Finding the best eco-friendly laundry detergent is tough.
These days, supermarkets are filled with so-called eco-friendly detergents packed in cute little packages claiming to be the best of their kind. But it’s hard to figure out whether the claims made by these brands are valid. Not every ingredient in these “green” products is safe, and not all brands provide value to a caring consumer like yourself.
To make sure you get the best eco-friendly laundry detergent available, I’ve spent the last seven days analyzing the best laundry detergent brands and ranking them according to cleaning performance, cost per load, ingredients, packaging material, and their contribution to the environment.
Here’s what I found.
1. Earth Breeze Laundry Detergent Eco Sheets — 9.30/10 (The most eco-friendly solution)
Top-rated: 52,000 reviews.
Earth Breeze is number one on my list because not only does it tick the eco-friendly box, it also cleans exceptionally well and gives more back to society and the environment than any other laundry brand.
Pros
Earth Breeze laundry sheets tick all the performance and “eco-friendly” boxes and much, much more.
First of all, despite being perfectly safe for sensitive skin and delicate clothes, both whites and colors, Earth Breeze laundry detergent has a well-performing, concentrated formula. In fact, its cleaning power ranked in the top three results across darks, whites, and colored clothes.
Second, they work well with all types of machines and plumbing, including HE (high-efficiency) washing machines, since they produce no suds. They are also a safe laundry detergent for septic systems and greywater.
Third, Earth Breeze is formulated with a 100% eco-friendly formula. They use only primary alcohol ethoxylate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and sodium acetate trihydrate, which are vegan-friendly, plant-based ingredients, and they leave out harmful chemicals like surfactants, including phosphates and sodium laureth sulfate.
Fourth, they are 100% cruelty free and come in zero-waste packaging, reducing energy usage during the shipping process.
On top of hitting all the eco-friendly laundry detergent requirements, Earth Breeze is also one of the cheapest laundry detergents on the market. They’re only $0.33 per load for one-time purchases and you can reduce that to $0.20 per load with their monthly subscription plan. In addition, they’re so confident in their laundry detergent they offer a 100% no-questions-asked guarantee and free shipping.
But the one thing that really elevated Earth Breeze laundry detergent to the top of my list was their social and environmental work.
They donate 10 sheets to charity (homeless shelters, women’s shelters, veterans’ organizations, disaster relief, and animal shelters) with every purchase and you can even choose which cause this donation will go to.
Earth Breeze also actively volunteers in ocean cleanup and tree planting, and are 100% carbon neutral. What I loved about them is their partnership with 1% for the Planet, which means they donate 1% of their revenue to nonprofit causes.
They’re only one of three companies on this list who prove their commitment to sustainability, and the only company to do it to this level.
This is why Earth Breeze is the number one choice for eco-friendly laundry detergents.
Cons
The only drawback to Earth Breeze is that they’re relatively new to the market, and most people are brand loyal to their traditional laundry detergent. It takes time to build trust with consumers, especially considering that some famous brands have been around for more than 70 years. People only buy what they trust.
But you can check out tons of reviews and positive feedback that Earth Breeze customers have left on their website. In addition, you can test them out without the risk of losing your money, since you can always request a refund.
Overall
Earth Breeze is the best eco-friendly laundry detergent because it cleans efficiently, while the company does their part to keep the environment safe from toxins.
It has vegan-friendly ingredients, is not harsh on skin or clothes, works well in HE machines, and is 100% cruelty free. Earth Breeze is also one of the most economical options and comes with zero-waste packaging.
While it is relatively new on the market, its cleaning power and contribution to charity and eco-friendly initiatives prove their commitment to the environment.
If you want an eco-friendly laundry detergent that not only performs well and has one of the lowest prices on the market, but also proves its commitment to the environment through generous social and environmental programs, get Earth Breeze here.
2. Puracy Natural Detergent — 8.23/10 (Highly affordable but lacks performance)
I awarded Puracy second place because this brand actively donates to charity, although their liquid detergents don’t clean as well as Earth Breeze detergents.
