In many ways, product development is like baking a cake.
There are a lot of ingredients you COULD use: Some will be healthy and taste bland. Some will be terribly unhealthy and taste amazing. You have to find the balance to make it not too terrible for you, and universally delicious.
In product development, the spectrum is between naturalness and performance. It is art we’ve been honing for about four years now.
We’ve got one of the best performing eco detergent on the market - you can ask Choice, or you can check out the graph below with our BTS performance grading from throughout the development process.
When we set out to create Advanced Wash, we had a particular few targets in mind:
- My brother in law likes his clothes to smell like he just walked through a fragrance house. He adores the smell of washing drying.
- A friend of a friend of mine told me her litmus test on detergent’s effectiveness is how long she can detect the smell of clean clothes. She went on to tell me that if the fragrance has left the building, she’ll wash clean clothes again just to get it back.
- One of my friends' husbands didn’t want to use Dirt anymore because he thought he could still smell sweat on his work uniforms. He probably could, as the essential oils in the formula will add a subtle fragrance to the mix, they wont mask bad smells in the same way natural fragrances can.
These three are not people who demand essential oils in their products. The first and most important thing here, is the smell of the detergent. And it should be loaded up.
All these people also desperately wanted to have the option come from us, because they love the design, convenience, price and most importantly, purpose behind our product. So, when making Advanced Wash, our decision was to lean into some of the safer performance centred ingredients, to make having a second option for those other washer types, worthwhile.
The hardest part of the process was probably selecting the scent. Lucky for us, we knew where to find not one, but thirty florists. We gave them a bunch of options and together we selected a very delectable scent.
We took this scent back to our key targets / friends. They LOVED it.
But they did think we could go for even more scent. I can’t sit in a car with an air freshener for more than 5 minutes without getting a headache, so this worried me.
We gave it a go, and lo-and-behold it was a hit. And not just with them, but surprisingly with our staff too (although at first we were all a little surprised - it’s a totally different washing experience).
As we all worked through our sample bottles, we became a little addicted to it. The consensus was that we all need it in our lives, either part time or full time.
We’re really happy with where we landed. The new Advanced Wash does the job it set out to do, very very well. And while it is still very of-the-earth, I wanted to be abundantly clear which detergent contains what and why.
Both detergents;
- Are Australian made
- Contain only plant based and organic cleaning ingredients
- Are vegan and cruelty free
- Contain no artificial dyes
- Contain essential oils
- Are grey water safe
- Have no phosphates
- Are 100% biodegradable
- Contain no optical brighteners
- Have similar performance capabilities
Original Laundry Detergent
- Contains a scent comprised of over 90% essential oils at a level of 0.35% (the lower side for a concentrate)
- Is very well suited for sensitive skin
- Is the best choice for septic systems
Advanced Wash
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Contains a scent that is 4% essential oils. The rest is from natural origin, meaning it has a natural base but has been modified. It's the best choice if you like the smell of your washing to be vaguely present.
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Contains an antibacterial ingredient designed to limit the growth of new bacteria.
It’ll help stop a musty smell growing in your clothes if you leave them in a drawer exposed to standard drawer conditions (humidity and no airflow).
Regardless of whether you pick a team of one detergent for your laundry or decide to have both options spinning at the same time, you’re making a good choice.
We set out to do less harm first by creating the products you ask as for, and then second, by working out what we can pull out to lighten the load on the earth, without reducing the power of the clean.
Our super concentrated formulas, our natural first philosophy, our closed loop reuse then recycle packaging system, and our profit donation model ensure any choice you make with us, is a good one.
I hope you love our latest edition,
Frankie