Whole Foods sells a good amount of their products. I have used their Sunny Day or Morning something (I think that is the name) Fabric Softener. You would like it...naturally scented and very light. Thin, good consistency. It used to be made in Belgium, and that always made me feel somewhat "bad" as I was buying fabric softener that was shipped half-way around the world....That didn't feel very "green". :-o YES, I buy German products, but I am not buying a "green" product, so no guilt. Buying Ecover and knowing the jet fuel and diesel used to get it into our USA stores, makes it feel like the green factor has been depleted!

Their detergents are ok. Nothing bad, nothing great. I kind of lump Ecover detergents with Seventh Generation...Nothing inherently bad with them, just nothing that I get excited about, or feel the need to stay with.

I liked the stuff with enzymes, I think they all have them now though. When I was in Michigan the water was moderately hard so I could get away using it in the big Bosch, but like mamap said be careful with dosing. I can't use it here, water too soft. I was hoping I could use the powder but it's even soapier than the liquid. Too bad, I like their products. When I can find it, I like their cream cleanser and dish soap.

@Rococogurl, I have also seen Ecover's products in WF. I have used some of their cleaning supplies, but not the laundry supplies. I agree with Larsi, I think this line compares to Seventh Generation. Nearly all of my cleaning supplies are "green," and I have been very happy with them. But, I used a number of different "green" laundry products for years. Finally, I realized that they were not really cleaning my clothes! I am sure everyone's experience is different, but I found after some time things did not look and feel clean, and I didn't realize how dull/dingy they were until I went back to mainstream products.

EWG gives a lot of bad scores due to undisclosed ingredients. It doesn't necessarily mean it's not green, they just assume the worst when they see something like 'fragrance'.

I really enjoy the Ecover line. I believe Good Housekeeping rated the laundry powder as the best green detergent. I've had good luck with the powder, the 2x liquids, and the stain remover

@sspeer9.....Just remember GH rated Ecover as the best "green detergent". Many times this can mean...it does not clean as good as Tide or Cheer, but for being "green" it is the best. Not always, but this is the case many times. I love being environmental and doing the most we can for Mother Earth, but many "green" cleaning products are sadly very subpar :(

I do see 7th Generation but not Ecover and the closest Whole Foods is more than an hour away. But I can't use concentrates -- way too many suds. Perhaps I'm as green as I'm going to get LOL.

@mamap - thanks for the Ecover offer but no sense in sending a concentrated detergent and please thank Aimee for me, too. BTW I have some linen spray for you -- another Le Blanc sample and a bar of Pearson's Shea butter for Aimee which I'll send along.

It was interesting that the Martha Stewart liquid, which I tested several years ago, was rated an A on EWG. Talk about bad smell and bad cleaning. Also had some samples at a green products fair of the Droops power balls that were equally awful and another one with a weird name. Neither were any good for cleaning anything. Suppose they make people feel better.

And @Larsi I agree shipping halfway around the world isn't green at all! Of course, the Miele products are probably made in Germany and shipped here. LOL

@ Rococo....Yup, in my first above post, I said that I order and buy products from Germany, but I am not purchasing those to be "green" or environmental, and Yes MieleCare is Made in Germany.

I mean that if one is going out of their way to buy a "green" cleaning product that has been shipped 1/2way around the world to get to you....really not so "green" ;)

I have both the Ecover Zero liquid and powder. Haven't used them too much so far, but the initial impression was that the liquid is on the sudsy side (so might not work for you) and not as good at stain removal as the powder. But the powder seems to have an ingredients list quite similar to Seventh Generation and Biokleen (and possibly others), so if one of those has/hasn't worked for you in the past this might give similar results.

I use the liquid for delicates and the powder for dog bedding and a giant drop cloth we use to cover the couch before we leave the house.

The Sweet Home blog named the Ecover Powder as their top green pick, btw, which is what prompted me to purchase it.

I love the ecover dish tabs. 1/2 tab is perfect in my Bosch dishwasher. I use so little fabric softner that it doesn't really matter which it is to me. I liked the powdered laundry detergent but not enough to special order it like the dish tabs.

Many of these green detergents including Ecover and Vaska are available at my local grocery store (a BelAir by Raley's). I use seventh generation 4x liquid which is rated a D. I'm surprised. Most of my switch to being green was focused on health - get away from harsh chemicals because my skin was very irritated - and avoiding animal biproducts - tallow in dryer sheets for example. Being environmentally friendly is just an added bonus, although I think the earth will take care of itself one way or another.

Ecover was the first green detergent I used and I found it left too much of acresiduevand didn't get my clothes as clean as seventh generation.

Here are some musings on going green.

http://anoopsplace.blogspot.com/2012/05/going-green-living-healthy.html

Mamap -- I will send you some vaska lavender tabs as well to try. I get them from drugstore.com.

Near me, like you, is only Target and Wallys and health food store. So if I need something those don't carry I use amazon or drugstore generally.

My health food store has 7th generation. But I'm not good with powders. What's good about the Perls for me is that they aren't granular. Even the Miele powder Larsi sent me bordered on being difficult. I'm a super taster and the smell of those is irritating. DW pods have been a godsend.