Pros
Puracy is made of plant-based and natural ingredients and has all the basics covered, like being safe for sensitive skin, vegan, and cruelty free. They are conscious about their packaging and use small recyclable bottles, but, unfortunately, they’re not plastic free.
Puracy liquid laundry detergent is much cheaper compared to the rest of the eco-friendly detergents on this list. Their detergent is priced at $0.17 per load (a 24-oz bottle cleans 96 loads), which is cheaper than a one-time Earth Breeze purchase.
However, they don’t offer free shipping for orders below $29. I usually prefer free shipping, that way I know how much the product actually costs. So, keep adding items to the cart until you hit $29, I guess.
Not many companies actively participate in doing something positive for the environment or giving to charity. In fact, I could only find a few laundry detergent companies that actually give to the community in the form of financial assistance. For every purchase, Puracy donates a portion of profit to charity. They also took a diversity pledge to fight prejudice and racism. Puracy laundry detergent stole a second spot here for this reason.
Cons
While all of this is amazing, Puracy’s laundry detergent falls behind in cleaning performance and stain removal. After testing their liquid detergent on heavily soiled clothes, I was a tad disappointed in the results. Some stains didn’t come off.
Although Puracy does a commendable job by donating to underprivileged communities across the US, they’re not doing much to reverse environmental damage. Yes, they claim to be carbon neutral and they use recyclable packages, but by using plastic bottles, they can’t be truly carbon neutral. Earth Breeze donates to planet restoration and uses a plastic-free cardboard box instead of plastic packaging, which is what being eco-friendly is all about.
Overall
Puracy detergent is cheap and made of concentrated eco-friendly enzymes. They donate to charities that assist vulnerable communities, but their detergents don’t clean your clothes well. Overall, they’re a decent second choice if for some reason you can’t get Earth Breeze, but you may need to apply a stain removal booster before washing.
You can check out their website to learn more about their products.
3. Eco Roots Zero Waste Laundry Detergent — 7.5/10 (Good for the environment but not for your pockets)
Eco Roots takes third place because this company is the only other company besides Earth Breeze that participates in 1% for the Planet. However, the no-return policy and paid shipping is a big bummer!
Pros
What actually caught my eye is that they’re a part of the 1% for the Planet community and actively donate their annual share to green causes. Adding to their pros, they use 100% compostable and plastic-free packages.
Eco Roots sells their liquid detergent for $0.31 per load, which is nice, but they don’t have any subscription plans on their website.
Their laundry sheet is perforated and can be torn into two pieces to be used for two light loads. For heavily soiled clothes, though, it’s best to use one whole sheet for one load.
Cons
Eco Roots loses credibility because they don’t offer a refund. Also, if you want to try them out by purchasing one pack, you’ll have to pay the shipping fee. It’s only natural to get a little skeptical about purchasing their products.
As I mentioned, you won’t find any subscription offers on their products. They do offer bundle offers, and you can get as low as $0.25 per load by purchasing their “laundry detergent bundle duo,” but that’s still more expensive than my first two recommendations.
Overall
The zero-waste Eco Roots detergent is plastic-free and never tested on animals. What I love about them is their participation in 1% for the Planet. While they don’t offer a money-back guarantee or free shipping, I’d still recommend them as a third option if you want to try out eco-friendly laundry sheets.
4. Tru Earth Eco-Strips Laundry Detergent
I’ll start by stating that Tru Earth is expensive! But if you have no trouble dishing out your money, feel free to give them a try. I gave them a chance on this list because they do a lot for the environment.
Their laundry detergent ingredients are 100% eco-friendly and safe for sensitive skin. Plus, like many other companies on my list, they use plastic-free, small-sized, recyclable packaging that offsets huge carbon emissions. If you want to do something big, you can also join their fundraising campaigns and help save the planet.
I like that they give out 32 laundry sheets to charity with every subscription. But, unlike Earth Breeze, they don’t donate with every purchase, only every subscription.
Tru Earth ranks as low as they do for two reasons.
