"Green" Detergents?

[letsgoblues]

What's the scoop with "green" detergents? I have been very curious about Seventh Generation Ultra Plus, Clorox Green Works, Ecos, Method, etc. Anyone try these? Are they any good at stain removal?

 

[stan]

Probably

not the best for stain removal. But if your willing to pretreat..
They also can be boosted with oxygen bleach, STPP, ect.
I think the ones you listed are free of optical brightners..don't know how you feel about that...
HTH

 

[iej]

I'm not sure if you've got the enzyme based bleach integrated versions of Ecover over there, but it's very effective.

The only issue here is that because of a quirk of marketing and a notion that enzymes are a tool of the devil responsible for all allergies because someone got a rash in the 1960s, Ecover seems to concentrate only on their non bio (enzyme free) versions and it is often hard to find their bio products here.

Someone in the UK and Ireland market needs to break that nonsense about bio = allergy. There's a good gap in the market for a sensitive, hypoallergenic detergent with enzymes.

The main allergens I encounter are fragrances and lingering softening agents, designed not to rinse out.

 

[aegokocarat]

I feel that some manufacturers now play on the whole bio is bad theme, because every bio powder I have come across smells too strong (except for ecover bio) and despite rinsing intensively, most bio's irritate my skin and flare up my psoriasis patches on my knees, so I tend to stick with Ecover bio and non bio, and Fairy as these seem to help calm it all down.

Ecover produce some excellent cleaning and laundry products as do their sister company, Method. In the UK we also get a brand called Bio-D which also produce some excellent products as well, but Im not sure if you can get them in the US
Tom

 

[sudsmaster]

I confess to being rather bemused by the proliferation of cleaning products that claim to be "green", or even "organic".

 

What, exactly, is the point of an "organic" laundry detergent? Are you going to eat it? And if you do, wouldn't it kill you before any benefits from it not containing pesticides or synthetic chemicals would kick in?

 

Green is a bit more understandable, but not much. Who cares if the surfactant is bio- or petro-based? Far more important is whether the detergent contains fluorescent dyes, which can cause dark colors to look faded. For high efficiency machines, my main concern with a laundry detergent is that it controls the suds to a low level. For people sensitive to enzymes, it's easy enough to find an enzyme free detergent without having to go organic or even "green". And don't get me started on the folly of removing phosphated water softener from laundry detergent.

 

And the whole enzyme issue started back in the 50's or 60's when they were first added to powdered detergents. They were basically just enzyme powders, and the powders if they got on skin or other body parts could start to go to work, causing irritation, rashes, reactions etc. Producers soon learned to encapsulate the enzymes in a coating so that they only became active after being in wash water for a time. Problem solved, but bad rap has continued for decades. Although perhaps inadequately washed/rinsed out enzymes could cause problems for very sensitive skin.

 

It all sort of reminds me of a comment a neighbor once made, about compost. She was in a state of shock because she found the local refuse utility was selling compost that had been made with meat as an ingredient. For heaven's sake, what does she think happens in nature when an animal dies and decomposes in the leaf litter? The result is great soil. As long as the compost pile is properly managed, and allowed to get to a temperature of about 140F, there's little danger from meat or even feces in the compost.

 

OK, off the soapbox.

 

 

[lordkenmore]

I have used plenty of "green" detergents. At one point, it was my primary choice. I have drifted away, partly because my cash flow does not support $$$$ detergents. Indeed, I've noted such detergents are often priced at Tide pricing--maybe worse--and yet don't have the cleaning power of Tide, nor the really good sales.

No green detergent I've used has had the cleaning power of high end conventional detergents. However, most of the time, the power seemed more or less adequate. Most of my laundry needs are more about freshening. I seldom have the true nightmare loads, like kids in detergent ads with a once-white sports uniform that is almost totally covered head to toe with stains from mud and grass.

Although even with light loads there have been times when conventional seemed better. I had no problems I can recall with a BD Kenmore. However, it didn't seem like green detergents worked as well as I'd like with a WCI Frigidaire. With the current Shredmore, I'm tending to use convetional more in hopes of being able to reduce thrashing, er, agitation time.

One huge selling point for green detergents: I have skin issues, and they seem to be less of a problem for my skin. However, I have found that conventional sensitive skin detergents (e.g., All Free Clear) seem to work OK for me.

 

[washer111]

No, I don't use "eco" products, because plenty of them list the use of "plant-based surfactants," among other bizarre additives that supposedly work. 

 

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but IMMEDIATELY what comes to mind is rainforest destruction in third-world countries, leading to the death of many animals. 

