Vegan Fabric Conditioner

LittleMissAspie

I have recently discovered that most fabric conditioners use an animal ingredient called cationic surfectant. So I'm looking for a new one and these are my criteria:
- not harmful for the environment
- not tested on animals in any way
- no animal ingredients
- available from normal shops, ie I don't want to have to order it online

Does anyone know of anything that matches my criteria?

I've tried vinegar before but it made my clothes smell vinegary.

rinabean

Use less vinegar? They really shouldn't smell of it once they're out of the machine. I use about 3 tablespoons per load. Maybe add a little of some essential oil you like to mask the smell? I think bicarb might be a fabric softener too but I haven't tried it. I don't know of any actual products - I also found it hard to find washing powder/liquid to meet my specifications, so I had to make my own

fayhare

Bio D fabric conditioner is vegan and should be available from your local health food shop. Ecover is also vegan but there is an issue regarding them testing on water fleas, but it is available from Tesco etc.
I find that if I use vinegar it does smell when the washing first comes out of the machine but it soon fades. I normally use no fabric conditioner at all as I think its hardly noticible once you have had your clothes on for a while. I live in a hard water area and don't find my jeans are too crispy or anything.

Ben84

Some surfactants are made from stearic acid, which can be produced from animal fats. Not all cationic surfactants are animal ingredients, but some are, and not many products tell you which is which.

The co-op own brand cleaning products are all BUAV certified, and all that I've bought so far have been clearly labelled as containing no animal ingredients. I don't however use fabric softener, but would expect the co-op the to give you a clear answer on their ingredients as the rest of their products are well labelled.

moonrakerz

fayhare wrote: »

.......... but there is an issue regarding them testing on water fleas

Am I actually reading this, or have I been transported to the planet Zogg !!!!

paulwf

We use Ecoleaf fabric conditioner by Suma. They are a cooperative, the product is vegan society and BUAV certified and the packaging is recyclable. Only available in independents but fairly easy to get hold of if you have a local wholefood shop or similar as Suma one of the main wholesalers for independents.

loopy_lass

are my eyes deceiving me here, each to their own. but water fleas.... theres human suffering and your worried about water fleas.....

x

fayhare

I am not worried about water fleas at all and occasionally to buy Ecover but as the op asked for items not tested on animals I thought I should post the issue for clarity. Ecover also recently admitted to taking blood from farmed rabbits for tests.

Co-op fabric softener does have animal ingredients as far as I am aware, I think of the milk variety possibly.

LittleMissAspie

Hi, thanks for the replies. I do usually use the Co-op for laundry products, after buying a couple of conditioners from there I noticed that it said it contains animal ingredients which is how I learnt about the surfectant thing. I used them up anyway since I'd already bought them but have now run out. Their laundry liquid and washing up liquid are suitable though *thumbsup*

I've used BioD before and it was okay but haven't seen it in shops around here. I'll look out for the Ecoleaf one.

I don't buy Ecover because, aside from the flea thing, they operate a rolling cut off date for animal tested ingredients.

Oldernotwiser

Why not just save money and forget about fabric conditioner altogether?

Maat

loopy_lass wrote: »

are my eyes deceiving me here, each to their own. but water fleas.... theres human suffering and your worried about water fleas.....

x

What's wrong with not wanting to inflict torture on water fleas? Normally people who care about other species care about the human species too - it's not an either/or situation that you either care about humans or about other animals. Indeed, in my experience people who care about other animals usually do more to help human suffering than the majority do. We certainly shouldn't need to justify caring for any creature.