After my post on Five Ingredients You Don’t Want in Your Laundry Detergent, many of you contacted me to ask what I use. True confession: I started with Tide, Tide Pods, and many of the well-known market brands advertised on TV for most of my life. It took my cancer journey to improve my selection. I then started using Method, Mrs. Meyers, and Seventh Generation. I even made my own detergent before I got a new washing machine that required He detergent. After doing the research for Five Ingredients, I realized that what I was using was better than most, but still contained some unwanted chemicals.
For your and my benefit, I decided to take a deeper dive into this topic. My research has caused me to categorize laundry detergents into three categories: The Bad, The Better, and The Best. Cost and ease of obtaining are always on my mind, so I will give you info on that as well.
I order many products on www.vitacost.com. In general, Vitacost reduces the cost of an item by anywhere from 5 to 15 percent with free shipping over $49. In addition, I get almost weekly emails with coupon codes from 10 to 20 percent off. I usually get their packages within a few days after ordering. I also order many of my home products from Doterra including their laundry detergent and household cleaning products. Disclaimer: Doterra makes great products, but membership is required to order. It is not worth ordering from Doterra if you only want laundry detergent. (I’d be happy to share with you the benefits of membership with Doterra, but I want to give you several reasonable and inexpensive choices for laundry detergent.)
The Bad:
Who didn’t grow up on Tide? Most of us did. But for me, no more. Tide has over 100 products for consumers, but NONE is void of toxins. Just look at the list of ingredients on Liquid Tide that raises eyebrows:
ETHOXYLATES, LAURETH-9, FRAGRANCE, DISODIUM DIAMINOSTILBENE DISULFONATE, PEG-75, DIMETHICONE, ALCOHOL ETHOXYSULFATES, ALCOHOL SULPHATE, DIQUATERNIUM ETHOXYSULFATES, DIETHYLENE GLYCOL, ALKYL DIMETHYL AMINE OXIDES, PENTETIC ACID, LIQUITINT BLUE, ALCOHOL ETHOXYLATES (C10-C16) SODIUM SALT, LINEAR ALKYLBENZYL SULFONATES (C10-16), MONOETHANOLAMINE CITRATE, ALKYL BENZENE SULFONATE, ETHANOLAMINE SALT, AMMONIUM ALKYL SULFATE (C10-C16), PENTASODIUM DTPA.
This many ingredients that are difficult to pronounce is not a good sign at all! But Tide is not the only Bad Guy on the market. Other well-known brands showing concern are:
Ajax
All
Cheer
Clorox
Downy
Dreft
Fab
Gain, etc.
The Better:
These are “eco-friendly” brands that are reasonably priced and readily available at grocery stores, Walmart, and Target. But upon further investigation, these may contain 1-2 ingredients that show concern, but not like the bad guys above. I’d feel comfortable using these detergents on a short-term basis and using a second rinse. These brands include:
Seventh Generation
Mrs. Meyers
Method
The Best:
These are the brands that do not contain any of the five ingredients I mentioned and some don’t contain any ingredients in question at all. These are either EWG (Environmental Working Group) Verified or carry an EWG A rating. Two of these brands have not been tested by EWG.
These brands do in general cost more, however, I’ve listed whether they are available on vitacost.com. I will go into more detail and list these individually.
These are:
Grab Green 3 in 1 Laundry Detergent Pods
$11.99 for 24 pods
$19.50 for 60 pods
$39.50 for 132 pods
Offers fragrance-free
Available on Vitacost
Free shipping over $25 on Grab Green website
Rated A on EWG
Rated highly by customers
$21.99 for 120 loads
Offers unscented
Available on Vitacost
Rated A on EWG
Safe for septic tank
Rated highly by customers
$21.00 for 48 loads
Offers unscented
Rated A on EWG
Happi Earth (From Australia)
$76.00 for 400 loads
Certified organic to food standards
Not rated by EWG because made in Australia
Free shipping!
Ingredients listed, but nothing said about unscented
Money back guarantee
Doterra’s On Guard Liquid Laundry Detergent
$28.00 for 64 loads (member price)
Does not offer unscented (but uses essential oils)
Does not contain five unwanted ingredients
Not rated by EWG
Yearly membership required
Ginny uses and likes
$26.99 for 64 loads
$16.99 for 36 pods
Free shipping on orders $70 and up
Offers unscented
**Given EWG’s only Verified Designation!
Septic tank safe
When I’m traveling, I buy nontoxic laundry pods to bring with me rather than use the ones provided. When you have no choice but one of the better options, make sure you set your washing machine on the second rinse.
I hope this information helps you to find the right liquid detergent or pods for your family. Please share your best nontoxic laundry detergents that you use.
For Your Health,
Ginny
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