 

One of the renowned Eco brands here, "Earth," has been noted to contain palm oils in its "eco fabric softener." Palm oil, as everyone knows, generally comes from those plantations in third-world countries. 

 

While other manufacturers who don't make these products probably aren't better, at least they aren't misleading consumers. This is why I don't bother those products, and also because they are hideously ineffective in anything but rinsing... 

 

[stan]

From what I've read..

Ecover is supposed to be using "renewable" sources for their pant based surfactants.
Seventh Genreration was suppose to be completely switched over to 100% renewable since 2012.
Ecos Detergent's claim to fame is..plant based surfactant from coconut oil (renewable) and free of 1-4 dioxin.
Don't know who's holding them accountable for their claims, but..

@ Christine. What's your curiosity? Dose someone have sensitive skin ?

 

[paulc]

I've been using "green" detergent and cleaning products for just over a year. I made the change initially because my husband seemed to be sensitive to a lot of heavily scented laundry products. I also wanted to be sure the product I was using hadn't been tested on animals.

I've tried a lot of different brands, some awful and some just as good, if not better than mainstream detergents and cleaners but they don't contain the cocktail of toxic chemicals of their mainstream counterparts.

We are all well aware that people are not allergic to enzymes, what people do have a sensitivity to is the preservatives ( mainly in liquids ) that are used to stop the enzymes degrading. Some of these are known irritants at best, at worst known carcinogens. Then there are the scent chemicals used, most are deemed to be irritants, can adveresly effect a persons mood, hormone disruptors and human immune system toxicants ( can make your immune system attack healthy cells ). Now, these chemical may have been proved "safe" in one stand alone product but the problem lies in the fact that they are in multiple products that you use everyday. I don't want my family and pet to be exposed to these chemicals. It is impossible to cut out all harmful chemicals from your life but it's possible to reduce your exposure.

Since going "green" neither myself or my husband have had a cold, despite doing jobs were we come both come into contact with many different people in a day. I work with young people who are coming out of care and he is a substance miss use worker. I have not had one single depressive episode this year either ( I have Bi-polar disorder ), I usually have at least one bad episode that lasts for over a week and maybe two smaller ones throughout the year. Some may say this is just coincidence, however, I'm not willing to go back to mainstream products to find out!

 

[letsgoblues]

Thanks everyone for all the input. I was very curious about how these detergents worked vs mainstream detergents. I have heard so many conflicting things about these detergents, but more often then not I hear things similar to what lordkenmore said (Tide price, no where near as good as Tide).

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I'm all for 'green' and 'eco-'. But I've found a few problems with applying the philosophy to everyday life. Some of the problems are stated or implied in comments above:

1. It's often unclear as to whom a company is accountable for its product claims.

2. Something is 'certified' without mention as to whom by, making the claim meaningless.

3. Chemical 'X' is labelled a 'known carcinogen', yet by whom and how that determination was made is unstated.

4. Researching on the web is often an exercise in frustration as many sites make claims one way or the other without substantiation. 

5. A strangely high % of sites I find contain articles clearly paraphrased or condensed from research papers. That in itself is perfectly fine but the person doing the job clearly didn't actually understand the article.

6. Many websites are full of emotion and vitriol. I personally find them tiring to read.

7. This might be unique to the U.S. but many words such as 'natural', 'green', 'carbon footprint', etc are marketing buzz words here. A company using them in their P.R. material is not making any kind of claim for which it can be held responsible. 

 

I want to be clear that NONE of the above is a reason to avoid going 'green' or trying to reduce one's own carbon footprint. I just want to point out that it's easier said than done. 

 

Jim 

 

[stan]

I

Have used Ecos, and have been satisfied.. But I always pretreat, and or presoak (top loader) and use warm wash warm rinse. Very rare that I use cold.
If I'm not washing darks, I've always spiked the water with either washing soda (about 2 Tbls) or STPP to assist. Sometimes a little non chlorine bleach.
Sometimes at the end of the cycle..two capfuls of LCB for a all white load
In other words, I've never given Ecos a chance to perform on its own.

HTH

 

[brib68]

I have a bottle of Planet that hubby brought home from work as a sample, but I haven't tried it yet. He brought home a sample of Planet dishwasher detergent a couple of months ago, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it cleaned. It cleaned every bit as well as Finish Quantum or Powerball (my usual).

Not sure when I'll work up the nerve to try out the laundry version...maybe I should see if the dish liquid (another sample from hubby) is as good as the dishwasher pods before I entrust my laundry to it?

