Eco Sprout Review and Giveaway!

The perfect cloth diaper detergent. Does it exist? I suppose that all depends who you ask. Some people swear by good old-fashioned Tide original. Of course Tide isn't very eco-friendly, and it gives me a rash, so I've never attempted to use it on anything Jem wears. We've been through a good number of the eco-friendly, cloth diaper safe detergents out there - Nellie's, Lulu's, Rockin Green, Crunchy Clean - and there have been things I liked about all of them. All of them have worked for us in certain situations, but not others. Battling the stinkies has never been a particularly easy feat for us, especially since we have dealt with hard water in the past, and now with a water heater we cannot control. Suffice to say I am always eager to try the new "best thing" in CD detergents, and I had an opportunity these past couple of weeks to try the new favorite on the block, Eco Sprout.

A little background: while many of the CD detergents on the market today were formulated by WAHMs (Work-at-Home Moms), Eco Sprout was thought up by a WAHD -- that's right, a Work-at-Home Dad. Awesome, right? I don't know that many dads who even want to do the diaper laundry, much less come up with their own detergent! His name is Jared Edwards, and he wanted to come up with a detergent that was "non-toxic, natural, eco-friendly, sensitive for my boy's bottoms, and got rid of the strong ammonia our diapers always had with other detergents... Eco Sprout detergent is free from dyes, brighteners, enymes, phosphates, SLS, and is 100% biodegradable."  Sounds pretty great, doesn't it? I also love that the larger sizes come in cloth bags!

After using it for several diaper washes, I have to agree that it's pretty great. After carefully following the instructions on the Eco Sprout website for switching detergents, I've found it's been able to get out stinkies that our previous detergent wasn't able to!

My favorite of the scented samples is the "Warm Vanilla Sugar." It reminds me of cookies, and anything that smells edible to me is a plus. I always prefer unscented detergents though, and so I personally would stick with "In the Buff" for Jem's diapers. It doesn't smell like anything! The other scents I received for sampling were Baby Powder, Vanilla Sandalwood, and Fresh Linen. Again, I'm not crazy about non-edible smelling scents, but that's just me! I'm more of a "stop and smell the chocolate" kind of girl. However, if you like the smell of baby powder and freshly cleaned sheets, you will probably love these. The scents wash out pretty thoroughly regardless, they're just to make wash day smell a bit more pleasant!

The real test was the RearZ Eco-Kit fitted diapers I bought last month. Because they are so bulky, I have begun to find that they are the hardest diapers in my stash to get thoroughly clean. I have to keep tossing them back in the pail after the first wash to go through another cycle before I'll let Jem wear them again. While this isn't that too much of a problem (there are five of them and we only use them for nighttime), it is kind of a pain.  So, did the Eco Sprout get the RearZ clean? Well, yes and no. Some of them come out of the first wash smelling just fine, and some come out still smelling just slightly funky, in a "should I do them again or just leave them be?" kind of way. However, this is a whole lot better than the previous detergent we were using, and I honestly can't blame Eco Sprout for not getting all of these big bulky diapers totally clean in one shot, especially because of our frustratingly lukewarm water (you really need hot water to get things like that totally clean!) It has gotten all of our other diapers smelling fresh and clean, and that's impressive in and of itself! I've also found there is somewhat less staining with the Eco Sprout than with other eco-friendly detergents I've used.

All in all, I am very impressed with Eco Sprout and would definitely recommend it! Thanks to the generosity of Jared and his team, one lucky reader will have the opportunity to try a 24 ounce bag in the scent of his or her choice!

Rules for Entry

Contest is open to anyone in the US or Canada (sorry to my international followers!) There are several different ways you can enter. There is no mandatory entry, pick any one or do them all! Please leave your email address with each entry. I will only use your email address to contact you if you win, I do not spam contest entrants or my subscribers. Email subscribers will have to visit the actual blog to enter.

~ Visit the Eco Sprout website, then come back to this blog post and leave a comment to tell me which scent you'd like to try.
~ Like Eco Sprout on Facebook. Come back to this blog post and comment that you have done so (with your Facebook name, please!)
~ Leave a link to this contest page anywhere on Facebook or your own blog. Leave a comment here that you have done so (and tell me where to find the link!)
~ Follow Jem's Room on Google Friend Connect (by clicking the "follow" link at the top of this blog page or going to the GFC box in the righthand column). Leave a comment here that you have done so (if you already do, it counts!)
~ Follow Jem's Room on Facebook. Leave a comment here that you have done so (with your Facebook name).
~ Follow Jem's Room on Networked Blogs. Leave a comment here that you have done so.
~ Follow Jem's Room by email by entering your email address in the box in the right hand column of this blog page. Leave a comment here that you have done so.
~ Grab my button and post it on your blog. Leave a comment here that you have done so (and tell me where to find it!)
~ Add Jem's Room to your blogroll. Leave a comment here that you have done so.

The contest will end next Saturday, August 6th. Winner will be picked by a random number generator. Good luck to all!

**I received a free sample of this product for review, however I received no other payment, and I verify that the opinions expressed in this review are my own.**