Arm & Hammer Essentials laundry detergent - Page 3

[jennyfah]

Originally Posted by mgilleran@earth-co

OK, I want more info on this. We have used this detergent also, when we were working on our house 7 days a week & I didn't have time to make homemade. I liked it & my clothing ends up with no scent. That may be our water? I don't know much about optical brighteners, I never worried about it since I didn't think we were using any. Does this mean that if you get detergent on your hand while loading the washer that this stuff doesn't wash off? That is scary sounding. I think I will do some research on this.

http://thomko.squarespace.com/harmful-petrochemicals/

Scroll down to 'optical brighteners.' They are quite pointless and do not make clothing cleaner; they trick the eye into thinking things are brighter/whiter. The quote about toxic to fish and bacterial mutations should be enough to make most conscious consumers apprehensive about using a product that contains OBs.

If you want more info about optical brighteners, just Google the term and quite the array of info will pop up for you.

From my research and understanding, they're not a good thing to put on your skin, in the water, or on your clothes. Buy detergent that explicitly says 'we do not put optical brighteners in our product.'

We use Country Save on everything (diapers and clothes).

Jen

[sahm2two]

I was getting so excited reading this thread and was going to add it to my list - the optical brighteners thing and the fact that it doesn't get BF poop out of CDs might just make me cross it off. *sigh*

[TefferTWH]

So does it or does it not have them in there?

[Hazelnut]

According to pinstripes and polka dots it does not, and is good for diapers. I used it but plowed through it a little fast, even with a smaller capful. It also left a lot of suds even with that, but then I think everything does with our water, except charlies. The smell was a little strong too, but I like that I can get it at Target and don't have to order online or go to whole foods or anything for other diaper-friendly detergents.

[Hannahkatiebell]

Originally Posted by Kaitnbugsmom

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

is the free and clear okay for cloth diapers?

[mgilleran@earth-co]

The last time I bought A&H I wrote the date I began using it on the bottle with a sharpie. It lasted me 3 months. We are a family of four. My kids get very dirty & my husband is a coach, which means lots of sweaty clothes. I started paying attention to how much I used. Maybe 1/2 inch in a cap per load. It got our clothes clean too. I tried to buy some a months or so ago, & WM, Target, Kroger, none of the stores that used to carry it have it now. Are you guys still seeing it in your markets? Maybe it just didn't sell well here. I have all my supplies to go back to homemade, but haven't had the time lately. I am using a free & clear now, but don't like using it, but it does get things really clean. That's the power of harsh chemicals I'm sure!

[Hazelnut]

I have two in CDs and there are 5 of us. I do a TON of laundry, but I think I used too much of this. I was confused b/c they call it concentrated, but then still tell you to use a ton. I have a hard time using very little.

As far as I know, that's the only one that doesn't have the brighteners. I got mine at TArget. I think it's still there, but I started using sensiclean so I haven't checked in a while.