For anyone who suffers from allergies or has any skin sensitivities, soap nuts may be your dream come true. From laundry, to dishes, to washing the car, to personal hygiene - soap nuts provide chemical free solutions. These are remarkable gifts that nature has provided us. The natural skin care company NaturOli has introduced these little gems and is heavily promoting them in the US. Rather than explaining a lot here, NaturOli provided a good bit of information in an easy to understand format: http://www.naturoli.com/soapnuts/ This is oriented towards use as a green and natural detergent, however I have been told that this is simply the beginning and that they have MANY soap nut based formulas (even hair and body care products) will be released soon. Excellent! In the meantime, just read a bit, try some, and let you imagination be your only limitation. My home is almost void of chemicals now. I can't recommend these any higher. To know and understand what they offer is to love them. How these have stayed in such relative obscurity for so long is beyond me. They have been used in the eastern hemisphere for centuries. Thank you NaturOli. More importantly, thank you Mother Nature! You always have answers for us. Guess we just need to listen a little harder.

Seventh Generation produces a huge range of household products designed to be kind to your health and the environment. Their range really is impressive with alternatives to every traditional household chemical product.

This 'Free & Clear' laundry detergent is just that, free of any fragrances and petrochemicals. It is made solely from plant based ingredients, the main cleaning agents being corn and coconut based soaps, soda ash, and borax. The lack of any petrochemicals means this detergent is a lot kinder to the environment once the waste water is pumped out of your washing machine.

As the product contains no fragrances and other volatile petrochemicals such as formaldehyde and ethanol (common in other cleaning products) it caused no problems for me as a chemically sensitive individual. When dried outdoors on the washing line clothes still smell fresh without the need for artificial fragrances.

In terms of cleaning ability, I'd say this product is among the best of the "natural" brands I have tried. I would have to concede that it's not quite up there with some of the high strength synthetic detergents but the trade off for the health and environmental benefits is very small. Seventh Generation have now added enzymes to this product so cleaning power is now likely to be even better.