Cleaning Up

Tired of lugging a huge bottle of detergent to the laundromat every time you have to wash your jeans (you know the ones, you wear them 20 times first to avoid said laundromat trip)? Here comes local company dropps to the rescue. Dropps are little packs of concentrated laundry detergent that you toss right into the load; the plastic encasement melts away during the rinse cycle. They resemble those dishwashing liquid packs, though they’re more substantial. A cursory search of the usual suspects does not reveal any with similar packaging. Even if it did, though, dropps still has a trick up its sleeve: everything is non-toxic and biodegradable.

We tried out dropps because, hey, they sent us some. Hopes were not all that high at first that a) a little packet would be enough to clean an entire load (we have a high-capacity washer) or b) that we’d really be able to judge whether they cleaned better than our usual suspect. The first concern was answered on the pack: you use two packs for large loads. Sigh of relief. As for how clean stuff would end up, we decided that the important thing was that it did what it was supposed to do, namely remove dirt and odor and leave clothes looking clean. We’d leave the ultraviolet lamps to CSI.

While we’re usually not ones to gush about laundry products, we will say that dropps were easy to use and did a fine job. We left a few coffee stains on a white shirt, and there was no sign of them when all was said and done. Dropps is enzyme free and doesn’t use abrasive cleaners, and while we can’t swear to it we thought some of the cottons felt softer. The only issue emerged on a cheap acrylic sweater (hey, it’s full disclosure here), which ended up with a bit of un-dissolved plastic packaging on it. Another run through took care of it.

Immediately we thought about the benefits for apartment dwellers: a few dropps are much lighter than your average detergent bottle and tossing a few in your bag would be much less unwieldy. And that’s part of their schtick: by being ultra concentrated they are not only saving water and plastic, but the cost of transport is way lower, meaning less gas and fewer carbon emissions.

So the point is: we like it. It works just as well, the packaging and product are non-toxic (unlike the huge hulking plastic bottles we usually buy), we like the diminished environmental impact, and it’s a local company. If that’s not enough to convince you, on Wednesday the price of a package (20 dropps, or 20 medium/10 large loads) at Walmart or Target drops to $4.99; you can also buy directly from the site—the higher price is offset by free shipping and freedom from the shame of shopping at Walmart. You can also fill out a rebate form and receive a coupon to try a 20 pack for free at a local store. Free laundry? More beer money!

Image Credit: Flickr user Nix Sidhe