Arm & Hammer Essentials laundry detergent

[Naturalyst]

I stopped at my non-green, non-organic local supermarket last night and saw the strangest things .

In the household cleaners section were Greening the Cleaning glass cleaner, Greening the Cleaning all-purpose cleaner and Method products (Method's not a big leap - but, it's a step). In the body soap sections were pure glycerin soaps and bottles of castile. In the detergents aisle I found A&H washing soda and borax ... and, then I froze!

Before me was a product labeled "Arm & Hammer Essentials Detergent" ... biodegradable, no petroleum products. The new manager was checking prices next to me and saw me staring. She smiled, flipped the bottle around and prompted, "Look at the ingredients."

:
A&H baking soda
naturally derived cleaning agents
natural water softener
water
fragrance

I opened the cap, took a sniff - not bad, light and clean.

O.K., a new manager explains the inclusion of crunch brand household cleaners, soaps and laundry additives. But, what about the mainsteam brand of laundry detergent? :

I used the toll-free number listed this morning and, sure the manufacturer would be "busted", asked for a full ingredients list.

:
A&H baking soda
coconut and/or palm oil derived surfactants
natural water softener
water based perfume
water
nothing else ...

It was put in limited market areas at the end of 2006, and its distribution was recently expanded.

Unless the "perfume" is something vile and toxic, this may be a "green" product. Those adverse to scent may not be served by this detergent. But, heck, you've got to admit that its good news when a mainstream consumer products company puts out an evironmentally friendly, well-priced product.

Because I'm still looking for the "catch", I'm going to do some laundry tonight and see how well this stuff works. My husband did some home repairs last night (another reason to wonder if there has been a recent shift in the universe) and rewarded me with greasy, dirty clothes. And, for good measure, I'll do a load of whites in cold water.

If the stuff does a good job of cleaning, I'm going to give my non crunchy friends and family a gift of laundry detergent. Does everyone else know about this already, or is this news?

[nora--not a llama]

I saw some at Target the other day and was pretty impressed, but I can tell by the smell that it won't work for us. For one thing, I'm used to EO's and the fragrance in the Arm & Hammer is SO overpowering it almost made me light headed. I can also tell by smelling it that it would wreak havoc on my daughter's eczema. If they used EO's to scent it would be perfect!

[Naturalyst]

Originally Posted by nora--not a llama

the fragrance in the Arm & Hammer is SO overpowering it almost made me light headed ... I can also tell by smelling it that it would wreak havoc on my daughter's eczema. If they used EO's to scent it would be perfect!

I feel overwhelmed by the EOs of most scented crunchy brands and grab unscented products whenever there is a choice. Each nose has its own level, I suppose.

After a second load of laundry, I came back and edited this post.

The first load I ran came out nice - no lingering scent. But, I had run it with an extra rinse cycle that included some vinegar - a long held habit from the days when I washed with laundry soap (instead of detergent). The scent probably washed out because it is water based, not an oil (i.e. essential oil).

I ran the second load without a second rinse and without any vinegar in the rinse. There was fragrance residue after the rinse. Not a a bad scent - not like the smack-in-the-face of Method products. It almost disappeared after a run through the dryer. But, when I planted my nose into the clothes, it was definitely there. DH thought it was faint and pleasant. DSD agreed. But, I'm a real pain in the a** about lingering fragrance on laundry. People who don't share my peeve should not be discouraged from trying this product. It did clean well.

I sent A&H an e-mail suggesting they offer an unscented version. Fragrance is a very expensive additive, so it is silly for the manufacturer to be adding it to a product aimed at a crunchy audience IMO.

[brown eyed girls]

I've been using it for 2 weeks and I am IN LOVE. It's $3.37 vs. the $16 I used to pay for my plant-based stuff. The scent, I love it. My clothes are SO much cleaner than when we tried All Free & Clear, which made my dd's eczema blow UP. The A&H... no eczema issues.

If they offer a fragrance-free version, It will be a REAL winner. Right now though? I'm LOVIN IT.

[CeciMami]

Could you post a cost per load figure for me? I'm a frugal mama and was about to order a bucket of Charlies Soap which I believe is around $.09 a load. Thanks!

[Naturalyst]

I don't recall what I paid for the bottle I bought (still using it), but if the pp is right, that it's $3.37, then that works out to a little less than $0.11 per load because it is 32 loads per bottle.

Keep in mind, though, that whenever you see the number of loads per box-bottle-whatever printed on the item, it is referring to medium size loads. So, that's to the half-fill line on the cap.

We have an very large capacity machine and I only do full loads. But, rather than add more detergent, we stick with the 1/2 capful and add washing soda (which is pretty cheap) and find all comes out clean.

[AmyCarin]

It's on-sale this week at Target for $3 There was a coupon for $1 off at some point in the Sunday Paper (maybe 3 weeks ago??)

We've been using it, it works well

[LaffNowCryLater]

I need to try this!! I tried Seventh Generation and really did not like it as many times as I tried. This might do the trick for us -- and at a much better price!! Thanks for posting about it!

[thefreckledmama]

I use it, I love it, I recommend it.

[GoodWillHunter]

sweet. I've bought it several times, and don't really like the smell, but I can ignore that, lol. At least I can try. At any rate, I like the price and am impressed. I bought two of them the other day.

[izzysmama]

I discovered it a couple of months back and felt sure I was getting away with something. When I saw it, I literally thought about stock piling (at the time it was 2.97 and I had a couple of .50 off coupons!) just assuming it was only for a limited time or some kind of a mean joke being played on us poor green people by the establishment. (Sorry - I have a conspiracy problem!)

[KentuckyDoulaMama]

I really like it.....and I LOVE the smell. I keep thinking it will disappear from the shelves so I'm trying to stock up little by little.

[prairiechild]

I bought it twice and now it is no longer at my grocery store. I'm going to go look for it.

[alyrie]

I LOVE this stuff! I picked some up because we're trying to live more "green" and we're just doing it little by little...and oh man. The smell is awesome. We were using All something or another and the smell was ok (I'm picky about my scents...I like them, but they have to be smelly good), but nothing like this. I wonder if they sell it at Sams in bigger jugs? I only found a tiny bottle, but I'd like to stock up if the price is right.

[glorified_rice]

Very Cool! That's good to know in case I run out of my homemade stuff and don't have time to make more. Too bad they don't make an unscented version.

[purplepixiewing]

Wow, I'll be looking for this, I've got some Bio-Kleen right now and love the grapefruit smell but I could switch to save all that money.

[<~*MamaRose*~>]

I'm all over this stuff now! Thanks!

[daisymommy]

For us fabric softener freaks, they just came out with dryer sheets too I saw them at Target yesterday. The box does smell insanley strong, but then again, it is a box of 144. I didn't buy them, so I don't know how it would be if I cut one in half and used it.

[QuiteLikeRain]

Is it ok for cloth diapers tho? I get so confused about all that...

[Kaitnbugsmom]

it's awesome, and the free & clear version is the stuff my dreams are made of...