GG Readers' Top Picks: Household Cleaning Products

Last June, with mop buckets and sponges in tow, we set out to find out which eco-friendly cleaners our readers thought were most effective at getting the job done. On our web site, we surveyed six popular brands each of eco-friendly dishwashing detergents, laundry detergents and all-purpose cleaners, most of which are available at national chains such as Wild Oats, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. Here's what we found:

Among the hand and machine dishwashing detergents we surveyed—BioShield Dishwasher Concentrate, Earth Friendly Dishmate Hand Dishwashing Liquid, Ecover Natural Dishwashing Liquid, Naturally Yours Hand Dishwashing Detergent, Seventh Generation Automatic Dish Powder Free & Clear and Seventh Generation Dish Liquid—only Naturally Yours was rated by our readers as less effective than conventional cleaners. Earth Friendly Dishmate was so effective and mild that many of our respondents were using it as everyday hand soap. Some respondents complained of film buildup while using eco-friendly powder detergents, but you can easily remove that foggy film by soaking dishes in a mixture of two parts water and one part vinegar. One of the pros of environmentally safe dishwashing detergents is that they lack harmful sudsing agents, such as sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate (SLS) and diethanalomine (DEA), but the lack of lather led many survey respondents to feel like their brand of choice wasn't cleaning their dishes. If you need a hearty lather, switch to a liquid castile soap; your fellow readers recommend Vermont Soap Liquid Sunshine, which can be used by hand or in a machine.

Our Laundry Detergent survey looked at Bi-O-Kleen Laundry Powder, Ecos Liquid Laundry, Ecover Laundry Liquid, Ecover Biological Washing Powder, Seventh Generation Laundry Powder Free & Clear and Seventh Generation Laundry Liquid Free & Clear detergents. While Seventh Generation's and Ecover's detergents were the most commonly used, Bi-O-Kleen's Bac-Out and Bi-O-Kleen All Purpose Cleaner and Degreaser received the highest praise for their ability to remove stains. Seventh Generation's detergents received high ratings for cleanliness and color-fastness of darks, but some felt like it left a stiffness to their clothing. That stiffness will disappear by adding 1/4 cup of baking soda to your wash cycle. And in the open comments section of the survey, a few people wrote that they use liquid castile soaps like Dr. Bronner's and Vermont Sunshine as a replacement for traditional laundry detergents.