Identifying detergents without optical brighteners

[lordkenmore]

I have been wondering if there is a way of reliably telling whether a given detergent has optical brighteners added. Reading list of ingredients can probably help--I assume any time the company has any word like brightener it means optical brighteners are added. But it seems like the ingredient lists are more often than not pretty lousy, and so it seems to me that optical brighteners could well be added without mentioning the fact.

 

[favorit]

 

[yogitunes]

usualy ones listed for "darks" do not have the optical brightners, because it will cause them to fade, also detergents with bleach alternative should not be used with darks, most of these do have them too

 

[aamassther]

LK, The only commercial US detergents I've found that do not contain OBA's are Cheer powder, which is confirmed by their website and Woolite. The natural detergents usually state whether or not they contain them on the label's ingredients list. I've recently found that Amway's reformulated liquid and delicate wash do not, as per ingredients list on website. HTH, Todd

 

[dblrinz]

Tide

Does regular Tide powder have optical brightners?

 

[brettsomers]

Does regular Tide powder have optical brightners?

Does Oprah have more than one doughnut for breakfast?

 

[tolivac]

Shine a UV light on the clear container or a sample poured out-the UV light will make the detergent glow-Fresh Start was a good example-when it was in the clear jar-shine a UV light on it in a dark room-that Frsh Start bottle of detegent looked like a beacon!

 

[launderess]

Every Single Version of Tide Detergent

Is loaded with OBAs.

Cheer detergent used to be OBA free across the board, then P&G started messing with things, now IIRC, only some Cheer powders are OBA free, while all the liquids and any version for "HE" washers contains the stuff.

 

[MrX]

Easy within the EU anyway.

On European detergents it's written on the ingredients summary on the back of the pack on every detergent box I've checked.

It will simply say "optical brightners" as one of the ingredients (or in other languages).

If you go to their websites, you can get the full detailed ingredient lists. Typically they seem to contain Dimorpholinopyridazinone as an opitical brightener.

 

[sudsmaster]

A while back Consumer Reports listed the optical brightener content of the laundry detergents it tested.

As I recall, Sears Ultra Plus is relatively low in optical brighteners. Tide ranked at or near the top for most optical brighteners.

Unfortunately it's not just the detergents that may contain optical brighteners. The fabric softener may also contain them, I surmise, although I haven't seen any mention of this in the "literature".

As for optical brighteners causing colors to fade - that's a bit of a misnomer. The color dyes are still there, the optical brightener doesn't remove them. What it does is attach to the fabric fluorescent dyes that emit white light when exposed to UV light. This can cause the impression of faded colors - but it's not the same as, for example, some chlorine bleach actually removing the colored dyes from the fabric. I also think that the optical brighteners may be removable by repeated washing in detergents that do not contain them, just as other non-colorfast dyes may be removed by washing.

Someday I'll have to conduct an experiment to see if it's true...

 

[sudsmaster]

Send In The Troops!

Optical brighteners would tend to negate the advantages of military camouflage uniforms. So I found a site which advises which laundry products are "safe" to use on such uniforms because they don't contain optical brighteners, and it also lists products with are not safe because they contain the dyes:

DETERGENTS WHICH ARE OKAY TO USE:

Bold Powder

Cheer Liquid (all versions)

Cheer Powder (all versions)

All Powder (all versions)

Surf Powder (all versions)

Woolite (all versions)

DETERGENTS WHICH ARE NOT OKAY TO USE:
(CONTAINS OPTICAL BRIGHTENERS)

Dreft Liquid

Dreft Powder

Era Liquid (all versions)

Gain Liquids (all versions

Gain Powders (all versions)

Ivory Snow Liquid

Ivory Snow Powder

Tide Liquids (all versions)

Tide Powders (all versions)

Tide Tablets (all versions)

Fab (all versions)

Dynamo (all versions)

Ajax (all versions)

THE ACU CARE POLICY (Cont.)

CONTAINS OPTICAL BRIGHTENERS (Cont.)

Suavitel Fabric Softener (all versions)

All laundry products made by Colgate-Palmolive

Arm & Hammer Liquid (all versions)

Arm & Hammer FabriCare Powder (all versions)

Arm & Hammer Fresh ‘n Soft Fabric Softener (all versions)

Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

Rain Drops Water Softener and Detergent Booster

DeliCare Fine Fabric Wash (all versions)

Wisk (all versions)
All Liquid (all versions)

Surf Liquid (all versions)

Yes (all versions)

All Dial Laundry Products including:

Purex Powder (all versions)

Purex Liquid (all versions)

Purex Fabric Softener (all versions)

Purex Baby (all versions)

20 Mule Team Detergent (all versions)

Zout (all versions)

DETERGENTS WITH QUESTIONABLE CONTENTS:
(SHOULD PROBABLY AVOID)

Spray ‘n Wash (all versions)

Calgon (all versions)

Generic Brands: If you're using a store brand or "generic" detergent the label might tell you to "compare to [brand]" on the front panel. Match that to the lists above to see if it's okay to use.

http://www.give2thetroops.org/laundry.htm

 

[alr2903]

Sudsmaster, that's a very good point, about the military uniforms. How does that work in today's military are uniforms for all ranks done "in house". I always imagined the washers and dryers on military bases to be for the personels "street clothing". alr2903

 

[sudsmaster]

Alr,

If you check out the link and the home page you'll see that the organization is dedicated to sending "care" packages to troops overseas.

