Arm and Hammer Essentials

17 years ago

Has anyone heard of the new Arm and Hammer Essentials (detergent or fabric softener sheets)? I have been trying to use natural products because of the chemicals used in regular detergents and dryer sheets. Does anyone know anything about this new product? The laundry sheets were fairly inexpensive, especially compared to the natural products I have been buying. The ingredients are listed as "biodegradable fabric softening agents and natural essential oils". Is this just a marketing scam or is this stuff actually OK? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give!

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Comments (8)

User
17 years ago
I couldn't find any specific information on it, but the way they describe it sounds fine. Look at the list of Ingredients on the bottle to be certain. If you are interested in a natural product, you may want to try Bi-O-Kleen. Performance is outstanding and cost per load is low.
snappy
17 years ago
I've been using this product exclusively for the last few months. Works great. Smells wonderful (Mtn Rain scent). We have a dog and I've washed her blankets with it and have had no allergic reactions. They list a ph# 1-800-524-1328 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm ET on the bottom back label. Maybe that would be helpful??
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Mama most of my loads are done on hot... Ive been using a plain jane GE toploader and the hot water is too hot to touch. Sometimes I do a warm wash but very rarely... tap warm here at the moment is on the hot side, close to 125. The cold rinse water is very very warm, temps range from 105-115 usually. Ive never really cared for liquids all that much, never thought they cleaned as good as powders. When I was using liquids, (with this current machine) I would do a warm wash first followed by a hot soak/wash and I could still smell body oil. Granted I do have pregnancy nose and I'm very sensitive to smells but... the oils must be there if I'm smelling them. So I switched over the powders and it got a bit better. I couldn't smell anything while the clothes were wet but I would catch a whiff when taking things out of the dryer. I tried a warm wash tonight on sheets, temp was 121 at the start of the cycle, no soak, no double wash... just the A&H powder and they smelled clean... no scent after the dryer and no oil smell! :-D ETA: Tide powder wasn't completely fixing the problem but it was much better than the liquids... totally went away with the A&H though. I can't believe I'm this excited about a detergent lol but I'm really loving it
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pdub
17 years ago
I've been using it as it has been extremely low sale priced at $2.50 per bottle in my area. I like the scent and it seems to do a good job.
dmpaik_wi_rr_com
16 years ago
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If you call them they admit to having optical brighteners which are very environmentally nasty and some cause bacterial mutations etc. They also bond irreversibly to the skin. I wish so much that they would just take them out of the recipe. It is silly that they don't list them on the ingredients-they said it was proprietary info that they don't want to share. Please call them and ask them to take it out of the recipe.
ebear1271
Original Author
16 years ago
mitra9898, thanks for the info! I don't use any detergents or cleaners that don't list all of the ingredients on the package. I just knew the Arm & Hammer was too good to be true! If you are interested in a natural dryer sheet, Mountain Green makes one. They are available online and some of the Linen's-n-Things are carrying them on a trial basis. It's the only natural dryer sheet I've been able to find.
lisanoelle
16 years ago
I really want to try these but I just don't think they are "green" enough. Sun & Earth makes all natural dryer sheets that are biodegradable in less than 30 days!! They are available in unscented and orange. I tried the orange and though they smelled wonderful in the box, no scent was left on my clothing. They seemed to work ok for static but I didn't notice any extra softness. My favorite solution is Ecos laundry detergent because it has a built in soy based fabric softener. My clothes come out of the dryer fresh and soft without my needing to add a liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets! This is more economical for me and better for the environment. I really like the Magnolia & Lilly scented Ecos detergent. It has a super light, fresh scent that is just slightly detectable when my clothes come out of the dryer. It's perfect for my whole family's sensitive skin.
ebear1271
Original Author
16 years ago
I don't think the Arm & Hammer are very green at all. I also use the Ecos, Magnolia and Lily. They used to have it at Costco for a song but they don't have it anymore. Guess I'll just have to order it online. It's the best "natural" detergent I've found.
reeree_natural
16 years ago
ebear-
didn't you order Charlies?? I thought you did..????
A&H is not green as you found out..what throws people is, that bottle has " natural" on it.. they are talking about the baking soda..so this will lead people to think it's 'green" If you didn't try Charlies yet, give it a try. It is a great product

Shaklee has natural dryer sheets, here's a link...
Ree

Here is a link that might be useful: Shaklee dryer sheets

Arm and Hammer Essentials

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Arm and Hammer Essentials

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snappy

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