Tropical Traditions Laundry Detergent Review and Giveaway

I have three kids.  Three small kids.  Three small kids who go through more laundry in a day than I go through in a week.  (Except the 6 year old.  She hoards dirty laundry in her room until she finally runs out of something, for instance pajamas, and I explain to her that if they'd been in the laundry I could have washed them.)  You can imagine, though, that with 5 people wearing clothes, 3 of those being 6 and under, and one of them being in (mostly) cloth diapers, we wash a lot of laundry!  I typically wash about 8 loads a week, not including The Hubby's work clothes or the diapers.  All told, it's around 12 loads a week!  With all that laundry, my washer gets quite a workout, and so does my laundry detergent budget!

We've talked about Tropical Traditions around here a couple times. 

You'll remember our debut Tropical Traditions review of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil, a delicious and nutritious cooking oil alternative.  You may remember the more recent Powdered Dishwasher Detergent review and giveaway, a detergent that kicks the tail of any "name brand" powdered detergent out there.  Today I'd like to tell you a little bit about Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent, which, in my opinion, rivals any other detergent on the market.

I'll start by telling you that I don't buy powdered laundry detergent.  In fact, I'm a bit of a detergent snob.  I've tried a lot of kinds.  I've tried department store detergents, name brand detergents, generic detergents.  I've tried cloth diaper detergents and hypoallergenic detergents.  I've tried liquid and powder.  I've put my family through a lot!  But I've always gone back to my stand-by, a name brand department store liquid.  I was, therefor, a little hesitant to try the Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent, but I figured if they could make a believer out of me, they could make a believer out of anyone!

The main reason I don't typically use powdered detergent is because I found a few years ago that it tended not to mix well with the water, leaving some clothes clean, some still stinky, and some with discolorations due to the chemicals in the detergent!  Yes, powdered versions of my "regular" detergent are available, but we only gave them a brief try because of the aforementioned discoloration.  I have been using Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent for a few weeks now, and I love the cleanliness of my laundry!  There has only been one time that the laundry didn't come out smelling fresh, and that was simply because I over-filled the washer on that particular load.

Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent has a very light, definitely not overpowering, fresh citrusy scent.  It's very light.  Like, have to hold the powder near your nose to smell it light.  Like, I might not smell it when they come out of the dryer, but I can tell that it'll pull any stink out of my clothes light.  Perfectly light.  I love that part!

A little goes a long way!  According to the instructions, a 5 lb jar of Tropical Traditions detergent will wash about 40 loads.  I've found, though, that even for my top loader I only need to use about half of the recommended amount, so I am confident that this bottle will last me for at least 80 loads!  It washes every bit as clean with half the recommended detergent as my "regular" detergent does with its prescribed full amount.

Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent is safe to use on cloth diapers!  It doesn't say that, at least not that I've found, in any of the instructions.  I emailed the company, though, and was assured that it's safe!  In fact, the employees use it on their own cloth diapers!

The biggest issue I have with the Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent is the price.  I understand, from looking at other brands and types of detergent, that it is very moderately priced in the "natural" household goods community, at $30 for a 5 lb bottle.  (Right now it's on sale for just $16.99!)  I'm used to the "cheap" department store detergents, though, so the price tag is a bit of a shock to me.

I told you earlier that I believed that if Tropical Traditions could make a believer out of me, they could make a believer out of anyone.  Well, my friends, believe.  Tropical Traditions has shown me very decisively that they can stand up to the "name brand" competition, and that their powdered laundry detergent works every bit as well as the competitions liquid!

Would you like to try Tropical Traditions Powdered Laundry Detergent for yourself?  You can!  It's available for purchase, as I mentioned, from the Tropical Traditions site!  For a limited time it's just $16.99, so get it now!

Want to try it before you buy it?  Enter here for a chance to win your very own 5 lb bottle!  (Contest will end Monday, November 21, 2011 at 11:59pm EST and a winner will be drawn the next day!)

I was provided this product at no cost to me in order to facilitate a review.  I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are my own.

 

Earth Month - Rockin Green Soap Review and Giveaway

CLOSED

Stinky's overnight diapers were wet and...stinky.  Skunky.  Gross.  His daytime diapers were fine, but those overnighters, with the ultra-concentrated urine...yuck.  I thought it was the diapers at first.  I had received a couple of new ones, which I had used only for overnights so far, and wow.  They were bad.  Fresh out of the wash?  They smelled fine.  No trouble.  Perfect.  But after a long night?  Beware!

And then I received 3 samples of Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Detergent in the mail.

I love that Rockin' Green anticipates funk.  Even on the sample sizes, there are instructions for diaper soaking!  I immediately put my dipes in for a soak.  I'll warn you...the water will look NASTY.  Mine was grey.  I did not expect that!  Were my diapers really that gross?  But I followed the directions exactly, and my diapers came out fresh and clean.  (Now, keep in mind, I thought they were clean already.  I was really curious to see how the overnights would go.)  Well, guess what?  Since soaking my diapers, following Rockin' Green's instructions, I haven't had any funk at all!  Yay!  This stuff Rocks!

We did have a bit of an issue with Rockin' Green.  It seems that Stinky's little booty doesn't tolerate the Lavender Mint scent well.  This is sad, because I especially enjoyed the smell of that one!  (Even though I didn't think I would.)  What you need to know about that, though, is that I emailed Kim from Rockin' Green and she gave me some suggestions for using the soap, such as reducing the amount, trying the unscented, and waiting a few weeks until a new formula is introduced to try again!  I REALLY liked the friendly, helpful customer service.  In fact, when I am deciding on a final cloth diaper detergent (and I won't until after May, which is "Spring cleaning" month), customer service is something I will be carefully considering!  

Rockin' Green is a really neat detergent system.  There are three different formulas of detergent: Soft Rock, Classic Rock, and Hard Rock.  You choose your formula based on your water.  I have hard water, so Hard Rock is the perfect detergent for me.  If you're not sure what type of water yours is, they've got a map of the United States on their website so you can get a pretty good idea.

Not only are there 3 formulas, but there are also seven different cloth diaper friendly scents!  They smell DELICIOUS!  I'd love to try every one...and at $0.80 for each 3(ish) load sample, I just might!

You can try Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Detergent for yourself...and as I mentioned, samples as super cheap!  There are other products as well, including dryer balls, ammonia bouncer, diaper sprayers, etc.  It's a full service laundry supplier!

OR

You can win a 45/90 load bag of Rockin' Green right here on my blog!  (Contest will end and a winner will be drawn 5-10-11 at 11:59am EST.)

TO ENTER

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Visit Rockin' Green and tell me your favorite scent!

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I was given these products at no cost in order to facilitate this review, but was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are strictly my own.

April!

Happy April, everyone!

You've noticed, I'd sure, that I've been absent this week.  It's been crazy busy and I've been trying to keep my head from spinning!  Not only have I been living a crazy life this week, but I've been preparing for our Earth Month promotion!  I've got tons of great stuff lined up for this month, so I hope you're ready!

I have a review and/or giveaway planned for each day, Monday through Friday, for the month of April!  Sadly, though, some of the products are still en route.  Therefore, I will begin with just Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and as more items make their way, I'll fill them back in.

(I'll be throwing in some less eco-friendly items here and there...bear with me.  This is my first "event" and scheduling got a little haywire!)

Good luck!  I hope you all win something awesome!