Product Review: Zum Clean Laundry Soap

I make every cleaning supply in my home except dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent.  I've tried both and I failed miserably each time.  The laundry detergent fail was so epic I actually had to throw away ruined clothes and some cloth diapers.

Tears were shed.

So I've been a loyal Charlie's Soap customer going on eight years.  I've never had issues with their product and I'm a huge fan.  However, my favorite local retailer recently decided to stop carrying Charlie's because the company does not disclose their full ingredients.  Well, okay I'll try something new.

I first picked up Ecover since that was all the store had in stock.  I used it twice and put it away, it just plain sucked.

The next time I went in to see if, perhaps please please please, they'd decided to start stocking Charlie's again, they showed me their newest line of detergent:  Zum Clean.

I've used Zum's face bars in the past and found them decent, if a bit pricey.  But the detergent smelled nice and online reviews were pretty positive so I picked up a bottle of patchouli scent since they were sold out of the unscented.  I'm a big patchouli fan and I knew that if this followed their other products, the smell wouldn't linger after washing.

I've been experimenting with this stuff all month and as much as I want to like the product I have to admit I'm not a fan.  I've tried adding less, more, double the recommended amount, and on and on, but nothing has really worked to get my clothes clean.  As I've been using it, my clothing has taken on a rough feeling and has started to look grubby and stained.

I finally gave up after I pulled some dirty bed linens, of the bed wetter variety, out of the wash smelling like dirty peed on patchouli.  I was just done, my laundry is not getting clean with this detergent.

I broke down and visited another retailer in my area to pick up a container of Charlie's Soap.  I ran some of my children's clothing through a hardcore cycle:  prewash, heavy duty wash on hot, rinse, and extra rinse.  They came out looking amazing again.  The dingy grimy look is gone and they smell like clean laundry, free of fragrances.

I ran the same load of peed linens through the wash, just a sanitary cycle with extra rinse and it came out with no scents save the smell of clean linens.

The way this detergent was hyped up to me by the store I purchased it from, a store that I've trusted to make great product recommendations in the past, I was truly disappointed.

My biggest disappointment was how painful Zum Clean was when I spilled a bit on my hand.  I'd cut my finger while chopping some veggies for dinner and I ran for the sink yelling "ouch ouch ouch!" because it burned so badly.  I've gotten Charlie's Soap on cuts in the past and it was a slight sting, but nothing like the burning sensation I got from the Zum Clean.

So I say No! to Zum Clean