Despite being a relatively new eco-friendly laundry product manufacturer, Kind Laundry is picking up a head of steam on the market. The company says it has the same cleaning power as a standard liquid detergent, powdered detergent, or similar alternatives, all without the plastic containers and toxins that harm the environment in chemical-based products.
There can be a difference between what an eco-friendly laundry detergent company says and what’s actually the case, though. My thorough examination and review of Kind Laundry has everything you need to know about the brand.
Keep reading to learn if Kind Laundry, Better Homes and Gardens’ Best Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent for 2021, is the eco-friendly detergent brand for you.
My assessment of Kind Laundry Detergent Sheets
Pros
- Biodegradable, non-toxic formula
- Paraben-free, phosphate-free, petroleum-free, and phthalates-free ingredients
- No optical brighteners, artificial colors, or synthetic fragrances
- Cruelty-free production
- Dissolves easily in hot or cold water
- Works well in all washing machines
- Comes in recyclable and zero-waste packaging
- Safe for delicate fabrics
- Full 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Free shipping only comes with certain subscription plans
- Made in China
- More expensive than similar laundry detergent sheets
- No sustainability partnerships or initiatives
- Some iffy ingredients
Kind Laundry Detergent Sheets
A Canadian company, Kind Laundry was established in August 2020 with the vision to create a plastic-free world by reducing the number of plastic containers used in laundry detergents and similar products. The company started by creating eco-friendly laundry detergent sheets and expanded from there into additional products made from plant-based and completely natural ingredients.
Kind Laundry’s best-known product is its eco-friendly laundry detergent sheets, an effective alternative to powder or liquid laundry detergent. With its hyper-concentrated formula, the laundry sheets have a strong cleaning power and dissolve well in water, regardless of temperature, so you don’t need to worry about leftover residue.
The active cleaning agents are, for the most part, gentle and unlikely to irritate allergies, and it’s a great choice for people with sensitive skin. For those who are sensitive to strong odors, these detergent sheets come in both scented and fragrance-free versions.
The ingredients in these sheets are sodium dodecyl sulfate (also called sodium lauryl sulfate), fatty alcohol polyglycol ether, polyvinyl alcohol, tea seed oil, water, decyl glucoside, glycerol, and cocamidopropyl betaine. They are, for the most part, eco-friendly ingredients, though sodium lauryl sulfate scores a C from the Environmental Working Group and may irritate skin. Additionally, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a petrochemical common in detergent pods and strips that has sort of a misleading reputation as completely harmless. PVA is an ingredient in every leading detergent sheet.
One significant mark against Kind is that despite operating out of Canada, it produces most of its products in China, including its detergent sheets. There are several eco-friendly detergents that do not manufacture their products in China, so they have an advantage over Kind.
On the bright side, however, the packaging is lightweight, which cuts down on shipping emissions, and zero waste, which helps further protect the environment.
Compact and travel-friendly, Kind Laundry detergent sheets are an effective option if you travel a lot, have a small laundry room, or simply don’t need to wash too many clothes every week. They come in packs of 60, with one sheet cleaning one load.
The price comes out to $0.33 per load, which is higher than other options. You also don’t get free shipping and if you return the product, you have to pay for that shipping as well.
Despite Kind Laundry’s claims of sustainability, there are no certifications to back this up, nor does it seem like the brand does much in the way of outreach or initiatives to promote a healthy Earth. Other detergent sheet brands partner with environmental organizations, such as 1% for the Planet and We Are Neutral, to further the cause of restoring the planet. It doesn’t appear that Kind does any of this.
How do they work?
Detergent sheets have erupted onto the market not only because of their eco-friendliness, but also because they’re so easy to use. All you need to do is toss one sheet—or half a sheet for small loads—into your washing machine and add your clothes.
If you’re using a front-loading machine, however, you’ll need to go about it slightly differently. With front-loaders you have to put the sheets into the dispenser. You might need to tear the sheets up before doing so, but that’s the only “complication” involved in the process.
Because detergent sheets don’t produce as many suds as traditional detergents, they don’t require as much water to rinse, so they conserve energy and resources. Some people complain they don’t clean as well as a result, but it’s a minority of users.
Not just laundry detergent
Kind Laundry sells three other products besides its laundry detergent sheets: stain remover bars, wool dryer balls, and laundry bags, all of which are hypoallergenic and plastic free. They’re also free from optical brighteners, parabens, petroleum, synthetic fragrances, artificial colors, dyes, parabens, and phthalates.
I’ve broken down each of Kind Laundry’s products in more detail below.
