Laundry detergent

Keith R

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When I lived in the DR (95-99), my wife always insisted on buying this plastic bag of powdered detergent for washing clothes -- if I remember correctly, it was a local brand for which there were constant commercials about "se rinde mas" and occassionally trucks passing through neighborhoods tossing samples out to residents. I also remember seeing alot of powders on the shelves at that point, but not many liquids.

What is prevalent on the supermarket shelves these days? Are compact powders and compact liquids available, as they are in North America & Europe?

Does the powder or detergent you have now have phosphate in it, and if so, how much does it have (should be listed on the label -- hopefully it is less than 0.5%).

Are any of the detergents you see in the supermarkets bearing an ecolabel (if so, from where -- EU, US, Taiwan (yes, they have one!), other...)? Or otherwise touting an environmental benefit (if so, which one(s)?)?

As you can probably guess, we are gathering more info for some Green Team blogs. Thanks for any help!

Best Regards,
Keith
 

Bok

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Mar 13, 2004
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I'm the gophor in this household and when I go for laundry detergents I haven't noticed any compact powders. They all look the same too. No liquids anywhere.

The detergent in use right now has phosphate in it, it just doesn't say how much. It has a label that says the active ingredient is bio degradable.

Not very encouraging :surprised
 

carina

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Well, there are alots of liquids and concentrates in the market ( supermercado) but they are imported.
I?ll take a picture for you today when I go to Tropical.
 

Keith R

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Bless you!

And if anyone in the DR has pics of white goods (appliances) lined up at Americana or Plaza Lama or Curacao or somesuch, and/or pics of their yellow energy rating stickers, and/or pics of clothes flapping in the wind on clotheslines in the DR, please send them along to greenteam@dr1.com They would be greatly appreciated! Visual aids always help blogging! ;)
 

Chirimoya

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Detergents: the imported brands like Tide, Ivory, Arm and Hammer (sometimes), and others from the US are on the pricey side. Carrefour sometimes has its own brand, but I haven't been there for months, so I don't know how consistent it is. There is also a local liquid detergent brand - pale green bottle, can't remember the name.

My Tide bottle says 'no phosphates'.

A lot of people still use the powdered detergents like Ace and similar brands, probably because they are cheaper, and one friend swears by grated jabon de coaba (sp?) which is a traditional all purpose soap as far as I can tell. (Carbolic?) My sister-in-law advised me to always use liquid detergent in my washing machine.

Tomorrow is washing day so I'll take a pic of the clothes on the line.:)
 

Keith R

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Thanks, Chiri!
My wife always bought the local brand powder because it's what her mom always swore by. LOL

Here in the States we always use liquids because we primarily use cold water in washing and the powders never seem to do as well in cold water. That and the fact that here we can buy liquid concentrate in refillable bottles, so it cuts down on the packaging waste created (although our local recycler does accept the colored bottles -- what they actually do with it is something I wonder about...).

Un abrazo,
Keith
 

Keith R

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Chirimoya said:
A lot of people still use the powdered detergents like Ace and similar brands, probably because they are cheaper, and one friend swears by grated jabon de coaba (sp?) which is a traditional all purpose soap as far as I can tell. (Carbolic?)
Yes, Ace was the brand for which I witnessed promotion girls on the back of a speaker truck going through a SD barrio tossing out small sample bags to the locals...

Yes, our house in SD always had a bar of that jabon de coaba handy -- the older Dominicans swore by it. Any idea what it's chemical composition might be? I'm wondering if it might be better or worse for water pollution than current soaps and detergents...
 

Mirador

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Keith R said:
... ...Yes, our house in SD always had a bar of that jabon de coaba handy -- the older Dominicans swore by it. Any idea what it's chemical composition might be? I'm wondering if it might be better or worse for water pollution than current soaps and detergents...

cuaba, not coaba (mahogany).The cuaba soap is made from the resin of the cuaba tree (pinus occidentalis), a local species of pine. Cuaba soap is very versatile. In Azua, I use a mixture of cuaba soap lather and bees honey to cure scabies, and most fungal skin infections, with a 100% success rate.
 

carina

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Mirador said:
cuaba, not coaba (mahogany).The cuaba soap is made from the resin of the cuaba tree (pinus occidentalis), a local species of pine. Cuaba soap is very versatile. In Azua, I use a mixture of cuaba soap lather and bees honey to cure scabies, and most fungal skin infections, with a 100% success rate.

Mirador, you are completely spot on.
Even for a hurt knee of a child, or an infection after stiches, insect bites etc, you are recommended to use cuaba soap.
The soap is sold in pieces, big or small, or huge, as one prefer.
 

Keith R

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Mirador, thanks much for the info! Still sure I can't recruit you for the Green Team, even as "guest blogger"? Would love someone to write about issues facing the SW provinces...:cheeky:
 

Chirimoya

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Mirador, thanks for the spelling correction, I knew it was one or the other. I never confused it with mahogany (caoba) though.
 

Keith R

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In Part II of the Green Team's blog piece on "Greening the DR Wash Day," we give some tips for those of you interested in becoming more environmentally-conscious when it comes time to purchase your clothes washing detergent. (constructive) feedback welcome, especially if you post it as a comment to the blog piece. :cheeky:
 
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Chirimoya

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An afterthought about detergents: I'm not absolutely sure, but Organica (Plaza Catalunya, Piantini, Santo Domingo) may sell eco-friendly laundry detergents. I'll check next time I go there, and will confirm here.
 

Keith R

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Thanks Chiri! Can always count on you for value-added! ;)

I'd be particularly curious to know if they carry Eco-ver, and what they charge for it. We've never used it ourselves, but have run across alot of people who swear by it. Probably costs a fortune in the DR market, though.
 

Chirimoya

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I used to use Ecover (mainly washing up liquid for dishes but also household cleaner) when I lived in the UK.

Their 'heavy-duty hand cleaner' is a favourite for builders, carpenters and mechanics, for its ability to shift grease and grime rather than for its eco-friendly qualities.

Smells lovely, too.
 

Stodgord

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carina said:
Mirador, you are completely spot on.
Even for a hurt knee of a child, or an infection after stiches, insect bites etc, you are recommended to use cuaba soap.
The soap is sold in pieces, big or small, or huge, as one prefer.

Yeah, I used to brush my teeth with jabon de cuaba when we ran out of toothpaste.
 

Keith R

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Chirimoya said:
I used to use Ecover (mainly washing up liquid for dishes but also household cleaner) when I lived in the UK.

Their 'heavy-duty hand cleaner' is a favourite for builders, carpenters and mechanics, for its ability to shift grease and grime rather than for its eco-friendly qualities.

Smells lovely, too.
Well, never hurts to have practical (cuts grease well, for example) and/or economic reason to select an eco-friendly product, does it? :classic: [Do you consider it as eco-friendly as its proponents say?]

I tried to find out if Eco-ver has an official distributor in the DR, and evidently at the moment they don't. Perhaps an entrepreneurial opportunity for somebody? ;)