Top Takeaways
>> Laundry sheets are much kinder to the environment
>> Made with non-toxic, natural ingredients and no added water resulting in fewer carbon emissions during transportation
>> Come in plastic free packaging that can be posted straight through your letterbox
>> My favourite eco laundry sheets brands include Serious Soaps, Simple Living Eco and Ocean Saver
Are you looking to try out a new laundry detergent sheet? How about an eco friendly laundry sheet that’s better for the environment and gives you super fresh, clean laundry?
We’re on the same wavelength. I’ve personally tried a number of eco friendly laundry sheets over the last couple of years and I’ve been impressed with many of them.
I love the way laundry sheets come in simple cardboard packaging and the fact you don’t have to pour out the liquid detergent into the washing machine. I can never remember which compartment it is either!
All you have to do with a laundry sheet is stick one of the detergent strips into the main drum with your washing. When I’ve used these detergent leaves, our washing comes out clean and smelling great. What more do you need?
Less of an environmental impact you say? You’ve got that too.
Using eco laundry strips is a great sustainable alternative to traditional laundry detergent – no synthetic chemical use and no need for tonnes of plastic.
So, here’s the lowdown on some of the best eco laundry sheets available in the UK.
10 Best Eco Laundry Sheets UK
Here’s the full list of the best eco laundry sheet brands available to purchase from in the UK. Please note, these laundry strips aren’t ranked in a particular order, mainly in order of which I’ve tried them out.
1. Serious Laundry
I used Serious Laundry back when they went by the name of Serious Soaps. Despite the name change, these are still a great eco choice for your laundry detergent.
The eco sheets from Serious Laundry are plastic-free, zero waste and made with non-toxic chemicals. They’re free from SLS, parabens and all of the other chemical nasties.
These laundry strips are currently made in Sweden but Serious Laundry are looking for a UK supplier. I believe them too because their eco friendly toilet paper is manufactured in Lancashire. You can read my Serious Tissues review here.
For each pack of laundry sheets sold, the company remove the equivalent of 50 x 500ml plastic bottles (or 500 crisp packets) from the ocean. This is thanks to their plastic removal scheme with Repurpose.
- Remove a 1kg of ocean plastic for every pack sold
- Plastic free, zero waste cardboard packaging
- Carbon neutral company
2. Earth Breeze
Earth Breeze is an American-headquarted company with operations in the UK and Europe. Their UK warehouse runs on renewable energy. For each pack sold, they donate 10 loads of laundry detergent to non-profits including animal and homeless shelters.
I’ve used their eco sheets and found them to be very good! Their laundry detergent sheets are vegan friendly and free from chemical nasties such as parabens, phthalates and phosphates.
They use paper-based packaging with biodegradable ink that is fully compostable.
- Donate to non-profit organisations with each pack sale
- Plastic free, fully compostable packaging
- Carbon offset their entire supply chain
You can take a look at my Earth Breeze review here.
3. Blue Earth Clean
Blue Earth Clean want to create a sustainable, affordable and alternative solution to doing laundry. Their all-in-one eco laundry leaves have been designed by chemists with direct experience in the laundry industry.
Their sheets are preservative, parabens and phosphate-free and sent off in plastic-free envelope packaging. Indeed all the products from Blue Earth Clean are vegan and cruelty free.
Blue Earth Clean have both bio and non-bio versions, as well as scented and fragrance free. They are a little vague on where the laundry sheets are made, but state they are assembled in the EU.
- Bleach, parabens and preservative free
- Vegan friendly
- Bio and non bio laundry sheets
4. Simple Living Eco
Based in Yorkshire, the eco laundry sheets from Simple Living Eco contain just four plant-based and plant-derived ingredients, including coconut oils. They only use natural fragrances from essential oils.
Simple Living Eco’s laundry strips are free from phosphates, BPA, are vegan friendly and baby safe.
Their eco detergent sheets are now made in the UK, making them the first company to do so.
You can buy Simple Living Eco sheets from one of my favourite online eco shops at Ethical Superstore.
- Plant-based ingredients – no dyes or optical brighteners
- Natural, synthetic free fragrances
- First UK manufacturer!
