10 Easy Pieces: A New Wave of Organic Laundry Soaps

While weve written about natural garment washes in the past, those were formulas best suited for hand washing. I dont know about you, but I barely have time in the week to get a standard load done let alone to delicately scrub my garments basin-side. We believe we are in an age where we can expect safe, chemical-free detergent and it should be functional for everyday life. Luckily there are others who agree and have founded products around this principle. Here are our favorite organic laundry soaps in the form of liquid, pods, and sheets of soapall designed for tossing in the washing machine.

Above: Cleancult Laundry Tablets are made of coconut-based ingredients, in biodegradable packaging and come with a glass container designed for reuse. Refills are sent recyclable milk cartons; $14.45 for the set of 18 tablets. Above: Frey detergent is made with biodegradable ingredients (no sulfates, parabens, or synthetic dyes) in a cedarwood/oakmoss/amber or sandalwood/bergamot/clove essential oil scent. The Frey Classic Package comes with concentrated detergent (for 50 loads) and 40 dryer sheets for $27. Above: A friend who recently began making drastic changes to eliminate single-use plastic from her household recommended Dropps. It was one of the easier, low-hanging-fruit changes she made. Dropps Unscented Sensitive Skin Laundry Detergent Pods are made without scent, dye, enzymes, or chlorine and come shipped in a paper-lined cardboard box (so no plastic bag or bottle housing). A set for 64 loads is $20 (or $16 by subscription) up to 240 loads for $50 (or $40 by subscription). Above: The Grove Ultimate Laundry Essentials Set has it all: detergent and dispenser set, wrinkle release and stain sprays, wool dryer balls, and a collapsible organic cotton laundry tote. While the detergent and other solutions are made with natural fragrance and are paraben and triclosan free, they are made with sodium lauryl sulfate and synthetics if thats something you are careful of using. The full set is $69.95 at Grove. Above: TheFer Cheval Marseille Concentrated Laundry Liquid is, like all Marseille soap, made from seawater, ash, and lye and is allergen-free and certified organic. It is made with some synthetics and surfactants but at low levels, under 15%. Full disclosure: I bought a bottle a month ago to use for sheets alone (I usually opt for fully fragrance-free) and love the way our bedding has the scent of French soap. The bottle is $26 at Food52. Above: TheCommon Good Laundry Detergentis an ultra-concentrated formula good for up to 96 high-efficiency wash loads; its plant-based and 100 percent biodegradable. The detergent is $31.99 for a 32 ounce glass bottle from Common Good, and the bottle is refillable at any of the manyretail locationsfound on the companys site. Above: Grab Green Stoneworks Laundry Detergent Pods are made with non-toxic ingredients and scented with essential oils; $11.69 for 50 pods at Thrive Market. Above: The Public Good Laundry Essentials comes with 24 water-soluble pods made of natural compounds (and without sodium lauryl sulfates, dyes, ethanolamines, bleach, parabens, fragrance, phthalates, and formaldehyde), lavender oil, and wool dryer balls; $26 at Public Goods. Above: Zero Waste, Plastic-Free Laundry Detergent Strips are pre-measured strips of detergent for the washing machine. Made without parabens, phosphate, dyes, chlorine bleach, 1 and 4-dioxane, and isothiazolinone (bad for aquatic life), the strips are $15.50 for 32 loads up to $109 for 256 loads at Well Earth Goods. Above: The Kinn Eco Friendly Neroli Laundry Detergent is a biodegradable, plant-based formula made without parabens, phthalates, musks, toluene, phosphates, PEGs, enzymes, bleach, optical brighteners, formaldehyde, and SLS/SLES. The detergent is 8.95 for 25 loads at Kinn in the UK. Above: The Tru Earth Eco-Strips Laundry Detergent is a pack of ultra-concentrated pre-measured strips of detergents for the washing machine. Coming in zero-waste compostable packaging, the detergent is free of parabens and phosphate and is biodegredable and vegan; $19.95 for 32 loads at Tru Earth. Above: Bedding company Parachute makes a plant-based, biodegradableLaundry Detergentwith pure essential oils; $9 per bottle at Parachute.

For more see our post12 Natural Garment Washes and Detergentsand see more posts on organic living:

• 10 Easy Pieces: Organic Bed Pillows
• 10 Easy Pieces: Hypoallergenic Down Alternative Comforters
• Stealth Luxury: Organic Plant-Dyed Towels from Japan
• Raw Color: Creating the Ultimate Organic Dye