We washed all of our gym clothes with Dropps Active Wash: TRR Review.

The Top Line

Maybe buy. We liked the ingredients and ease of use of Dropps Active Wash. Our only beef with the active line is how pricey it is compared to powder and liquid detergents. To be honest, this is generally the case with standard laundry detergent. If you like the convenience, Dropps is the only brand that makes zero-waste pod detergent, and we like it.

[Updated July 2023 to include the latest Research on Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) that is in this product.]

Note: This product does include a polymer called Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) — which, while it can biodegradable, it requires very specific conditions in order to do so that most US wastewater treatment facilities in the US are not set up for (study on degradation of PVA in US Wastewater Treatment Plants), which can lead to partially degraded plastic in the environment. TLDR: Biodegradable products that include PVA (which is found in many dishwasher and detergent pods) isn’t quite as clean as it is advertised to be, but still a step up from traditional bottled cleaners.

The Breakdown

• Cost & Products: So many options. 120 pods for $60, or $45 with subscription. Or a 24 pod box for $15

• How ‘Clean’ Is This? Really clean. Recyclable and compostable packaging, biodegradable and plant-derived ingredients, and pre-measured pods reduce overuse of detergent (which most people are guilty of!)

• Packaging: Comes in a cardboard box!

• Purchasing & Shipping: The Dropps website is pretty easy to order from.

• Good to know: Plastic is one of the least recycled materials in the US.

• What’s Your Impact? Overall, better ingredients compared to drugstore brands. No plastic! Pods come in cardboard boxes, which are fully recyclable.

  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 Good:

✔ Nice scents (we preferred Rose Energy but Fresh Start was nice too)

✔ Zero Plastic!

✔ Removes odors

✔ Reduction in emissions, given concentrated formulas

✔ Ingredients are an improvement over standard drugstore brands

✔ Convenient pods that are pre-measured

The Bad:

✗ A little pricy, but the convenience might be worth it

The Experience

Context: Prior to going even greener, we have used the normal Seventh Generation (powder and liquid), Tide, and Method for all of our clothes. For stains, we are still using OxiClean’s stain remover here and there. We have washed all kinds of clothes and items with Dropps Active Wash:

• Easy to use drops of the 24 pack come in two separate compartments.

• Rose Energy scent was light and lovely; we didn’t mind Fresh Start, it had a more clean citrus, Irish Spring note to it.

• Clothes came out clean, smelling great!

The Cost

Context: We assumed that the average household of 4 will generate 7 loads of laundry per week or 365 loads per year! We will compare Dropps Active Wash to a other active detergents like Rockin Green, Active Wear, The Laundress, and No Sweat detergents. We also included the original Dropps and Tide PureClean.

Money Report:

Pricey. Dropps Active Wash is pricey even when considering the subscription option, unfortunately.

Our Recommendation:

Maybe buy. We liked the ingredients and ease of use of Dropps Active Wash. Our only beef with the active line is how pricey it is compared to powder and liquid detergents. To be honest, this is generally the case with standard laundry. If you like the convenience, Dropps is the only brand that makes zero-waste pod detergent, and we like it.

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!