- Stain Remover Bar
Kind Laundry’s Stain Remover Bar is gluten free and vegan, and it’s great at removing tough stubborn stains, such as dyes and ink too. If there’s a stain that the laundry detergent sheets can’t tackle, the bar can, making the two an incredible stain fighting duo. Simply rub the soap bar onto the stain, leave it for a while, and then wash it off. The Stain Remover Bar is one of the few Kind products made in Canada.
- Wool Dryer Balls
Dryer balls are an effective way to soften clothes while cutting down on the drying time as much as possible. They’re also an eco-friendly alternative to dryer sheets. Made out of 100% premium New Zealand wool, Kind Laundry’s dryer balls are completely fragrance free and dye free, and contain no added chemicals, synthetics, or filters. Three dryer balls are included with each purchase and need to be placed into the dryer with each load, but you’ll get up to 1,000 loads out of them.
- Mesh Laundry Bag
A mesh laundry bag is a great addition to any laundry room. It’s designed to protect delicate clothes, such as lingerie and baby clothes. When placed into the mesh bag, such items won’t get damaged in the wash when mixed into a heavy load.
This product line is rather limited compared to other eco-friendly cleaning brands. But perhaps Kind intends to expand its range of products over time.
Why Kind Laundry?
Kind Laundry is great for someone who wants an eco-friendly laundry detergent but doesn’t have much space in their laundry area, cleans their clothes at a laundromat, travels frequently, or doesn’t have high laundry needs. The fragrance-free option is also great if you have sensitive skin or allergies.
As long as you don’t mind paying a bit extra for an eco-friendly laundry detergent that has a low carbon footprint and doesn’t come in plastic containers, Kind Laundry sheets are an option for you.
Why not Kind Laundry?
Kind Laundry detergent sheets aren’t a great option if you’re trying to stick to a budget, as they’re not the most economical option. Coming in at $0.33 per load, these can be expensive if you clean a lot of clothes every week, and the lack of free shipping can worsen the expense.
In addition to cost, the presence of sodium lauryl sulfate in these sheets makes me hesitant to recommend them. SLS can result in biodegradation, damage to DNA, and bioaccumulation. I’m actually surprised to see it included in an “eco-friendly” laundry detergent, though Kind did try to hide it by calling it sodium dodecyl sulfate—it’s the same thing.
If you’re interested in the best deal possible, including free shipping, and you prefer a laundry product that’s not manufactured in China and has completely safe, unquestionable ingredients, you might want to look into other laundry detergent sheets, perhaps a brand that promotes other environmental programs. For more info about alternative detergent sheets, read my review of the eight best detergent sheet brands.
My Kind Laundry review
Cleaning power: 4/5
Online reviews highlight how effective Kind is at cleaning clothes in all washing machines without fading or damage. According to users, even stubborn stains were no match for this detergent.
While some negative reviews suggest the sheets leave residue on clothes after being washed, this only appears to be the case when they’re not used properly. Their cleaning performance gets a 4 out of 5 stars.
Price: 3.5/5
Kind Laundry’s main value lies in how environmentally friendly they are compared to harsh cleaners that include toxic chemicals like phosphates and optical brighteners. Since these detergent sheets contain no harsh chemicals and come in zero-waste and plastic-free packaging, they prevent a lot of waste from ending up in oceans and landfills.
Still, a box of Kind’s sheets cost more than a few of its eco-friendly competitors. It gets more economical if you bulk-buy, which saves between 10% and 15%, but that means committing to a decent amount of the product, which you’ll have to pay to return.
Product line: 3/5
Kind doesn’t have a broad range of products, especially compared to brands like Tru Earth, which has oodles of household items for sale. Its eco-friendly laundry detergent sheets are its most popular product, but Kind also offers a mesh laundry bag, wool dryer balls, and a stain remover bar. You can buy these individually or as part of a bundle.
There’s nothing unique here, so it gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Customer service: 3.5/5
While Kind Laundry doesn’t list any official hours online, you can get in touch with them through their email or toll-free number. Based on the company’s social media presence, such as on Facebook where it seems to respond within an hour, it should respond quite quickly. However, it does appear that this is an automated response system. Not much feedback exists about the quality of Kind’s actual, human customer service team, so it’s hard to give it a higher score.
Convenience: 4.25/5
Compact, lightweight, and easy-to-use, Kind Laundry sheets don’t take up much space in your laundry room, and can be a great choice if you travel a lot. If you have trouble lifting heavy objects, you’ll be glad to say goodbye to those heavy plastic jugs. All you’ll need to do with these is toss them in your washing machine, add your clothes, and turn on the machine.
