Did you know that laundry detergents and fabric softeners from a lot of well-known brands contain animal fat? Ugh! Not such a pleasant idea and definitely not necessary. But how does that work, laundry detergents and fabric softeners made with animal fat? And perhaps even more importantly: are you doing the laundry with animal fat without being aware of it? You can read about it here.
Animal fat in your laundry detergent or fabric softener?
Strange idea, right, that you're doing the laundry with animal fat? Yet it happens. In the laundry detergents and fabric softeners of many well-known brands, animal ingredients are processed. In many cases, it's the ingredient 'sodium tallowate': a difficult word for saponified beef fat. Basically, anything with the word 'tallow' has to do with animal fat. But how could you know that? The ingredient lists on packaging are often incomprehensible. As a result, there are quite a few people who have no idea that they're doing their laundry multiple times a week with animal fats. Something you would want to know, we think.
Animal fat versus vegetable fat
If you look at ancient soap recipes, animal fat was almost always used to make soap and laundry products. And while vegetable fats work just as well, many big brands still choose animal fat. Why? You guessed it: it's much cheaper than vegetable fat. Fortunately, more and more brands are delving into the use of vegetable oils. Think of olive oil, (RSPO certified) coconut and palm oil, argan oil, linseed oil, or hemp oil. The result? Animal-friendly soaps, based on the power of plants, that have the same effect as products made with animal fats.
Why does Marcel’s Green Soap choose laundry detergent and fabric softener with vegetable fats?
Animal fats are in most cases a byproduct of slaughterhouses. So you could say that this isn't a problem. And as long as humans eat meat, this waste (including fat) will remain as a byproduct and will be used in all kinds of products. Nevertheless, Marcel’s Green Soap prefers to use 'plant-power' for the products we make. Nature is full of powerful and nurturing substances. Why wouldn't we use them?
And what about palm oil?
We hear you thinking: 'but vegetable oil like palm oil is bad for the environment', right? Although opinions are unfortunately still divided on that, we think the same way. By now, we've all seen the images of rainforests being cut down to make way for palm oil plantations. And that while rainforests, like those in the Amazon, have a very important function when it comes to absorbing CO2. That's why at Marcel’s Green Soap, we went in search of a replacement ingredient for palm oil last year, and introduced the first liquid palm oil-free detergent in the Netherlands at the end of 2021. You can read all about it in this article. Our fabric softeners are also palm oil-free.Sustainable washing without animal ingredients is done with the laundry detergents and fabric softeners from Marcel’s Green Soap. That feels a lot better, don't you think? We call it Feel Good Cleaning.
