Laundry Detergent Reviews

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Laundry Detergent Reviews Reviewed
Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Laundry Detergent Ratings Comments on Reviews
1. Consumer Reports >> Details/Subscribe	Laundry Detergents Editors of Consumer Reports Jan. 2007		Consumer Reports tests 39 high-efficiency and conventional laundry detergents against nine common staining agents, including grass, chocolate ice cream, red lipstick and blood. Products are tested in three categories: cleaning, keeping dirt off and keeping dye off. The list also indicates whether the detergents contain NPEs (nonylphenol ethoxylates), which are toxic to aquatic plants and animals. A ratings chart is included. This is easily the most comprehensive performance review we found.

Laundry Detergent Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Laundry Detergent Ratings Comments on Reviews

2. Slate.com >> Details/Subscribe	Wash This Way Eliza Truitt Feb. 1999		Eliza Truitt conducts hands-on tests of laundry detergents in three areas: color fastness, stain removal and odor removal. For color fastness, she tests All and Wisk powders, both with color-safe bleaches, against Liquid Tide with Bleach Alternative. She puts some vibrantly colored baby clothes through 14 washes. Tide with Bleach Alternative does the best job. For the stain removal test, she throws some new underwear onto a New York City street and drags them through a gutter. She then splatters them with barbeque sauce and jelly-donut filling. She tests these stains against four detergents: Cheer, Tide, Dynamo and American Fare (a Kmart store brand). Cheer does the best overall, followed closely by Tide. The remaining two brands do not do well. For the odor removal test, the author borrows some clothes from a fitness instructor. She tests Gain, Surf and Fab. Gain and Fab do good jobs, but Surf does not. While not comprehensive, this is a practical and well documented casual test.
3. Consumer Reports >> Details/Subscribe	'Softergents' for Double Duty Editors of Consumer Reports Jan. 2007		Consumer Reports tests two laundry detergents with fabric softeners against two detergents without softeners plus a separate softener to see if clothes come out any softer when using the combination products.
4. Consumer Reports >> Details/Subscribe	New Cheer Aims to Keep Dark Clothes Dark Editors of Consumer Reports Jan. 2006		Cheer Dark Formula is formulated to prevent black and other dark colors from fading. Consumer Reports tests this claim against two other regular detergents. We like these kind of short tests from Consumer Reports. While not a comprehensive review, editors seem to enjoy testing these kinds of marketing claims to see if they hold water.
5. BMJ (British Medical Journal)	Streptokinase Versus Alteplase and Other Treatments for Acute and Delayed Thrombolysis of Blood Stains in Clothing C.K. Pager Dec. 2000		The author is a resident medical officer in a hospital in Australia. Blood stains on white pillowcases are pretreated with one of three thrombolytic drugs (which dissolve blood clots) or one commercial stain remover (unnamed) before being laundered. A control set of stained pillowcases is laundered without any pretreatment to the stain. None of the pretreatments work better than washing alone. The author finds that washing sooner (within five hours) gives better results than washing later (at nine hours). Washing in hot water is better than washing in cold water. However, the stain should be kept wet until laundering and it may be better to use cold water for this purpose. While not a comparison test of laundry detergents, we find this report fascinating and useful.
6. Slate.com >> Details/Subscribe	Will It All Come Out in the Wash? Dan Crane June 2007		A writer tests seven stain removers: Ecover, Tide to Go, Shout Wipes, OxiClean, Spray n' Wash, Shout and Zout. Zout performs the best, followed by Shout and Spray n' Wash. Methodology is clearly spelled out and the author tested these cleaners on coffee, salad dressing, mustard, lipstick, barbecue sauce and blood.

Laundry Detergent Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Laundry Detergent Ratings Comments on Reviews

