Ecover takeover by American Co

[Whitilocks]

Ecover was taken over by the American company, S C Johnson in September 2017. They produce products such as Pledge and Glade air fresheners which have a lot of chemical perfumes in them like Persil etc. I am horrified to find that I have just bought 3x.5 litre bottles of laundry liquid that smell very similar to that , oh so disgusting, Persil. My last bottle of Ecover laundry liquid just smelled of natural soap, which is how I like it. I am sure artificial perfumes aren't good for any of us especially children's sensitive skins and noses. Anyway that's the last lot of Ecover I am buying. Any recommendations ?
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[Onesmallstepforaman]

Would the Eco balls be any good? I'd noticed Ecovers packaging change recently, but hadn't needed any, so was unaware of the scented nature.

[LaPampa]

Just found this post whilst looking for information - I had noticed that Ecover stopped selling the plain concentrate washing liquid which was the only one I could tolerate smell wise.

Will check out the BioD mentioned above - I've used Ecover for about 15 years but I can't buy it now I know who owns it.

Any other ethical laundry brands?

[Laucu]

I have used Faith In Nature's detergent before with good results. Bio D laundry liquid seems to get the job done but it is very watery.

[falcon5]

Oh flip. I just bought 3 huge washing machine liquid boxes. Growl.

[Adarajames]

I found this out via friends fb post, bastarding sellouts!! . So it's back to more expensive faith in nature products and no more nice smelling bath cleaner!

[Whitilocks]

You are welcome. I am just pleased that there is somewhere that I was able to bring this to the attention of people who also care, for various reasons, and are interested in how we are manipulated by big business.

[Tika77]

Another thank you from me as well. I didn't know about the takeover and I used to buy Ecover for ethical reasons but won't support SC Johnson.

[AnnaMagnani]

Thank-you Whitilocks for this thread. DH and I have been considering our choices and thinking about going plastic-free.

It's a clear no to Ecover then for us, and we will be hunting out Bio-D, or even just ordinary stuff that comes in cardboard boxes as the extra benefit of using Ecover has been lost.

[ArcheryAnnie]

The one ecover product I will carry on using is their washing-up liquid which comes in a bottle made from ocean plastics. The washing-up liquid works as fine as any other, and it's a good idea to buy products which are sold in recycled plastic, as there's no point in us recycling plastics if there's no market for the plastic thus reclaimed.

[Fekko]

I’ve just spotted it on Ocado. Abel & Cole and amazon. Maybe it’s just not in the shops.

[borntobequiet]

The person in customer support mentioned Ecover Zero - but I too have never seen it anywhere. For me it sounds a bit too much like the no sugar versions of fizzy drinks such as Coke, which invariably taste even worse than the original.

[Fekko]

I’ve not seen it anywhere!

[Inchyragirl]

All these former Ecover fans .... I’m surprised no one has mentioned the Ecover Zero range - //www.ecoverdirect.com/departments/zero.aspx?deptid=ZERO - which is frangrance free and approved by Allergy UK.
Worth a try, though I can’t say I’ve ever seen it in a shop.

[BearFoxBear]

I'm really disappointed by both Ecover and Method . DH hated the scent of BioD stuff, so what now...?

[borntobequiet]

I phoned Ecover's customer care number to complain about the vile pink fabric conditioner. The customer service person was in fact very nice and apologised but said they had changed the formula to attract new customers and encourage them to use environmentally friendly products. I said that was all very well but how did it help to use cheap and nasty smelling fragrances? Also that if people like me, who have been using Ecover products for years, stopped buying them, where did that leave them? Again she apologised - and again I said sorry, but regretfully, I would be buying a different brand from now on.

[Owlish]

I didn't know that! Bloody shocking how these ethical companies sell-out to big pharma. Body Shop did the same. I was thinking of trying the Bio from Oxfam that a pp mentioned.

[ArcheryAnnie]

I don't get why whoever took over Ecover or Method changed the formulas. What's the point, if they bought a successful business where people liked and bought the existing products?

[ArcheryAnnie]

The Bio D that AuntyElle posted a pic of is what I use. It works well, as it's a powder it doesn't make the washing machine slimy, it's got minimal packaging and it doesn't smell awful (or indeed of anything much at all). It looks like quite a small bag, but you don't need a massive amount in the powder drawer, so it lasts a while.

Also, I get it from Oxfam so it's nice to know the profits are going somewhere useful.

(An aside: I bought a top off ebay, and it took about six washes for the awful, awful smell of the floral conditioner to fade. It was like wearing someone else's top just after they'd doused themselves with horrible perfume and then tried it on. Don't use floral fabric conditioners, ebayers!)

[100YearsOfVote]

Shame Method has been sold. This explains why my beloved super concentrated laundry stuff has been discontinued and replaced with highly coloured very smelly stuff.

[Whitilocks]

Herbwoman you are absolutely spot on - Method have also been taken over by S C Johnson (of Pledge - synthetic Lavender fame) so I will not be bothering to try that brand. Why is it that American companies always reduce something good to something worthless - ? Motives ? Profit!!!

[Whitilocks]

Big business - it's all down to the profit motive !!!- who or what the heck can you trust. Requires more investigation. Allergies are such a big problem - when is big (American /petrochem) business going to start taking some responsibility for all the problems that they are creating??

[AuntyElle]

Yes, non-bio(logical) = enzyme-free so less irritant.
I was surprised to see optical brightners in the Surcare.

[MarigoldGloveHotel]

Oh no, optical brighteners are a big no no.

Not biological means non-bio which is good for skin, no ?

Hmmm, I might stick my head in The sand for a bit longer. Our local health food shop does the ecover refills, you take your bottle and refill from a tank. I'm assuming they are old skool Ecover as the packaging looks old. I'll stock up.

[AuntyElle]

That’s awful, Marigold.
I’ve got Surcare atm, but it does say it contains optical brighteners which apparently can be irritant so 🤷🏻‍♀️
I think I’ll then go back to Bio-D. Which (confusingly) isn’t biological, but biodegradable.

[MarigoldGloveHotel]

I know poor DP. I'm going to have to buy a bottle of Surcare and wash a pair of his socks in it aren't I? It's not worth doing a full load of his stuff as if it does set him off I'll need to track everything down and re wash.