What are the special detergents supposed to preserve black, colored or delicate laundry really worth? Is it really useful to buy them, in addition to a traditional detergent?
Sylvie Metzelard, magazine editor-in-chief 60 Million consumers tells us about the comparative test carried out this month on several dozen products to find out if they were really effective.
franceinfo: In general, are the results of your tests satisfactory?
Sylvie Metzelard: No, overall, we cannot speak of satisfactory results. These results are very disparate. In terms of efficiency, respect for the linen, and Ménag’Score, which calculates the risks, both for health and the environment, it’s a bit of a roller coaster. Some are good in one respect, very bad in another.
But how did you go about evaluating the effectiveness of all these detergents?
We carry out a whole battery of tests on fabrics of different materials, with adapted washing programs. We also stain laundry, with 14 different types of soiling. All this meets standards of course, greasy, enzymatic, oxidizable stains. We see how detergents act on these stains; and moreover, we will see how the black is preserved or the colors held, after 20 washes at 40 degrees. Or for woolen detergents, we will look at how wool felt withstands six washes at 30 degrees.
On the shelves of supermarkets, we see more and more detergents for black linen in particular, are there products to be preferred or to be avoided? What does your survey say?
As far as detergents for black or colored laundry are concerned, 13 out of 20 can be qualified as effective, with even two very good products, Casino black and Génie noir. Not bad at all for greasy stains (mineral oil, make-up), rather good for enzymatic stains (chocolate, blood, grass) and oxidizable stains (coffee, tea, tomato sauce, etc.)
There is also an important point, it is the environmental aspect, apparently, that leaves something to be desired?
Yes, on the Ménag’Score side, it’s bad, even very bad. These detergents often contain many ingredients, so this increases the risk of having undesirable effects, but the problem is above all the nature of these substances, with in particular the accumulation of certain preservatives from the isothiazolinone family, which are particularly irritating. .
And there is also a substance which is prohibited in cosmetics, but which still appears in certain detergents, it is lilial. A perfuming agent (which gives the slight smell of lily of the valley) which is allergenic, carcinogenic, toxic for reproduction, and suspected of endocrine disruption. (Soupline, dark colors). If in the ingredients of the can you choose, you see written “lilial”, it is better to forget.
Is this less the case for detergents intended for delicate laundry, such as wool or silk?
Yes, these are much less aggressive detergents, since they are supposed to respect the fiber.
But do they really clean the linen suddenly?
Well no, much less, that’s where the problem lies.
6 detergents for wool and silk get a rating below 10, is that a lot?
Yes, they are rarely effective on greasy dirt, and felt quite a bit, which is all the same a shame for a special detergent that you buy precisely to avoid felting!
And in terms of prices, are these special detergents much more expensive than the others?
It really depends on the brands, in fact, we have calculated the unit price of the detergents for each one, and exactly like traditional detergents, we go from simple to more than double. From €0.19 to 0.50 for black for example (Auchan and Mir) or 0.19 to 1.25 for wool and silk detergents (Auchan and Woolite).
But to read you, we still wonder about the real need to buy a specific detergent for black, wool or colors, a classic detergent can largely be sufficient ?
If you expect your laundry to be clean first and foremost, yes, a traditional detergent may be enough. If we also want its colors to hold, we can still wonder!