Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent

Everyone has been telling me that I have to use a different laundry detergent for the baby. It has made me wonder why the detergent that I use is not gentle enough for my baby's skin. What exacty is in the detergent that I am using, and is it bad for the environment?

I decided to look into what is in the laundry detergent that I am using. The first thing I notice when looking at my bottle of Tide is that there are no ingredients listed. This makes me wonder what exactly am I washing my clothes with, and what is the company hiding? The product claims to be phosphate free and contains biodegradable surfactants and enzymes. Most surfactants are petroleum based. "Petroleum is a limited resource whose extraction and refining produce pollution. This pollution may be partially offset by pesticide use and other impacts of producing vegetable oils." (Source: Bad Stuff for the Environment). I found this additional information on the Tide website:

Other ingredients in laundry detergent can include:

• fluorescent whitening agents (to help maintain whiteness or brightness)
• enzymes (to help break down complex soils such as blood and grass)
• fragrances (to help clothes smell clean)

I started to ask myself . . .
    what are some eco-friendly laundry detergents?

Seventh Generation is a Vermont based company. Their Free & Clear: Natural 2X Concentrated Baby Laundy Liquid claims to be "loaded with baby- and earth-friendly cleaners and free of fragrances, dyes and optical brighteners." They also list all of the product ingredients on their website.
Where to Buy: Amazon (Online), Quarter Master Natural Foods, Real Canadian Superstore (Local)
Cost: $110.62/pack of 6 - 50 oz bottles (33 loads each bottle).



Earth's Berries Soap Nuts is a Collingwood, Ontario based company. Soap nuts go into your wash in a muslin bag, and can be reused a few times before returning them to the earth as compost. The website claims that a 1 kg bag would replace 9-32 load plastic bottles of detergent! You can read about the environmental benefits on their website. 
Where to Buy: Earth Berries (Online), The Organic Oscars (Local)
Cost: $30.00/1kg bag - 300-400 loads of laundry


David Suzuki's Queen of Green has a recipe for making your own laundry detergent. The ingredients are borax, washing soda, soap granules, and water.
Where to Buy: Ingredients can be bought at a local grocery or health food store.
Cost: $1 per load (Source: Canadian Living)

I was leaning towards making my own laundry detergent, but I may do some research on some other eco-friendly products before making my decision.