Green Washing Your Clothes
Posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009
Which green detergent should I use and how well does it work?
When it comes to green laundry detergent, my knowledge was extremely limited. Like most consumers the only brand I had really heard of was Seventh Generation. So I needed to do some research.
I was unable to find a good rating system of green detergents online. So like any blogger, I turned to the advice of my peers. What green laundry detergent have bloggers found to work?
The top three in the results of my research were as follows.
(well, actually 4 if you count nuts)
1. Sun & Earth- rated the highest by green laundry bloggers this detergent is not only good for the environment it does the best job.
2. Moutain Green- rated second across my blogger sources. This detergent was easier for me to find. I purchased some at my local Sprouts or Sunflower Market. Whole Foods however, did not carry this brand in my Colorado.
3. Bio-kleen- rated as third but still great for the environment and the easiest of the list to find. This brand in was present on the shelves in almost all my surrounding grocery stores.
The Best for Mother Earth: Soap nuts or Soapin. This is an all natural solution that does not come traditionally pre-packaged. You buy the nuts in bulk and use some in each load of laundry. Unfortunately I’m not aware of the best source to purchase these amazing laundry nuts.
So why no Seventh Generation? The rating on various blogs and in my personal experience was that Seventh Generation simply did not do a great job cleaning. On tougher stains it came up short. Great for the environment until you do the same load twice.
Want to get some green cleaning products for yourself and can’t find them locally? Try CleaningGreen.com
Read for yourself, here are my sources:
GRIST – IT’S A WASH: A review of six green laundry detergents
Inhabitat – Green Laundry Ball
Sprig – 10 Green Laundry Detergents