First of all, Tru Earth laundry strips didn’t perform well on my test articles. While they may have performed well at stain removal, after drying the items I noticed a faded and dingy appearance.
In addition to that, Tru Earth eco-strips are priced at $0.56 per load, which is almost twice as expensive as Earth Breeze. Even after signing up for a subscription, you’ll still pay $0.40 per load. That’s a lot considering you can get the same, or even better, performance and value at a cheaper rate elsewhere.
They’re quite expensive. If you don’t have a big budget, but you still want to make a sustainable choice, maybe consider Earth Breeze.
5. Dropps Stain & Odor Laundry Detergent Pods
Dropps laundry detergent pods aren’t half bad when it comes to cleaning performance, and they offer a satisfactory value for the price. But they are not as eco-friendly as they claim to be.
Dropps is very sensitive about single-use plastics, and it shows. They use recycled, repulpable, and compostable boxes to ship their laundry pods directly to consumers, eliminating unnecessary shipping materials.
They’re proud of sharing how they contribute to earth by donating to the development of solar energy projects. Plus, they’ve partnered up with Oceana, an organization that focuses on ocean restoration and spreads awareness about sustainable living.
Their laundry detergent costs $0.46 per load, which is quite high compared to my top three recommendations on this list. Moreover, I was skimming through their ingredients and was utterly disappointed to see “surfactants,” which are absolutely NOT eco-friendly.
I further noticed “synthetic fragrances,” which are bad for sensitive skin!
They’re simply not as eco-friendly as they claim to be, so it’s better to go for laundry detergent products that you’re sure are safe for water sources and aquatic wildlife, such as Earth Breeze!
6. Cleancult Laundry Detergent
Cleancult ranks sixth on my list of eco-friendly laundry detergents because of their average cleaning performance and bare-minimum efforts for the environment.
Cleancult laundry detergent boasts a lot about their “coco clean” technology, which uses natural ingredients like coconut extract. I am happy with the results, but it’s not as efficient as the top three on my list. However, Cleancult products are cruelty free, vegan, and carbon neutral.
Cleancult laundry liquid detergent will cost you $0.39 per load and they provide bundle offers, but they don’t give any subscription discounts. They offer free shipping over $45, compelling you to take one of their bundle offers.
What’s surprising is that they sell their liquid detergent as refills in milk carton-like packaging. So, you have to purchase a recyclable ergonomic detergent bottle and use their refills instead of buying the whole package.
It seems a hassle, and I would not recommend it.
They run a recycling ambassador program for awareness, but they don’t actively participate in eco-friendly initiatives.
However, they could easily shoot up the ranks if they were to actively participate in environmentally friendly projects rather than just spreading awareness.
7. PUR Home Laundry Detergent
PUR Home sells “handmade” products, which is quite unique in the laundry products industry. But that is also the reason they’re in seventh place. Since they are handmade, the lead time is 10–40 business days, which is too long, especially considering they don’t accept returns. This is unreasonable for a family with kids running around and spoiling clothes every other second.
What’s nice about PUR Home is that they actively contribute to charity. They’re also Leaping Bunny certified, an authentic certification for cruelty-free production developed by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC).
But what’s NOT nice is that their most prominent product, a “64 oz laundry detergent,” comes in a plastic bottle!
They don’t offer free shipping, and the brand’s supply chain is affected by COVID-19, which not only may cause further delays in your order, but also has rendered most of their most popular products indefinitely unavailable.
PUR Home will cost you $0.30 per load, which is an economical option, but they don’t provide subscription discounts or free shipping.
PUR Home’s liquid laundry detergent gave a good performance in washing, but the brand does not actively contribute to environmentally friendly initiatives. High performance is not enough to top my list, or else I’d just stick with traditional detergents, so because of their lack of eco-friendly initiatives, extended shipping time, and the fact that they’re not plastic free, they deserved the seventh spot.
8. Sheets Laundry Club Laundry Detergent Sheets
Sheets Laundry Club doesn’t contribute to the environment or make the world a more eco-friendly place to live.
