Love U Soap: a pricey crush

It’s no secret that we are big into sustainability here at Clean Cloth Nappies. We’re all for using reusables like cloth nappies, but with extra laundry comes extra detergent use. Those of us with soft water are left with little choice but to use liquid detergents packaged in plastic. While plastic can be recycled, it’s an energy-intensive process, and sadly, most plastic still ends up in landfill. 

It’s no surprise members often ask us about plastic-free alternatives like laundry detergent sheets, but unfortunately, they are rarely up to the task of cleaning cloth nappies. 

I was intrigued when I saw an ad for a mix-at-home option by Love U Soap. The marketing is strong, claiming excellent results in cold water, and stain removal as good as ‘market leading performance brands’—big claims.

Mix-at-home options are usually tablets or loose powder that you drop into water to make a concentrate. Love U is slightly different in that you mix 2 sachets with water – a powder and a gel. 

Love U comes in 4 varieties: Everyday (with Protease, Amylase, and Mannanase enzymes), Colours (very similar to Everyday), Sensitive (without enzymes), and Delicates (for wool and silk). While I’d love to try all of them, each starter kit is $35 and makes just 3L.

I tested out the ‘Everyday’ variety as that looked the most promising for washing cloth nappies.

First impression

I patiently waited several days for a shipping email only to find a surprise package at my door on the 7th day. Not off to a great start but hopefully just a glitch. 

Packaging 

The starter kit contains a 1L plastic bottle, designed to be reused, and the mix-at-home sachets. While other brands opt for glass bottles as they are recyclable, I appreciate the plastic bottle as a clumsy parent of small children. Even after the trial, I’m likely to reuse the bottle for other laundry detergent as it’s a handy size and not something that will break if dropped onto my tiled laundry floor.

The cap contains measurement lines to help with dosing, but curiously, mine were mirrored. To add to the challenge, they suggest using 25ml for a light load and 50ml for a heavy load, although they only mark 20, 40 and 60ml on the cap. 

Mixing

The instructions seem simple. Fill with cold water to the first line, add the 2 sachets and shake. Then wait for the bubbles to settle and add more water to reach the 1 litre line.

All went well until I waited for the bubbles to settle. I waited 1 hour, and there were still bubbles. Nevertheless, I filled the bottle with water to the 1 litre line. Then, once the bubbles had settled, I had to top it up again.

Finally, they don’t say it, but mix it again! My first few pours looked really watery and I started to question the amount of water added. It seemed like I was using an excessive amount of detergent into my first load only to realise that it wasn’t mixed properly. 

The results

The good

Scent 

Going along with the ocean blue theme, there’s something oceanic about the fragrance. It’s very clean and fresh but without the saltiness of sea air. I actually really like it. It lingers on clothes once dry without being overbearing. I would happily buy this in a linen spray. I did however become scent blind to it after a couple of weeks.

Performance

While my first load was a learning experience with the mixing situation, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it removed food-based stains. 

Amongst our regular family laundry, it washed

– a white cot sheet with berry smoothie drips (only some minor shadows left behind) 

– a white bib with pumpkin and carrot puree 

– and a white bamboo cloth wipe covered in bolognaise (not perfect, needed a double wash but that is pretty standard) 

Cleaning nappies

We all know that the real test is if it can wash cloth nappies! 

Items came out of the first wash looking very clean, comparable to my favourite tried & tested detergents (Dirt, Earthwise and Biozet). I didn’t need to spot treat any marks, aside from the occasional elastics. I did however find dosing to be a delicate balance between not enough and too many suds. 

The bad

Dosing

After some trial and error, I discovered that I needed to use 4x the ‘heavy load’ dose for regular laundry. It’s not unusual for me to use 2x the heavily soiled dose due to washing a lot of darks, and having a larger machine, but 4x is excessive and expensive. For context, that’s between AU$2-2.50, depending on pack size, which is on par with laundry pods. Compared to other sustainable offerings, it’s double the price of Dirt (just under AU$1 a load for me) 

The messy bottle

As I continued using Love U, I discovered that the bottle is not as well-designed as I first thought. I kept getting bits of detergent on my hands after pouring it out and it seems like it gets stuck in the outer rim of the cap, causing it to drip down the bottle when you replace the cap after use. Not a deal breaker, but I’m not a fan of having sticky hands. 

The mixing situation

Mixing it for the first time is fun. But the novelty wears off when you don’t have enough detergent to run a load. What do you do? 

I had to decant it into another container, hope the last bits at the bottom wouldn’t matter, and go through the mixing process. Remember how you have to wait for the bubbles to settle and top up with water (and shake, then wait, then top up again)? Not something you can do when you’re short on time, or while wrangling small children. 

My second time mixing it left some noticeable undissolved powder and I found that I had to give the bottle a couple of quick inverts before each use just to re-mix the detergent.

Testing Information

• Soft Water
• Samsung Bubblewash 8.5kg Front Loader
• Cycles: 
  • ECotton (1hr49-2hr42, 40ºC, spin speed 1400rpm) – Family Laundry
  • Daily Wash (60m, 60ºC, spin speed 1400rpm) – Nappies first wash
  • Cottons (2hr42m, 60ºC, spin speed 1400rpm) – Nappies main wash

Overall impression

Fragrance: Pleasant, fresh, ocean scent (without the salt) that lingers once clothes are dry

Stain Removal Power: Very good (but not excellent) 

Value for money: The Worst $$$

Love U Soap is a unique offering, being one of the first zero-waste laundry products on the Australian market that actually works. But it comes at a high cost, which is hard to justify for the average household. If space is limited due to travelling or living in a caravan or tiny home, then the cost might be worth it, especially compared to alternatives like pods and laundry sheets. But for the average family that wants to reduce waste while also balancing the family budget, options like the bulk refills offered by Dirt, or the sadly discontinued Omo dilutables are hard to beat. 

Just as we wrapped up testing, Love U shared a new announcement on their Instagram account. Unfortunately, the company are closing down next week (!) as they ‘did not reach the scale needed to remain sustainable’.