As a dermatologist, I’m regularly recommending my patients change their laundry detergent.
In fact, most laundry detergent contains chemicals that I try to avoid – and that I recommend my patients avoid as well.
The “ingredients to avoid” includes 1,4 dioxane (the EPA links 1,4 dioxane to liver toxicity & cancer¹), ethoxylated alcohols (which damage the gut barrier²), synthetic dyes, SLS/SLES (which can irritate the skin), optical brighteners, parabens, phosphates, sulfates & more.
Your skin, the body’s largest organ, is constantly in contact with your laundry detergent, making it essential to know what ingredients you’re exposing yourself to. When patients come in with skin irritations, the first thing we discuss is their laundry detergent.
I recommend several different laundry detergent brands depending on my patient’s needs. Here are the 5 Best.
TLDR: CLEAN PEOPLE Laundry Detergent ranked #1 because it has a powerful clean, has no 1,4 dioxane, SLS/SLES, parabens, phosphates, sulfates, synthetic dyes, and no optical brighteners, and as a bonus is plastic free packaging! I use Clean People in my home and love it.
1. CLEAN PEOPLE Laundry Detergent
Clean People Laundry Detergent consistently impresses me and is my favorite laundry detergent by far, earning 5 stars ★★★★★. It effectively cleans and eliminates odors while being gentle on my patients’ sensitive skin. All clothes came out fresh and clean. In other words, it works!
Clean People uses clean, simple, effective ingredients, and doesn’t contain harsh chemicals like 1,4 dioxane, optical brighteners, sulfates, phosphates, parabens, chlorine, or synthetic dyes (that’s why it’s hypoallergenic and recommended by me — a dermatologist!).
I love that it’s 100% Plastic Free Packaging. That means it’s better for the environment than using plastic jugs.
Finally, I appreciate the outstanding reviews Clean People has received—including from me and my patients who have switched!
Clean People comes in Fragrance Free and Fresh & Clean Scent. For my most sensitive patients, I recommend the Fragrance-Free option but I use Fresh & Clean!
This is what I recommend and use at home and thus earned the #1 spot.
UPDATE: Clean People has a Buy 1 Get 1 FREE BOGO Sale going right now for new customers, use coupon code: BOGO.
Molly Suds earned my #2 spot. Like #1 Clean People, Molly Suds is made from simple, effective ingredients. While Clean People is a laundry sheet, Molly Suds is a laundry powder. Simply scoop the laundry powder into your washer before adding your laundry. Molly’s Suds offers strong cleaning power with clean ingredients and performed well on all my laundry. Molly Suds comes in scented and unscented versions.
My patients are a little mixed on the powder format – it’s easy to spill as you scoop from the bag into your washing machine. And I recommend it because of the clean ingredients, but I know not all patients want to deal with the mess and powder.
Molly’s Suds packaging is plastic, but I appreciate that it’s not a liquid detergent, which tends to be heavier and requires more plastic.
The combination of cleaning power, ingredients, and little plastic earned Molly Suds my #2 spot.
Seventh Generation came in 3rd place. Free & Clear is a fragrance free formula. Seventh Generation did well at cleaning and removing odors. Seventh Generation uses simple, effective ingredients and is hypoallergenic. However, some of Seventh Generation’s ingredients raise concerns for me as a dermatologist. First off, Free & Clear includes SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) which can cause rashes and harm your skin. Additionally, the detergent includes preservatives (methylisothiazolinone and benzisothiazolinone) that are known to cause extreme allergic reactions in some people.
While the bottles are made mostly from recycled plastic, they often still end up in landfills.
I loved the cleanliness and that you can find this product everywhere in a pinch. But the 1,4 dioxane & plastic bottle dropped Seventh Generation to my #3 spot.
All Free & Clear ranked 4th. It’s the classic laundry detergent most people think of. Free & Clear has the cleaning power you associate with All. But Free & Clear contains C12-15 PARETH-9 (which leads to trace amounts of 1,4 dioxane), parabens, phosphates, and other synthetic ingredients like brighteners.
All is heavy and uses a plastic jug. So it’s not winning any points on environmental impact. Plastic jugs often end up in landfills, and the extra weight from liquid increases CO2 emissions during transportation. With liquid detergents, it’s often hard to dose the right amount which leads to waste and using more detergent than you need. This double whammy leads to wasting money and being bad for the environment.
I did love the scent and cleaning power, and based on the thousands of reviews that the product has on Amazon, so did many others.
An easy-to-find product with plant-derived ingredients and a fantastic scent! It contains MIT and BIT preservatives, which are generally safe for most people but can cause skin irritation in some. This is why I prefer the ingredients in my higher-ranked options. However, if you’re looking for specific aromas, Mrs. Meyer’s offers a wide variety of great-smelling choices.
My Recommendation Is…
I recommend CLEAN PEOPLE. Simple, effective ingredients, no gross ingredients, plastic free packaging, powerful at cleaning and stain removal, and you can get a 🚀 Limited-Time Deal: Buy 1, Get 1 FREE.
#1 CLEAN PEOPLE Fresh & Clean: Buy It Here
#2 Molly Suds: Buy It Here
#3 Seventh Generation: Buy it Here
#4 All Free & Clear: Buy it Here
#5 Mrs. Myers: Buy it Here
¹ https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/final-risk-evaluation-14-dioxane
² https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36464527/
