Blueland Laundry Tablets Review 2023 | Zero-waste, Sustainable Laundry Detergent
The Top Line: Maybe! Overall, we thought Blueland’s laundry tablets worked well, our laundry came out clean and smelling fresh (even though it was unscented!). While it continues to be the most expensive of what we have reviewed, we do appreciate that it is one of the few options that are PVA free, while maintaining the convenience of tablet form. Powder-based products like Meliora and Charley’s remain the most economical options.
Probably no. Overall, we think Blueland’s laundry tablets worked very well, our laundry came out very clean and smelling fresh (even though it is unscented!) but given the plentitude of zero-waste laundry options out there at lower prices, we didn’t think this will be our go-to in the future. We are, however, a fan of some of Blueland’s other cleaning supplies.
*Update note and review in September 2023: We want to note that Blueland products are all PVA free — and appreciate that they were one of the first brands to acknowledge this and took care to design their products to exclude the ingredient.
*Review Updated June 2023* to reflect latest pricing.
Check out our Big Zero-Waste Laundry Roundup Review on The Reduce Report.
The Breakdown:
Cost & Products: We purchased the Laundry Starter Set which comes with a reusable tin and 40 fragrance-free tablets for $25. You can purchase refill packs - 40 tablets for $14.00 or 120 tablets for $32.00
How ‘Clean’ Is This? Appears to be pretty clean but not as simple of an ingredient list as we have seen from Cleancult or Meliora. However, all of Blueland’s laundry tablet ingredients are naturally derived.
Packaging: Recyclable cardboard box.
Purchasing & Shipping: We purchased from Blueland.com which offers free shipping on orders over $35.
Good to know: Blueland makes claims that while the PVA/PVOH or polyvinyl alcohol based wrappers that many other popular eco-friendly brands use (eg. Dropps, The Honest Company) may dissolve, it does not fully biodegrade unless under very specific conditions — and that these conditions are unlikely to exist in most waste water treatment plants in the US. We haven’t been able to find conclusive research to back this claim other than what we have seen from Blueland, so at this time we are undecided on this.
What’s Your Impact? Traditional liquid laundry detergents are usually packaged in high density polyethylene. 68% of these bottles are not recycled and contribute to the approximately 275 metric tons of plastic waste that goes into our oceans and waterways annually. A family of 4 would typically go through 5-6 plastic jugs of laundry detergent (that can be used for 64 loads) over the course of a year.
The Experience
Context: We have tried many laundry pods, powders and strips/sheets, and currently fairly happy with Dropps (for pods), Meliora (for powder) and Beyond Laundry (for strips/sheets). We tend to opt for a more inexpensive option given how quickly we run through laundry supplies!
We tested Blueland’s laundry tablets in two loads — one larger load for normal 56 minute cycle, and one smaller load for a 24 minute quick wash cycle — for both cycles the tablets dissolved well in the wash
Laundry came out very clean — one of the loads was our dog’s blankets, came out smelling fresh!
The Cost
We have tried a number of eco-friendly, plastic-free or low-waste laundry options — including pods, packs, sheets, and powders — including Meliora, Cleancult, Dropps, Sheets Laundry Club, Grove Collaborative and more. We took a look at cost per load and estimated annual cost assuming that a typical family of four probably generates between 8 and 10 loads of laundry per week:
Money Report: Blueland’s laundry tablets are on the more expensive end of the range (not the case when you look at some of their other cleaning supplies!) and we’re not sure if it is significantly better.
The Good:
✔ We like the ‘naked’ laundry tablets (no wrapper on it — not even the biodegradeable PVA based ones that many popular laundry pods use)
✔ Laundry tablet fully dissolved in the wash — even when we ran it in a shorter “quick wash” cycle
✔ No scent, laundry just came out smelling clean
✔ No triclosan, parabens, phosphates, chlorine bleach, MEAs, DEAs, TEAs, SLES, petroleum, artificial dyes or fragrances
✔ Certified Platinum Material Health from Cradle to Cradle, USDA BioPreferred, and Leaping Bunny.
✔ Biodegradable
The Bad:
✗ On the more expensive end of the spectrum
✗ We would love some scented options! (Specifically lavender and linen scents)
Our Recommendation: Maybe! Overall, we thought Blueland’s laundry tablets worked well, our laundry came out clean and smelling fresh (even though it was unscented!). While it continues to be the most expensive of what we have reviewed, we do appreciate that it is one of the few options that are PVA free, while maintaining the convenience of tablet form. Powder-based products like Meliora and Charley’s remain the most economical options.
We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!