 

[paulc]

Letsgoblues

I can only recommend a few green detergents to you as the USA and UK markets differ slightly. I've used ECOS and found that to be very effective but wasn't keen on how laundry felt once it was dry, items felt a bit "waxy". Method detergent is also very good although we only have the version in the pump bottle. Method have a new 66 wash detergent in the USA with 4 different scents . I have a friend in Australia who has used it and was very impressed. One thing I've concluded reading online reviews about the Eco detergents I think are good performers is that the negative reviews seem to be due to poor laundering habits rather than the detergents themselves. I only wash in warm, hot and very hot water, never cold. Hope that has been of some help to you.

 

[aquacycle]

Like Paul, we've also recently gone completely eco on the household products. I've been ordering in bulk from biggreensmile.co.uk and when you spend over £10, you get 2 free samples of other products to try out. We've now got all Ecover or Method cleaning products and have switched our bathroom cosmetics and wash products to Bulldog, Faith In Nature and Lush. The only thing that I haven't ditched is my Persil Bio powder. I've used it for years and it's never let me down, so as much as I'd like to, I don't really want to change that. I loathe liquid detergents and I tend to find a lot of eco laundry products are liquids.

However, with the cleaning and costmetic products, I have noticed no change in the cleanliness levels at home and infact some products actually work better than the more mainstream chemical based products. Ecover oven cleaner, for example, has a very light orange scent too it and has far less chemicals than Oven Pride and Mr. Muscle, but it cleans MUCH better than either of those with no scrubbing or hard work involved. Just spray, leave it on for a half an hour or so, and wipe off.

Since making the switch, we've also had no colds or illness, the house is still clean and I've noticed that it smells so much lighter - cleaner and fresher, rather than an overpowering smell of lemon or "cotton fresh" poluting the house.

Once this batch is done, I'm ditching kitchen cleaner all together and switching to using just hot, soapy water to clean the surfaces instead of a spray cleaner.

 

[washer111]

@aquacycle

Interesting your experiences with the eco-cleaning products. 

 

We personally have never bothered with kitchen sprays, opting for a simple sponge. Not even any soap!

The sponge would generally be bleached every so often. 

 

Now we use a micro-fibre cloth in the kitchen (with soap, for dishes and greasy surfaces). The marketing claims you can wash everything in the kitchen WITHOUT soaps, which are claimed to be "harmful chemicals." Never mind the fact the cloth gets greasy and eventually spreads in all around if you don't wash it with soap. 

 

With my experiences with the "Planet Ark" detergent, I was using hot and very warm washes with this. The main issue is the lack of ANY enzymes or oxygen-based bleaches. Everything gets mucky over time. Add either or in there, and I think the results would have been better. 

 

About the only eco thing I have done is switched to traditional "wet-shaving" soaps (plus the shaving brush, DE Razor etc). Cheaper than shaving foams, don't stink and last twice as long for roughly the same price. One can, of course, buy stuff 4x more expensive, although I haven't felt the need as of yet

 

[lordkenmore]

>One thing I've concluded reading online reviews about the Eco detergents I think are good performers is that the negative reviews seem to be due to poor laundering habits rather than the detergents themselves. I only wash in warm, hot and very hot water, never cold.

I think details like using heated water make a huge difference.

Unfortunately, the people most likely to buy and use eco detergents probably have the temperature controlled locked down at "Cold."

It's an interesting problem. Cold water is better for the environment. Eco detergent might be better, depending on who you talk to. And yet for effective laundry, you have a choice between coolish water with something like Tide Coldwater, or else heated water with Seventh Generation. I suppose one picks the lesser of evils for one's circumstances.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

I consider myself fortunate in that one machine in the laundry room is "broken" and rinses (or at least the final rinse) at whatever wash temp you set. I was using whatever Free & Clear was on sale but currently trying Persil now that it's available here. To be honest, I don't notice a huge difference, although the Persil imparts a weak, but pleasant scent.

 

What has made a huge difference is adding a splash of ammonia in the bleach dispenser and a splash of vinegar instead of fabric softener. Clothes come out both cleaner and softer than before. 

 

I should mention that my challenge is sweat and skin oil, not 'dirt' per se so my situation might be different.

 

So I guess the question is whether those splashes of ammonia and vinegar are more "green" or have a smaller carbon footprint than using "green" detergent and softener. Ideas?

 

Jim 

 

[stan]

Jim

That's a tough question
The energy used to distill the vinegar ...
Energy to make ammonia gas into a liquid..Vs just using chemical laden detergents?