5. Tru Earth
Tru Earth is a Canadian company founded by three friends: Ryan, Brad and Kevin. The Tru Earth eco strips are convenient and suitable to all washing machines. They are a transparent company and list out all the ingredients used on their website.
Tru Earth use compostable packaging sleeves, meaning there is zero waste, whilst helping to significantly reduce plastic use.
- Manufactured in Canada
- Free from dyes, parabens, phosphates and bleach
- Plastic free sheets, compostable sleeve packaging
6. Eco Laundry Club
Based in London, Eco Laundry Club have produced a fully natural laundry detergent sheet.
These sheets are vegan friendly and made from just four ingredients – water, surfactants from coconut oil, polyvinyl alcohol and osmanthus absolute oil. All is delivered in a small recyclable cardboard box.
They’re so confident in their product, they have an offer for you to try your first box of 10 eco laundry detergent sheets for free. All you have to do is cover the 99p cost of delivery.
- Made from just four ingredients
- Free from synthetic toxic chemicals
- Recyclable packaging
7. Melt Laundry
Based in London, Melt Laundry use a super-powered bio-enzyme detergent formula. Their eco sheets come in plastic-free packaging and are free from artificial dyes, colours and other nasties.
Melt Laundry are aiming to donate 1 million washes to homeless and economically challenged people in the UK.
- Plastic free packaging
- Free from artificial dyes, phosphates, phthalates, parabens
- Dominate washes to homeless in the UK
8. Eco Green Living
Help reduce your plastic waste with Eco Green Living’s laundry sheets. These are completely non-toxic, dye free, bleach free and parabens free.
They produce fragrance free eco laundry sheets sent out in a cardboard mailer.
Based in Warrington, Eco Green Living is a ‘purpose before profit’ organisation and plant a tree with every order through Treesisters.
- Plastic-free laundry sheet, recyclable packaging
- Dye free, phosphate free and bleach free
- Tree planted with every order
9. Zero Waste Club
Get a load of the plant-powered laundry sheets from Zero Waste Club. Made from naturally-derived materials, including coconuts and cassava plants, these sheets are fully biodegradable.
Available unscented and scented with natural flax, the ZWC eco sheets are not tested on animals and free from any harmful chemicals and environmental pollutants. They are delivered in a fully recyclable kraft paper envelope.
- Sent out in 100% recycled and recyclable kraft paper
- Naturally-derived ingredients
- Vegan friendly
10. The Green Company
The Green Company is a carbon neutral business based in London.
They make lightweight, eco-friendly laundry detergent sheets that are better for the environment. The eco sheets from the Green Company are created using minimal energy and are sent out in recyclable packaging.
There isn’t a fragrance free option and not a lot of information on the ingredients and origins, aside from chosen with the planet in mind.
- Recyclable cardboard packaging
- Vegan friendly
- No nasties policy
Why going green & plastic free with your laundry is important
Washing your laundry the modern way uses an incredible amount of plastic.
The reason plastic is so prevalent is because most people use liquid detergent. This comes in big, bulky plastic bottles.
Plastic detergent bottles, containers, conditioner bottles, detergent pods and capsules all are contributing to the global plastic problem.
Millions and millions of these plastic items hit waterways, rivers, landfills and waste piles each year. They’re also major sources of the more hidden microplastic problem.
What we need is plastic free laundry items that are better for the environment. This is why plastic free eco laundry sheets are important.
What makes an eco friendly laundry sheet?
To be truly eco friendly and ethical, the best laundry detergents sheets should be:
- Plastic-free
- Biodegradable
- Non-toxic – not contain parabens, formaldehyde, phthalates, triclosan
- Cruelty free – not tested on animals
- Use natural fragrances
- Sent in paper or cardboard packaging
- Offer carbon offsetting initiatives
Other companies are catching on to eco strips and have developed their own not-so-eco laundry sheets.
In a bad case of greenwashing, ‘eco’ sheets are now being made from all sorts of synthetic ingredients which are then labelled as ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘biodegradable’. Check out my Eco Glossary for more terms.
Well, yes the laundry sheet will have to biodegrade to work in the washing machine but the ingredients used to make the sheets may not be environmentally friendly at all.
