Green product watch: best laundry detergents 11/11

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.greenerchoices.org/products.cfm?product=0710gpw&pcat=homegarden&EXTKEY=NG0N01111

(This article is adapted from the the November 2011 issue of Consumer Reports Magazine.)

Different types of detergents have joined the long lineup of liquids and powders on store shelves, and Consumer Reports included some in the latest tests which involved washing 1,000 pounds of laundry heavily soiled with blood, mud, chocolate ice cream, grass, red wine, ring around the collar, and tea.



Though convenient, the new types aren't among the better choices. Plenty of the more conventional detergents are higher-rated including greener brands.

Greener packaging

A few words about packaging. More detergents are claimed to be concentrated. So you'll use more per load of a brand's 2X version than you will of its 3X detergent, but price per load is similar.

Thanks to new ingredients, many detergents have been reduced to a half or a third of their former volume (you'll see 2X or 3X on their packaging). And yet each downsized package promises to wash the same amount of clothes as the bulky old package it replaces.


FULL story at link.

[gateley]

1. Thanks -- something we ALL can agree on! Better, more environmentally

friendly laundry detergent.

[hunter]

2. My wife is fiercely allergic to laundry enzymes.

One of the hazards of being a kid in the 'sixties and 'seventies, not so much today.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20223268

[txlibdem]

3. baking soda (nt)

[txlibdem]

4. I forgot to mention 20 Mule Team Borax (or any brand borax)

There are also perfume-free, allergen free products on the market but I don't have a recommendation for you (sorry).

[madokie]

5. Take it one step further and go with a front load washer

they use a hell of a lot less water and detergent to get the clothes even cleaner. I measured the water usage from our old top load washer and on a normal wash it used 22 gallons of water. I took the same load of clothes and after they'd dried put them in the front loader and put it on normal wash and it used a tad less than 7 gallons of water. Oh yes the amount of detergent in the front loader was about 1/2 or less.
Just throwing this in there