Eco friendly alternatives to regular non-bio laundry detergent

[greathat]

I want something thats going to work, but not set off eczema as I have a child who manages amazing levels of filth

Happy to have fabric softener recommendations too please!

[Yellowbutterfly1]

I also love the Faith In Nature laundry liquid.

[Abeautifulstar1]

Have you tried soapnuts? My daughter suffers of eczema too and found soapnuts for laundry to be brilliant. I get them here: earthbits.com/products/organic-soapnuts-indian-soap-berries-500g-with-cotton-storage-bag.

the same website has a blog post about using soapnuts for a variety of uses, i made some DIY recipes myself

[CaptainNelson]

Another vote for soapnuts! I use them with a bit of tea tree oil for the smell, and some bicarb as I live in a hard water area. I also run a hot wash once a month on empty with some vinegar to clean the drum, and wipe out the drum, door seal and dispenser regularly. They can all harbour dirt, smell and mould.

[Moll88]

@greathat I've been using botanical origin from Tesco! It's eco and made for sensitive skin and has been excellent at getting all that dirt out of DCs (and DH!!'s) clothes. I had a look online and seems they do fabric conditioner too but I haven't tried it

[MyOtherProfile]

It is a popular misconception that bio washing powder causes eczema.
In our experience it was hard water that caused eczema to flare up, solved by our water softener. Hence my not understanding why an eco egg would bring it back. It certainly hasn't here.

[hdh747]

Soapnuts/soapods or an ecoegg both work quite well. Vinegar and/or lemon juice helps to freshen stuff up. For whites that need a good lift I put bicarb in the drum with the soapnuts, and add vinegar to the rinse, it helps with stains as well as deodorising and when the vinegar and bicarb react as well as giving off CO2 bubbles which help lift dirk the sodium acetate that results is apparently a natural clothes softener.

[PinguDance]

I like soap nuts but live in a soft water area and generally use them on a 40 wash - not sure how they’d cope in a hard water area. I alternate those and splosh powder/detergent to prevent mould etc and I do a 60 wash prob once a week for towels or bedding. Tbh I don’t rate the splosh powder as I find my clothes are still sticky when they come out the wash but the lavender laundry liquid is nice. Splosh toilet cleaner is also great!

[whoami24601]

Another vote for soapnuts! Totally natural, clean really well and soften so no need for fabric softener. They don't really have a smell though, but you can add essential oils into the wash if you want your washing to smell nice. I bought some about 6 months ago for £12 and still have about half a bag left!

[LoniceraJaponica]

"In fact I'm not sure how they could exacerbate eczema."

Because they contain no bleach and therefore don't kill off the mould that can develop in a washing machine. It was the mould that made DD's eczema worse. Ariel killed the mould and the eczema disappeared.

It is a popular misconception that bio washing powder causes eczema. It isn't the enzymes that cause the problem, but the perfume.

[MyOtherProfile]

Ds has really bad eczema but we put in a water softener which dealt with it totally. It hasn't come back with the eco balls. In fact I'm not sure how they could exacerbate eczema.

[MyOtherProfile]

The eco egg is brilliant. It is about 24 quid on Amazon and lasts for about 700 washes, so that's more than 2 years for us. 2 years of not buying detergent! It gets everything clean and smelling neutral. No chemical perfumes but no bad smells either. We haven't had any problems with mold or bad smells. You just throw it in the washer with the clothes and that's that.

[LoniceraJaponica]

One thing to bear in mind is that many eco friendly products don't kill off any mould or bacteria in the washing machine.

DD's eczema got worse when I was using eco balls as the washer started to smell and had lots of mould. I started using Ariel bio and the mould, smell and eczema disappeared.

You need to find a product that will cope with those as well as being eco friendly.

[notsurewhatshappening]

How does the economy egg work and how much do they cost?

[bellinisurge]

Eco egg thing works for us . Love the recipes on this thread, though.

[citiesofbismuth]

Dh is a fan of soap nuts and is finding them to work well.

We add a slug of white vinegar and laundry cleanser to make sure bacteria and rogue smells are dealt with.