I imagine that on the smaller bases/outposts there might be laundry rooms where soldiers can wash their own duds. And some soldiers might prefer that if the Army is using detergents with optical brighteners in its central laundry.

 

[lordkenmore]

The military list is good...

...but unfortunately a little out of date. I noticed this when doing a Google search. I found a list like this on several sites, and the age was at least 2-3 years and counting. Unfortunately, in that time, formulations on some detergents have apparently changed and now include optical brighteners.

One detergent (I can't remember which--I think All, but don't quote me) at least had some variations that were OK then, but now has the optical brighteners across the line...except, apparently, for one version sold on military bases. Makes sense, I guess, if it's an issue that's important for the military...but it really doesn't help the rest of us.

 

[sudsmaster]

Generally speaking, the "free and clear" detergents shouldn't contain any optical brighteners.

Why don't you try the Sears fragrance and dye free detergent?

Here's a link:

Shop: Appliances, Tools, Clothing, Mattresses & More

Shop Sears for appliances, tools, clothing, mattresses & more. Great name brands like Kenmore, Craftsman Tools, Serta, Diehard and many others.

www.sears.com

 

[brettsomers]

Generally speaking, the "free and clear" detergents

Yet many of them do.

 

[lordkenmore]

Yet many of them do.

That's my suspicion. Although, that's fueled by cynicism caused by hearing about "free of scent" detergents that really aren't free of scent agents. (I'm thinking of those detergents that have scent agents added that make it smell like there is no scent.)

Sears might be worth looking into...I've heard so many positive things said here about Sears detergent. Plus, it would probably make the Kenmore happy!

 

[sudsmaster]

True

Here's another list... I notice some "free and clear" detergents are listed as having optical brighteners. Which is a bit outrageous, since they ARE DYES, for gosh sake.

Laundry Detergents That Contain Optical brighteners
20 Mule Team Detergent (all versions)
Ajax (all versions)
All Liquid (all versions)
All Free and Clear
All Baby
All with stain lifters
Arm & Hammer FabriCare Powder (all versions)
Arm & Hammer Fresh ‘n Soft Fabric Softener (all versions)
Arm & Hammer Liquid (all versions)
Arm & Hammer Perfume Free and Dye Free Liquid Detergent
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
Asta
DeliCare Fine Fabric Wash (all versions)
Dreft Liquid
Dreft Powder
Dynamo (all versions)
Era Liquid (all versions)
Fab (all versions)
Gain Liquids (all versions)
Gain Powders (all versions)
Ivory Snow Liquid
Ivory Snow Powder
Persil
Purex Powder (all versions)
Purex Liquid (all versions)
Purex Fabric Softener (all versions)
Purex Baby (all versions)
Rain Drops Water Softener and Detergent Booster
SA8 Plus Concentrated Detergent
SA8 with Bioquest Concentrated Detergent
SA8 with Gelzyme Liquid Detergent
SA8 Sensitive Laundry Detergent
SA8 Tablets Laundry Detergent
SA8 Concentrated Liquid Detergent with Fabric Softener
SA8 Solutions Tri-Zyme Stain Pre-Soak and Detergent Booster
SA8 Solutions Dry Chlorine Bleach
Surf Liquid (all versions)
Suavitel Fabric Softener (all versions)
Tide Liquids (all versions)
Tide Powders (all versions)
Tide Tablets (all versions)
Wisk (all versions)
XTRA Laundry Detergent
Yes (all versions)
Zout (all versions)
All laundry products made by Colgate-Palmolive

Laundry Detergents That Contain No Optical brighteners
All Powder (all versions)
Allens Naturally Liquid Laundry Detergent
Allens Naturally Powdered Laundry Detergent
Bold Powder
Cheer Free
Cheer Liquid (all versions)
Cheer Powder (all versions)
Oxy-Prime Powdered Laundry Detergent
Planet Ultra laundry detergents [1]
SA8 Delicate Gentle Liquid Detergent
SA8 Solutions Prewash Spray Spot Treatment
SA8 Solutions Prewash With Enzymes Liquid Spot Treatment
SA8 Solutions Smashing White Water Softener And Detergent Booster Powder
SA8 Solutions Smashing White Water Softener And Detergent Booster Liquid
SA8 Solutions All Fabric Bleach
Seventh Generation Natural Laundry Detergent Liquid, Free & Clear
Surf Powder (all versions)
Woolite (all versions)

http://en.allexperts.com/e/o/op/optical_brightener.htm

 

[lordkenmore]

Past the dye issue...

...one thing that gets me is that one reason people choose "free and clear" detergents is because of some skin sensitivity issue. I don't know if optical brighteners are a problem very often, but I get the impression that some people have had trouble--or at least had trouble and blamed the optical brighteners.

Sudsmaster--at least this list confirms your earlier thought that some fabric softeners contain optical brighteners. I see a couple fabric softeners listed.