Like Using Nothing at All
I have been using this detergent for nearly a month and, as of yesterday, I must say that my suspicions were confirmed--this product has been like using nothing at all!<br /><br />Over the past seven years, I have used many different types of green laundry detergents. All have cleaned with varying effectiveness but none were ever as good as non-green detergents. I am okay with that. From it, I've learned the importance of using stain treatment and laundry boosters. So, as you can see that I am not oblivious to how these green detergents clean.<br /><br />In my opinion, Nature's Simply Clean has been one of the worst performing laundry detergents that I've tried. When used as directed, it consistently caked in the dispenser and I was left with the nagging feeling that my clothes were not coming out as clean as they had when I used Planet and Charlie's Soap. Both of those detergents were very good at cleaning my laundry. . .but Charlie's was exceptional for my cloth diapers and towels! Prior to transitioning over to Nature's Simply Clean, I had found a perfect routine and amount of detergent to get all of my clothes "clean", smelling fresh and stains about 90% out. The reason why I wanted to give Nature's Simply Clean a try was because I wanted additional fragrance--which Charlie's does not have. I was hoping that it would add something to the faint smell of the 7th Generation Lavender Fabric softener that I've been using (I love for my clean sheets to have a fragrance).<br /><br />Well, I must say that this detergent was a complete fail in every way that I could have imagined. First, the fragrance was barely noticeable on my laundry when I removed it from the washer. . .and once dried, there was virtually no lingering scent. The thing that got me the most was that my laundry never seemed clean. Stains were rarely removed--maybe slightly faded--and they did not have the crisp feeling to which I have become accustom when using Charlie's Soap. I assumed that this was primarily due to the added oils (i.e, coconut, olive, palm and essential), which Charlie's does not have. On a positive note, I did notice that my laundry had less static (not static-free as stated on the container) compared to when I used Charlie's. Perhaps this was due to those extra ingredients.<br /><br />In regards to the cleaning capabilities of Nature's Simply Clean, I must say that it has done a VERY poor job of cleaning my laundry. Despite adding it directly to the drum, its effectiveness was still subpar. My whites never appeared to be cleaned. Most of my children's socks remained dirt-stained--unlike when I used Planet and Charlie's. And, food stains. . .WOW! This detergent was a complete fail. If I did not use pretreatment and manipulation, the stains would be consistently left behind. Yesterday while I was preparing to put away my kiddos laundry, I noticed that any food stain that I did not pretreat (and scrub) was left behind. The worst part was when I checked my daughter's leggings and had a solid bit of food (ex. like syrup) still attached! Additionally, the knees were still dirty from her crawling around on them. That alone was beyond unacceptable. Lucky for me though, I had already gotten the memo and ordered a new detergent to try--Savvy Green. It arrived right on time. . .and I rewashed ALL of my kiddos laundry from the week that had been washed with the Nature's Simply Clean. So far, so good! It removed over 90% of the stains that the Nature's Simply Clean left behind. And like the Charlie's Soap, it left them feeling and smelling "clean." Now, only time will tell how well it will work on all of my laundry and if it will supersede Charlie's!<br /><br />So, based on the addition of fragrance and the inability to clean simple stains, I rate Simply Clean Lavender Vanilla Dream a 2 out 5. Despite the lack of residual scent left post-drying, I decided to give this detergent a 2, instead of a 1, because I love the idea of using essential oils in green detergents for fragrance.
Rating: 2 stars