CETA and TTIP is not so popular within most of European`s population.
 
Snap I use BigGreenSmile too. I use a lot of Faith in Nature shampoos and conditioners etc and I also buy a lot of Meet The Bulldog products too. I am a fan of Astonish and Method products BUT wish they would emit the optical brighteners out of the liquid as I rather not use them. I do use Ecover Delicate and find its good. I don't know how Ecover bio liquid washes compared to Persil? I cant stand Unilever or Procter and Gamble for numerous reasons: They wont tell you whats in their products, Animal testing, Environmental and lack of care towards the consumer i.e. using known carcinogens.
 
liberatordeluxe

You do know Ariel is made by P&G right?

I use a lot of Man Cave products ( available in Sainsbury's) , I also like Faith in Nature and Suma shampoo. I also use Neals Yard stuff occasionally, I get a discount as my sister's a sale consultant for them, even still, it's dear stuff.
 
I do try and use LUSH Products when I can, but as there isn't a store near me I don't go there often. Plus they are quite expensive too but they are lovely.

I've used Method laundry liquid which is very good, but I find I can't use it all the time.
 
liberatordeluxe

P&G Make -- Ariel, Daz, Bold, Fairy, Lenor, Flash, - in fact way too many to list

Unilever is Persil, Surf and Comfort

Detergent type wise, Reckitt Benckizer only make Vanish.
 
Thanks

PaulC, forgot all about Woolite.

I know they make a lot of everyday brands, namely Dettol, Cillit Bang and Finish (along with many, many others).

To be honest, companies now make so many product lines, and even own other companies. So it can become nigh on impossible to avoid them in absolutely everything.

EG, BodyShop is cruelty free, however, they are owned by L'Oreal....

Also, Marks and Spencer are cruelty free for cleaning products, but there is ingredients in their products, that appear in main brand products that will have been animal tested (although granted this could have been at any time in the past).

IMO, the main thing to be changed is the regulations and laws that require products (that have already been tested) to be tested again, just unnecessary.
 
In the UK, Germany and most of Europe (if not all of Europe), Formil powders and liquids are made by Dalli Werke (Win Cosmetic). Powders - in Germany (Stolberg plant), Austria (Warth plant) and now in Romania (Timișoara plant, acquired from P&G); liquids - in the Netherlands (Hoensbroek plant).
Additionally, most of Lidl's cleaning products and cosmetics are manufactured by Dalli.

This manufacturer is Europe's second-largest in private label sector after McBride, but the quality they offer is superb. In fact, I don't really like McBride's products; Dalli's are much better.

Several years ago (I think 2013) Reckitt-Benckiser closed their private label division called Propack.
 

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