Ecover

[ailbhe]

We used Ecover laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, and now dishwasher rinse aid and dishwasher tablets. We use it because we're too lazy to do the research but it's marketed as Eco-Friendly. But the dishwasher tablets are each individually wrapped inside the large box, in plastic.

Grr.

Comments

[thereyougothen.livejournal.com]

we havne't found any that aren't individually wrapped. we also found that we needed to use two of the ecover tablets to deal with the grease. so we don't use them anymore.
the dishwasher tablets are the only one of their products that we haven't found to be *better* than any others.
when i'm being virtuous, i buy liquid dishwasher stuff, but the costco coupons and the finish tablets usually win out, i have to admit.

[happydisciple.livejournal.com]

According to their website, the tablets are individually wrapped to protect them from moisture damage. Oh, and the wrappers are made from polypropylene and are 100% recyclable.

I have no baseline to compare these tablets with. Do all brands individually wrap their tablets? How real a problem is moisture damage? What other materials are used for wrappers? Is it possible to separate out PP from household waste for recycling? How common are PP recycling schemes?

[artela.livejournal.com]

Do ecover not do dishwasher powder as well?

(Personally I use Finish dishwasher powder as, despite having tried others, it does seem to be the best at getting the job done.)

[ailbhe]

The only other brand of tablet we've tried was individually wrapped. And there are no facilities to recycle ANYTHING plastic in the Reading Borough Council area except bottles. Not packets, not boxes, nothing but bottles.

[ailbhe]

No idea, we've only just started looking at dishwasher detergent, but yes, that's the next step. It's just annoying.

[happydisciple.livejournal.com]

They don't.

In their washing up-line, they have two types of washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets, and dishwasher rinse aid (which they recommend you use in combination with their tablets, for best result).

Aten't the intarweb informative :-)

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

I must admit that I bought a pack online of all their products that are suitable for our house as I'd heard of the name & I trust that what they say is true. The only thing I don't like so far is the glass cleaner as I found sit made windows & mirrors worse, not better, and as you know, toddler fingers make mirrors & bottoms of windows very smeary. I'd tried the M&S eco one before as there's an M&S in town & I had some vouchers. It works, but it smells disgusting. Now, I found another online place that sells 5kg bags of ecover washing powder, so I ordered one of them & a Bio-D window cleaner. I can say yay! The cleaner works well & doesn't stink :) A dishwasher is our next major home purchase, but I did find when I had one in our flat, but only the expensive stuff (I forget the name, I have PND & no brain) would actually clean properly. I used to stock up when it was on special offer. That would be no good now as I've converted all off my cleaning products to ecover & Bio-D now.

[ailbhe]

Best window-cleaner I've ever found is washing up liquid :) I think at this stage we use washing up liquid and vinegar for everything except using in appliances. We don't have any bleach or similar.

[ailbhe]

I just wrote to ask if I can send them the little plastic packets for recycling :)

[tafagirl.livejournal.com]

I didn't like the Ecover tabs at all, left everything greasy :-(

But you live in the Land of Liquid Dishwasher Detergent! Maybe try that? I'm a big fan of liquid detergents and annoyed that I can't seem to find liquid detergent for dishwashers in Germany ...

[ailbhe]

We've not found the tablets leave anything at all greasy; the only thing that doesn't come off is hard-set breakfast cereal. But we do use the rinse aid as instructed.

[totkat.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested in what Ecover think about using cellulose wrappers, like M&S (I think, it might be someone else though) do in their sandwich boxes to replace the plastic window. It does degrade over time, but I wouldn't know if it would last long enough to protect washing tablets for an acceptable length of time.

[tafagirl.livejournal.com]

In the end, we used the same dishwashing liquid for handwashing and the machine, I think. It's all a bit hazy, I haven't lived in my own place for two years.

[megabitch.livejournal.com]

warm water with vinegar in, a sponge/cloth for cleaning and some newspaper to polish it off with.

[ai731.livejournal.com]

Yup. I add a tablespoon of lemon juice to a 50-50 vinegar-water solution for most of my household cleaning. I also add a couple of drops of some nice-smelling essential oil if I'm damp-mopping dusty surfaces that won't be damaged, such as bookshelves and the like.

[ailbhe]

Boots and Waitrose sell nappy sacks made of the same stuff. I must ask Ecover about it if/when they respond to my other query.

[firecat]

Don't know if these are available in the UK, but over here there are dishwasher thingies that are like tablets only they are filled with some kind of gel. The wrapping is apparently made of something water soluble because you put the whole thing in the dishwasher without unwrapping. They aren't marketed as eco-friendly per se as far as I know. But at least they come in a cardboard box instead of a plastic jug.

[nitoda]

Following on from firecat's comment, the latest Finish dishwasher tablets look like normal ones in that they have a plastic coating, but indeed they are used in their entirety and the plastic (or whatever it is) dissolves in the dishwasher. I have no idea what other considerations may make them less than eco friendly though.