Dishwashing Liquid- Who's Got the Best Label?

National Geographic's Green Guide had a good article on dish soap this month. They ranked them according to how completely the company discloses ingredients, so that the consumer might discern how many are plant-based, how many are harmful additives, etc. At the top of their "honesty" list was Seventh Generation's Dish Liquid, which got three "G's". At 2 (for using generic terms like 'preservative' or 'surfactant', although these were certified low- eco impact by an independent agency) were Clorox Green Works (Natural Dishwashing Liquid), Ecover (Dishwashing Liquid), and Planet (Ultra Dishwashing Liquid Gel).

Receiving 1 'G' for generic ingredient names and a lack of independent testing were Biokleen dish liquid, Earth Friendly Products (Dishmate), Method (Ultra Concentrated), and Mrs Meyers (Clean Day Dish Soap). D'oh!

The label vaguery doesn't necessarily mean that the companies in question have something to hide, but I'd encourage them to spell things out as much as possible. Trade secrets are important, sure, but so is knowing what we're buying.

Incidently, SG has coupons on its website, and you can stock up in bulk on Amazon.com

Seventh Generation "Green Mandarin and Leaf" Shower Spray

I'd been using Seventh Generation's Citrus Shower Spray as my daily cleaning spray, but wasn't that fond of the scent. Rather than smelling bright and orangey to me it always smelled a little, um, vomitous. Anyway, I was relieved by the replacement of the citrus with "green mandarin and leaf" scent. The leaf definitely comes through more strongly, so the product has a green, almost biting scent. I actually don't think I'm a fan, because there's a medicinal tone to the scent that bothers me. Scent preference is so subjective I'd encourage you to try it anyway. I might be imagining the medicinal part.

I was talking to someone about this blog the other day (boy do people think I'm a nerd when they hear about it!) and I mentioned I really like SG products. She said she'd never had any success with them, and I mentioned the shower cleaner specifically. "Ugh," she said "I especially don't like the shower cleaner."

In retrospect I wish I'd asked her some followup questions.
1. Do you use this stuff as a daily shower spray, not just once in a while? For it to work you must spray it every time you shower (which is the point of "daily shower sprays" I probably don't need to add).

2. What kind of shower do you have?
I have a glass-doored stall shower (three panels of glass, two of tile), and I can't vouch for how well this would work on a tile-only shower.

I'm sure product performance is completely contingent on things like the kinds of personal care products you use in the shower, water hardness, etc. I also use a squeegee on my shower walls when I am done in there, and I'm sure that helps a ton!
I feel like this stuff does the best job of any shower spray I've ever used, earth-friendly or toxic, but I'm always on the prowl for a new and better product.

Seventh Generation Blue Eucalyptus & Lavender Laundry Detergent

I have said it before, but I absolutely love the new Seventh Generation scents. That blue eucalyptus is really yummy. It makes me feel like my laundry is getting cleaner somehow, which is, I guess, the point. And lavender, mmm I am almost always a fan of lavender. I'd say the lavender definitely takes a backseat in this scent combination, however.

Of course, it can smell like whatever it wants but if it doesn't work? Not going to buy. This is Seventh Gen. we're talking about though. I haven't disliked any of their products yet, functionally speaking. I used to think their scents were boring, but they've updated them to compete with the other non-toxic companies.
Anyway, this stuff really does do a good job on my laundry. I don't have great laundry machines. Actually mine are compact stacked models intended for small apartments. SG has taken care of dog pee and poo messes as well as stains on towels, etc. No complaints, yet. I can't think of anything it's doing wrong or any way in which it is inferior to commercial toxic detergents. The sign of a good laundry detergent is, for me, if I don't have to re-wash anything or really, think more about laundry than necessary.

I guess that makes for a rather boring review :)

Seventh Generation Natural Citrus Shower Cleaner

Before getting into the shower cleaner I have to post how disappointed I am in Burts Bees for selling to Clorox. It seems eco-friendly, natural cosmetics companies drop like flies as soon as they get profitable enough. I have been a Burts customer forever. I filled out their survey when they asked whether existing customers thought a proposal to sell in drugstores was problematic. (I said no, so long as nothing changed in their quality and ethics.) Alas, just like Tom's of Maine, they were tempted by money and sold out to a company whose products do great damage to the environment. I won't be reviewing their hand soap as planned for this reason. Treehugger wrote about the whole issue here.

On another hand, Seventh Generation's Natural Citrus Scent Shower Cleaner is the best planet lovin' shower cleaner I've used in a really long time. I use it for daily maintenance, not for thorough scrubbings (I usually keep two different products for the two different needs.) My shower doors have been so much cleaner than usual, almost as clean as if I'd just done a tough scrub. The orange smell is a little bit barfy (seriously, though this might be me), but the actual spray bottle is the best I've used in a while too. It produces these mighty, lush sprays that cover a lot of ground. I'm glad Seventh Gen is updating its scents, and I hope their new products work as well regardless. As I've mentioned before in this blog, I've only ever used one Seventh Gen product that wasn't great, and that was the toilet paper.

When it's not as Green as it seems

I'm a Consumer Reports website subscriber, so when I saw this article investigating the "green claims" of household cleaning product manufacturers, I was intrigued.

I'm a bit surprised at Seventh Generation's having a questionable ingredient in its dishwasher gel. I've used that stuff happily in the past. I'm not sure what to make of the Biokleen laundry powder finding, considering the company's statement that a questionable ingredient was accidentally listed in their disclosure statement and is therefore presumably not used.

It's a pretty short article without a lot of information in it. I'm glad Earth Friendly Products got a nod, and I'm wondering now about Ecover. Consumer Reports is sending people to its green cleaning website (which has been on my links list for a while) for more information.

Seventh Generation has some new scents

So, Seventh Generation has revamped the scents of some of its products! They all sound wonderful. I was a little tired of the citrus, so this is good news.

The new scents are:

-White Flower & Bergamot Citrus (in their laundry products)
-Blue Eucalyptus & Lavender (in laundry): We just bought this one and I'm sure I'll be reviewing it soon.
-Lemongrass & Clementine Zest (dish soap) : I'd try this one for sure.
-Lavender Floral & Mint (dish soap): I'd also try this. Lavender and mint together is always a good combination.
-Emerald Cypress & Fir (Tub&Tile / Toilet) : Yum!
-Green Mandarin & Leaf (Shower/ All Purpose) : By "leaf", they mean petitgrain and spearmint leaves. I tried to find this one at Whole Foods the other day but it wasn't in yet.
-Ruby Grapefruit & Herb (Glass & Surface) : Also delicious sounding

They kind of had to change their scents. Seventh Generation products have always worked very well for me (except the toilet paper! Ow.), but with other companies (Caldrea always comes to mind, and Earth Friendly Products' Spa line) releasing decadent scent combinations, SG was going to lose customers who are scent junkies. *cough, me* The new products are starting to appear in stores, and I believe drugstore.com has a couple in stock.

You can get coupons for their products here. I think I printed those out eons ago and forgot about them.