I recently bought a bottle of: Ecover Grapefruit & Green Tea Dishwashing Liquid at our local food co-op as the brands I usually buy were all sold out. Checking out the ingredients on the bottle, it looked to be ok. Rather vague, but ok.
The ingredients as listed on the bottle:
Water, Anionic and non-ionic surfactants, Green tea extract, Citric acid, Salt,Fragrance (grapefruit). Biodegradable preservative.
I loved the idea of a grapefruit fragrance too, so into the shopping basket it went.
When I gave it a try at home, the first thing I noted was how much sudsier it was, when added to water, compared to some of the other natural dishsoaps I had tried recently.
And when it's sudsy, what comes to mind: Sodium laureth sulfate.
And we all know what a no-no that ingredient is, especially in terms of being included in a so-called natural/green product.
I then visited the Ecover website and here's what I found there, for the ingredient list for this product:
Complete ingredients list from their website:
Aqua
Sodium laureth sulfate
Lauryl glucoside,
Sodium chloride
Sodium benzoate
Citric acid
Fragrance
Limonene (allergen)
Camellia sinensis leaf extract
Ahha....that would explain the suds. And SLS is second on the list, in order of ingredient quantities.
I don't know why companies are still trying to con customers with "trickery" like this. It's not like consumers can't do their own investigating online about most products now. But given the rather innocent-looking list of ingredients on the bottle itself, would most people bother to check further? I'm glad I did but I do think a lot of people would take the bottle ingredient list at face value and feel good about using this product.
This is just as bad as what I found out about: Seventh Generation dishwashing liquid. You can read my full review about that product here.
If a company is going the "green route" in terms of their product lines, they should be made accountable to do just that. Provide products that are truly as green as possible and without any "fudging" when it comes to what a consumer is actually using when they buy their products.
I won't be buying any Ecover products again, based on this experience. There are companies and alternative brands that I feel a lot better about supporting.
I only hope our local store doesn't run out of the better choices, next time I need dishwashing liquid in a hurry! I actually hope that they re-think some of the so-called "green products" they still have on the shelves.
We send a message to these companies, every time we don't buy a questionable green product. It's time that some of them started to pay attention!
I only hope our local store doesn't run out of the better choices, next time I need dishwashing liquid in a hurry! I actually hope that they re-think some of the so-called "green products" they still have on the shelves.
We send a message to these companies, every time we don't buy a questionable green product. It's time that some of them started to pay attention!
Overall rating for this product: BAD. 0 out of 5.
This is interesting, Geraldine.
ReplyDeleteMost consumers, me included, tend to trust the ingredients as listed on the product, so it's a good reminder to do more research.
It's unfortunate you spent your good money on this.
Brenda
Hi Brenda, I really should have returned this product but as I said above, they were out of all my regular brands that I do like using. I guess stocking up when items we regularly use and approve of, when they are on sale, is a good idea. Green products have a way of disappearing off the shelves, especially the better ones!
DeleteI'm glad you found this helpful. :<)
Excellent review. It's a shame that you do have to research ingredients and not to be able to take them at face value, from the bottle/product itself.It's good you checked this out further but a lot of people wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteI'm frustrated, but thankful that you did the research for us. Both of those brands were my favourite ones...
ReplyDeleteThe frustration comes from finding out that yet another product isn't what they say it is. And I bought it at the health food store...
It takes so much time to do the research, and I thank you for doing it. What about Citrasolve? Sigh....
Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams
Nice work, Geraldine, in telling all... !
ReplyDelete__And your sense can tell anyone that... the -SUDS-, are just a visiual marketing ploy. It matters little, laundry or dishes, 'tis the cleaner -IN- the water that does the -cleaning-; the -SUDS- are not that tool... they just glisten... on -TOP-of that water, well away from that work being done. _m
It's bad enough that it cost so much more, while harming just the same, SHAME on THEM! and than you G. always
ReplyDeleteHi Joe, If the bottle ingredient list hadn't been so vague, I probably wouldn't have gone any further. A shame that what you see on a bottle/pkg. is not necessarily the whole story of what you're actually getting. IMO, one of the worst kinds of "trickery" in terms of product/company standards.
ReplyDeleteHi Jen, I'll have to check that other brand out, haven't seen it yet locally. I agree, it is frustrating but so worth the search to find truly green products.
Hi Magyar, Nice to see a comment from you here. Suds, yes a marketing ploy I agree. We were all brain-washed into thinking that more suds meant better cleaning. It still seems weird when I do dishes without the suds sometimes LOL.
Hi Lorraine, I agree, shame on them. And you are so welcome dear L.
Happy Wednesday and Thanks For Stopping By, G :<)