Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Unfortunately, this just doesn't work well for me. 2 stars because it is a green product, and I can at least use the rest for scrubbing my shower. For reference: I have a Hotpoint top loading washing machine. Nothing fancy; no bells and whistles. I only wash my clothes in cold water. I like laundry powders. In fact, I prefer them, since liquid laundry cleaners are mostly water, and I hate paying extra for water. So I do know how to properly use this in my laundry. It made all of my darks fade horribly. This was even with dissolving it thouroughly before adding to the machine, then making sure there was plenty of water to dilute and only then adding in my laundry. Nice navy blues are now a sad and dingy almost dishwater color (which is really upsetting, as most of my wardrobe is blue.) Blacks are almost grey, and brand new unfinished "raw" denim jeans are almost stonewashed now; this was only after a month of using Biokleen. Also, I'm not too big on worrying about stains, but this stuff didn't even TRY to work on any kind of stains. I mean, when I use the newly acquired arm/hammer powder, it at least severely lightens the stains, to an almost "not there" status. Didn't make my clothes even smell very fresh. I don't mind unscented, and in fact, I prefer to NOT smell like a synthetic rainforest, but you know when something works when A) you no longer smell your husband's old spice on the armpit area of shirts and B) it just has a clean feel and smell from the dryer. This did neither. My husband's deodorant still lingered in the fabric, and the clothes didn't feel or smell clean. And this was all freshly "stripped" laundry. Stripped as in, I had soaked all laundry in hot water, borax, and washing soda to get built up gunk out of it. I actually have an incredibly disgusting laundry journey that all started with me trying to be "greener" with my laundry habits. First things first: DO NOT, I repeat: DO NOT use a soap based laundry soap. I.E. a homemade concoction made with grated bar soap, or even a store bought laundry soap made with a coconut oil or a castille soap base. Seriously, if you have homemade stuff you are using, STOP IT right now! Even more expensive stuff that maybe starts with the letter Z and rhymes with "yum" stop using that now. I am trying to save your washing machine, your sanity, and the olfactory senses of others. I have used soap based instead of detergent based laundry cleaners for about 6 years now. I thought I was doing good for my family and the planet. We bought a new washer 2 years ago. For the past maybe year, we have been plagued by a smelly washer. I scrubbed it out, ran bleach through it, ran vinegar and baking soda. I switched laundry soaps several times. You name it, I tried it. Then our clothes started smelling of wet dog, even fresh out of the dryer. It started with the synthetics and moved in on the cottons. How many of you want your bras to smell like you just had a mud wrestling contest with your big, hairy beast of a dog right before going somewhere? My husband complained of being able to smell himself an hour after getting dressed. He was the "smelly kid" at work! One thing remained constant: I only used laundry "soap." Fast forward to some research and I found out that soap doesn't rinse clean from your fabrics or your washer. Washers were designed for detergent use. Short story: the fat in soap + your clothes and washing machine = a hot mess. And not in a good way. If you wanna use soap based laundry stuff, get a washing board and do it by hand. That's the only way you will be able to get the soap out. Soap doesn't understand gentle proddings to leave your clothes... it needs rough handling! We had to take apart our washing machine completely to see what the heck was going on. I will not horrify you with the pictures (yes, I have photo evidence of this project that I shared with lucky friends and family.) The extreme amount of gunk was shocking. A 2 year old washer should not have its own ecosystem of soap scum and sludge. We almost had a completely ruined washer. So please, put down your homemade or even expensively purchased soap based laundry stuffs, and get a detergent. Your washer and your clothes will thank you. So will the people who have to smell you. Note: Biokleen is on the detergent spectrum, and I used this after cleaning my washer. It just simply doesn't work for me. Which is a major bummer, as it is a nice price, and I really wanted to use something more natural. It may not work for me due to the fact that I only use cold water or because we have hard water. Nevertheless, if it doesn't work, I won't use it. **I paid for this product with my own money and received no compensation to write this review. I am a real person who relies on reviews from other real people before making my purchases.**