At the encouragement of a friend and fellow blogger, I reached out to some etsy dealers. Why you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. In our efforts to go chemical free, homemade, environmentally friends, and you know- cheap… I’ve been making my own cleaning products for a while, along with dishwasher detergent. And we’ve made toothpaste (we finally have one that I looove!), made some lotion (it needs some tweaking), and continue to test out new and new-to-us ideas for personal care products. There is one thing I’m a little afraid of. Laundry detergent. I know it’s really not difficult. I even made some once. I didn’t love it. I didn’t love making it and I didn’t love using it. So when trying to decide what kind of products I wanted to do reviews on- it was a no brainer. Personal care products and more importantly- laundry detergent. A family of 5 goes through a lot of laundry. I’ve always got one of two types of laundry mountains going on- needing to be cleaned or needing to be put away. Worst case scenario is when you have both! Yikes. The first two lovely ladies to reach (back) out to me were for two different products. One is laundry detergent! And the other is a moisturizer! Today I’m going to give you my review of the laundry detergent (I’m hoping that gives me extra incentive to get my laundry done… and then maybe put away. Maybe.).
Her name is Kari and she has a lovely little (virtual) shop on etsy- Karbipbaby. Go and check it out. Sweet, right? And when she sent me the laundry soaps to test out- she included a thoughtful, handwritten note. I can already tell she’s my kinda gal! She started making them as gifts and then began using them herself. Now they use it exclusively. And the best part (well, one of the things I love about her and her products) she gets quality time in with her daughter under the guise of something to do while they watch tv. I love it! I can totally picture a tween version of my MissE, sitting on the couch, chatting about whatever happens to come out of her mouth while we work on some project or other. Actually, that doesn’t sound so different than now, only I’m working on a project and she’s generally undoing my project while chatting. (Biggest has taken to calling her ‘Yakkity Yak’ after seeing a very chatty Yak given that nickname on a cartoon.)
Back to the soap, if you’ve been looking for a more cost effective, eco-friendly, vegan, or “green” laundry soap, then this is it! Her handmade soaps have three ingredients! As a mom of kids with allergies (and thereby prone to Eczema), I was pleased to read that it’s a great product for people with sensitive skin, babies, and yes, even people with Eczema (she has two kids with it as well and cites that using natural cleaners in her home really makes a difference!).
photo credit: Karbipbaby Etsy Store
Upon receiving my package of four different kinds of laundry detergent (Lavendar, Clean and Clear, Original, and their newest scent- Spring Has Sprung), I left it on my counter. I kept walking into my kitchen thinking what the heck is that smell? (It didn’t smell bad, just a little out of place in the kitchen!) Now that I’ve moved them onto my washer, I am loving that smell! Seriously! As a cloth diapering mom… sometimes a little scent is a good thing.
Now I’ve always had sensitive skin when it came to laundry detergents. Chemically induced fragrances have always been a big no-no. So I will admit to being a little hesitant about the fragranced detergents. But guess what? I totally love them. I always thought I wasn’t a big fan of lavender scented things (my mama loooves her some lavender!), but I think that was my favorite of all the detergents she sent me! No rash. No itchy, scratchy skin. Just clean (and clean smelling) clothes! Oh and did I mention it cleans the clothes? Because it does. Toddler dinner mess? No problem. Big kids playing in the dirt all day? No signs of that here. Hubbyman’s shirts that smell like him even after being washed? They smell much better. Not having to worry about all the chemicals and preservatives that are in the bottle? No worries here. That’s pretty priceless. I am totally sold! I haven’t used all of the Spring Has Sprung yet… I’m thinking of saving some just to keep near the diaper pail because it smells so good! Haha! (It’s funny, because I mean it.)
I should also note two things about the scents. 1) The lavender is a lighter fragrance than the Spring Has Sprung. 2) Neither of the scents are incredibly strong after being through the wash. The lavender is very light, and the Spring Has Sprung, while your clothes will smell like Spring has Sprung, it won’t be overpowering. Because I’d never used fragranced detergents, I had no idea how the clothes would come out smelling. To me it was perfect, it makes the wash smell wonderful (and therefore my laundry room smells good!) and my clothes come out clean and smelling good without smelling like I’ve got a really potent perfume on. Got it? Good.
photo credit: Karbipbaby etsy store
Our of 5 stars… I’d give this laundry detergent mama all five of those stars!
Want to know something almost as fantastic as the laundry detergent? She has been gracious enough to offer THREE of you a Multi-Pack of her laundry detergent! The multi pack contains a sample of each of the scents. Enough to do 10 loads of laundry! How do you enter? Well, I’m so glad you asked! Just click right HERE which will bring you to my facebook page, under the lefthand column, click on Giveaways and follow the instructions to enter! The contest ends Friday at midnight, so be sure to get all the points you can between now and then! And be sure to stay tuned for tomorrow’s review!!
Disclosure: I received the products mentioned above in exchange for this review; a big thanks to Kari at Karbipbaby! No monetary compensation was received by me. This post is entirely my own opinion and you may find it differs from yours.
laborofwonder 
This sounds wonderful! With a new baby on the way, and a son who has eczema, this may be a great way to get some fresh scent back into my clothes.
I would love to try it!
I already am getting samples sent to me, I can’t wait to try and pick what one I want! 🙂
Going to try it. I like my detergent ok but its a pain to make when I’m tired. Which is all I am latley, lol. 🙂
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