Our clothes are smelly. With 3 dogs, 3-5 cats (depending on the day) and a 10-year-old, we are outside a lot. Not to mention, we live in the Natural State, with its abundance of parks, hiking trails, and playgrounds. We are outside year round, and our dirty clothes definitely smell like it.
For laundry detergent, I’ve always bought Gain or Arm & Hammer or some other mainstream brand on the store shelves, and for the most part, they were all about the same to me. They got the job done, and our clothes were clean.
But a few years ago, I made a vow to only purchase certified cruelty-free products, so I had to make a change. Hint: most brands you find on the shelves are not cruelty-free.
So I was on the hunt for a new laundry detergent. I started out trying the most accessible cruelty-free brands – Simple Truth from Kroger, Seventh Generation, and ECOS. These brands are all certified cruelty-free, are affordable, and are highly accessible, as they can be purchased at Kroger, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. And while I applaud these companies for prioritizing animal welfare, the products are just okay. And by okay, I mean that our clothes just didn’t come out of the wash smelling clean. They weren’t dirty, but they just didn’t have that fresh, clean smell that I wanted.
I also tried Molly’s Suds laundry detergent. It is also affordable, certified cruelty-free, uses all natural ingredients, and can be purchased from Amazon, Target, and a few other retailers in our area. And while I love the company’s mission and their dishwasher detergent pods (more on that in another post), the laundry detergent was just….once again….okay.
Recently, I decided to try Earth Breeze Laundry Detergent Eco sheets, and they have been, by far, the best cruelty-free laundry detergent I’ve tried. I’ve never used detergent sheets before, so I was a bit hesitant at first. I was skeptical that a little detergent sheet could have the same cleaning power as liquid detergent, but I was wrong. The first time I used Earth Breeze detergent sheets, I pulled the load out of the dryer and instantly smelled that clean scent I’d been waiting for.
When shopping for household products, the first thing I look for is whether a product is certified cruelty-free. But Earth Breeze is that and so much more. The laundry sheets contain no optical brighteners, dyes, parabens, phthalates, preservatives, or any other harsh chemicals, and I don’t even pretend to know what all of that means, but in general, the fewer the chemicals the better.
The second thing I look for in a product is whether the container can be easily recycled, and Earth Breeze definitely takes the cake on this one. Once the laundry sheets are gone, all you have left is a small paper pouch to toss into the recycling bin. No large plastic jugs to rinse or take up valuable space in your bins.
Finally, these laundry sheets could not be easier to use. The sheets come in the pouch already separated, and surprisingly, do not stick together. The instructions say to use one-half sheet for light loads, one full sheet for large loads, and two sheets for heavily soiled or extra large loads. So far, I’ve just thrown one sheet in to every load I’ve done, and it’s worked just fine. No spills. No mess. Easy breezy.
I will caution that I always spot treat stains, so I can’t say whether Earth Breeze can remove stains without treating them first. Honestly, I’ve never found a laundry detergent that removes stains without the need to spot-treat, so that’s nothing new.
But overall, Earth Breeze Laundry Detergent Eco sheets are a great option for a sustainable, cruelty-free laundry detergent. And don’t just take my opinion. These Eco sheets have a 4.4 star rating on Amazon with over 92,000 ratings. So go ahead and give them a try. Your laundry and recycling bin will thank you!
Disclaimer: All products mentioned in this post were purchased with my own money, and all opinions are my own.