What are eco friendly laundry sheets?
Eco friendly laundry sheets are small, dehydrated pieces of material infused with a concentrated detergent.
These eco washing sheets are biodegradable and will quickly dissolve with the water in a washing machine. When this happens, the detergent will be released to act on your clothes in the same way as all other detergents.
Being eco friendly laundry sheets, the hope is that they are created with the environment in mind. This goes for the ingredients used and packaging.
The ingredients within an eco sheet should be as natural as possible and without the unnecessary need for extra chemicals and synthetic compounds. However, almost all laundry sheets, even eco sheets, contain synthetic chemicals and materials, including polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which is a type of plastic.
Some particularly green eco sheets contain just a handful of plant-based active ingredients, which is great.
It’s estimated that the eco sheets are made up from between 25-60% of a starch, for example corn, wheat, rice or potato starch, and 15-40% of a detergent mixture.
This is the same material used in compostable bags and compostable dog poo bags.
Are eco laundry sheets better for the environment?
Yes, there’s no doubt that eco laundry sheets are much better for the environment when compared to liquid detergent, powder detergent and pods.
Dissolvable plant based sheets
Rather than using water or powder form as the detergent vehicle, eco sheets use lightweight, paper thin strips of plant-based starch or cellulose.
These dissolvable sheets are solid and flexible when dry, but will dissolve when they come into contact with both hot or cold water.
Natural ingredients
Generally speaking, eco laundry sheets should contain more natural ingredients and made without the use of controversial chemicals, such as parabens and endocrine disrupters.
Each eco sheet contains a concentrated dose of detergent. Hopefully this detergent is biodegradable and made with cruelty free, environmentally friendly ingredients.
This of course depends on the manufacturer, but it is possible for eco laundry sheets to contain just a handful of active, eco friendly ingredients.
Eco sheets are a great way to go green at home!
Packaging
As laundry sheets are small, thin and dry, they can be packaged completely plastic-free.
Most of the time, packaging is with recyclable cardboard box or sleeve. But an even more eco friendly move would be via recycled materials or compostable plant-based packaging.
Being very lightweight, a packet of laundry sheets can significantly reduce carbon emissions during transportation.
According to one eco sheet manufacturer, Earth Breeze, they say that their lightweight packaging reduces carbon transportation emissions by 94%!
For example, a typical load of liquid detergent weighs around 40g. Compare this to a 3g laundry sheet and you can really see the benefit.
Even when they are being stored in your home, you can probably get 400 loads of laundry sheets into the same space as a 32-load bottle of detergent. That’s impressive.
Life Cycle Assessment: Laundry Sheets vs Power and Liquid Detergent
A Life Cycle Assessment study has compared laundry sheets to your more traditional detergent offerings and have found dazzlingly good results. The analysis takes carbon costs after manufacturing into account due to ‘industry secrets’, but even so the results are clear.
| Laundry Detergent Type | Average CO2 Emissions (per load) |
|---|---|
| Sheet | 5.7 g |
| Powder | 16.2 g |
| Liquid | 42.1 g |
| Pods | 90.1 g |
What about drying your clothes too?
As we’re considering energy usage and carbon emissions, it’s worth thinking about drying your clothes afterwards too.
Of course, the best way to do this is by free solar and wind energy you get when you hang your laundry up to dry outside.
This is fine in warmer climates, but in rainy, cool places (such as the UK), the natural weather can’t be relied on for at least half of the year.
If you’re drying your clothes in a tumble dryer, have you thought about using Ecoegg dryer eggs?
Tumble dryers use a lot of energy, but two of these little eggs can reduce drying time by up to 28%. Over the course of the year, this can add up to a lot of energy saved.
FAQs on Eco Laundry Detergent Sheets
If you still have a few questions about eco laundry sheets, here are a few FAQs where you might find the answer.
Before you go…
Hope you enjoyed that blog on eco friendly laundry detergent sheets and found some useful places to try them out in the UK.
They are just one way to be more eco at home, but there are all sorts of other ways to be a little more sustainable in your home.
You can create a more sustainable kitchen by opting for eco appliances such as energy efficient fridges, eco kettles and energy efficient dishwasher.
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