Seventh Generation: Clean Clothes without Optical Brighteners {Giveaway}

We're big Seventh Generation devotees in this house, and I've blogged about their wonderful, green products on this blog in the past.  If you've never heard of the company, they make eco-friendly cleaning and laundry supplies, as well as baby items like diapers, wipes, and more.  They're really an amazing company, and we purchase their products all the time, especially their dish detergent.

As a member of My Blog Spark, I was given the opportunity to test out their liquid laundry detergent and fabric softener.  To be honest, I already use Seventh Generation detergent in the laundry, but was really interested in conducting a little experiment with optical brighteners, comparing it to a conventional brand of detergent.

So what's the deal with optical brighteners?  According to Seventh Generation,

"Optical brighteners are synthetic chemicals that make fabrics appear to glow in the presence of ultraviolet light. They don't have anything to do with getting things clean— they're only added to detergents to make us think our laundry is brighter and whiter than it really is."
~They can rub off on skin, causing sunburn-like irritation
~They wash into our waters and survive treatment facilities, accumulating in fish and water.

Not something you want to be wearing on your skin, huh?

I received a black light and 2 organic cotton shirts as testers, and washed one with Seventh Generation liquid detergent, 

and the other with Target's brand of detergent.  I added a hot sauce stain, just to test out the power of the detergents, along with the use of optical brighteners.

After washing, the results of the optical brightener test weren't so apparent to me, even under a black light.

You can see that the conventional detergent is only slightly brighter, however it's possible that  Target's generic brand of detergent just can't afford to add optical brighteners and keep the detergent budget-priced.  However, I'd like to try this on one of the big brands, that is if I can allow them into my home again, lol.

Testing photos from My Blog Spark made the difference between Seventh Generation laundry detergent and conventional ones much more apparent.

Regarding the second part of my experiment, when I checked the stains, I was pleasantly surprised that the one washed in the Seventh Generation detergent was gone,

while Target's brand still had a bit of residue, which is hard to see in the photo, but trust me, it's there.

I

I'm really pleased that our go-to detergent fared so well in the tests. No optical brighteners, good stain removal power, and considering we have mineral-rich water in our house, I'm happy to see that the detergent cleans well, and is easy on the environment.

Additionally, you can get a $1 off coupon for their laundry products by clicking here.
WIN IT!
Want to conduct your own experiment? Seventh Generation is providing a set of laundry products for one lucky reader.
To Enter
Visit Seventh Generation and leave a comment here telling me how you try to be eco-friendly in your household or your favorite tip for keeping your family healthy at home.

Extra Entries (you must complete the first mandatory entry before doing the extras.  Also, leave a separate comment for each one):
~Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link (2 entries)
~Subscribe to my updates
~If you're a Fan of Katydid and Kid on Facebook leave a comment letting me know
~If you're a Fan of Seventh Generation on Facebook, leave a comment letting me know
~Follow my blog publicly via Google Friend Connect
~Follow @SeventhGen on Twitter
~Follow @katydidandkid and tweet this giveaway, leaving a link to your tweet in the comments. You can tweet once per day (leave a comment each day). You can copy and paste my tweet if you'd like: Win an assortment of eco-friendly, laundry products from @SeventhGen. Free of optical brighteners!

You must do the first entry in order to enter ("I want to win, thanks!" comments will NOT be considered). You will have until Sunday January 16th at 11:59pmEST to enter. The winner will be chosen via random number generator the next day and notified by email.I'll also post the winners on my blog HERE. If I don't hear back from the winner within 72 hours, I'll pick another. 
Disclosure: I received liquid laundry detergent, fabric softener, 2 t-shirts and a black light from Seventh Generation though My Blog Spark for participating in this campaign.