How to Choose Safe and Effective Laundry Products: A Full Guide

A lot of people’s pantries are stocked with chemical laundry detergents. Sadly, these detergents can lead to people having allergic reactions and contact dermatitis. If you are somebody guilty of stocking chemical detergents, then now’s the time to take action. There are literally hundreds of companies offering safe alternatives to chemical detergents.

But how are you supposed to choose a detergent, you might be asking? Don’t worry, this post has you covered. Here’s how you can choose safe and effective laundry products for you and your family:

Reading Guides

One of the most effective ways of finding a safe laundry detergent is to read ranking guides. Ranking guides, like the list of non-toxic laundry detergent brands compared on Essential Home and Garden, can help you to make good purchase decisions. If you are going to take a guide’s advice, then still do research into the product you’re considering buying yourself. Never blindly accept another person’s advice until you have done your own research. Buying products without researching them could lead to you picking something that’s unsuitable for you.

Online Reviews

A highly effective way of determining whether or not a product’s worth using is to read its online reviews. Although in the previous section reference was made to the fact that you should never just blindly accept what somebody else tells you, reviews are an exception to this rule. Because on a product’s reviews you can sometimes see hundreds of people’s opinions, you can usually take the information that’s given there as the truth. If lots of people like a product, then it is probably good. An absence of good reviews does not mean a product is bad, by the way. People rarely leave positive reviews when they like a product. It’s when you see lots of bad reviews that there’s a problem.

Consider Ingredients

Before buying anything, even if it’s well-reviewed online, read its ingredients. A product’s ingredients are essential reading if you are apprehensive about going anywhere near chemical detergents. Most detergent ingredient lists are long. However, if you care about your health, you’re going to need to read through every single item, and then research it. You should be able to find a Wikipedia page for each of the detergent’s ingredients. You can then find out whether or not they are chemicals.

Avoiding Chemicals

Something that does need to be noted is that not all chemicals are bad. It is just harsh and abrasive chemicals like bleach that you need to avoid. It’s possible to produce chemicals using plants. If the chemicals in the detergent you are using are extracted and produced from natural products, then that means they’re a lot safer. That said, still, research the ingredients and the chemicals so that you can find a product that’s right for you. Not researching them could lead to you picking up a product that has ingredients you are sensitive or allergic to.

Natural Products

If possible, buy natural products. There is a huge demand for natural laundry detergents at the moment. Because of this, they are widely available. However, such products do tend to have large price tags. This is because it’s not cheap producing and manufacturing natural laundry detergents. Another thing worth considering is the fact that you can actually make your own natural laundry detergents at home. There are plenty of recipes available online that teach people how to make their own detergents. Bear in mind, some of these detergents are not as effective at eliminating bacteria and germs as chemical detergents are.

Cruelty-free

No matter if you are buying chemical or natural detergents, you need to make sure that you buy products that are cruelty-free. When a product is marked as cruelty-free, it means no animals were tested on. Animals are, sadly, regularly tested on by the manufacturers of laundry detergents. This is done so that companies can determine whether or not specific ingredients are safe for use on humans. If a product is cruelty-free, it’ll usually say so on its packaging. If there is no information about this there, then it is highly unlikely that the product you’re interested in buying is cruelty-free.

Product Cost

Always shop around and try to find the most affordable product that you can. At the moment, there is a cost of living crisis. People all around the world are struggling to live. If you are one such person, then splurging out on an expensive laundry detergent isn’t a good idea. You should be able to get good deals on laundry detergents by using price comparison sites. Price comparison sites will tell you how much a specific product is being sold on different websites, helping you to get the best deal on it.

Additional Items

Remember, when you buy laundry detergent, you usually also have to pick up a fabric softener too. Some detergents can be very harsh and can ruin the texture and feel of your clothes. The addition of fabric softeners can make buying detergent very expensive. If you plan on buying a detergent, then it’s a good idea to buy a two-in-one. A two-in-one detergent is a detergent that includes both soap and softener. Such products are a little more expensive than ordinary detergent but are significantly cheaper than it is to buy detergent and then softener separately.

Artificial Scents

One last thing to think about is the scent of the detergent that you are buying. More often than not, the scents used in laundry detergents are artificial. It is very unlikely you’ll be able to buy a detergent that has a natural scent, or a scent extracted from natural sources. Such products are highly expensive. If you have sensitive skin or are prone to allergies, avoid artificial scents at all costs. The easiest way to do this is to buy scentless products. Scentless products have no smell whatsoever, which is better for your skin.

It can be hard finding a good detergent to buy. If you are trying to find one that’s good for the environment, doesn’t include chemicals, and is not harsh on your skin, then read through this post and incorporate its tips into your search.