7. Federal Trade Commission	Wash Daze: Laundry Gadgets Won't Lighten the Load Editors of FTC website Apr. 1999		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. No products are named. The alert also provides some basic laundry tips.
8. Good Housekeeping.com >> Details/Subscribe	GT on TV Editors of Good Housekeeping Not Dated		Good Housekeeping has a number of small tests on a few products at a time, but doesn't appear to have conducted a large comparison roundup of laundry detergents. In a test of four fine-fabric detergents, testers found All, Woolite and Ivory Snow to be fine for silks and wool, but the Origins detergent (discontinued) left silks a bit softer. In another test of two tablet detergents, experts found that performance matches that of powder, but costs are sometimes higher. In a third test, designer detergents are examined for cleaning ability and fragrance, but none do as well as Tide.
9. Choice.com.au >> Details/Subscribe	Magnetic Washing? Editors of Choice.com.au Feb. 2006		This report tests the Life Miracle Magnetic Laundry System, two magnetic balls that are placed in a washer in lieu of detergent, against clothes washed using regular detergent and plain water. The magnetic ball system has a similar soil removal score to that of plain water. In contrast, the standard detergent cleans about twice as well. No other detergents are included in this test.
10. H2O Dot Con	Magnetic Laundry Aids and Surface Tension Reduction Stephen Lower Not Dated		This website, 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. There are no actual ratings of laundry detergents here, but the chemical analysis included is fascinating.
11. Environmental Science & Technology	Cold-Water Laundry Detergent Is a Hot Idea Rachel Petkewich Dec. 2005		This report considers whether cold water can be used to adequately clean clothes. The author discusses how Tide Coldwater detergent works. She also interviews two scientists, who state that hot water is better for heavily soiled clothing. Ian Hardin, a professor of textile sciences at the University of Georgia, recommends that hot water be used when there is a chance that a bacterial or a viral illness could be spread through a household. Cold water may be fine for lightly soiled clothing, however, and washing with cold water saves energy.
12. TerraPass.com	Energy Tip# 17: Wash and Rinse in Cold Water Orrin Cook Oct. 2006		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." The report repeats the general consensus that cold water is fine for everyday laundry, but hot water is better for diapers or grease stains.
13. WTNH (Branford, CT)	Testing OxiClean Sonia Baghdady reporting July 2003		OxiClean is a product added to laundry detergent to help remove stains. In this television news story, OxiClean is tested against stains made by make-up, grape juice, spaghetti sauce, dirt and grass in two separate tests. In the first test of make-up, grape juice and spaghetti sauce, OxiClean removes most of the make-up and grape juice, but it doesn't make much of a difference with the spaghetti sauce. The second test uses grape juice and spaghetti sauce, plus dirt and grass. OxiClean removes the grape juice completely and removes most of the dirt. Again, the spaghetti sauce is left. Although no other laundry detergents are tested or rated, this is a well-done single-product test.
14. KCBD (Lubbock, TX)	Which Oxygen Based Cleaner Works the Best? No author listed Jan. 2003		This test, conducted by a television station news team, evaluates four stain removers that are added to the wash with regular laundry detergent. Clorox's Oxygen Action, All's Oxiactive (discontinued), OxiClean and Shout's Oxy Power (discontinued) are tested against four stains: grass, mustard, sherry wine and ketchup. The tester reports that none of the stain removers completely removes all of the stains, but OxiClean works the best.
15. WPVI (Philadelphia, PA)	Action News Product Test Nydia Han Not Dated		Nydia Han tests a product called White Wizard, which is scrubbed into the stain before washing, and reports that it works better on lipstick, ink and grape juice than do Oxi-Clean (which was not scrubbed into the stain) and Didi 7 (also scrubbed in before washing). Even with the good results, Nydia Han does not think that any of the products are worth the extra work.
16. AssociatedContent.com	Traditional Over Eco-Friendly Laundry Soap? - Tide Detergent Vs. Seventh Generation Dianna Zaragoza May 2007		Dianna Zaragoza compares Tide detergent with Seventh Generation. Both laundry detergents cleaned equally well. The writer prefers the light scent of Seventh Generation. The wash water also seemed to drain cleaner with Seventh Generation than with Tide. Tide does not provide a complete list of ingredients, but Seventh Generation does. Seventh Generation does not contain petroleum products, but Tide is much more economical. Zaragoza concludes that both are good.
17. Science Daily	Hotter Is Better For Removing Allergens In Laundry Editors of Science Daily May 2007		This 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.
18. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology	Effectiveness of Laundry Washing Agents and Conditions in the Removal of Cat and Dust Mite Allergen From Bedding Dust ER Tovey Nov. 2001		This scientific study tests removal of cat dander and dust mites by laundry washing. The study uses four laundry agents (water alone, soap, detergent with enzymes and detergent without enzymes), four temperatures (59 degrees, 77 degrees, 113 degrees and 140 degrees Farenheit) and three extraction times (5, 20 and 60 minutes). 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.

Laundry Detergent Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Laundry Detergent Ratings Comments on Reviews

