Laundry boosters (oxygen bleach)

Laundry boosters, marketed as laundry soakers, in-wash boosters, oxygen bleach and oxygenated bleach, are stain-removal products. They ‘boost’ your wash and help remove stains. This is particularly useful if you use a detergent that does not contain enzymes. Laundry boosters are also useful for softening hard water.

Similar to saying Hoover for vacuum cleaners, or Texta for felt tip pens, many people use Vanish as a catchall to refer to all laundry boosters.

Bleaches oxidise substances. They sanitise and remove stains by breaking bonds within a molecule. This produces smaller fragments that do not absorb light in the visible light spectrum, making the broken fragments colourless.

Choosing a laundry booster

Members often ask if we have a list of the best-performing laundry boosters. We compared 12 products to determine the best performing and best value.

The active ingredient in laundry boosters is sodium percarbonate (Na₂H₃CO₃). When sodium percarbonate is combined with water, it forms sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂).

Laundry boosters are largely a commodity item. Different products have slight variations in the mixture of enzymes, surfactants and sodium percarbonate. The percentage of sodium percarbonate is usually 25-30%.

Popular brands in Australia and New Zealand are Vanish, Sard and Di-San. Popular North American options include Biz and OxiClean. Supermarket brands are usually sustainably cheaper than the leading brands.

Should you use pure sodium percarbonate?

When comparing laundry boosters, members sometimes ask us if they should buy pure sodium percarbonate. Our answer is no. Pure sodium percarbonate is not significantly cheaper than supermarket brand laundry booster, and it is missing a key ingredient: tetraacetylethylenediamine (TAED).

TAED is used as a bleach activator. It enables laundry detergents and laundry boosters to work at lower temperatures. If you use pure sodium percarbonate, wash your laundry at a minimum of 60°C. This temperature is necessary for the sodium percarbonate to be effective without TAED. 

Using laundry booster

Follow the packet directions for how much to use. Pay attention to the specified contact time, as prolonged contact can cause localised bleaching.

For stubborn stains, try mixing laundry booster with water to form a paste (slurry). Apply this directly to the stain, and then add it to the wash. Be careful not to exceed the recommended contact time, as prolonged exposure can cause localised bleaching.

1. Evaluated based on packaging (use-to-plastic ratio)
2. Using laundry booster in soft water may cause excess suds

Wool and silk require products that have a neutral pH level and are free of proteolytic enzymes (proteases). Use an enzyme-free liquid laundry detergent, and spot treat with bar soap or stain remover gel (liquid Vanish). Avoid using powder detergent, powder laundry boosters or chlorine bleach on these items as the pH is too high.

Laundry boosters cannot sanitise cloth nappies

Although laundry boosters are effective stain removal options and contain sanitising agents, they cannot sanitise cloth nappies. Not only is the concentration required to sanitise insoluble in water, it is also prohibitively expensive.

The sanitising agent in laundry boosters is hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). This sanitises at 30-40% concentration (0.8mol/L). It takes the same concentration to oxidise ammonia.

Sanitising with laundry booster requires approximately 300 grams for every 1 litre of water. However, sodium percarbonate is soluble at 120-150g per litre of water. As a result, over half the laundry booster required for the sanitise would not dissolve.

Comparing oxygen bleach and chlorine bleach

If solubility was not an inhibiting factor, the cost to sanitise using a laundry booster in a standard wash cycle would be $60-90.

• 10-20kg is needed to produce enough hydrogen peroxide, at a cost of $5 – $8/kg.
• The approximate cost for a standard front loader wash cycle: $60
• The approximate cost for a standard top loader wash cycle: $90

In comparison to using chlorine bleach to sanitise in a standard wash cycle:

• 80-120ml of chlorine bleach, for $2 – $4/L
• The approximate cost for a standard Front Loader wash cycle: $0.45
• The approximate cost for a standard Top Loader wash cycle: $0.80

*Wash cycles vary from 60-75L of water used for a 7-8kg Front Loader, and 80-110L for the equivalent 7-8kg Top Loader.  Wash cycles contain at least a wash, rinse, spin phase, with sanitising occurring in the wash phase. Cost estimates approximate the wash phase to account for ⅓ of the total water usage per cycle.

The most effective, easy and inexpensive sanitisation options are chlorine bleach and 90/95°C sanitise options.

History of Napisan

Some members ask why we recommend a two-step wash routine instead of a Napisan soak. The main differences from 1980s style ‘soak’ routines is that terry cloth nappies were single-layer, and Napisan’s ingredients were drastically different.

Napisan no longer contains chlorine bleach. We do not recommend soaking nappies in Napisan or equivalent laundry boosters. Soaking nappies forms a bacterial breeding ground and is a drowning hazard.

In the 1970s and ’80s, the active ingredient in Napisan was potassium monopersulfate (KHSO₅) which oxidises sodium chloride to sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach). The formulation has since changed, with sodium hypochlorite replaced with sodium percarbonate (oxygen bleach).