I do a lot of laundry; I mean a lot of laundry! My mother always jokes that the washing machine never turns off at my house. Furthermore, we have a greywater system on our house, so I am particular about the laundry soap we use. Recently, I was given dropps Liquid Laundry Pacs to try.

I buy in bulk, and laundry detergent is no exception. A humongous jug of liquid laundry detergent sits atop my front-loading washing machine, and inevitably, dribbles of soap spill everywhere when I use it. dropps eliminates this mess! These convenient little packets are just tossed into your washing machine with no measuring or spills. They are lightweight and easy to use. A 20 load package of dropps weighs 10 ounces, whereas the equivalent amount in a liquid laundry detergent weighs 80 ounces. Furthermore, dropps is concentrated in addition to the lightweight packaging, thus “saving water, plastic, trees, and fuel.” According to Sydney Waldon of dropps,

We are the future of laundry. dropps wastes no water in its formula making it lightweight and compact for transport. Our current packaging is made from RPET plastic. dropps’ pre-measured delivery system also means that there is no waste. In the U.S., liquid laundry detergent is used for 25 billion wash loads every year. If these loads were done with dropps instead of the usual cup and jug, we would save:

• 6,233,726 gallons of diesel gas in transport
• 267,968,750 lbs of plastic
• 622,373 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in transport

A traditional jug of liquid laundry detergent is only a small percentage of detergent diluted by a large amount of water, making it just another form of bottled water. While detergent companies are introducing concentrated formulas to reduce packaging, the large plastic bottles continue to create massive amounts of solid waste that must be recycled, incinerated, or put in landfills. Our new packaging will be a combination of reusable plastic tubs and flexpac packaging that takes up a minimal amount of space, thus decreasing the amount of waste produced compared to other detergent brands.

According to the packaging, dropps is made of “biodegrable nonionic surfactants”. There are no artificial whitening agents. It is enzyme-free, NPE-free, phosphate-free, and safe for septic tanks. I do not know if it is made from all natural ingredients, like my current laundry soap, but I have sent an email to Sydney asking this question. When I get the response, I will update the information here.

My son has the most sensitive skin, and he has to have his clothes washed in the most gentle detergent possible. He has not had a reaction to dropps Liquid Laundry Pacs. In addition, I only wash our clothes in cold water. dropps works well in cold water, and our spring water certainly is cold this time of year!

If you would like a free sample of dropps, visit their website at www.dropps.com.

Image courtesy of GreenTechnoLog.