Greenscents is a wonderful brand of laundry liquid. Not only is it made with organic ingredients (and free from palm oil), but it’s also packed in glass bottles with an aluminium lid. After your first order, you can simply order large 5 or 20 litre containers to reorder (saving you money, then send them back to be washed, refilled and sent back to you.
Choose unscented laundry brands for pregnancy/nursing, babies and pet bedding (citrus is toxic to pets). This brand offers an NonScents version. Laundry synthetic fibres in a microplastic catcher).
Greenscents recommends using around 4 to 5 teaspoons of laundry liquid for a standard wash (5 to 6 kg). Or less for a quick wash, a little more if you live in a hard water area. Always follow washing machine instructions, and keep the bottles away from sunlight. You can also use this liquid for hand-washing (use 20ml to 25ml in a bowl of warm to hot water).
When laundering clothes, check labels and wash non-fast coloured and whites separately. For stubborn stains, use oxygen bleach (harmless to aquatics, unlike chlorine bleach).
To wash clothes properly, you’ll need some kind of detergent. So here is a better brand. Most detergents contain non-biodegradable ingredients (that harm aquatic life), blue-hued optical brighteners (to give the illusion of ‘whites whiter than white’ and too many essential oils (in higher concentrations, these can also harm aquatic life, which is why you should never pour them down drains).
Are Laundry Detergents Tested on Animals?
GreenScents isn’t, and has a clear policy on its website. But although EU law (when we were in the EU) stopped the sale of cosmetics tested on animals, this does not apply to household goods (or paint or medicines).
You’ll find all the major brands have words on their website like ‘we don’t test on animals – and then tend to add something like ‘unless there is an alternative’ or ‘what is required by law’. Of course, companies like GreenScents shows there is no need. And if the big brands really were free from animal testing, one wonders why they don’t apply to be certified by the Compassionate Shopping Guide? Or at least make it very clear on policy, rather than ambiguous wording.