You guys all got to me and I went rogue a week ago. I was at a grocery store that isn't my usual and found Suavitel -- a Mexican FS. I gave into temptation. It smelled OK in the bottle. Tested it yesterday on a robe and gave it away this AM. The lingering fragrance on the robe gave me a headache. Don't know what they are putting in these products for fragrance but they hate me.

The green thing is problemmatic, to be sure. I want to be careful and really get rid of anything harmful. But it isn't really practical in many respects. Too bad.@anoop - Nice post. I feel much the same way.

anoop - tallow doesn't bother me. It's a repurposed waste product and easier on human skin than vegetable oils. As far as safety or toxicity tallow is no different than soy

I use a few products from Ecover and I like them quite a bit. I have never tried the detergents. I use Miele Care and Persil for detergents. I use the Ecover Stain Remover, which is a pre-treater for stains that will not be washed immediately. It works great and the stain is not present after washing. It is inexpensive, lasts quite a while for my uses, has a minor scent and does not induce my migraines. I also use the Ecover fabric softener. At some point, the fabric softener acquired a scent but it does not come through after the rinses in the Miele. The fabric softener is a little thick and I use about a teaspoon for sheets to make ironing easier. I have also used the dish washing liquids. I really struggle with scents and it is getting harder to find unscented products. Don't get me started on shampoos and other hair care products that have so much perfume in them they make me instantly sick. Then you layer that shampoo with hair spray, body washes, body sprays, deodorants and makeup with competing scents, I may as well just live in a bubble with its own air supply.

Good luck!

@larsi. I don't doubt there are detergents better than the best green products. I also think there are green products that are as good or better than many 'commercial' options. I don't think the shortcomings are anything that couldn't, for the most part, be overcome with other techniques such as soaking and additives such as pretreaters/STPP/percarbonate. Also green products seem more water sensitive. All the additives they use in other items seem to allow them to work better for more people off the shelf. I was just working with the assumption that the OP wanted greener options.

@homepro01. I hear you with the scents. Someone asked me once if I liked their new (expensive) cologne. I took a whiff and replied that it smelled like Gain haha. It's one of the big reasons (that and my hatred of OBAs) that I try to go with the green products and detergents, their fragrances don't give me headaches or linger. I like Persil Color Megaperls, but the scent is borderline. The Miele UltraColor seems to work about as well, but the scent less offensive

@rococogurl. Biokleen premium plus could be another good option..they seem to have better distribution, and though I didn't see that particular item at EWG, the company gets good ratings for other similar products.

I go back and forth on green laundry. I despise washing in cold as it increases the time and chemicals needed. Seems like a wash to me. In my part of the country we use coal for electricity. So raising temperature to get better results from a green detergent doesn't make much sense. Biokleen premium is a favorite of mine but after awhile white T shirts get dingy. Not missing optical brightners dingy but just kinda crusty. Then I go back to Persil or Tide. It's a cycle for me :). I don't love the use of petroleum based detergents for supply reasons. We fight wars over this stuff, why use it to clean with? But at the same time the idea of petroleum not being organic is silly. It's easy to be so green that we lose common sense. Being vegetable based doesn't make an item sustainable or less toxic when you factor in what it takes to produce the vegetables or transport the coconuts. Palm oil is not an earth friendly product by any stretch.

It does well in hot or warm. I haven't tried it under 85. I've used it in boil washes with no suds problems. Not good at removing deoderant or waxy stains. I boil wash husband's white Tshirts and the deoderant kind of melted off and coated everything? Basically the detergent didn't touch it the heat did

@rocoogirl, I hate to break it to you... But a lot of those EWG listings are far from accurate, or truthful.

One of the funniest ones I've seen, was a Tide Product with a "F" for lack of ingrident disclosure. But.... If you knew anything about P&G... You'd know they list every single ingrident for there products on there website.

Other funny ones I've noticed, is Walgreens Dishwasher Tabs with a "A" rating, while the SunLight dishwasher tabs (which are the exact same tablets, just repackaged) with a D.

Just... Lack of any effort to properly inform consumers. Honestly... If I was P&G or Sun Products.. I'd get my attorneys involved and sue for massive slander.

@laundry mitch - It's a respected source but, as we all know, so is Consumer Reports. LOL. Personally, I trust any GW forum members who actually use things more than some guide. It's not sponsored material and you get to know the posters. Everyone knows something different and it's all helpful.

@sandy - biokleen was another detergent on the EWG "A" list. But again, I don't see it anywhere. We have soft water and I'm a hot wash person. The only cold washes I ever do are for clothes made of very expensive techno fabrics. If I want something that is so/so I can use Caldrea or even Woolite Everyday. But Caldrea doesn't get good marks either.

I think the EWG site is a good resource. They are rating products by what's on the label. I think ingredients should be listed and that I shouldn't have to go to a manufacture's website to find out what proprietary blend means or the type of surfactant used. The low scores are often for a lack of transparency. My comment above was in regard to common sense balance and that what is good stewardship in one part of the country or world isn't necessarily the best choice all around. Hate palm trees? Find a product produced without them but don't call it more enviro friendly.

Are Caldrea and Mrs Meyers still the same company?

Believe thet are the same. cAldrea biught Mrs.M. But Mrs. M has the distrbution and recognition. caldera is hard to find, weird and not consumer friendly. they seem to feel they are a fashion line. i used them for a while and gave up except for their linen spray