Wool wash review: Earthwise liquid (discontinued)

Earthwise used to be my regular detergent, albeit the powder variety, prior to learning about laundry science and how to effectively launder items. I haven’t used it in five years, and even then, I’d never used the liquid.

This product was discontinued in mid-2025 when the Earthwise brand was reformulated. The current formulation contains plant-based enzymes and is not suitable for wool. We loved Jes’ 2024 review, so we have moved it from our detergent listing to our blog section.

Like many brands, Earthwise offers a wide range of product lines. The underlying formula is almost identical across the range. The main difference in ingredients is the fragrance, or lack of fragrance, for the Ultra Sensitive Fragrance Free product.

Ultra Sensitive Fragrance-Free (blue) and Orange & Eucalyptus (orange)

As a part of my journey to find the best wool-safe detergent, I decided to give regular Earthwise liquid a go. I tested both the Ultra Sensitive Fragrance-Free (blue) and Orange & Eucalyptus (orange) for this, so I can see how strong the fragrance is, how much it masks and how quickly it fades. The only difference between these detergents is that orange has a fragrance.

Partway through testing Earthwise I replaced my washing machine so I’ve included the specs for both machines below.

First impressions

 At $16.49 NZD for the 2 litre, it’s certainly not cheap. I snagged it for $11.90 during the testing which is decent value for money if it’s effective.

Straight from the bottle, the blue has a faint soapy smell but other than that, really not much to report which is exactly as it should be for a fragrance-free detergent.

Orange has a moderate to strong scent of eucalyptus. I couldn’t smell any orange in there at all.

I had 4 litres of this detergent to test and used 1 litre between the two, using more of the blue than the orange as I prefer unscented for the sniff test. 

I washed multiple wool overs, sleep sacks, wool socks from my logger husband, machine-knitted Merino and hand-knitted jumpers. I even did the ultimate stain test on a white hand-knitted vest by smearing a bit of roast pumpkin into it and leaving it to set for 12 hours before washing.

The results

This detergent is decent, but not great. I found I needed to use the Heavily Soiled/Hard Water dose of 45ml to get a proper clean on the more soiled items. Lightly soiled handknits came out just fine on the standard dose of 30ml.

The socks needed the larger dose. They came out better than when I tested withSoftly and on par with my regular Fab and Goat liquids. 

The wool overs needed the larger dose too but came out fresh with no lingering smell of urine (this was pleasantly surprising).

Everything was looking good until the pumpkin test. Although all the soiling was removed, the staining remained. I spot-treated with vanish gel and washed again in the next round of testing which lightened the stain but it was still there when you looked really hard. A second spot treat, this time with bar soap followed by a third wash, finally lifted the stain.

The fragrance is not my favourite but it isn’t too strong. I did find that I found myself preferring the blue over the orange, which was unexpected because I usually like eucalyptus but something about the fragrance of the orange was just not it for me.

Summary

• Fragrance: Orange is moderate-strong but fades when dry, Blue is unscented.
• Stain removal power: Bad.
• Value for money: Okay

I’ll be passing the remaining 3 litres to my local animal shelter, I can’t see it being used again in my house and I’d sooner reach for Fab or Goat for my woolies.

Wool & Delicates

As a part of my endeavour to find the best wool-safe detergent, I decided to give Earthwise Wool & Delicates a go. It’s readily available, plant-based and Australian made so appeals to the masses but does it have what it takes to really clean wool? 

First Impressions

At NZ$10.49 a litre (August 2024), it’s on the higher end of the scale when it comes to price. Fragrance-wise, it doesn’t have that knock-your-socks-off fragrance that some wool washes have. It’s not unscented and the smell fades to a very mild scent on drying.

I washed multiple wool overs, sleep sacks, wool socks from my logger husband, machine-knitted Merino and hand-knitted jumpers. I used nearly a whole bottle for this testing, putting it through its paces on all manner of knits and levels of soiling.

The results

This detergent is average, but not great. I needed to use the Heavily Soiled/Hard Water dose of 45ml to get a better clean on the more soiled items. Even that didn’t clean many stains, only lifted soiling. Lightly soiled handknits came out just fine on the standard dose of 30ml.

The socks needed the larger dose. They came out better than when I tested with Softly but not as good as my regular Fab and Goat liquids. I still needed Vanish Gel and pretreating with bar soap on the bottom of the feet. This seems to be standard for most of the marketed wool washes I’ve tested so far.

I tested the socks with a double dose (90ml) in my front loader. This resulted in a white out which was a pain to remedy and not conducive to clean socks.

The wool overs needed the larger dose of 60ml but came out fresh with no lingering smell of urine (this was pleasantly surprising). It is important to note that these wool overs weren’t particularly soiled with urine as we had a few drier weeks due to trialling new nappies at night. 45ml simply didn’t have enough oomph to really lift the urine.

The fragrance is quite pleasant and isn’t too strong. I preferred the Earthwise fragrance over Martha’s & Earth Choice fragrances.

Summary

• Fragrance: Moderate 
• Stain removal power: Bad
• Value for money: Bad

Earthwise Wool & Delicates performed better than Softly. However, it was also more expensive. If you factor in the cost of having to add Vanish Gel to most loads of woollies, it gets very expensive very quickly.

For now, I’ll stick with Fab or Goat. Although I might keep the rest of this bottle for those occasional hand washes, because the fragrance really is quite pleasant.

Admin conditions

• Soft water.
• Machine One, Fisher & Paykel 8.5kg WashSmart Front Loader.
  • Cycle: Delicates (45mins 40 degrees, spin speed 500rpm).
• Machine Two, Whirlpool 8kg Freshcare+ Front Loader 
  • Cycle: Wool (1hr25m, 40 degrees, spin speed 800rpm)