Best Green Laundry Detergent

I’ve tried a lot of eco-friendly laundry soap, but like most people, I eventually picked a favorite and settled down with it. For over a year I’ve been using Biokleen Citrus Laundry Powder or the Biokleen Free & Clear Laundry Powder. I like both, it just depends on what my store has in stock.

I first tested the Biokleen Liquid Detergent, but didn’t like the plastic bottle issue so I switched to powder which comes in an unbleached corrugated box. The powder works much like the liquid, which I gave a full review on at Tree Hugging Family, but we’ll look at some general perks here.

Use and Eco-Perks:

• No fillers, made with all natural 100% active ingredients, free of borine, chlorine, metasilicates, borax, or caustics. Contains color-safe oxygen bleach and grapefruit seed extract.
• Safe for front loading washers.
• No animal testing.
• This stuff works great – gets out small stains, makes clothes smell fresh, and does all the other tasks you’d expect from your detergent.
• Vegan.
• Non-toxic to humans and aquatic life.
• No carcinogens.
• No teratogens.
• No mutagens.
• No neurotoxins.
• Non-corrosive to skin or eyes.
• No respiratory irritants.
• No skin sensitizers.
• Biodegradable.
• No 2-butoxyethanol.
• No toxic metals.
• 0% phosphates
• Full disclosure of ingredients to third parties.

And the best issue – PRICE. Per load this is the least expensive store bought green laundry soap I’ve found. It’s always less expensive than other green brands. The powder notes that it’s concentrated and that there are 54 loads per 5-lb. box but I get more uses than 54. I’ve used a little less soap per load and the wash gets just as clean. So this soap is a killer deal. It lasts forever.

Bad stuff? I can’t stand the Biokleen website. It’s not totally user friendly, you can’t find the MSDS forms there, although you can get them at Green Home, and I can’t find a recycling how-to page or an ingredients page, which is in my opinion shoddy for an eco-company.

Note: As noted, the liquid form of this detergent comes in a plastic bottle, which is recyclable, but has a cap that may not be. However, the one perk of the liquid is that it makes a great pre-soak stain fighter – which the powder doesn’t. We don’t get many stains at my place, so I stick with the powder.

Overall though, if you ignore their website this is a great and economical detergent.