Product Review: Ecover Laundry Detergent

In an effort to live a more sustainable lifestyle, I have endavoured to change my consumer habits whenever possible. Switching out non-sustainable products for more or completely sustainable ones.

A product line that I have been experimenting with is Ecover, makers of many household cleaning products. My first foray with them was their liquid laundry detergent. This detergent uses natural plant oils and acids to clean clothing, therefore it isn't packed with phosphates that can wreak havoc on water supplies causing algal blooms and red tide, to say nothing of all the mining of bat poo to make it. :) Washing my clothes was no different with this detergent than any other, put in a cap-full, close the lid, walk away. The entire first bottle (20 loads) went by without a hitch and I was very pleased with the results. The clothes felt clean, soft, and had a certain "earthy" smell that I enjoyed. Not "earthy" in the Patchouli sense, but rather a "I just spent the day lying in the sun on the banks of a mountain stream" way. Well, maybe not that idyllic, but close. It must be the Citronellol in the mix.

Right about load 30, I noticed that my clothes start having that "not so fresh" characteristic that was so absent before. They were still clean, and smelled good, but they seemed "heavy" and not really breathable, even just regular medium weight cotton was getting "thick". I was beginning to think that maybe the plant oils were starting to build up on the clothing, not having been stripped away by a phosphate.

In an effort to change the pH of the wash, I started adding a cup of vinegar to the mix, directly with the detergent. This seemed to help the process out a bit. The clothes did not become thicker, but definitely not returning to their lightweight state. Being the giant that I am, I tend to get over-heated quite quickly, and I definitely need my clothes to breathe. This was not working for me.

Next I started rotating detergents, Cheer Free one week, Ecover the next. I was hoping for the best, but it still seemed to be no better than adding the vinegar. The rotations moved to 2 weeks, then 3 then 4, to the point where I would just use the Ecover when I ran out of the other kinds.

My clothes have returned to their original, phosphate burned selves, and seem to be no worse for the experience. I have plans to being experimenting with it again, maybe using water softeners, different fabric softeners, etc. etc. Or maybe I'll try the powder, the list of ingredients seems to lend to a different pH than the liquid.

I can't really recommend this product to anyone at the moment, except maybe for infrequent use, or hand-washing since you really don't want chemical burns on your hands. On the plus side, I have used their Dishwasher Tablets, and have had a much different experience. But that is a review for a different day.