Review :: Grab Green 3 in 1 Laundry Detergent

Grab Green Laundry Detergent is a fragrance-free laundry powder which, Grab Green promise, is effective, eco-responsible, healthier, fragrant, and innovative.

I liked the sound of this immediately.

Grab Green are actually a new company to me. They were founded started by two concerned parents who were only too aware of the troubles with cleaning products.  They wanted reliable and efficient cleaning products for their children, without the skin-irritating ingredients, and did something about it.

This is just one of the many cleaning products Grab Green offer.

Well Grab Green stack up, what’s the detergent about?

Grab Green laundry detergent is a biological detergent, meaning that it contains certain natural occurring enzymes that help to break down proteins, fats, starches, and other types of stains. While biological detergents haven’t been tested to necessarily be more effective than non-biological detergents (which don’t contain these enzymes) they may not contain all of the nastier ingredients that non-biological detergents have. While that’s not a given, we’re hoping it’s the case with this product.

The detergent powder is free from parabens, phosphates, chlorine, and dyes.  Let’s see how the rest of the formulation holds up to our standards and how effective the detergent really is at washing clothes.

First impressions…

The detergent arrived in a plastic bag with a scooper inside.  Although they claim this was responsibly sourced,  we would have preferred the product to come in a cardboard box, which is more environmentally friendly.

The powder is a bright white powder and is meant to be used in a portion size of ½ scoop for regular loads or one full scoop for large or heavily soiled loads. The powder is formulated for both regular and High Efficiency (HE) washing machines, and with the seemingly concentrated formula, we think it will last a long time.

According to Grab Green, the laundry powder is not biodegradable because the mineral-based ingredients used in the formula technically do not break down in nature, but return to the earth the same as how they left it. They also do not claim anywhere to be “all natural” or “organic” because, as they and we always say, those terms are very misleading and have no regulation behind them—making them a clever marketing ploy to trick consumers.

So rather, they say their products are natural-derived and non-toxic.

While I love the approach – naturally derived and non-toxic don’t mean too much either.  In addition, Grab Green also uses the term “hypoallergenic” to describe their products.  One of my major bugbears.   It has no regulatory substance whatsoever.   IT’s pure marketing.  I’ve seen products contain harsh contact allergens call themselves hypoallergenic.  I’d love to actually know what its supposed to mean!   It’s impossible to make something that is guaranteed to not irritate anyone.

This particular laundry powder is fragrance-free but they do offer scented products that use both natural essential oils and “safe synthetic” fragrances if you’re that way inclined.  I’m too sensitive to use any fragrance, unfortunately.

So How Well Does It Wash?

According to Grab Green, their laundry detergents and other cleaning products have been carefully formulated to be just as effective as they are gentle.

I tested out that claim by washing a load of clothes, both colors and whites to see how well it actually does clean. I used a ½ scoop in my HE washer.

 

As you can see, my shirt went from stained with a sticky food sauce to clean and fresh.

*Note: the differences in tone between the before and after photos due to taking them at different times of the day.

While it wasn’t particularly dirty, I wanted to see how the detergent treated my white fleece sweater.

While it did the basics well, the powder didn’t remove any of the ground in stains.   This isn’t a hardcore stain remover.

I also did not find a big difference in how soft it made my clothes. It may have made a difference, but not a big one.  If you want soft clothes then maybe you should find a good softener to accompany this powder.

Let’s Dive Deeper into the Ingredients 

The powder has 12 ingredients, all listed on the website.  The fact there is full disclosure means this powder is already better than 90% of the laundry detergents out there who simply won’t disclose what’s inside their products.

The ingredients are:

• Sodium carbonate (washing soda) – an organic salt also known as washing soda. While potentially irritating in its raw form, it is a safe and gentle solution for washing and shouldn’t cause any irritation.
• Sodium carbonate peroxide (sodium percarbonate) – an oxygen-based whitener that’s often used as a gentler alternative to chlorine bleach
• Sodium citrate – is a bulking and pH adjusting agent used to soften hard water. It is not harmful and not found to be potentially allergenic or irritating.
• Sodium silicate –another water softener and pH adjuster. Unlike Sodium Citrate, this is a potential allergen.
• c10-16 alkyl benzenesulfonic acid sodium salt – a surfactant and stain remover
• Hydrated silica an anti-caking agent that works by coating the surface of the powder and reducing sticky interactions between the particles. It is safe and non-harmful.
• c9-11 pareth – a gentle surfactant
• c10-16 pareth-1 – another gentle surfactant
• Subtilisin enzyme blend – cleaning enzymes
• Amylase enzyme blend – cleaning enzymes
• Sodium sulfate – bulking agent, not to be confused with SLS or SLES or the cleaning sulfates.  This is a harmless filler that serves no other function.
• Diamyl sodium sulfosuccinate – surfactant used to boost cleaning

This is a unique formulation.  Unfortunately, there’s little research into the main surfactants – a primary culprit for irritation.  But the ingredients have obviously been selected with a great deal of care and attention

Top marks.

It’s also worth noting that this laundry powder from Grab Green is not tested on animals and is made in the U.S. The detergents from Grab Green only need to be rinsed once, unlike conventional products like Tide. You don’t need to run your clothes through an extra rinse cycle to wash off any leftover chemicals, helping to save you time, money, and do your part for the environment.

Conclusion

The fragrance-free laundry powder from Grab Green is certainly a better option for individuals and families wanting a safer, non-harming and non-toxic detergent. For those who don’t have sensitive skin or strong reactions to cleaning products and detergents, it should be just fine and not cause any irritation whatsoever. But for those with sensitive skin or who tend to react to personal care products, you may want to use caution when trying this product. If you want to give it a try, first test it out on a towel or rag and wear it on the skin for a bit to see if it causes any reactions. If you don’t want to take any chances, look for a simpler non-toxic laundry detergent, like Molly’s Suds, that has a far fewer chance of causing any sort of reaction.