Read on for more about the best non-toxic laundry detergents we love, what to look out for when choosing a detergent, and the 17 “natural” laundry detergent brands we’d advise you to avoid.
The Ultimate Non Toxic Laundry Detergent Guide (2025 Edition)
In This Guide
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1. Mama Suds
3. Tandi's
4. Sonett
5. Meliora
8. Molly Suds Laundry Detergent
9. Aspen Clean Laundry Detergent
10. Rebel Green
Laundry Detergent
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378 comments
Nicole
Hi! What about Full Circle Laundry Detergent? Thank you for all your info and help!
Anita
Honest is not so honest with some of their claims (e.g. “No SLS” but they use sodium coco sulfate which chemically is the same) but their detergent is fine anyway. I would recommend Dapple natural baby laundry pods. They clean better
Brenda
What about Honest Landry detergent?
Anita
Ok.. I just can’t stand it any more. I’m a PhD chemist and I formulate laundry detergents. The misinformation that is propagated by posts like this is just mind boggling. I am a mom too and I totally understand that you’re concern with health and safety of your children. Also I’m very “green”. I care deeply about the environment and try to pollute as little as possible. But please, let’s not get obsessed! Everything is toxic- it all depends on concentration. Water will kill you if you drink too much of it.
Let me share with some facts:
– petrochemicals are just as good/bad as “naturally derived” chemicals. It’s the chemical that is good/bad not the source/raw material
– phospahtes are bad for the environment but laundry waste water is a tiny fraction of the pollution. Overdosing and uneducated use of fertilizers is much bigger issue that should be addressed. Besides nobody uses phosphates in laundry anymore anyway (even though they work great!)
– SLS is not toxic/carcinogenic. In fact it is a great surfactant (cleaning agent). If it is applied directly on skin it can cause irritation (because it washes off protective oil on your skin so well) but when used in laundry it will be washed off and will not contact your skin.
– sodium metasilicate is totally safe cleaning agent/pH adjuster/soil redeposition agent. It can have “respiratory effect” if you want to breath it in.. But I wouldn’t recommend to sniff your powder detergent :) And BTW essential oils can cause respiratory effect too if you breath the vapors but again it’s all about concentration.
– bleach is safe! Just don’t drink it or sniff it! And read the instructions about dilutions. The chlorine is there in a form of sodium hypochlorite and not in a form of toxic gas (unless you mix it with acidic toilet bowl cleaner…). It’s like saying eating table salt will kill you (salt contains chlorine and sodium).
In general you’re safe using most of the detergents.
However I have to agree on some of the points the author makes:
– I wouldn’t recommend optical brighteners – they are design to stay on the clothes so they appear whiter that they really are. They can cause some irritation to sensitive skin. Just dry your clothes outside if possible. Good old sun will do the brightening for you.
– avoid fragrance in general. You really don’t need it. Clean laundry should smell.. like nothing. That’s indication of clean laundry. At very low concentrations they are fine if you really want your laundry to smell but they can irritate sensitive skin
– dyes are totally unnecessary. And can be irritating. They add them for purely esthetical reasons.
– make sure ingredients are biodegradable. Just be nice for the environment.
I also recommend to use concentrated powders instead of liquids for two reasons:
1. don’t pay for water and extra packaging
2. to reduce the amount of chemicals. In liquid you have to add special chemicals (that don’t do any cleaning) to keep all ingredients “together” so they won’t phase separate but also won’t deactivate each other.
I can attach references if you ’re interested. And please let me know if you have any questions. I would love to debunk some of the urban legends circulating around this topic.
Stay happy and healthy!
Maia James
Sonett is my favorite:)