8 best eco-friendly laundry detergents that actually work

Score: 91/100

If you care about the environment but are also faced with a mountain of grubby laundry, our winning bio detergent saves you from having to compromise. It banished 89% of stains from our polycotton clothes and proved particularly effective against baby food and sebum (the body oil that contributes to acne). It scored top marks for colour retention too, with only minimal fading after several spins in the machine, and it left all our white garments sparkling.

Tea stains got the better of it on both cotton and polycotton, but the majority of our panel said they would keep using it. Our only niggles involved the limited user guidance – we weren’t sure whether to dispense it into the drum or drawer – and the fact that the bottle doesn’t come with a handle and is therefore slightly tricky to grip.

Score: 90/100

Determined to be as plastic-free as possible? Try these non-bio capsules. You need to sign up for a postal subscription, but you can give the nine-wash trial a go first – it’s free, bar £1 postage. It’s up to you how regularly a box arrives through your letterbox, and you can change the frequency at any time.

Not merely convenient, they also work a treat. They dissolved effectively and over 80% of stains disappeared from our cotton pile, including coffee, foundation and baby food. Once again, tea wouldn’t budge, and there was some colour fading after a few cycles, but whiteness retention was strong and most of the panel said they planned to use these vegan capsules again.

We’ve also tested Smol’s Stain Gel, which scored 79/100. It’s not available to buy separately but you can get it as part of Smol’s cleaning bundle, which includes the stain gel, nine non-bio capsules, nine dishwasher tablets, a multi-purpose spray, fabric conditioner, and washing up liquid.

All our panellists found the gel effective at removing general stains and loved that it kept their whites bright. It struggled a little with tougher stains such as red wine, but for things like baby food, sauces or blood, it's a handy cleaner to have in your cupboard.

Score: 89/100

This concentrated bio detergent comes in a choice of three fragrances – we tried peony blush. It smelled pleasant, but note that it’s not entirely plant-based, in case you're adversely affected by synthetic perfumes. In terms of effectiveness, it removed 90% of stains from our polycotton pile and only struggled with tea and foundation residue.

There was next to no colour fading, which is impressive for a bio formula, and it didn’t drop a point for white retention on nylon. Our panel unanimously agreed that they would buy it again, but it’s fairly bulky to store and the lack of a handle makes pouring an accurate dose a bit trickier. We noticed some slight signs of greying on our white cotton and polycotton clothing, too.

Score: 85/100

This refillable laundry detergent comes as a 20L bulk buy that provides you with a huge 600 washes...that’s a lot of laundry! The aloe vera and rosemary scent was a big hit with our panellists and they praised the natural ingredients that are cruelty-, paraben- and sulphate-free.

In terms of cleaning power, it effectively removed baby food, tomato puree and coffee marks from our laundry. Red wine stains on cotton lifted well too; however, mud and grass proved tricky.

It was a little messy to refill bottles or pour the liquid directly into the washing machine drawer due to the bottle size, but that’s a small price to pay for an effective, eco-friendly detergent.

Score: 81/100

Everyone who tried these bio capsules was satisfied with their cleaning capabilities. In the lab, they impressed with their stain removal on both cotton and synthetic fabrics, lifting an average of over 80% across all our tests. Our testers also said they cleaned clothing well, even at colder temperatures.

The lilac and rose scent was a hit, and all our panellists found them easy to use, as there’s no messy pouring required. They dissolved well too, meaning our experts didn’t find any residue left on their laundry when they were hanging it up to dry afterwards.

Score: 78/100

This recyclable bottle’s handle made it the most comfortable to hold and easiest to use of all the bio detergents on test. It triumphed over baby food, makeup and blood stains, fully erasing them from cotton and polycotton, and it did not fade our coloured items.

Unfortunately, our white cotton, nylon and polycotton clothes lost some of their brightness and we could still detect some tea stains after washing. You also have to order dosage caps separately. The price feels reasonable, especially if you have a colourful wardrobe, although quality could be better.

Score: 75/100

This non-bio detergent’s bottle is made entirely from recycled material, earning it serious brownie points. Happily, it ticked many other boxes too. It delivered a flawless performance in our colour retention test and scored highly for whiteness retention.

It picked up 71% of stains from cotton, which isn’t bad, but it could have been better at getting make-up smudges out of polycotton. The carton’s handle made it easy and mess-free to use, but we struggled to read the measuring stick inside the dosing cap.

Score: 74/100

Sheets are an alternative to tablets or liquid detergent that require less packaging. These Dr Beckmann ones come in a recyclable wallet and are easy to store if you’re tight on space. They release their cleaning agents by dissolving in the wash and our testers found they performed well, leaving no deposits on our clothes after the cycle had ended.

If you like a neutral fragrance, these sheets will please as their scent doesn’t linger on clothes. They removed at least 80% of stains from cotton and polycotton too, although some colours dulled a little and our whites weren’t the brightest. Our experts said they’d be an excellent pick for hand washing, whether that’s at home or on holiday when you want to give your clothes a quick refresh.

We tested the non-bio sheets too, awarding them a score of 72/100.