I have a feeling the natural surfactants are soap..over time the scum of it will build up in fabrics causing dingy and stinky clothing..it will also build up on washer parts.

And how long would that take? It's not like I have a year's supply of this stuff...it's one small bag.

Lol..there's no unusual ingredients they are all in store bought detergent. .the first ing is just sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide..so I'd say use this stuff on whites and lights...I'd try it and see how it does.

Will do then. I'd like to get it out of my way either by using or garbage as it taking up space is not super useful to me. I'll use it over the next month or so, then it will be gone anyway. :) Thanks!

Blue, how is Ecos greenwashed and not as natural as they claim to be?

I wasn't thrilled with their EWG rating http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/2730-EarthFriendlyProductsECOSNaturalLaundryDetergentMagnoliaLily?formulation=6311 and unimpressed with the synthetic smell of the product, along with how strong a smell it has.

To each their own. Almost every liquid laundry detergent has that synthetic preservative.

BTW, Ecos is naturally scented.

IMagine what would happen to liquid detergent about a week or so after being put in the jug without preservatives ..a bottle full of bacteria....

I was thinking..I've never delved very closely into the natural laundry detergents....but I'm wondering that just because a laundry detergent says GREEN or NATURAL doesn't mean the natural chemicals are any safer to use than say the chemicals in non green detergents...is this correct???

None of the liquid I use contains methylisothiazolinone. I suppose the Cheer I used once could have but I wouldn't know as they don't disclose their ingredients on the bottle. I didn't mean to imply Ecos wasn't naturally scented; their ingredient list isn't completely clear other than listing "fragrance" on some bottles and "natural fragrance" on others. What I said was that it had a synthetic smell; it doesn't smell like the naturally scented products I am used to. It is very strong and makes me choke when I breathe in the smell.

mamapinky, I am not against preservatives if needed for liquid detergent. I just didn't like the rating of some of the ingredients in Ecos.

mamapinky, I find lots of green and natural items in general contain a few natural ingredients so they can toot their horn that they are "green and natural" but then end up containing many of the same ingredients as non-green products anyway. I find this very often with natural shampoos, face wash, etc. especially.

Typically most of the natural laundry detergents get a better score than the mainstream brands at EWG. Not always of course. But the mainstream brands tend to use more F rated ingredients. And some of it is deciding yourself if you're comfortable with an ingredient and if you think the data supports the claims about its safety level.

Again though, thanks for letting me know there wasn't anything that was going to destroy my machine in a month's worth of use with the powder. :) Worst case is then I don't like how it works and I toss it anyway. If it works ok, I'll just use it up.

If nothing else use it in rugs and things like that to keep from throwing it in the trash.

Traditional cleaners and detergents can contain toxic ingredients such as 1-4-dioxane, OBAs, phthalates, phenol, formaldehyde, phosphates, ammonia, chlorine bleach, arsenic, naphthalene, hydrochloric acid, paradichlorbenzene, lye, phosphoric acid, and sulfuric acid, as well as VOCs. Read up on these substances-many are toxic and some are considered hazardous waste!

Greeny, are these toxic substances still toxic after being diluted in wash water? At what amount would they be toxic.. 2T in 6 gal. Water or 1/3 cup in 16 gal. Water.. or doesn't it make a difference..and what about if after they are rinsed out does it still leave active toxic residue? I'm interested in this.

Just because something is natural doesn't make it safe or even desirable.

Mushrooms are natural and eat the wrong one and you'll end up dead. Plenty of berries are deadly to us. Rhubarb leafs are deadly.

Chlorine is a natural element. Bleach is Sodium (Natural), Chlorine (Natural), and Oxygen (Natural). Phosphorous is one of the building blocks of life and present in all of us. Phosphates, while banned in detergent are perfectly safe to include in food we eat. Ammonia is present in our urine. Arsenic is an element.

Even "Chemicals" are not so bad - Acetone for example. Present in our bodies as part of metabolic processes and generally safe to use as long as you don't drink it or huff it.

Not saying we shouldn't want to reduce our exposure to dangerous stuff. But thinking natural is safer or even better may not be true.

Well I am using natural as a term for non-synthetic, safer ingredients; which is usually what people mean when they talk about these ingredients. Just like how people say "chemicals" and that equals bad, but we know that everything is a chemical, even the good stuff. And of course there are natural ingredients that aren't safe, but typically the green and natural products, as long as they aren't being greenwashed, are attempting to use the safer, natural ingredients.

Thanks Blue, you hit the nail on the head.

I have read tons of mommy blogs that talk about and share the recipe for the homemade *laundry soap*.. many on these blogs claim they use this concoction because they want to control what their clothes get washed in, and are avoiding toxic ingredients. .problem is most of these recipes contain Fels-Naptha bar soaps..do they not understand what Naptha is? I can tell you its sure not a safe product. Also a vast amount of sites proclaiming how green their products are usually have it outlined in bold letters contains no phosphates...so than this appeals to the GREEN community, yet those same people put the same phosphates they won't wash clothes in....in their mouths...this is a few of the things that confuse me.