Laundry Detergent Information

Alternative products

The Dryel At-Home Dry Cleaning Kit (*est. $11 for 12 garments) uses your dryer to simulate dry cleaning, allowing you to launder clothing that couldn't normally be washed at home. Dryel received a 2000 Good Buy Award from Good Housekeeping. At Drugstore.com, most reviews are mixed to positive. A few people rave about the stain remover that is included in the starter kit. A similar product on Amazon.com, Woolite Dry Cleaner's Secret Dry Cleaning Cloths (*est. $20 for 56 garments), receives an average of 4.5 stars out of five from 50 reviewers. Both kits seem to work best on lightly soiled clothing and as a touch-up between regular dry cleaning visits. Clothes may need ironing afterwards. An article on AssociatedContent.com compares these two products and concludes that Dryel has superior stain removal, but Dry Cleaner's Secret is more convenient because it consists of a sheet that is put into the dryer with the garment. With Dryel, the garment is placed into a bag (with a sheet) that goes into the dryer.

There is one unusual detergent alternative that receives good reviews on Amazon.com. Maggie's Soap Nuts (*est. 17 cents per load) are dried fruit from the Chinese soapberry tree. You put a few clumps into the provided sack and toss them into the wash. Each soap nut can be reused, but only on the same day. Nearly all of the 20 reviewers on Amazon.com are very happy with this product, with the exception of someone who tries to reuse the soap nuts after a few days elapse.

Laundry tips

About.com has a guide to all things laundry, including how to remove stains, how to iron pleats, how to clean a washing machine and how to recover from laundry disasters in "Tips and Tutorials To Do Laundry." (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)

The Martha Stewart website provides advice on organizing the laundry room and building a travel laundry kit in addition to discussing topics such as stain removal and laundering baby clothes in "Clotheskeeping."

In this consumer alert, the Federal Trade Commission advises against the use of products that propose to replace laundry detergent by altering the structure of water.

Chem1.com, written by a retired chemistry professor, examines the science behind products that purport to alter the structure of water. It dismantles, phrase by phrase, the claims made by manufacturers of magnetic laundry aids.

TerraPass.com contributing writer Orrin Cook writes: "A switch of all U.S. washers to cold water would mean a savings of about 30 million tons of CO2 per year."

This Science Daily report presents data from a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference. Jung-Won Park, MD, Ph.D. finds that washing laundry in hot water --140 degrees Fahrenheit or higher -- kills all house dust mites. Only 6.5% of dust mites are killed in laundry washed at 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Dog dander is also removed with hot water. Cat dander is not tested.

A study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology tests removal of cat dander and dust mites by laundry washing. The study concludes that both allergens can be removed from laundry when it is washed with detergent for at least five minutes in water that is at least 77 degrees.

Manufacturer websites have some information on their products, but often not nearly as much on ingredients as you would expect.

All

Arm & Hammer

Cheer

Country Save

Era

Gain

Purex

SA8 (Amway)

Seventh Generation

Tide

Wisk

Woolite