Going to answer my own question here, my husband found this on gardenweb! I was a bit panicked as I did not want to use phosphates due to pollution & water concerns.

This was the German laundry detergent ordered for a better price at http://eurofoodmart.com/

"Phosphonates like DTPA work as chelating agents. They basically bond with metals and other materials and sequester them to be flushed away. They are not as effective as phosphates, but they are still pretty darn good."

http://www.thathomesite.com/forums/load/laundry/msg0203143616596.html?18

Eurofoodmarkt is a bit confused about german borders :)

Ricola, Lindt, Nestlè , Suchard (Milka) and Maggi are ***swiss*** firms/brands
Ferrero (then Kinder too) and Illy are ***italian*** firms/brands.

Gruesse aus Lombardei, Italien ;-)

I think they're from all over Europe but the laundry prods are from Germany (I think), Persil & Ariel.

mielemaid,

Thank you so much for the link to euromart. I've been wanting to try Persil for ages but was hesitant about the prices. I just ordered some and can't waite till I can try it.

I'm still a fan of Charlie's Soap, but it doesn't work great on some stuff here despite my efforts. Besides if someone who goes to laundry mat can use 2 tbsp of Charlie's to get a load clean and prevent other detergent transfer then I can do that here at home.

Now if I could find a website where Vernel was reasonably priced, I could try that too. :D

Hi happymom! Glad you ordered some Persil from that place, I also ordered the huge industrial sized box of Ariel from them (it's listed under "cosmetics" on their site for some reason. Based on another thread here I've used more than 2 tbsp's in my Laundry, for instance really stained up items. Tonight I used up to 4 tbsp's but that was it. I think I'm finding that it does help to use a bit more detergent if you have some really soiled items.

Anyways with all the Persil, Ariel, etc that I have I won't be needing detergent for a long time!