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In what seems a very long time ago I discovered a detergent that contained absolutly no plastic, not even the little plastic scoop.  Well I had high hopes for the Classic Purex, but it’s just not pulling it’s weight.  Four children make for a lot of dirty clothes and the plastic free detergent option just wasn’t doing a good enough job of cleaning the clothes.  I tried adding baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to the wash but the clothes still came out dingy and the stains would still be there.  So I decided to see if there was another brand that I could try that was more of a “natural cleaner”. 

There are several biodegradable, more eco friendly, laundry detergents out there…the first one that comes to mind is Seventh Generation.  I use their dishwasher detergent and I really like it, so I tried it.  It didn’t do a bad job, it did a better job then the Purex, but I wasn’t impressed.  The second brand was Ecover it had the same result as the Seventh Generation…not bad but not fantastic. 

The Purex is only $3.99 for a box that will do about 40 loads and the Seventh Generation and Ecover were about twice that and did fewer loads, so with the extra added cost I expected a cleaning miracle. 

The next one I tried was Mrs. Meyers Clean Day it comes is several different scents and since I am a sucker for lavendar, I almost fell in love immediatly. It’s pricey but it is concentrated so it does as many load as my Purex does so I am getting more for my money versus Seventh Generation and Ecover.  And the best thing is that it works!  It gets the stains out of my napkins and leaves them smelling great.  The downside to this love affair is that the detergent is liquid so it only comes in plastic, it’s recycable but still plastic. 

I have contacted the company to see if there are refilling programs, but as far as I can tell only one of my local stores carries the Mrs Meyers and they don’t refill. 

So this is the best option that I have come up with, not the greatest option but the best I have found so far.  I will continue to look for other options…hopefully a detergent that is powder so it comes in a box and not in a plastic jug.

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