Some of my first forays into the world of fragrance came through an interest in aromatherapy. I loved the idea that fragrance could be a source of healing as well as pleasure, and was enthralled with the concept of capturing some 'essence' of a plant or flower through distillation, for use in beauty, healing or massage.
I have therefore been delighted to see so many new natural and 'eco-friendly' cleaning product companies using essential oils to scent their products. It seems like a natural complement — many oils have disinfecting and antibacterial properties, as well as alleged psychological benefits, so why not combine them and be kind to the environment as well? Recently, the products have been getting increasingly sophisticated as well, with Seventh Generation coming up with rather delightful blends.
All of which is to say that I do not understand why Mrs Meyers took the concept of a lavender essential oil dish soap, promisingly combined with orange essential oil, and then added 'fragrance' to it. I squirted a good amount of the Clean Day Lavender Dish Soap into the sink and filled it with steaming water, and immediately a wonderful herbaceous lavender filled the room, followed hot on its heels by a scent that reminded me of a cross between pumpkin air freshener and an orange-scented holiday candle from a drugstore. It's too bad, because as eco-friendly cleaning liquids go, this is one of the stronger formulas, and it creates lots and lots of lovely suds. Had they limited the fragrancing to the lavender and orange, it would have been an easy pleasure — my hands were so clean that they squeaked, never mind the dishes! I also appreciate that the company is cruelty-free and does not test on animals. But I can't escape the impact of this strange fruity gourmand scent, which I find all the stranger because the marketing of the product emphasizes the soothing and relaxing properties of lavender. I have worked with lavender for years, and it can be soothing, but in this case it is overrun by other, not so soothing notes — in fact, I found myself developing a headache.
A quick perusal of the reviews at drugstore.com showed that others have had similar experiences, although some users do seem to have enjoyed the fragrance. I also noticed that the ingredients listed on drugstore.com (water, plant derived surfactants, ethanol, lavender and orange essential oils, preservative and color) are a missing the key ingredient listed on my bottle as 'fragrance'. Maybe they have changed the formula, which might account for the mixed reviews — please do comment if you know more! But for now, I will stick with Seventh Generation as my 'therapeutic' dishwashing liquid of choice.
Mrs Meyers Clean Day Lavender Dish Soap is available at drugstore.com, and is $5.19 for 16 oz.
My sister has that accursed dish soap. Your description is spot on. I had fantasies, when I visited, of sneaking into the kitchen in the dead of night so I could pour it all down the drain.
I still think the best all-purpose household cleaner is Dr. Bronner's. All-One!
LOL, you know, I have to admit that 'accursed' is fairly descriptive of how I felt about it too. I've rarely had such an emotional reaction to a household product. I do wonder if they have changed the formula though….and to be fair, some of their other products are decent, although I'm getting increasingly fussy about there being anything labelled 'fragrance' in what is supposed to be an all-natural product!
Will look into Dr. Bronner's. I'm still looking for a natural cleaner that will get the stains off the white countertop…
I do love Mrs. Meyer's geranium scented line, and appreciate that they offer a concentrate – I have kids and clean a lot, and go through two bottles of concentrate a year.
I haven't tried the geraniumn line, but I thought the lemon verbena was quite nice, and I had had thoughts of trying the honeysuckle as well.
Two bottles a year is amazingly economical! The lavender soap did clean really well, so in some ways I'm not surprised…
I just picked up the Lemon Verbena counter wipes and toilet bowl cleaner. Thought the fragrance was nice but somewhat under powered. I am hesitant to pick up anything with lavender since both my daughter and I are sensitive to too much of it!
If you are sensitive to lavender, I would steer clear of this product for sure as it does have a strong lavender scent in addition to whatever else is in there. Seventh Generation's Lavender Floral & Mint is more subtle (and natural), with mint and ylang ylang, if you would like to try a 'toned-down' lavender..
I've been using the Method line of household products for a number of years. Their “French Lavender” dish soap is quite appealing, soothing frazzled nerves while you conquer dirty dishes. My fiancé relishes Method's “Hollyberry” scent and wishes it was available all year round!
I hate strongly scented washing-up liquids. I buy a very lightly scented one. I really don't need to be soothed when I'm washing up. And I don't like my plates smelling of flowers or even of foody stuff.
I've tried a couple of Method products–their hand soaps are quite nice, and my Mom loves their almond scented furniture polish. Will have to check out their dishwashing liquid! Should I be amazed they have a holiday limited edition in housecleaning products? LOL
Agreed, no need to go overboard on scenting dishwashing liquid! But I have really come to appreciate the use of natural scents in the kitchen as opposed to the synthetic/soapy ones. Ecover makes a really subtle dishwashing liquid, btw, but I haven't used it enough to know how it cleans…
I LOVE this scent! C'mon, we are talking dish soap, for crying out loud. Dr. Bronner's has a fabulous, strong scent, too…
I'm glad you enjoy the scent!
Now I am even more curious about Dr. Bronner's–fabulous is always desirable!
UPDATE: Mrs Meyers “Baby Blossom” hand soap is really nice, light, springy, with a prominent honeysuckle note. To my nose, many of the “natural” or “Organic” liquid soaps have a nasty sour soapy smell that I cannot abide. Not so with this one.
I haven't seen that one before–honeysuckle sounds lovely!
I like Mrs. Meyer’s laundry detergents; does anyone know if one can buy anything from this label in Germany (Berlin, specifically).
The dishsoap sounds nice too, but I don’t like the sound of this air-freshener note, what a shame!
Unfortunately I don’t know where one might find Mrs Meyer’s in Berlin.
Yes, too bad about the air freshener note! But maybe they will re-work it at some point!
Thanks for getting back to me Pia.
I may have to order laundry detergent over the internet. How odd. But I used it when I was living in America and miss it, somehow. Perhaps I need more excitement in my life.
LOL, I totally understand the desire to ‘import’ your favorite detergent. I used to spend my summers in Denmark, and they had a fabric softener that I loved. I would cart home bottles of it at the end of the summer!