Ology Natural Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener

It is time for more laundry talk! I might be a little obsessed with laundry and all of its related paraphernalia. The detergents, the softeners, the dryer balls, oh my! I imagine by the time I get my own laundry room, I might be a bonified wacko when it comes to natural detergents. In my continuous quest for the perfect detergent to add to my routine, I have tried to focus a little on liquid detergents lately. Why? Well, I have really hard water and in my adventures in natural detergents I have discovered a lot of liquid detergents do not soften the water enough to work very well on diapers. Walgreens recently introduced the Ology brand of gentle-on-the-Earth products, which include laundry detergent, fabric softener, lotions, baby products, shampoo, conditioner, facial tissues, toilet paper, and even light bulbs.

I have spent the past month giving their new laundry detergent and fabric softener a whirl since they both contain no dyes, phosphates or artificial fragrances. The detergent is cloth diaper safe, so I used it every day, even with my hard water, to get accurate results.

Laundry Detergent Ingredients: water , Laureth 7 , methyl 2-sulfolaurate , Disodium 2 Sulfolaurate , Sodium Bicarbonate , Methyl Soyate , Sodium Chloride , Cocoamidopropyl Betaine , and Sodium Propionate.

After a month of almost daily use, I have no issues whatsoever with my diapers and they seem to be quite clean.

My washing routine with Ology goes like this:

• Warm Pre-rinse
• Hot wash with two caps detergent. Stop washer to let soak for 30 minutes.
• Warm rinse.
• warm Rinse with Ology fabric softener.
• Dry on extra low.

I ALWAYS stop the washer after a couple agitation rounds during the hot wash for soaking, no matter what detergent I am using. My washer uses a very short wash cycle, so I find I need the short soak. I also used two caps of Ology detergent since I would consider diaper laundry to be heavily soiled and two caps was recommended. I will add that if the diaper load was particularly gross (sick tummies from overindulgent holiday foods) I added a couple tablespoons of oxygen bleach powder.

I had some reservations about another liquid detergent, but I must admit Ology works better than any other liquid detergent I have tried on diapers. The Free & Clear smells like cold process Castile soap and not detergent at all. I even used it on a load of merino wool under garments. Best part? The whole bottle with 32 loads is only $6.99, which was the cheapest detergent at my local Walgreens!

Now onto fabric softener. We all know fabric softener is a big no-no in the cloth diapering world, and there is only one oftener on the market proclaimed diaper safe. Well, I have used that softener. And it does indeed work. After reviewing the ingredients in the Ology fabric softener, and much internet searching, I have to say I think this softener is cloth diaper safe. It does not contain any of the ingredients that cause the waxy, water repelling quality of other fabric softeners.

Fabric Softener Ingredients: Water , Sodium Proprionate , methyl bis (canola amidoethyl)-2-hydroxyethyl ammonium methyl sulfate , and Natural Fragrance.

I went out on a limb and used the softener on my diaper every single day for a month. I figured the worst that would happen is they repel and I would need to strip them. If you are not well versed in the merits and dangers of all of those impossible to pronounce ingredients, I do not recommend experimenting like this, but I like living on the edge. The more than 20 washes and dries I put my diapers through with this fabric softener were more than enough time for it to cause any issues. So what happened? Nothing. Unless you consider soft, clean diapers to be an issue.

I actually did not think it would be a problem, since the ingredients looked fine for diapers, but I am glad trusting my instincts worked out. The only funny thing with the fabric softener is even though the scent was lavender vanilla, the laundry came out of the dryer smelling like cucumbers. Even my husband made a comment about it. I looked up all kinds of goofy combinations online to find out why, but I didn’t find out much unless the answer has something to do with funky water or poisonous snakes. Whatever it is, it isn’t bad and the scent dissipates in an hour or two.

My conclusion is that this is a pretty good detergent and fabric softener couple.

• It works.
• It causes no issues.
• It is a much greener option.
• It has a great price point at just $6.99 for each. It is even on sale sometimes.

I have not tried any of the other Ology products yet, but I would like to get my hands on some of the shampoo and conditioner. They are always sold out at my local Walgreens. I see people walking out of the store with tons of the Ology toilet paper, so I guess that particular item must be pretty nice too!

Ology is available exclusively at your local Walgreens or at walgreens.com.

Have you tried an Ology products? Did they work well for you?

*I received store credit for the purpose of purchasing this product for review. Walgreen credit c/o Ology.

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