19. Amazon.com	Laundry Detergents Contributors to Amazon.com As of Jan. 2008		Amazon.com sells dozens of laundry detergents, both well-known brands and smaller labels. Many of the detergents receive customer reviews. Two detergents from Seventh Generation are the bestsellers and well rated. Amazon also lists two home dry cleaning kits: Dryel and Dry Cleaner's Secret. Both receive fair to good reviews.
20. Drugstore.com	Laundry Detergents Contributors to Drugstore.com As of Jan. 2008		Drugstore.com lists almost 50 detergents. Far fewer products are reviewed by readers as compared with Amazon.com, and the number of reviewers for each product is also much lower. Most laundry detergents receive similar high ratings, so it's hard to tell which might be higher rated overall by site visitors.
21. RateItAll.com	Laundry Soap (Liquid) Contributors to RateItAll.com As of Jan. 2008		RateItAll lists 16 brands of laundry detergent, one of which receives no ratings. Particular formulations of detergents are not listed. SA8 receives a perfect five stars, based on six reviewers. Tide receives the most votes with 57; its score is almost four stars. Gain receives 44 votes, with a score of just over three and a half stars. Ultimately, this site isn't very useful.
22. AssociatedContent.com	Dryel VS. Dry Cleaner's Secret: Battle of the Dry-Cleaning-At-Home Brands A. Cartwright June 2007		The author is a regular user of two at-home dry cleaning kits: Dryel and Dry Cleaner's Secret. According to A. Cartwright, the advantage of Dryel is that it has a superior stain remover. Dry Cleaner's Secret is more convenient because it consists of a sheet that is put into the dryer with the garment, whereas with Dryel, the garment must be placed into a bag that goes into the dryer. The writer also discusses which clothing is best for these kits. This test clearly isn't scientific, but the casual write-up is interesting.
23. Which.co.uk >> Details/Subscribe	Best Buys: Detergents Editors of Which.co.uk May 2007		This site, based in the United Kingdom, rates powdered detergents. None of the reviewed brands are known in the United States. However, the report states that powdered detergents are more popular in Europe. This preference is in contrast to the United States, where liquids are more popular.
24. SavingAdvice.com	Cold Water Wash Challenge Contributors to SavingAdvice.com As of Jan. 2008		The forum contains dozens of entries on the merits of washing in cold water. Most contributors agree that cold water is fine. One reviewer states that her daughter has vulvitis, which recurs when her underwear is washed in cold water.
25. AssociatedContent.com	A Review of Cheer True Fit Detergent: How Clothes Are Suppose to Look and Feel Donna Porter Dec. 2006		Donna Porter tries Cheer True Fit Laundry Detergent, which is formulated to help clothes maintain their shape through washing and drying. She finds that the detergent keeps its promise, even revitalizing an old sweater. She also praises the way it makes the fabric feel. She notes that the stain removing ability of this detergent is about average. No other laundry detergents are tested, rated or compared.
26. AssociatedContent.com	Cheer Free & Gentle Gives Me Best of Both Worlds Steve Helmer June 2007		Steve Helmer tries Cheer Free & Gentle because his wife and daughter have sensitive skin. Original Cheer makes his wife break out in hives, but Cheer Free & Gentle does not. The writer is also pleased with the cleaning power. No other laundry detergents are rated or compared in this user review.
27. AssociatedContent.com	"All" Small & Mighty Concentrated Laundry Detergent - The Most Effective for Your Money Zachary Fruhling May 2007		This user review focuses mainly on the packaging of All Small & Mighty. While some casual testing is indicated, the writer doesn't try to measure its performance against any other laundry detergents.
28. GreenHomeGuide.com	Readers Rate Laundry Detergents Contributors to The Green Guide As of Jan. 2008		The Green Guide website provides an excellent examination of the environmental concerns raised by regular laundry detergent. Also, it surveyed 400 of its visitors to see how environmentally-friendly detergents stack up against regular detergents. More than three-quarters of the respondents state that the eco-brands clean as well as regular brands. Seventh Generation products are most popular. Since this website caters to green living, readers may be already predisposed to rate green laundry detergents highly, so this survey is likely not as objective as it could be.
29. NewsNet5 (Cleveland)	Popular Laundry Detergent Put To Test Angie Lau May 2007		Two testers at this TV station try the OxiClean detergent ball (discontinued). They are unimpressed with the results. Some clothing has to be rewashed. No other laundry detergents are tested or rated.
30. About.com	Top 6 Laundry Detergents Sarah Aguirre Not Dated		The author lists her favorite detergents, but little testing is described, so it's unclear how or if her picks were tested. She also doesn't specify the detergent variety for Tide or All Small & Mighty. Surprisingly, the author includes the OxiClean Detergent Ball, which was poorly reviewed by expert reviewers and has since been discontinued.

Laundry Detergent Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Laundry Detergent Ratings Comments on Reviews

31. Real Simple	Detergents With A Gentle Touch Editors of Real Simple Feb. 2005		This short article discusses approaches to cleaning fragile fabric. It recommends two brands, Woolite and Victoria's Secret Gentle Affection Delicate Wash (discontinued), but it's not clear whether or not these detergents were tested.
32. Epinions	Laundry Detergents Contributors to Epinions As of Jan. 2008		Epinions really doesn't have a section for laundry detergents -- you have to search the site. And even then, few of the listed detergents have received any reviews or ratings from readers.