Their laundry sheets are priced at $0.40 per load for a one-time purchase, making them the most expensive on this list. Now, if I’m dishing out that money, I’d want it to be used for some good cause, at least.
While other eco-friendly companies run awareness campaigns and donate to charities, Sheets Laundry Club should consider doing the same. Unfortunately, vegan ingredients and plastic-free packaging alone aren’t going to cut it.
Other Laundry Detergents I Tested
You now have a good list of eco-friendly detergents to try out.
But the detergents mentioned above are not the only ones I tested in my weeklong research. Here are some eco-friendly detergents that didn’t make it into my top eight:
Well Earth Goods Kind Laundry Detergent Sheets
These are effective but not so economical. I couldn’t find any contribution from their side to the environment.
Tide Purclean Liquid Laundry Detergent
Some people still prefer Tide due to brand loyalty, but honestly, it didn’t impress me at all. It’s made of vegan materials but isn’t very effective. Moreover, it comes in plastic bottles, which is a big NO-NO!
Biokleen Natural Laundry Detergent
Biokleen offers both laundry powder detergent and laundry liquid detergent. They have a good thing going with natural ingredients, making them safe for sensitive skin, but their laundry detergent didn’t perform well at stain removal. It didn’t get the gunk off my sample swatches as well as I would have liked.
Spacewhite Laundry Detergent Sheets
Spacewhite’s laundry sheets were good enough on whites and colors, but I couldn’t confirm they’re truly a vegan laundry detergent and suitable for sensitive skin. Why hide from people when you’re claiming to be eco-friendly?
Kind Laundry Detergent Sheets
Kind were good overall, but they didn’t perform well in HE washing machines. I also couldn’t find anything about cruelty-free production. They should work on their marketing strategy and transparency.
Beyond Laundry Detergent Sheets
Beyond has a good product and was able to take most of the stains out from my test swatches. But, again, the brand doesn’t do much for the environment!
Clean People Laundry Detergent
Clean People’s laundry detergent strips and pods are very expensive. Their laundry strips cost up to $1.03 per load! Why even consider making a product so expensive when many competitors offer better value at half the price?
The Bottom Line
I’ve tried and tested more than 10 popular eco-friendly laundry detergents on the market. Earth Breeze took the lead and came out to be number one among them.
I judged the detergents on cleaning performance, especially stain removal, cost, ingredients, and their contribution toward sustainability and conservation.
A single sheet of Earth Breeze was enough to remove tough stains. It’s cruelty free and comes in zero-waste packaging. The vegan, plant-based ingredients were also not harsh on skin and clothes.
They give away 1% of their revenue to conservation efforts as a member of the 1% for the Planet club.
Earth Breeze contributes to society on multiple fronts. Unlike other detergents, the brand actively donates laundry sheets to underprivileged communities with every purchase.
Earth Breeze is a relatively new player in the market, but they’ve earned their place among the leaders of sustainable cleaning brands.
If you want an eco-friendly laundry detergent that provides superior cleaning, produces nontoxic waste, is affordable, and helps the environment, sign up for Earth Breeze now.
Methodology
Now that you’ve read my list of the leading eco-friendly laundry detergents, I’d like to share how I researched each brand, decided the ranking, and judged different aspects of the detergents. Here’s each step of the seven-step process I used to rank these laundry detergents.
Step 1: Listing all the big eco-friendly laundry detergent brands
To start with, I made a list of all the “eco-friendly” and “green” detergents I could find on the internet, including well-known brands such as Tru Earth and Clean People. By the time I had a lengthy list of about 25 detergent brands with labels suggesting they’re “best” for the environment, I moved on to the next step.
Step 2: Online reviews
For this stage of my investigation I combed through hundreds of customer reviews. Some folks appreciated the products. Others had problems with some of the detergents’ efficiency, like those I referenced in my Kind Laundry review. A few argued about the authenticity of ingredients used in the products, while some poor souls got a painful skin reaction due to harsh ingredients!