Eco-friendliness: 2.8/5
There’s no shortage of laundry sheets on the market right now. And since they all have similar strong cleaning power, you must weigh them against each other according to their ingredients and eco-friendliness. If you were to compare Kind Laundry Detergent Sheets against traditional, harsh liquid detergent brands only, it would score high in this area. But compared with other leading detergent sheets, these don’t cut it. From sodium lauryl sulfate to Kind’s lack of participation in environmental initiatives, Kind could do better.
Overall: 3.5/5
After carefully going through Kind Laundry’s product range, performance, price, customer service, and other factors, I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars. If the company had more of an online presence, it could’ve gotten a slightly higher rating, but this doesn’t seem to be an area of focus.
It also needs to put some effort into getting eco-friendly certifications, which many other eco-friendly laundry detergents have. It’ll make Kind more trustworthy, and consumers might be more willing to take a risk on it.
Kind Laundry is a decent choice overall if you want a zero-waste and toxic chemical-free laundry detergent that cleans clothes effectively and doesn’t harm the environment, and you don’t mind paying a bit more than you would for similar products.
Other Kind Laundry reviews
Kind’s laundry detergent sheets don’t have any reviews on Trustpilot, the Better Business Bureau, or Google My Business, which is something the company needs to work on to add more transparency. It does have reviews on other platforms, however.
Kind Laundry has over 2,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews on Amazon, for an average rating of 4.6/5. Positive reviews praised how gentle but effective the laundry detergent sheets are, and one customer highlighted how her child’s eczema-related flare-ups were practically gone after switching from a liquid laundry detergent.
There were a few negative comments about the laundry detergent, however, that focused on how the sheets didn’t dissolve completely in the wash and sometimes left a residue on clothes.
Kind Laundry’s Facebook page doesn’t have much engagement and looks like it’s quite new, but the reviews that are there all have 5-star ratings. Customers praised how easy to use the laundry detergent is, as well as how travel friendly it is.
Kind is notably absent from several review websites, but Amazon and Facebook show that customers are generally happy with its laundry detergent sheets. Negative comments account for about 5% of Kind’s total reviews, but the company still needs to put work into getting highlighted on more websites.
Wrapping it up
Since launching in 2020, Kind’s laundry detergent sheets have grown in popularity quite quickly, and the company has even earned Better Homes and Gardens’ Best Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent Award of 2021. So far, the detergent sheets and Kind’s other laundry products have received over 3,000 reviews, most of which are positive.
Kind Laundry’s price is a little more expensive than some alternatives, but the cleaning power and environmental-friendliness bring a lot of value. Bulk-buying also gives you 10%–15% off, making it a bit more affordable, but you still won’t get free shipping.
It would be nice for Kind Laundry to remove hidden sodium lauryl sulfate from its formula and engage in some green initiatives like other laundry sheets brands. Until such time that Kind does both, these laundry detergent sheets will get your clothes clean but they won’t rate among the best.
For more info on Kind Laundry, check out the website.
Frequently asked questions
Are these laundry detergent sheets gluten free?
Yes, the laundry detergent sheets are completely gluten free.
What are the ingredients?
Kind’s laundry detergent sheets contain only a few ingredients: sodium dodecyl sulfate (also known as sodium lauryl sulfate), fatty alcohol polyglycol ether, polyvinyl alcohol, tea seed oil, water, decyl glucoside, glycerol, and cocamidopropyl betaine.
Are they tested on animals?
No.
Do these detergent sheets clean well?
Yes. Kind’s laundry detergent sheets are great at fighting even tough stains. Some may need pretreatment with Kind’s Stain Remover Bar.
How do I contact Kind Laundry Sheet’s customer support team?
Kind Laundry can be reached at (844)BE-KIND/1-844-235-4630, or you can send an email to sales@kindlaundry.com.
Where can I read other reviews?
Yes. You can find over 2,000 Kind Laundry reviews on Amazon.
Are these laundry sheets made in China?
Yes, they’re made in China.
Are they safe to use on delicate fabrics?
Yes. Kind’s detergent sheets can be used on any fabric. Like any new product, though, you might want to give it a quick test to make sure it’s up to your standards.
Are they environmentally friendly?
Yes, for the most part. Kind’s laundry detergent sheets are plastic free, zero waste, and biodegradable. They contain almost none of the ingredients that harm the environment in traditional detergents, including phosphates, parabens, bleaches, or optical brighteners. They do contain sodium lauryl sulfate, which Kind has disguised by calling it sodium dodecyl sulfate.
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