We recently had the opportunity to try Earth Breeze Laundry Detergent Eco-Sheets. I’ve been interested in them for awhile but am always hesitant to add new cleaners or soaps in our house. In order to add a new product into our house it has to meet three tests:
- We have a daughter with VERY sensitive skin and many soaps and detergents are irritating.
- I am picky about the way cleaners smell.
- It has to be cost effective
and now a bonus criteria:
4. I want to have less negative impact on the environment. I am actively seeking products that have less packaging, less trash and less shipping requirements.
We tried the Earth Breeze in the unscented variety and we used the entire package in the course of a couple of weeks. Here is how it fared on all our criteria.
THE PROS:
- Our daughter with sensitive skin (and the rest of the family) had no negative effects from this detergent! That was great! There are very few that we have found that do not cause her to have problems. This was true for the UNSCENTED variety. However, for the scented variety, several of us had skin sensitivity issues.
2. The whole family agreed that the “Unscented” smell was pleasant. It left a very faint “clean” smell on the clothes that was not harsh or strong or unpleasant. There were no odors remaining on the clothes from sweaty gym clothes to kitchen towels.
3. Cost effective? Well, this package was free in exchange for my honest review. The retail price of this product is between $16.99 and $20 for 60 loads (28 cents to 30 cents per load). As tiny as the sheets looked, I was concerned that I would need to use two per load because we have a large capacity washer and have some pretty dirty laundry (sports, kitchen laundry). I told my son, who is in charge of laundry to only use one sheet because we were testing the product, and we wanted to give a fair test based on the package’s suggested use. It did say that for VERY soiled clothes or extra large loads you may want to use two sheets. I never needed to rewash anything because it did a really great job cleaning.
4. MOST EXCITING: There is zero plastic wasted. The packaging it arrived in was a simple envelope. It could be put right into my (very modest and often weedy garden) and would go right back into the soil in a few months.
The other thing I thought about was how nice this would be for traveling with the family. When we went on a cruise we took laundry detergent to wash up a few things as needed on the trip and it can be really tough on my daughter’s skin so we had her pack more clothes. Also, when travelling to a place where we could take a liquid laundry detergent, it was bulky, a bit heavy and was a spill risk. With these, I could easily just slip an entire package in the suitcase with very little added weight and no spill risk. If I had to do a tiny load, like in the sink of a cruise ship, I could just take a part of a sheet to dissolve in there.
The only problem I had with this detergent in the unscented variety (in 60 loads) is when we had it in there with a fitted sheet. The sheet got caught in one corner of that thing and you could see where it had all absorbed into that one corner and did not really rinse well. I think next time I would just put the sheet of detergent on the bottom of the washer.
THE CONS:
The one problem that seems to be pervasive with the company is the difficulty in getting a good, consistent price. When you order 12 packs you get a great discount, but if you go to order from them, that option is not offered. Then once you pay the higher price and check out the lower price and higher quantity are offered. If you accept this offer, you will then be charged AGAIN, and the order may change your selection. Our family cannot use the scented ones as it causes rashes here, so I had to contact the company via email (No other way to contact them that I could find) and tell them about the double charges and that the larger order was for the wrong type, then wait for a refund and hope the right ones got sent. This has happened twice, several months apart, which led me to look for more reasonable alternatives.
Of course, Amazon has many options, so one that I tried and had very excellent results were Blue Water.
This seems to have all the benefits without the drama of ordering and I am all about avoiding extra work for myself. So at this point, I will finish using the ones I previously purchased and will switch over to this or another brand with more consistent pricing, easier ordering and better customer service if there is a problem because ordering from amazon always offers the option of speaking with a customer service person immediately, ease of returns, and immediate resolution to problems. Have you tried Blue Water or any other laundry sheets? I would love to hear your thoughts.