The reviews were great for my preliminary research and paved the way for further analysis.
Step 3: Analyzing the laundry detergents
After gathering the data about popular brands, I started putting two and two together. All the brands needed to be analyzed on some criteria. I collected all the data, and I established a scoring system.
Here’s the list of the major factors I looked for in an eco-friendly laundry detergent:
- Ingredients
- Stain removal
- Effects on sensitive skin and delicate clothes
- Performance in HE machines
- Septic safety
- Cost
- Subscriptions and bundle offers
- Sustainable packaging and shipping
- Cruelty-free certification
- Contribution to environment or other charities
Step 4: Interviews with real customers
I needed more confirmation, and what’s better than contacting people who have actually purchased and used the laundry detergent products? Online reviews are not always trustworthy, and some brands even upload “fake reviews” on their websites!
I started contacting real customers and jotting down their feedback. All of them had different laundry detergent needs. Some had to deal with kids’ and baby clothes, while others were concerned about washing off tough grease and oil stains from their partners’ work clothes.
One customer complained that he was deceived into purchasing a so-called “plant-based” laundry detergent, even though it had harsh chemicals that ruined his shirt!
All of these experiences gave me valuable information and pointed me in the right direction to continue my research into the best natural laundry detergent.
Step 5: Interviews with eco-friendly laundry detergent brands
The next step was to get each company’s side of the story. I contacted top brands like Earth Breeze, Beyond, and others, and inquired about their shipping, ingredients, and contribution to society. Since most of the top eco-friendly laundry detergent companies are home-based start-ups, they have a strong sense of responsibility regarding environmental issues. It was refreshing to witness that level of commitment. Unfortunately, some popular brands were not as cooperative as others, and I’ve included this in my ranking system too.
Step 6: Test Drives
It was time to carry out my own experiments and confirm the claims that the brands were making. I took multiple swatches of cotton, silk, linen, and denim. Each soiled with food stains like cereal, baby food, ketchup, and tea. Mud, sweat, and blood were used to simulate kids’ dirty laundry. I made sure that I had identical swatches to test all the detergents.
After drying the articles naturally, I analyzed each under UV light to see how efficient the cleaning was. The top three brands on the list performed perfectly, leaving no trace of stains behind. In contrast, the rest of the detergents didn’t clean as well.
Step 7: Ratings
I have rated 15 products, from liquid detergent to powdered laundry detergent, and decided to give you more details on only the top eight eco-friendly laundry detergents. Each laundry detergent was given points based on steps 2–6. The evaluation was one heck of a task, but I’m pretty satisfied with this ranking system.
The Best Eco-friendly Laundry Detergent That Actually Works!
Many companies claim to sell an “eco-friendly” laundry detergent product, BUT they’re just bluffing to get more sales half the time. It’s hard for consumers to figure out the truth, so I performed a weeklong analysis to determine the best eco-friendly laundry detergents available today. If you’re interested in laundry sheets, check out my article comparing the top eight laundry sheets.
Keeping in mind the impact of every detergent on the environment and the cleaning performance of each, I’d highly recommend you try out Earth Breeze.
Earth Breeze actually satisfies all the concerns of a caring consumer. It ticks all the boxes effortlessly!
- You can order and test their laundry sheets for as low as $0.20 per load with an assurance of free shipping and a full money-back guarantee.
- Whenever you buy from Earth Breeze, you’ll be directly playing your part in serving the planet by donating 10 laundry sheets to one of the notable causes listed on their website.
- Earth Breeze is a proud member of 1% for the Planet.
- They are 100% vegan, cruelty free, carbon neutral and plastic free laundry detergent.
- Earth Breeze actively participates in events to restore our planet, such as ocean cleanups and tree planting.
- Last, but certainly not least, all of their ingredients are natural, and they clean your clothes perfectly!
Although they’re relatively new to the market and people don’t trust newer brands right away, they already have thousands of positive reviews.
If you want an eco-friendly detergent that will wash away all the stubborn grime while benefiting the planet, try out Earth Breeze!