[fanomoninon]

Soap nuts? www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DI7J8AK/ref=asc_df_B00DI7J8AK56673013/?hvlocphy=1007156&linkCode=df0&hvnetw=g&hvadid=226549124565&creative=22122&creativeASIN=B00DI7J8AK&hvpos=1o1&hvdev=c&hvtargid=pla-386790827011&hvrand=11520693758297460070&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[ItsInTheSpoon]

I particularly liked the Faith in Nature brand as they are not tested on animals as well as containing ecologically reasonable ingredients

[ItsInTheSpoon]

@greathat Further to my recommendation above for Faith in Nature laundry liquid, I tried to order myself some more and couldn’t.... my email enquiry has had the following reply:

“I'm afraid the laundry liquid range has been discontinued and no longer available to purchase. We're no longer selling cleaning products as are only focusing now on beauty, hair-care and body washes. If you are open to try other brands, I would suggest taking a look at www.biggreensmile.com/ who run the Ecommerce, ordering line and website for us as well as sell a variety of different brands.”

I’m very disappointed and will have to take a look at that link!

[MiniMum97]

I use a mix of things. Liquid soap flakes with a teaspoon of dr bronners salsuds (found salsuds on its own made washing a bit hard but liquid soap flakes on own does not get everything clean. (Salsuds is fab by the way for loads of household cleaning inc carpets!).

I also use hydrogen peroxide mixed with bicarbonate in the pre wash cycle or as a soak for whites and stains.

Plus because I am very sweaty I use a spray bottle with 1 part washing up liquid (I use bio-d which is fantastic - I also use this as a hand wash in the kitchen and to wash my hair as it's the only thing I've tried that doesn't set off my seborrhiec eczema), and 2 parts hydrogen peroxide as a pre wash stain remover spray and on all arm pits. . If I use this I also add a half scoop of Dri-pak laundry boost to the wash to create the oxygenation. Am going to try bicarbonate soon instead to see if this is as good as it will be cheaper.

I use vinegar as a fabric softener but it isn't perfect so have recently started using Attitude fabric softener as it is rated A by the EWG even though it does have some ingredients that are less than completely non toxic. Am fed up with crispy or bobbly clothes though so have chosen to make that compromise. It hasn't flared up either of mine if my husband's skin condition.

I've done a lot of testing and trialling of different products and the above is working well for me at present.

Be aware that eco friendly is NOT the same as non toxic. A number of Ecover products contain things like phthalates which you don't want anywhere near your skin for example! I believe Ecover zero products are pretty good toxicity wise but don't have good reviews in terms of effectiveness.

If you are concerned about toxicity and/or skin safety check out the EWG health cleaning database. Even if the product is not included, you can search on individual ingredients. A full ingredient list must be provided under EU law (for now anyway!!!!). so ask the manufacturer if it's not on the packet.

[ItsInTheSpoon]

Faith in Nature laundry liquid. Not tested on animals. I have used it for about 16 years (DC had eczema as a baby).

[Madratlady]

I like BioD, they rank high for being ethical and eco friendly and it makes my washing smell fresh.

[MyOtherProfile]

We use an ECO egg. It even does the trick on muddy dog towels and sweaty sports kit!!!
Same here and they last a couple of years.

[TryingToStayRational]

I use Splosh powder and find it really good. I have bad eczema and for years was told I should use non-bio, but since I found out there isn’t any evidence for that at all I have found bio powder so much better in terms of actual washing and for my skin too.

[Starryskiesinthesky]

Ecover say they dont test on animals - ah just realised it moght be that the wider company does. Is that it?
www.ecover.com/faq/does-ecover-test-on-animals/

[AppleYumYum]

Oh no Scottish I didn't know that, am gutted, I use mainly ecover and method products. I will have to search again.

I do like Liquid Soap Flakes for my very eczema ridden ds, I get 6 packs from Amazon but can buy at Waitrose and I think Sainsbury’s. It used to be the only thing his skin could tolerate though he has grown a bit more resistant now to ecover.